They spent the first night with us, then headed up to Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July for a backpacking trip in the Black Hills. They experienced natures "fireworks" that night as a rambunctious storm sent lightening, thunder and rain at them all night. On their way to Mount Rushmore we went with them to experience "Carhenge".
Some of you have been to Stonehenge, but in case you never make it to Nebraska to see Carhenge, we will give you a taste of what you're missing.
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| Gwen leading the way |
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| Covered Wagon....covered in what? |
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| The Four Seasons Sculpture |
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| Benches are made from tailgates & wheels |
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| This sculpture actually has a title |
When the Francis family came back from their backpacking adventure, we had them for another 3 1/2 days, so we took them down to stay in a charming cabin that we are working on for a Working Retreat.
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| Front Porch...Jason, Marcie and Kids helped Grandma paint it. |
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| Kitchen Porch with a J on it |
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| We have no idea what the letters stand for, but they are certainly charming. |
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| Back Porch with the letter L on railing |
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| Letter T on railing |
Everything in the cabin was totally cowboy oriented. This is the kitchen counter.
Plates and dishes
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Yup, even the toilet paper holder suggests cowboys
. Sign on wall by bathtub
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| James and Grandpa replaced broken planks on kitchen porch |
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| Girls painted the bench, a chair & table |
Marcie & Gwen sanding bench to be painted
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| Paige flies kite. Wind blew it off the string and over to the next pasture. |
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| Paint all dry |
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A nice meal after working all day. A Francis creature emerges  The Francis creature roams the house  Church together in our tiny Branch  Impromptu talent show for Family Home Evening  Marcie's talent - knitting with eyes closed, hopping on one foot  Girls in loft....no, they didn't sleep up there!  James joins girls in loft  Highlight of the month was taking a few days off to drive back to Utah for our granddaughter Abbie's wedding to Josh Card. It was wonderful to be there for that special occasion in the Provo City Center Temple.  The day after we arrived back from the wedding we reported to a job site 40 miles away at 7:00 am to help with a concrete pour. We had two such opportunities this month.  A basement bathroom in one older home was begging for help  The floor tile had been removed long ago, and we happened to have a piece of linoleum that would fit the space.  After patching walls, painting and supplying the linoleum, a new light fixture, a new sink, faucets and toilet the bathroom was looking much better. Bruce jokes that we are helping to build God's Kingdom one toilet at a time!  This bell pull was used by the cook in the basement kitchen years ago to call the cowhands to dinner. The rope still activates the bell located on the roof. We haven't had time to patch the wall yet.  We replaced a lot of windows this month. This one was at a scale facility used to weigh calves before shipping them off to a feed lot. We replaced 12 other windows in two other houses as well.  Another toilet got new flooring to replace a rotted piece of linoleum and floor beneath.  The back deck at the ranch office got a facelift this month  We had to wait until after branding was over to get a cowboy to bring us four scoops of soil (actually sand...we live in the sand hills) to fill in spaces under a deck and around the foundation of a home  Bruce had taken off a couple of steps to access the space under the steps.  After the dumps, the work began as we shoveled the sand to where it was needed around the yard.  Every property has a propane tank, and many of them have needed a fresh coat of paint. Because of the hot weather I wore some lightweight pants....and they were black....which was a bad mistake. The pokey weeds and bugs went right through them and the wind blew white paint on them. In the middle of the job the sprinklers came on which further delayed the progress. Oh well! THE SAGA OF THE WATER HEATER I'm sure we mentioned that we are 2 hours away from our Home Depot store. One family of five was in great need of a new water heater so they could have more than one shower per night. Because the space was limited where the water heater goes we purchased the exact brand and capacity as the old water heater. Before we took out the old tank we realized the new tank  was taller and much wider than the old tank...which facilitated another 4 hour trip to town the next day. A different brand offered a smaller size (same capacity) but it was still taller but only slightly wider than the original (shown above). This meant that all the water lines, gas line, and exhaust system had to be modified...which Bruce was prepared to do. But.....  we discovered that the floor under the old water heater was in crisis condition, having melted through the linoleum and charred the wood beneath, and so we had another trip (only 45 minutes round trip this time...on bad roads) to get some heat resistant backer board to put down first.  It all turned out well, and once again we were grateful that Bruce is slender and a contortionist.  I am sitting in a cool tree with my little friend nearby. This is somewhat unique because trees aren't plentiful in the sand hills region, making it harder for birds to nest and kids to climb.  Don't ask....the picture tells it all.  Actually in our weekly trip to dump trash I mistakenly grabbed Bruce's favorite pencil while gathering trash and threw it in......while in there, Bruce asked me to grab a few other items of interest. Until next time.....have a great month! |
