Summer Happenings

River Rafting

This isn't us. . .but it looks a lot like us in Satan's Cesspool on the South Fork of the American River yesterday.  Our friend Jared offered to guide us, along with his boat owner buddies Nikki and Paul--and Levi declared it was "his best day ever!"  Of course, he's not one who fell in the river!  (He and the girls willingly dove in at one point--and even in August, it was chilly FREEZING!)  Luke and Eliza missed the party--opting to stay and fill job commitments.  Mark, Denise, Marta, Tess, and Levi had a grand adventure on the Class 3+ rapids.  We'll have to try it again sometime. . .and see if it's only Mom and Dad who end up in the cesspool!

Tomatoes Galore

Other events of the summer include coming home from our Houghton Wyoming Reunion to a garden bursting with ripe tomatoes.  This is one day's harvest (after a bunch went to work with Luke and Eliza)!  Luke, who was left tending the home fires does not like tomatoes, so we didn't have to battle him for the bounty!  We've been enjoying these beauties on sandwiches, in new and inventive side dishes, and with the opportunity to share with friends and neighbors.  Maybe Dad's investment in six-packs of five different varieties wasn't wasted after all!  Thanks to Tess who planted, irrigated, helped-keep-them-upright, picked, cleaned, sorted, and helped use these babies, even though she doesn't even like them!

HP 7.2

On the evening of July 21st, the Houghton house was abuzz with preparations for the premiere of the historic final Harry Potter movie!  Tickets were in hand and a teenager party was in process, with chocolate-covered frogs, butter beer (LDS-standard), acid pops, several varieties of edible wands, and the hit of the evening, "Olivander's Do-It-Yourself Wand Kiosk," complete, with "Faux" Phoenix Feathers (courtesy of the girls in the Chicken Palace)!

As midnight showtime approached, the Houghton crew (and a couple extras) madly assembled their themed costumes, to become The Seven Horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows:  Eliza as Voldy's pregnant mother, Levi as Harry, and Luke as Tom Riddle and the Diary (black hair on Levi and Luke courtesy of Eliza).

Marta as Charity Burbage with Nagini the Snake, Tess as Hepzibah Smith with Hufflepuff's Cup, and Mark as, of course, Dumbledore with the Ring/Resurrection Stone.  

(Denise went as the Invisibility Cloak--really--but as you can imagine, that was somewhat difficult to photograph!)

Mt. Whitney

At 14,000+ feet, Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous U.S.  During the last week on July, Mark and Luke and eight other scouts/leaders headed from the western side of the Sierras on a 50-mile trek that would end in a day that climbed to the top of Whitney and ended on the eastern side of the mountain range.  The whole trip had been in jeopardy until a week before the adventure because of unusually high snow pack levels.  But with the go-ahead that the route was passable, they embarked on Monday and made challenging but good progress for the first four and a half days of their journey.  On Friday most of the group made it to the peak before noon, and were beginning to head down as thunderheads gathered and electricity sparked in the air.  Mark stayed behind to shepherd the last of the group along.  Luke, at the front with five others, ran down the trail amidst thunder, lightning, M&M-sized hail, rock slides, rain, and flooded trails.  With the help of prayer and the "fry-chef" from the eatery at trail's end who guided several groups to a detour around the flooded trail at the bottom of the hill, he made it to a warm shower and hotel bed by midnight.  Mark, on the other hand, was stranded by flooding, with one scout up above the tree line.  He ended up helping other stranded hikers--reported in our local paper (here: http://www.uniondemocrat.com/20110803104338/News/Local-News/Scouts-rescue-imperiled-hikers).   They did make it home by Saturday night, but Mark's feet were blistered and bruised, and his ankles looked like he was nine months pregnant.  Deservedly, he slept most of the way to Wyoming on Sunday!

The 4th of July and the Following Week

     Wow.  It is amazing just how much stuff can fit in one week.  As we all know, this last week started off with a national holiday:  The 4th of July.  Dad and Levi went down to spend some time with Grandma, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Mary families in Sanger, while Mom, Marta, and Tess went to Girls' Camp, and Eliza and Luke stayed home for work.
     Eliza and Luke's week was pretty self-explanatory, but they also had some extra responsibilities when it came to animals and plants.  While everybody else was gone, one of the chicks went missing, much to Tess and Levi's disappointment, and it appears deer attacked some of our tomatoes.  Everything else survived though.
     Dad and Levi left on Sunday afternoon and spent the 4th in Sanger.  Levi was worried about how he would deal without Mom and Dad for a week, but had a great time at the beach, in the valley, and in many pampering eating areas.  Dad, on the other hand headed to Sacramento after the 4th for a day of work, then  went to Girls' Camp to help with the overnight hike for the fifth year girls, and arrived home on Thursday just before Grandma, Aunt Mary, Noah, Isaac, and Levi arrived in Soulsbyville to spend a couple of days with us!
     Now.  Down to business.  Girls' Camp.  This amazing experience can only be explained in a large paragraph, so here we go.  The theme this year was "Home for the Holidays," which is seriously ironic considering that it started on the 4th of July.  Each day was a different holiday; Monday was the 4th of July, Tuesday was Easter, Wednesday was Christmas, Thursday was Thanksgiving, and Friday was Valentine's Day.  Mom was a Counselor for the group of second-years called the Little Bunny Foo-Foos.  It took us several days to make this mascot for her group, but as you can see, it turned out pretty funny...note the field mouse, American flag, garland for Easter, pants and ribbon for Christmas, dangly pumpkin/gourd earrings, and valentine belt.  Tess did the bunny artwork.

Meanwhile, Marta was a fifth year and the Junior Counselor (JC) for the Hunny Bunnies (a very sweet first year group) and Tess was in a third year group called the Thankful Hearts.  Every day we did things like BB guns, archery, throwing tomahawks and knives, building shelters, making campfires, singing songs, and zip line.  On Wednesday, each of us left on a hike and experienced wonderful weather.  Marta went on the overnight hike with the other JC's and it started raining soon after they set up camp.  Mom left with her second year group at about eleven and had several eventful things happen on their five-mile round trip.  They had to wade across a river that came up to mid-thigh, was really cold, and had a very strong current because of all of this year's snow.  Then, one of the girls had a strong allergic reaction to some dried kiwi, and it rained for half of the hike.  Tess's group left about two hours after everybody else, but got poured on with rain, and rather large-for-California hail.  (Thankfully, they didn't have to walk very far to get back, but they were still soaked through).  It rained until about 5 o'clock that evening and dried up just in time for skit night, which, sadly, we do not have any pictures of, but was very funny.  On Friday, the last awards were given out, and Tess's group did very well while Tess herself tied with two other girls for the best score in camp at a Defense Against the Dark Wolves course in which she threw knives and tomahawks, and shot arrows, with style.  Everybody had a great time.  It was simply amazing.
     At home on Saturday, we went to the lake where Eliza and Luke work and swam/played for several hours before things calmed down and we finally got some time to really relax and rest up--not for long though.  This upcoming week will be filled with all sorts of activities, including a Harry Potter Gala Evening prior to the family dressing as the seven Horcruxes for the premiere of the final Harry Potter movie at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.  Reports to follow.

The Houghtons, by Tess