Work Day 2010

It has been a cold and wet spring. Mother Nature is just going to give in and let us have a real spring. Every once in a while she will throw in a teaser, one beautiful day. It just so happened that one of those days was our annual family work day on the farm. It couldn't have been any better. Sure made the work fun. With many hands, big and small, we be accomplished a lot. Lawns were mowed and raked, trees trimmed, ditches cleaned and burned, raspberries cleaned and weeded, trains riden, food eaten and the big project, putting a new roof on the cabin were all a success. The men got to show off their power tool skills, sniff the fumes from the chain saw, and show off how high they could run up the side of the cabin.

Gathering the perfect peice of wood for the fire. It's what we do, gather up stray twigs, raspberry canes, and other stuff, and at the end of the day we burn them. If the weather is good enough we roast hotdogs and marshmellows. It's the icing on the day.

Up to the forest is a swing, hung from one of the tall trees. It's the highlight of those (young and old children) who go up there, swinging high and low. B though it would be interesting to lick the pole. Luckily it was summer so his tongue didn't stick.

The chimney cap spends more time on the ground than on the chimney. Why? B was fascinated with it, we told him it was hat to protect his head when he rad into trees. He tried it out.

Definitely my favorite men on the job. S and P were pondering the next step of the roofing project.

Big kids use the swing up to the forest, little ones at the house.

N-N wanted to help. He latched on to some clippers that were almost bigger than him and tackled a bush. Needless to say, the bush got the better of him. He walked away leaving the clippers behind.

K & P taking a break.

Grandma watching the progress and making sure no one got hurt.

Loaded with tools and supplies, heading up to the forest

C takes a slide break

K is gloved and ready to work, obviously the gloves are a bit big but he didn't care. He was part of the crew.

They didn't fit R any better.

C and K peeking out from the caboose

Lunch break (Cindy Lee, it was delicious)

All aboard, the work is done and now the real fun begins.

Train rides for everyone

One of the highlights is the old tractor. Everyone likes to drive it. Only problems was it just wouldn't run properly. After some real frustrations, they put it away. The next day S put some gas in it and it ran like a charm. If only we had known that was it's problem.

W & M catching their ride

Off to the left you can see the flames of the bonfire. It doesn't take log for it to burn down to perfect coals.

It's always a lot of work, but when we work together it's almost fun.

The Beazer Cabin

From the age of 7 on I (RA) grew up 3 miles south of Beazerville. My memory is not that greatest, but I do recall a few that involve the Beazers.
I remember going to the house in the summer time to check out books. Phoebe had a small library, sort of a traveling library. I don't remember that it cost, just that we would go there. It was always interesting because she had a glass eye. It was tempting to stare and try to figure out which was real and which wasn't. It gave her a rather stern look.
Another memory was of course riding the train. At one time there were church budget fund raisers, cake walks, bazaars, auctions, all kinds of little things. When you needed a new church, which we desperately did at the time, most of the money had to be raised before you could even start. Every fourth of July and perhaps other times of the year, Irving would get the trains out and for 25 cents you could have a ride, with the money going to the building fund. It was usually the highlight of the day.
Another memory I have only sorta applies to the Beazers, but it goes with the pictures. There were about 8 girls in the ward around the same age. We loved to get together as a group and camp out. Sometimes we would go exploring after it got dark. (I suspect we were looking for little pranks to play). Back in those days it was safe for you to walk from one friends house to another after dark, which we did. We had heard about the Beazer cabin that Irving and one of his boys built, and some dared each other to actually go into the forest and see if it was really true, that they had one. You couldn't see it from the road. Alas, we were never brave enough on our night jaunts to actually do it. So until I married into the family it was just a wishful memory.

I thought I would take you on a tour of the mysterious cabin in the forest.

Here is the north side.

You will notice that it is three stories high, with the upper story really being only a small loft, perhaps room for one small bed or chair. Sadly the window is broken out so it would be a bit chilly to sleep there, not to mention all the scary night creatures it would let in. The second story has a small balcony. I think the door is nailed shut to keep people from going out there, as part of the railing is not in place.

The Front Door.

Sadly, another window is broken out, with a board nailed over it. If you know where to look, there is a wild animal door in the roof. Not in the original design, just something that developed with time.

The Interior

Notice the stylish brick floors, bench seating and hand pump for the well (it doesn't work so bring your own water). The wood stove works nicely once you clean out the dead birds, something the Scouts love to do. It doesn't heat as well as it should as there is no insulation, too many cracked windows and drafts coming in through holes in the log siding.

FYI: it was a family effort to cut and prepare the logs that hold it up. Many a summer weekend was spent in Island Park on the task.

You can't really tell, but there is a variety of roofing materials, colors, styles, etc that were protecting it. The family got together this last weekend and put a new tin roof on it.

It is a real luxury cabin with only the finest outhouse, complete with spiders and smell. (thanks C. for showing it off) Just don't forget to bring your own toilet paper.

Hopefully you enjoyed this tour of the palatial Beazer cabin.

Young in the Snow

It was an almost perfect day for to be a Young in the Snow. Trayce, the twins and their friend Joey cam up and spent the day playing. First they had to do a quick tune up on the machines. It's right up their ally, they love to tinker on engines. It only took two pulls to get them going.

Then the action began. Syd has a small field up by his shop that started out with about a foot of snow. Not now. It was well beaten down. The Twins, Denice and Joey discussing who should ride next and how long.

Joey and Trayce soaking up a little snow while they wait their turns.

Trayce and Syd

Brandon, Joey, Trayce, Tyler

It was fun day even if Syd is way tired. He's tempted to actually take a big ride (if he could just get to his trailer).

Fun in the Snow, Idaho style

What do you get when you mix the Walker/Hendrix/Beazer family and white stuff. FUN, FUN, FUN in the snow. We (14 adults and 7 children, the oldest just turned 7) went up to Island Park for the adventure of the weekend.

The main group stayed here, (IP Bills Island)where there was plenty of help with the little ones. The others (without little children to keep track of) stayed at another friends cabin down the road and around the bend.
The morning we left it snowed.
But what did we do? Sit back and enjoy the show of all our adventures.

The cameras were out constantly, I took 200 pictures myself, (don't worry I didn't post all of them). They are not necessarily in order of what actually happened but just how they were uploaded.

I'm not sure what Riley's first words were but it didn't take long for her to learn "Cheese". A camera would appear and out it would come.

Brother Nate and Brandon taking some chill time. These boys have their share of challenges but they were so good.

Wayne brought up his wii. Most everyone took a turn at playing, some more than others and some were just spectators (they didn't complain, they like to spectate). It was enjoyed by all but the very best to spectate was when the men (really just BIG boys) did a dance move competition. If I knew how to upload them in action I would. It was quite entertaining.

What gathering would be complete if someone failed to eat an olive from their fingers.

Nate was up to the job.

Of course we had to watch a movie or two. The little ones would stand glued to the set.

The activities could be quite taxing and so a good nap was in order. Sometimes it was amazing they could do it with all the noise going on.

When there a spare moment a good game of cards, usually GOLF, was in action.

Rose and Grandma were so good to pose for the picture.

X-BOX was also available. It was an activity this young man was quite familiar with. He could beat almost anyone.

What goes with coats, gloves, hats, boots, and scarves? SNOW!!!!
We spent a fair amount side enjoying the white stuff.

Another activity was putting together puzzles.

Coloring was also another one.

A true artist can do it anywhere even stretched out on the table.

Could be the next Da Vinci in the making.

Britney Boo was so proud of being able to say her ABCs. She took advantage of being able to record a copy of them on Rosie's phone.

John took his little ones for a ride on the snow mobiles. They loved it of course. (Actually he loved it more because he had his kids on with him.)

Try getting 7 youngsters to sit still for a photo op with Great-Grandma.

Easier said than done. You can't see what was going on behind the camera or the sofa they were all sitting on. Let's just say it took some real creativity to accomplish this.

The men had a chance to be men. They just had to lift the lid and check out the engine.

How many horse power is it?

Each night before bed, and of course when the final farewells were given, quality hugs and kisses were a plenty.

The little boys got a turn at the wii. The competition wasn't nearly as fierce but just as enjoyable to watch as a spectator.

Sledding was a real favorite. When you couldn't get someone to pull you with the 4 wheeler you settled for the two legged pull, which would wear out the puller rather quickly.

Whew, that wasn't a metal pole. Brandon tried digging out a tree but it was just too much for him.

One of the problems with playing in the snow is getting snow in your boots.

Mother and daughter all bundled up.

It was a family thing.

Melissa tried to make snow angels but I think she lost her head and got buried instead.

How many people can fit on a sled?

Travis and Crystal took a break from their boys. They loved the ride even if it was just a short one.

Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

Not to be out done by the boys the girls took a turn at the wii.

Rosie couldn't resist finding out how many cheese puffs she could put in her mouth. Four (4)

All activities require a great deal of planning and discussing and deciding who was in charge. I think John won out. He did a great job.

This was a weekend for family bonding, for having family fun, for just hangin' with the fam.

We had a great time, we ate too much, stayed up too late, laughed too much, and had too much fun. Let's do it again.