The Grogan's est. 1998

Letterboxing

My Mom called me Tuesday night and told me about this thing that my sister Allison kids do with their grandparents and that I needed to check out the website. It is really cool. I was a bit confused and thought that they played on online game with them...but when I logged on and went to the site...I got excited!! I am always looking for new things to do with my kids and looking for adventures. If you are the same way then, this is for you!! Go to www.letterboxing.org

The kids had three days off of school this week, so it was perfect to try this out. Basically it is a worldwide treasure hunt. There are clues left on this site and you follow the clues and find the treasure. Dylan, Sammie, and Wesley thought treasure hunting sounded like a fun plan for the day too! Wesley even went to the closet to find his pirate shirt to wear for the outing. I explained to them what we would find and they were all for it! Hidden in random places are these boxes or bags with a logbook and stamp. Usually the clues tell a story behind the stamp. You go around with your own stamp, stamp pad, and log book looking for the letterboxes. When you find the letterbox, you stamp it with your own stamp and write your name and the date. We struck out the first two places we went...and we went on hikes to get to some of these places too! (; lol

We got to our third place and actually found it! It was in the Star Idaho cemetery and I told the kids to please be quiet and respectful. Here is part of the clue. Look for the woman pointing to the heavens, once you find her go to the tree behind her 200 paces. Once you get there look inside the hollow of the tree to find Oogie Boogie and then it told of Oogie Boogie from Nightmare before Christmas. But when we actually found a letterbox, I got so excited and I screamed...the kids looked at me and said I thought we needed to be quiet?? lol

See the blue lid of the plastic box??

We found four on our first day! I was so thrilled...and so were the kids. This is something to do again! There are over 200 in the Boise area alone. And no matter where we go to visit, we can find more in the area. There are 20,000 in North America as well. The site is updated pretty good to let you know if the boxes are still there or not. Very fun treasure hunt!!

My day off!

Have I told before that I have an amazing husband!!? He is so sweet, thoughtful and so amazing! I love him dearly! Last week I had a rough time. Dylan got sick...pneumonia. He was sick ALL week. Poor guy was so sick and so weak. Dave knew I was tired and told me that on Saturday he wanted me to go out and have the day to myself. So I did! I asked Dave's Mom to come with me and enjoy the day. It went something like this...

Craft Warehouse

Boise sandwich place where they have amazing sandwich, make their own onion rings and chips. YUMMY!!!

Homegoods where I wrote out a LONG wishlist.

Boise mall where I found MAC and other fun places.

Saw "Love Happens" It is awesome...go see it!! and ate at Applebee's.

I had a fun day out and it was great that I didn't have to worry about the kids or anyone but me! Thanks for thinking of me Dave...I love you!

GO BSU!

BSU is a phrase that is heard all over Boise. I have to admit that when I heard it at first, I thought that people were rooting for Black Student Union...and I was confused. Never has a Union gotten so much community involvement. But no it is for Boise State....FOOTBALL!! I have never seen so much school spirit EVER in my life! The people of the Treasure Valley are crazy! You know when they is a game because not only are the cars decked out...but the fans are too. And they aren't even going to the game! The craziest weekend was the first game when the played and killed I might add Oregon State. We watched it on TV...it was fun. Then the next day was crazy too! Maybe I just live next to a ton of fans! We are USC fans....trying to become BSU fans since we live here.

We were lucky to be able to go to one game with Dave's boss, the owner of ENP Larry and his wife Mirenda and another co worker Dave and his wife Alisha. We had so much fun! We sat in the skybox and met some really cool people. It was a great evening and it was fun rooting for BSU...even though by the end of the game, I started to root for Miami because they didn't score at all the whole game. We had so much fun! Thanks LArry for thinking of us and for the great night!!

Where we ate dinner and sat for the game.

The view from dinner.

Dave and Shannon...sky box tickets baby! haha

Dave and Alisha Luke

Larry and Mirenda Leach

I call this guy..."the super fan". I thought he either bought the ring or his son or grandson plays for BSU...no he just donates $5,000 a year to the football program and buys $4,000 of season tickets for himself and his wife. They were a fun couple and told us alot about the program and the guys who play for BSU.

The smurf turf.

On TV it is hard sometimes to see the players...but in person it wasn't so bad. I have said that they maybe why BSU has so much success..the other team can't see them on the smurf turf! haha

This wasn't the final score...but dang...come on Miami at least put a fight up! BSU is a really great team!

After School Root Beer Floats

When the kids got home from their first day of school, I had root beer floats waiting for them. We then sat down and drank them together and went over their sweet and sours of the first day at a new school in Idaho. Here is how it went down for them:

Samantha

Sweet: I like my teacher. I have 4 best friends....and they are ALL girls. I like my desk. We get to go to Music class. I like my teacher, she is so nice. The school is cool because it has hallways and I don't have to go outside. I like to walk home. I have 4 best friends.

Sour: ummmm.......ummm.......hmmmm...I don't know.

Dylan

Sweet: I like that I can go pee in the bathroom here. It is clean and safe. Bad things don't happen in there here. (WHAT?!!!!!!!??? You are in 5th grade! WHAT?!!! I called my Mom since she is the secretary at their old school to address that one! ) I like my class and teacher, she drives a harley.

Sour: I don't like going to school. It is too early. (School starts at 9am)

Both Dylan and Samantha are bright and talented students. I know that they will have a great year at this new school! We love it there at Lewis and Clark!

Peaches

*This should have been posted a month ago, but I got busy...so here is the first of my marathon update to my blog!*

It was news to me that the Church has ORCHARDS! I don't know why it surprised me or that I didn't know..but I didn't. We had an assignment to go and pick peaches and fill these vats full and we would be able to glean the ground as they fell and take them home. So we all went to check it out and to help out the ward. I was amazed at the size of the orchard, and to learn that not only do they have peach trees, but also 3 different kinds of apples, pears, and apricot. When we got to the orchard and our wards spot, we were told that the church had what they needed and to please pick as many peaches as we wanted and take them home! We had one box and two plastic bags...so of course I had to go and get more(: I have NEVER canned a day in my life! My Mom has, but I never learned which was dumb, because I know she would've taught me. I am learning so much from the women here! It is a way of life in Idaho...everyone cans, has gardens, and gets produce off the farms here. I ask alot of questions, which probably seem so bizarre to them , but I really just don't know! So I am grateful to be in a ward with great and talented women who can teach me these things. I decided to can jam, peaches, and make cobblers and freeze them. Let me tell you, so much work, but worth it and so fun! Since it has now been about one month since then, I am happy to report that I have used the cobblers and jams and peaches...so my work has been worth it! I have also gleaned apples and tomatoes from a friends garden and canned that as well. I love learning how to live more thrifty and to enjoy living off the farms, gardens, and orchards here. Next year I hope to have a garden...we will see how that goes...

Our wards peach tree row.