Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter...

As you may know, we Houghtons are hard-core Harry Potter fans, so here's a Harry Potter post:

I apologize for the irreverence, by the way.

After I read these, it took me about an hour to stop laughing. 

Love, Marta

Labor Day Weekend: Love, Marta

You'd think that since our family has such a great work ethic (ahem... cough, cough...) we would spend LABOR day working in the yard or something right?  Nope.  For the first time in their lives, Mom and Dad spent Saturday of labor day weekend sitting on the couch and watching the tennis and the world track competition on T.V.  Needless to say, all of us kids were shocked, and so we  took advantage of the once-in-a-life-time-opportunity to sleep (for hours), read, play on the computer, and do regular teenager/tween stuff.  It was great fun, I assure you, although Mom and Dad are still horrified every time they remember that they had a whole entire day and all they did was fix the leaky sink and clean the church!  It's a shame we didn't get some photographic evidence.

On Sunday, church was attended, and our numbers were more than doubled by the number of guests we had.  The primary was huge for a day!  After church everyone took naps (again), and later we had a lovely dinner of steak, pealoffe, veggies, etc with our Auntie Julie and her good friend Loyd.  It was fun, and Mom and Dad enjoyed the adult company.  There followed many stirring rounds of "Pajamas", a card game Dad had allegedly played many times as a boy.  There was much cheating involved, and let it be said that easy cheese and card games should not mix, as Dad reminded us repeatedly.  When midnight began to loom, Mom and Dad finally began to stop partying and there ensued a battle over Tess's comforter which did NOT end in tears.

Monday morning came, bright and early, and we enjoyed Labor Day pancakes, and Mom, Dad, Levi, and Tess headed up to the Eagle Meadows area to hike and enjoy the day.  Luke went to work, and Marta stayed home to do homework and post on this blog (shh).  It is important to note that today is Luke's last day of work for the season, because the Twain Harte lake will be closing.

 The conquering life savers shall retire for the season

Luke will be free to return to his school endeavors.

Meanwhile, Eliza has (FINALLY) announced her new public health: epic-demiology major  (epidemiology for those of you who didn't get that)  Luke is happy that he will soon have a fellow germ-a-phobe in the house.

I would now like to add a few pictures to elaborate on former blog posts that I believe were inadequate.  You know what they say, a picture can say a thousand words:

 This is a picture of our HP 7.2 costumes.  the two extra non-Houghtons are Camilla and Logan Richardson, dressed as the Gray Lady and Gelert Grindelwald.

 Here we see Luke, Dad, Bishop Dearden, Eric, Brother Evans, Ian, and Brother ...Evans' son-in-law on top of Mount. Whitney

I wanted to say hello to anyone reading this who doesn't know me.  My good friend Willard is eating me in this picture (Willard is our guard-crocodile)

Sorry for any bad grammar, punctuation, etc.

Living A Nightmare?

Not Eliza's room.  She has more stuff.  And a cuter quilt.

For several years now, perhaps because I have intended to re-enter the workforce at some time,  possibly in conjunction with pursuing a PhD, I've had a recurring nightmare that I was moving into single-student housing at BYU (that means 6 people per tiny apartment), with some if not all of my family. . .and other roommates, and I was trying to figure out what I would major in (as school was starting). Now I don't really remember many dreams, but this one occurred with such intensity and frequency that it has become a nightmare staple.

So last Thursday night at 11:30, when after car problems in the Automobile Bermuda Triangle bordered by Elko and Wells Nevada (we've had many many breakdowns in that area), we finally arrived at Eliza's apartment, I was brushing my teeth at the sink and I realized, "I'm living my nightmare!"  Only it's Eliza who's trying to figure out her major, and I'm not staying in the apartment with paint peeling from the bathroom ceilings and minute kitchen countertops that never get wiped down and a refrigerator crammed with six cartons of milk.  Nice to wake up from that one and return home!  Phew!

Had wonderful visits with college friends who are amazing people and remind me of life outside Soulsbyville, and got to see nieces (and accompanying loved ones) who live in Provo.  It was remarkable fun helping Eliza get settled, even if it involved moving vast quantities of belongings that had been ransacked in her storage unit by critters with both two and four legs, and schlepping said belongings to the third floor apartment.  I miss her already.

And the gang at home managed beautifully, even breaking the "no work on summer weekend" rule and putting in border brick around the lawn.  Don't you think it's time for them to blog about their activities?

Denise

Summer's Over?

First day of school this week, or should we say "days."  Tess had high school orientation on Tuesday, which Marta and Luke both attended as part of the orientation team.  Then they all started officially on Wednesday.   Well, that is all but Eliza, who will begin classes at BYU on August 29.  Truth is, the real challenge begins tomorrow, when the three high schoolers begin seminary at 5:55 a.m.  Somehow, that seems more brutal than previous years' 6:00.  It will be especially difficult as everyone's a bit short of sleep and used to a much later schedule.  Two of our scholars (who will not be named. . .) began their school year on little (two hours) and NO sleep Tuesday night.  And that's not because they were excited.  It's because they are PROCRASTINATORS.  Ahem. . .

On to cheerier topics:

• The tomatoes keep producing and producing and producing.  
• Mom and Dad actually completed their Saturday to-do lists--not sure if that was because they were efficient, or the lists were wimpy.  
• Levi's soccer season began, and he is enjoying being one of the big kids on the team.  Still lopes about the field and seems overly polite when it comes to attacking the ball, but he's learning!  
• Marta is learning that Varsity water polo is meaner and dirtier than the Frosh/Soph game.  And she seems to like it that way, in spite of getting two fouls in a row even though "the other girl was the one grabbing her suit and pulling her under." 
• Tess survived the twelve-hour band play-a-thon.  
• Luke did a beautiful job cleaning out the Bronco and has resigned himself to driving it. . .under threat of prosecution.
• Eliza continued to save lives at the lake.  
• Mom and Dad made it to the temple--Fresno this time.  That means three different temples in the last three months.  
• And the good news is, no jury duty for Mom--this time!

Oh, and there was the birthday.  Although admittedly, it was Denise's wish to go to the gold mining ghost town Bodie for her birthday, she does find it curious that she celebrated such a day in a town that is being kept in a state of
"arrested decay."  Is that what swimming does to a body of this age?  Eliza made a marvelous gourmet dinner and delicious banana split ice cream cake.  Yum!

And speaking of curious things, does anyone else find it somewhat interesting that all our girls' middle names have the ree sound in them?  Marie, Irene, and Karina.  Hadn't noticed that before!

Finally, last night Luke showed real character!  (The good kind.)  It may not seem particularly positive to him right now, as he's exhausted and probably disappointed and embarrassed, but he stood up to peer pressure to keep commitments and do what he knows is right.  Then even though he wasn't in until after 3 a.m., he made it to 9 o'clock church and all the way through even the meetings afterward.  The good guys are cheering right now!

And that's the wrap on our crew this week!

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!

Houghton Reunion

Last week we had a marvelous time in Cody, Wyoming at our Houghton Family Reunion.  Everybody but Luke was there (in our immediate family) and had an awesome week.  Sadly, all of our cameras got left at home, so we don't have any pictures.  :(

The reunion started off with a very sick cousin, and a rainy day.  Yes, it does sound very ominous, but things got better pretty quick.  Instead of the planned horseback riding, we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum (because of the weather) which held guns, art, replicas of nature, and just about anything you can imagine that went along with the Wild West.  (BTW: Cody, Wyoming is the rodeo capital of the world).  That night we went back to camp, played games, and ate like the royalty of the camping world.

On Tuesday, we went to Yellowstone.  Once there, the first stop we made was at fishing bridge which is famous for being above a point in the river where you can see the bottom and all of the fish right there.  However, thanks to the very wet year we have had, we could only see dark, deep water.  After that we went to the sulfurous hot springs, and then to a waterfall to eat lunch.  After that came the beautifully colored sulfuric-smelling pools, which looked like this from the pathway:

After that we went to another waterfall, and then, finally, to see Old Faithful.  It was spectacular.

We got home at about 10:30 that night to more good food, and nice warm sleeping bags.

Next, on Wednesday, we finally went horseback riding which was great fun.  The horses were all beautiful and great with us.  Only two or three people at the reunion really knew how to ride horses beforehand, but by  the end, the six-year-old great-grandson was certain that he could have been a fully-fledged cowboy.  We then went home to lots of game and some people went kayaking down a nearby river.

When Thursday finally came around, everybody was looking forward to getting wet going river rafting.  The ill cousin was finally able to participate and everybody was happy.  Our entire group fit in one raft with a great guide and had an amazing time.  Most people enjoyed getting wet and our guide was great at soaking those that didn't.  On the calmer parts of the river, we had water wars with our bailing buckets and our four people in kayaks.  After giving our report, Grandma decided that she could have and should have gone with us.  Later in the evening, we went to the famous Cody, Wyoming Rodeo.  They have that rodeo every night for the entire summer, rain or shine.  One of the announcers was a clown-literally-and had an entire little show for us.  It was Great!

Friday, boys' day, let's go shoot some guns day!!  And so we did.  After shooting for what seemed like forever to whoever didn't shoot, everybody headed back to camp for more food and joy.  That night we had planned on going to a drive-in movie, but nobody wanted to see the show that was playing, so instead we went to see Cowboys and Aliens at a different theater.  Everybody agreed that it was Okay, although a little bit ridiculous.

The last day was Saturday which mostly consisted of packing up and rolling out.  We finally got home at about 4:30 on Sunday and were all glad to sleep in our own beds.

Tess

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