Graduation from the Intermediate Class

Copper completed his intermediate class last month.  Afterwards, all the dogs got to let loose and romp around the classroom for a while.  Copper's best bud/first girl friend, Daisy, (the black lab pictured below) has gotten bigger than him.

Ghost Town in a day and then some!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With John and Donna gone to California, and Larry attending Dragoncon, Shannon and boys and the Rudel clan decided to go on a little quest to see a ghost town. Ophir is located on the other side of the Oquirrh Mountians south of Tooele. This was quite an adventure and definitely more than what we bargained for.

The original glory of what used to be the town has all but weathered completely away except for a few buildings.

The kids thought they were on a tram in Disneyland. It looks like they are totally entertained. However, the tram is up on blocks and hasn't moved an inch in the past 10 years. Not really sure why the tram is there in the first place?

Ophir also has an old-fashioned phone booth, the kind that Clark Kent would use to change into his Superman outfit. The Mayor informed us that the phone company would charge him $200 a month for keeping it operational, so he said that the booth would grow old just like Ophir.

This is the old time school house. The kids thought it was really neat. I don't think they have ever seen a chalkboard and certainly not the inkwells. They also had a Dunce Hat on the corner desk. All the kids fought to wear it. Have you ever seen such an attentive group of students?

Strider taking everything in stride. He looks like he might be a road worker one day!

This is Walt, the Mayor of Ophir. Where do you begin with him? He most likely thought that we were a bunch of polygamist with the 5 kids, 2 females and 1 husband. We also told him we were from the other side of the mountain and that we both used to teach in Herriman. When we approached his house he called the kids over. He had a trap-like contraption and wanted the kids to look inside to see if he had caught anything. Natalie said this was similar to the mongoose trap John used to have. Of course, as soon as he opens the door this stuffed rodent-looking thing flies out of the trap scaring the kids to death. As we entered into a casual conversation with him, he became interested in sharing the entire history of Ophir with us. He gave us the Grand Tour of this ghost town turned RV Camp resort for the holiday weekend.

This is a marker Walt erected to certify that in 1887 on this exact spot "absolutely nothing happened".

Walt informed us that we could not spend the night in Ophir because the Hilton was full!


The Ritz was also booked up for the weekend.

I know things are going down the toilet quickly in Ophir. However, this IS the toilet in the Ophir jail. The boys were all intrigued by this" crappy" contraption.

This is one of the many mine shafts in Ophir. Walt wasn't going to let us leave without showing us a mine. Again, we got more than we bargained for.

The kids are apprehensive about entering the mine. The sign said Danger! Keep OUT!

Walt is wondering why a dead dear is hanging in the shaft! Without missing a beat Walt said, "Well, does anyone want to pet the nice deer?"

The mine is about 2 miles down and 2 miles south. It has a lot of sumps (underwater lakes) and faults in the mountain above so it blows very cold air out of the shaft. It was like instant A/C. The deer was there because it was cold.

The kids would have liked to take this old mine car down the shaft.


The Rudel's in front of a mine shaft.

Sydney not agreeing to smile which created a few tears.

The Rudel's in front of a stone building.

Walt teased us with saying the road over the Oquirrh's to Butterfield Canyon was a great drive for scenery. However, the road was less than desirable. In other words, lunch $22, gas $25, new shocks and struts on Shannon's van $625, new oil pan $423...... but the view was priceless.






The kids on the edge of the cliff. The view was better than Dead Horse Point, near Moab.


Overall, it turned out to be a 7 and 1/2 hour adventure that was fun and exciting. Just glad the van made it down the mountain and no one fell off the cliff.

-Jay

Crazy Hair Day

Sydney's masterpiece. I love it when she does my hair (despite the results). The pulling and tugging and twisting is like having a head massage and is so relaxing. I remember my mom begging for one of us to sit and style her hair while we were hanging out watching t.v. as a family. We'd put twenty clips in, rat it and nearly tie it in knots but she never minded. Now I understand why. There is nothing better after a long day at work.

1st day of school

Since I wasn't working yet I got to take Collin and Sydney to school on their first day. Sydney is starting 3rd grade and Collin, 4th. I can't believe how grown up they are getting!

Wind was blowing and sun was shining. Not the greatest conditions for pictures but great weather for the start of classes.

Park City

We decided to go to Park City with Dave and Karen, some good friends of ours, as a spur-of-the-moment/end of summer kind of thing. We found a great deal at a condo up there and there was a band playing at the canyons resort so we ditched our neighborhood barbecue and headed up the canyon. Our kids and their kids get along great and we knew we would have a blast.

Jay, relaxing on the grass, just before the skies opened up on us and rained out the concert.

Earlier in the afternoon, the kids swimming in the pool. I love the pics of Collin trying to make his swim mask work. He fought with it the whole time.

Say "cheese". This is Sydney's new "smile" when you ask her pose for the camera. Lovely, isn't it?
The kids wrestling for the blanket. It was "cold in the mountains", they said.

graduation and then some more fun

Copper finished his first training class (the puppy/beginning class) a couple of weeks ago. He is now well on his way to earning his Canine Good Citizen (but we still have a very long way to go). Isn't he so cute on graduation night? Sydney and Collin were so proud to have participated in some of these classes.

Pictured below: Ruger, the jack russell terrier and Copper posing with their proud owners. Daisy, Copper's black lab friend couldn't be there that night.

Copper even let us put a cap on him. Sydney was happy to wear the other one.

It was kind of sad but the same week he graduated, we took Copper in to be neutered. Poor guy! He looks so mad at us in this picture for making him wear the dreaded cone of shame. Truthfully he was pretty fine wearing it, despite bumping into doorways, walls, etc. for almost a whole week.

Having to relearn how to eat out of his bowl :-(