I’m the pancake man!
My kids have the greatest dad.
He makes pancake men for breakfast 
Category Archives: Clark
Table Rock
We drove the family to Idaho Falls last weekend, and (after ditching the kids with Dad, Mom, and Liberty – thanks guys!) we hiked Table Rock with some of the extended Ricks family . What a spectacular hike! We climbed about 4000 ft in 4 miles up the steeper trail, and then meandered through the valley trail on the way back down. Great scenery on both trails.
Of course the highlight of the climb is supposed to be the view of the Grand Teton from the top of Table Rock, but that will have to wait until next summer.
NOT because I didn’t make it to the top, I DID, in the midst of a raging blizzard. Obviously though, there wasn’t much of a view. Oh well, next time.
This is Table Rock BEFORE the blizzard!
We stopped for lunch at the tree line on the way down – We were freezing!
The storm swirled around us, sometimes snowing, other times the sun would break through, but it was cold!
Our life saver came in the form of my always prepared husband. In the twinkle of an eye he had a nice cozy fire burning. 
AAAhhh! It was so nice I almost sat on it!
What a perfect day! I can’t wait to do it again next year!
Camp out
Clark too the boys camping a few weeks ago. I’ve never seen them so excited! They climbed into the truck before Clark had even STARTED loading it.
Summer has begun!
While I am feeling like it is time to move back to Alaska, my kids don’t seem to mind the heat at all.
Perhaps I need to follow their example and get a little wet.
Backyard Barber Shop
One of my favorite things about spring is that the Backyard Barbershop opens.
That means the Kitchen table Barbershop gets to close for the season.
Checking out their hair
The Bees have Arrived
I found these in the garage today. Let’s see. Four packages, each containing 3 lbs or about 10,000 bees, that’s around 40,000 bees all together! Better stay away if you don’t like bees. These packaged bees come from pollinating the Almond crop in California. Each package has 3lbs of bees, a can of sugar water to feed them during transport, and a Queen bee in her own little cage. Clark’s job is to move the bees from the package to their new hive.
When working with bees, the first thing to do is suit up. If this is not done properly, bad things can happen (just ask Clark). This is the rule unless you are a photographer, in which case the bees will leave you alone. – They like getting their pictures taken.
After suiting up, Clark takes out the queen cage and replace the cork with a marshmallow. The worker bees will get to know the queen while they eat through the marshmallow, and when it’s gone, the queen will come out and start laying eggs.
Clark puts the queen into the hive, sprays the package with sugar water to keep the bees busy eating and then shakes the package into the hive with the queen. He puts the cover on and leaves the package nearby so the slowpokes can join their friends in the hive.
There you go, simple as can be.
Excavating
I have discovered there is very little that my husband can’t do. And this week he added another skill to the list of things he can do.
Operate a backhoe.
He decided we needed another terrace on our back hill. So he rented a backhoe and dug one.
Now isn’t that nice?
All in a Weekend
The reason for the abundance of photos is simple. I’m still having fun with my new camera.
Saturday morning we went to the BYU museum to see the Walter Wick exhibit. He’s the author of the “seymour” books. (Anyone knowing Daniel well will understand the significance of this) I took a few illegal pictures in the museum. Ignorance is such bliss.
Clark took some time to practice his newest hobby. Much cheaper than my newest!
And of course, Hannah looked cute.
Sunday morning Daniel made juice.
After church we took a walk,
and then played outside for a while.
Daniel gathered the eggs,
and Hannah hung out on the trampoline, looking cute.
Until Ben took a turn to show off some amazing tricks.
And that was it. The end of another great weekend.
Spring Hike
You will probably get sick of all of our walk/hike photos, but that’s just what we do in our family, and here’s another batch. This time the weather was almost 70 degrees, and we just couldn’t stay in. We are visiting all of our favorite spring trails in turn.
Clark the pack mule. Umm, maybe the pack daddy? Well, you know what I mean.
Ben loves to jump, and I love my new camera that can catch him air-born!!!
My handsome boys.
Sweet Hannah, happy as can be!
Danny walking down the ditch.
Family Adventure
Spring was in the air, so Saturday found us on a family hike/adventure of sorts. We followed a trail that is tucked up along the side of the mountain behind our house. The boys had a great time. First they noticed all the feces. Deer, Elk, Horse, and even a pile kindly left by Yukon were all carefully observed. The conclusion: “It’s ok to step on deer poop or elk poop, but never step in dog poop, it sticks to your shoe and stinks REALLY bad!” I politely refrained from taking any pictures of this lesson.
Once they got over the abundance of the previous subject, the animal tracks were pored over, closely followed by the discovery of a deer carcass.
This provoked much excitement and speculation about the mountain lion that killed and ate the deer. Notes were taken on exactly what parts were eaten and which were rejected.
Then the obvious question of even greater significance and concern. “WHERE is that mountain lion right now?” Ben started peering anxiously around every bush. I quickly assured him he had nothing to worry about, “Yukon will protect us” (I think….maybe?) But it made Ben feel better.
Finally a little detour straight up the mountain, and the reward, a glimpse of a herd of live deer that the mountain lion hadn’t eaten…. yet (so kind of him).
A great time was had by all.
