Spring/Summer 2021 Catch-Up

Ambrose had eyes in the back of his head a couple of times this spring and summer.

Silas turned 11 and got this electric scooter from Peter.

The boys caught some bull frogs at Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve.

We traveled back and forth to Emmett a lot. We stopped one evening to take a sunset picture overlooking Emmett.

We had a picnic and played at Robie Creek with family.

The boys spent a month with Peter. I picked them up and we went to Clay's house in Wyoming. On the way back from Wyoming, we stopped in Soda Springs where the boys climbed trees, played at a fun park, and tried water from the naturally-carbonated spring (nasty).

The Eagars came to visit us and we bowled, went on a hike, played at Eagle Island, and made spaghetti-noodle structures with them.

We went bowling several more times. The best part of bowling is watching Ambrose bowl. As Gideon put it, Ambrose always bows to the bowling gods before he bowls.

Gideon officially became a teenager.

The boys helped me rip up some bad landscaping.

We got to watch a chick hatch.

Today Gideon started school! Ambrose and Silas start on Thursday.

Most of the Stott family was able to get together for my parent's 44th anniversary. These pictures were taken the next day on April 30th.

The last picture I took of my dad was this one on May 14th. Ambrose was trying to massage his head to make him feel better.

He passed away this Wednesday, May 19th at 4:30 in the morning. Here is his obituary.

Ambrose at the Rollerdrome on Monday:

 Fort building on a rainy Saturday:

I got a good laugh out of what Silas chose to pack for last weekend's trip to Provo. In addition to his clothes, Silas packed a sewing kit, tape measure, ruler, notebook, car, and my personal favorite--a pamphlet of the Constitution.

I made lamb shank a little while ago and apparently Silas liked it so much that he got a straw and tried to suck the marrow out of the bone.

We had a lovely Easter last Sunday. The boys played Coup, had an Easter egg hunt, ate great food, and enjoyed having Jace's family around.

This week Gideon got to dissect a frog during his science class. Apparently he did an amazing job of it. His science teacher (his aunt Kodie) is pretty sure that he should grow up to be a surgeon now.

Yesterday Gideon woke up and immediately started doing one of his chores. As he worked, he told me: "Mom, I just thought up a philosophy: maybe I can do hard things sometimes." About thirty seconds later he said, "Mom, I thought up another philosophy: I'm better at doing easy things."

Gideon the Entrepreneur

A couple of weeks ago, Gideon came with me to WinCo so that he could buy candy from the bulk bins to sell. Not only did he make this adorable box to try to hawk his wares, but he also tried to convince some of his friends to sell candy for him at the middle school. He proposed a deal with them where he would pay them in candy and they would bring him the money from their sales. Thankfully they rejected this offer. Oh Gideon...😂

First, the sequel to my last blog post...we found and captured the hamster and returned it to the pet store. Hallelujah!

Last weekend we got a really good snow storm and the boys had so so much fun sledding, building snow forts, and shoveling the driveway and sidewalk.

For Ambrose's birthday I got him a fish tank with some guppies. Although he loves his guppies, I had no idea that I was opening up Pandora's Box. Before I knew it, both Gideon and Silas were clamoring for their own pets. At first Gideon thought that an Asian forest scorpion was a good idea. When I managed to talk him out of that, he settled on a hamster. After trying in vain to dissuade him from this foray into hamster ownership, I capitulated. Gideon became the proud new owner of  "Spud."

The very next morning as I was making breakfast, Gideon said, "Mom, I think the hamster may have gotten loose." Upon further questioning, it became clear that he did not "think it got loose"; he knew it. The hamster had escaped while he was trying to put it in a hamster ball. We sealed off the door to his room with a towel and managed to catch it, but this performance was repeated again later in the week. Then, on Friday night, Gideon didn't latch the top of his cage shut and the hamster escaped somewhere in our house. We spent hours looking for it Saturday and also set two catch-and-release mousetraps, but alas, the little bugger is still at large. Six days of hamster ownership. Three escapes. One tiny little pooping, peeing, chewing menace somewhere in my house. Pet success again! ✅

In other news, Silas and Ambrose started public school again on Tuesday. I tried to take a "first day of school" picture, but this was the best I got with Silas' limited patience for such things.

Ambrose's B-day

Ambrose had a fun birthday part 1 in Provo and a good birthday on Thursday. I think that this box of Reese's Puffs from Silas was one of his favorite presents.

He also got to go to Wahooz yesterday to celebrate.

Christmas Season 2020

We went to see the Christmas lights in Caldwell. I didn't take a picture of it, but everyone's favorite was the fire-breathing Loch Ness Monster.

The boys collaborated on a gingerbread house. It immediately collapsed, but they had a fun time making it.

We celebrated "Christmas Part 1" on December 22nd.

Silas & Gideon waiting for Ambrose to re-wake up so that they could open their stockings. (Ambrose was awake at 4am and then woke me up at 5am and then climbed into bed with me and fell back asleep.)

I told Silas that he couldn't touch any of the presents until Grandma & Grandpa arrived...so he camped out about two feet from the tree & stared at the presents & waited. 😀

On the 23rd, I drove the boys to Smith & Edwards where they were picked up by Peter and taken to Provo to enjoy "Christmas Part 2."