Still Snowing!!

Three times this week we have awoken to fresh snow on the ground. Tuesday we had about 5" of new snow here, then Thursday, we had another 3" - 4" inches, and last night, we had another 3". We are throwing the shot put in the snow, the discus we are traveling to Gooding to throw so we are out of the snow. I cn just see us losing our two white discii and not finding them until the lawn maintenance crew runs over them while mowing in June or something like that. I would love to have clear ground.

Jeff's meet in Carey this coming Thursday (April 3rd,) has been moved to Gooding because there is still too much snow on the ground in Carey. Hopefully, we get to go to Gooding today to throw. It needs to warm up first. When I went out and shoveled the snow off the driveway this morning, it was 9 degrees.

Hail the size of ping pong balls, torrential rains, and elk turds!

We had two track meets in the last two days. Both turned out to be very, very interesting. Tuesday's meet was in Weiser, Idaho. We had a toreential rain with unbelievably huge hail stones. The discus ring was like an ioce skating rink with a combination of mud, rain, and hail. Needless to say, Jeff didn't have a great meet and the meet was completely canceled before he got to the shot put. Today's (Wednesday's) meet, was a little better, no hail, just mud and rain. The most interesting part of the today's meet was the pile after pile of elk turds in the throwing sector. We don't have another meet until April 3rd. We have a lot to work on and we hope the weather cooperates and we really get to see where the boys are distance wise.

The Meet was Canceled!!

We woke up this morning to a layer of newly fallen snow. The wind picked up all day and the Track Meet was canceled due to ice, snow, and rain. Jeff's next meet is Tuesday of next week followed by another one on Wednesday.

Busy Saturday.

We still have about 18" to 24" of snow on the fields here in Fairfield, so we traveled into Boise today to throw on grass. It was overcast, raining, and windy, but no snow on the ground. In all, it was great to be outside. We could watch the discus fly and see problems that have crept in because we only see it fly about 30' into the net. The picture to the right shows two or three of the things we are working on right now. With several serious errors present, Jeff still threw 142' (43.28m.) When we sort things out and work, peice by peice cleaning up the errors, I think he'll end up somewhere in the upper 150's by the end of the season. It should be a fun year in all.

We also stopped off this morning before we went and threw and got contacts and glasses for Jeff. He has had them before, but just refused to wear them. With him getting his driver's license this coming Summer, he has to have his glasses or he will never pass the vision test. They sent him away with two weeks of contacts to try them out and new pair of glasses. Get used to this sight, he has to either wear the contacts or the glasses from now on or he won't get his driver's license.

I was sorting through old video tapes this evening and I came across video footage of Jeff in the fifth grade throwing both the shot put and the discus. For those of you who remember her, Elke is in several of the videos, always fairly close to where ever Jeff is. She was a very, very cute little girl. (She still is.) He had some natural, smooth abilities, even back then. His shot put release at 10 and 11 years old. (Compare body positions from the 5th grade with those of the 10th grade above.) It has been a tremendous amount of work since then, but it has also been fun, I hope for him, I know it has been for me.

Jaxson, Lahia, and Jason All Weekend.

Thursday night all three, Jaxson, Lahia, and Jason flew in to spend the weekend with us. It is amazing how much we have missed them. We had a very leisurely and relaxing weekend. As Lahia is about 14 months pregnant (at least she looks like she is going to pop at any moment, or so a little old lady in Relief Society told her today,) we didn't do anything wild and crazy. Jason and Jeff spent most of the time playing one game or the other; whether it be Guitar Hero, or some computer game that they all play on line. It was great for the two brothers to spend time together. Lahia just reconfirmed the fact that she stole our hearts several years back. We love her and feel it a privilege to have her in our family. She is going to be such a wonderful mother.

Jason, Jeff and I threw Friday afternoon and evening. Jason has always had a quicker eye ( note the singular, as there is only one eye now - oh, I'm not sure that's funny or if that's just mean,) than I do and he can diagnose a problem and come up with a solution faster than I can when it comes to the discus and shot put. I have told him for years that he needs tobe coaching as he has a huge amount of information to pass along to the next generation of throwers. Julie and Lahia went into Gooding to do some shopping. Mind you, there isn't a lot of shoppingto be done in Gooding; it is only slightly larger than Fairfield. Friday night we didn't do much at all.

Saturday morning we got up, had a great breakfast, puttered around the house, and then went into Twin Falls for maternity clothes, DVD's, music CD's, lunch, and just time together. There is the most incredible store in Twin called Imagination Station. It is a toy store specializing in toys that foster imagination and intelligence. We love the store. Jeff and I were excited to show Jason what was there. Jasona nd Hia bought a new board game that Jeff and I teased them about all the way home, only to find out that we really liked it and had fun playing it. We had a great dinner and went to bad late, after playing games.

Sunday was fast sunday and both Jason and Hia bore their testimonies. Wonderful testimonies that filled my heart with the knowledge that my son is heading his life int he right direction with the right woman at his side and is going to be a great patriarch. It's wonderful to see the next generation with stronger convictions and faith and know that the conviction of the gospel will continue for many generations to come.

Sending them off at the airport was hard; very, very hard. I hate it when my kids leave as I have always wanted them to be near us and for my grandkids to be close enough that I cna be an active part in their lives. Now, Julie, Jeff, and I are going to do everything we can to get everyone to relocate here and be our neighbors.

As a side note. All of you from Oregon that have passed through Boise, whether in a car or on a plane. When you think of the environment around Boise, don't you think of barren, treeless landscapes filled with blowing sage brush and an occasional small, undernourished tree? Jeff and I have gotten a kick out of the big sign to the left at the Boise Airport. Off all the things I think of when I think of Boise, it has never been trees. Maybe they could call it the city of a tree. Or even the city of a couple trees, but never, the City of Trees as if it were covered with trees. I would love to meet the guy or guys that named it such and fly them into Portland and say, "Now here is a City of Tress, certainly not Boise."