Just For Laura - SPUD DAY!

Ahhhh, Spud Day.

Spud Day; the day we wait for all year long. Where all things potato are celebrated and therefore mocked by myself and my sisters, and now my daughter.

I am posting this mainly for Laura because she is as big a fan of Spud Day as I am! The rest of you just get the benefits of our obsession.

The theme this year was

SPUD PARTY USA!

Gotta love it! As always the parade began lining up in front of the house early. We gave the Dance Studio permission to decorate, store and line up for their float in our driveway. I will point out that they had permission, but that didn't keep people from feeling like the side access driveway was just another piece of sidewalk that just HAPPENED to be black and just HAPPENED to run RIGHT THROUGH the yard. I had the Dance Studio owners move their cars on to the driveway to make it stop. I also made a point of saying how much I DID NOT appreciate the foot traffic through my yard as a WHOLE BUNCH of people were walking through. I didn't end up with a house that was egged, toilet papered, forked or stink bombed; it is all good!

Here is a Spud rocking out. . . . . Those are some mad Guitar skills!

And the Cub Scouts marched for the 100th Anniversary of Scouting. They just looked so patriotic. Some times I think the things I love most about Spud Day are things like this; moments where the world seems like it is still as innocent as it once was; not the one I know exists now.

Yep, these people brought their goat to the parade. I bring my dog, they bring their goat I guess. I wonder if the goat sleeps in the house like Koda does. . .

Here comes the Dance Studio.

There is Tacey doing her Parade Drill Routine. They did an exceptional job. I do wish, however, that they would have spread their lines a further apart. Then I could have seen her better!

Ahh, again we have cute Kelsey Cox as the official Cox Honey Bee. I do admit, I had never had Cox's Honey before. I bought some the other day, and maybe it is the lack of sugar I have had in my diet, but I SWEAR it is the best Honey I have EVER tasted! You are all getting gift boxes of Honey Christmas. . .

The candy, Yep, the candy. We left with Ice Cream buckets full of candy.

He's holding a ton of candy, it weighed him down and he moved out of the picture. But believe me, it was a LARGE handful.

Okay, there is a Reverend who is working really hard to start a Baptist congregation in Shelley. However, I think the fact he was leading an

ACTUAL BIBLE STUDY

ON THE FLOAT IN THE

MIDDLE OF THE PARADE

is going to make people wonder if he's any fun!

Yep, got to get noticed to get Candy. . .

At this point in time McCade was playing the role of Little Jake in a local production of Annie Get Your Gun. Between school, football & the play he was VERY tired so I didn't wake him up so he could go ride on the float. He was VERY upset with me. When the float passed by I let him go run and jump on it. He rode it for about two blocks then I made him jump off and come back. It was a compromise, he still wasn't really happy with me, but he would NOT have been happy AT ALL if I hadn't let him get the extra sleep.

The free potatoes. . . a MUST on Spud Day! This is Tacey's cute friend Sarah. She has lived in Shelley for quite awhile and she had NEVER had a potato with cheese and sour cream on it! actually, she had never been to Spud Day wither, and I find that wrong on so many levels. I am surprised they hadn't revoked her citizenship. She gave the fattening toppings a big 'thumbs up!'

Tacey got a temporary tattoo. I was NOT pleased with the placement of the tattoo. I gave her permission to get it, but I figured it would go some place that wouldn't be quite so risky to show. I have now learned. IF I even let her get another temporary tattoo, I will be VERY specific about WHERE she is allowed to get it. *sigh*

Miss Russett making sure the mashed potato pit is ready for the best part - the SPUD TUG!

This is my neighbor, Holly. She ends up in the Spud Tug every year. This year she and her team won the Junior Division! GO HOLLY! She still ended up in the potatoes though, her friends 'helped her out'.

And the best part; the Missionaries.

Okay, I was disappointed in the Missionaries this year. They ditched their suits but still retained the 'shirt and tie' look by wearing T-Shirts that had ties and name tags printed on them. The back of the T-Shirt had the tags of their entire team on them. I can't help but wonder; Pocatello, Idaho isn't high on the list of Missions a Person dreams of going to. Do they warn them about the Spud Tug when they get transferred to Shelley?

Getting the potatoes into the pit. . .always a highlight.

At first the Missionaries did a 'demonstration pull' against employees from the local Channel 3 news. You will notice the anchors are no where to be found. They went into the potatoes a bit quickly, I think they lost on purpose. . .

In the end, not only did they NOT wear their suits, they didn't end up in the Potatoes AT ALL!
Total Rip-off!

This is the team that ended up winning. That guy on the end was crawling along the dirty, slightly mashed potato infested ground.

It was a Happy Spud Day!

Missed You LAURA!

Danielle

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Dallin participates in the Gifted & Talented program in the school district. He has ALWAYS enjoyed it. In previous grades it was just an afternoon a week, but now that he is in 6th grade it is an actual class that he gets to get on a bus, ride to a different school to a special classroom/lab. He finds this really cool.

Recently they had been learning about water displacement, Archimedes principle, density. . . things like that. The project that did to help them utilize this new knowledge required them to build a boat. To make the project even MORE exciting, he was only allowed to use a cardboard box and 1 roll of Duct Tape.

Today was the launching; I went to go watch armed with my camera. (Not that you would expect anything less, right?) I must add that we had two BEAUTIFUL days before today; the weather was clear and it was between 70 & 75 degrees. TODAY, it was 48 degrees, cloudy, windy, rainy and the water in the OUTDOOR pool was only 65 degrees. BRRRRRRRR!


This is Dallin and his partner Paytin. I told him he was lucky she was a tiny girl; he could have ended up with one of the heavy football players from his team! That is their boat; number 83. I should remind you that 83 is his football number; it was also his Dad's football number.

Yea! It floats! There were some different constructions, but box-shaped seemed to be a common theme.

They look VERY pleased that it is floating.

HA! It took FOREVER, but I got the video to upload AND embed! Woot! Woot! Enjoy! (Yes, you do hear Tacey yelling. I got her out of class to come watch. Should have probably gotten Mac too. Oh Well. . . . . . )



Dallin got his boat to the other side of the pool; he got extra credit for making his own paddles. When he got to the other side his partner joined him in the boat.

Unfortunately, by then the paddles were almost gone. They really didn't have much of a chance once they could no longer move across the water.

Like the Titanic, the cold water was the un-doing of the boat. Here he is about to abandon ship.

He couldn't jump fast enough.

That's a pretty big hole on the bottom.

He then joined a bunch of kids (5, ALMOST 6!) in another boat. They were seeing how many people they could put in the boat and still have it float!

At first it seemed to go well.

But again, slow sinking proved to be a powerful thing.

In the end, there were kids with hypothermia symptoms, so we pulled them out of the pool as fast as possible. They were having fun, so it wasn't as easy as it sounds! No one died; all boats were eventually in soggy pieces, and the Mom's all had a great laugh! It was a good day!

Danielle

Football; McCade

McCade has played more football this year than Dallin, merely because his coach took them to the Jamboree. The Jamboree allows each team to opportunities to 'get out the jitters' and try their newly acquired skills on another team. They get 15 minutes at Defense, and 15 minutes at offense no matter the outcome.

McCade is number 50. He, like his brother, plays defensive end. He also plays on the Offensive Line and is on Kickoff return. Here he is in action.

Okay, I have to explain this picture. The rules of Grid Kid football give weight limits for each grade. For 5th Grade, up have to be 125 lbs. or below to play; if you weigh between 125 and 135 lbs. you can only play offense. IF you weigh MORE than that, you have to play up a grade. This kid that is blocking McCade is actually a 4th grader that didn't make weight and had to play on the 5th grade team. IN FACT, my friend did the official weigh in that day, and this 4th grader tipped the scale at 254lbs. Seriously, I have no idea how that kid passed his physical. Anyway, to have McCade trying to block a kid that is 3 times his weight; THAT was really funny.

I'd explain what is going on in all these pictures; if I knew. But, I just take them; I don't claim to understand the intricacies of football. SO, if you can figure them out; GOOD JOB!

HAHA!

Danielle

Football; Dallin

Dallin LOVES football. I mean, he REALLY LOVES football.
I have tried to figure out why he loves it so; he has a large team. He doesn't start, so he doesn't see as much playing time as some of the other team members. These things don't matter; he simply loves it.
I have thought long and hard about this, and I think it is several things. First, he really enjoys the technical side of Football. His little (actually, really BIG) brain really understands the game. At any given time he can tell you who did what, why they did it and what they could have done to make the play more successful. Unfortunately, his body does not move as quickly as his mind; yet. ( I am VERY hopeful). He also enjoys the feeling of being part of the team. And, then there is the added bonus of getting to hit people for no reason in particular. But, I think that may be a 'boy thing'.

In any case, he is a handsome football player and looks really good in his gear. Here are several pictures of him in action. He is number 83; his Dad's old number.

That's him in the front of the huddle.

He works so hard at Football. I have great hopes that he will continue to improve and play for as long as he wants to!

Danielle

Court of Honor

Dallin had the advantage of going to Scout camp this summer because his Dad went. Usually Boyscout Camp is reserved for those Scouts 12 and older. Today we had a Court of Honor; he has been a Scout for almost a year now as his birthday is in October. He has worked really hard and today was the payoff. This was the first of many Courts of Honor I am sure he will participate in.

That is his Scoutmaster presenting him with his 4 Merit Badges he earned at camp; Wilderness Survival, Emergency Preparedness, First Aid and Leatherworking. First Aid and Emergency Preparedness are required for his Eagle. Has 11 required Merit Badges, but must earn a total of 21 for his Eagle. Really, as long as he is active in the Troop he will attain everything he needs to and have completed his Eagle Project before he is 14. We are very excited!

He also completed the ranks of Tenderfoot, First Class and Second Class. These are super-cool since I get pins to wear to show his accomplishments as well.

We are VERY proud of him.

Danielle