Summer

Summer vacation started on Friday around here, so our summer list is underway.  We've already crossed off five.  

I'm most excited for Yellowstone.  I'm most not excited for spelunking - the claustrophobia kills me.  Should be a fun summer!

Our Soldier

My family doesn't really have a big military history.  My dad's birthday was number 4 on the draft list for the Vietnam War the year he turned 18, but the draft ended just before his birthday and he went to college and served a mission instead.  Of my two grandpa's, one served in World War II as a riflery instructor in Texas, but never went into combat.  My other  grandpa turned 18 in November of 1945 -- just a few months after the war ended. 

But Grandpa Max had an older brother, Harold, who served in the Pacific during World War II.  I never heard him talk of the war- he never did.  A few years before he died, an article about him was in the Idaho Falls Post Register and I want my kids to read it someday, so I'm posting it here for them. 

To him and all the other veterans, thanks. 

 

I.F. veteran to get Bronze Star after 54 years

David Eggert

---

World War II. With each passing day, month and year, more and more people in the world seem to forget about it. But the GI generation still remembers. That doesn' t mean they like to talk about it. World War II veteran Harold Christiansen, 76, of Idaho Falls, is one of them. "Like many people from his generation, he thinks ... he was there, he did that, and that he doesn' t need to talk about it," said Lonnie Scott, Christiansen' s son-in-law. But this morning, Christiansen' s acts in New Guinea and the Philippines will be recognized. Rep. Mike Simpson will present him with the Bronze Star, a second Purple Heart and five other medals at the Army Reserve Office. He never received the medals because he was reassigned to a different unit after the battles. The Purple Heart was established as the Badge of Military Merit by George Washington during the Revolutionary War to honor extraordinarily brave soldiers. It became the Purple Heart in 1932. The Bronze Star is awarded to soldiers who are heroic or have meritorious achievements during military operations. "I felt it was really necessary," Scott said of his father-in-law getting his medals. "He didn' t mention it to me at all. He wanted to kind of put it behind him, which is OK. But I told him it would be great for his children and grandchildren. Then he let up some." In early May, Scott contacted Simpson' s office for assistance. They tracked down Army officials and dug up information about the missing medals. They found the transcript, dated Oct. 9, 1945, recommending, that Christiansen, Company G, 162nd Infantry, be awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in the Philippines on March 14, 1945. "During the evacuation of the wounded it became necessary to cross open terrain, which was under intense enemy rifle and sniper fire. Sgt. Christiansen, with total disregard for personal safety, and at great risk to his life made two trips and evacuated the two wounded men to a position where blood plasma could be administered. The outstanding and inspiring courage of Sgt. Christiansen, was above and beyond the normal requirements of a rifle squad leader," the transcript said. Just before this action, Christiansen had stormed a jungle hill and engaged a Japanese machine gun, killing the three-man crew. The other machine gun operators retreated and he captured the weapons. "His prompt action prevented additional casualties and was largely responsible for the successful accomplishment of our mission. ... The outstanding, aggressive leadership, and inspiring personal courage which Sgt. Christiansen displayed were in keeping with the highest traditions of the service," the recommendation said. Christiansen served in the 162nd Infantry from July 1943 to January 1946. Originally from Newton, Utah, he returned to America and got a job with the Union Pacific Railroad, where he worked for 37 years. He lived in Idaho Falls, got married, had five children, 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Scott said that Christiansen switched to a new duty station after his heroics, and somehow never got his medals. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, the 162nd Infantry with the rest of its division, was preparing for an amphibious assault on the Japanese mainland.

Willard

We took our little fishing boat out to Willard Bay last weekend and a wild time was had by all.

Ben plopped himself in Daddy's pocket, aka his favorite place to be.  Every guy needs a good fishing buddy, right?

  

 

Annie spend most of the time telling Dad to go "full speed ahead."  She likes to just ride super fast over the water.  Trolling speed is not really her favorite.

 

  Annie dressed herself for the trip, which explains the skirt and backwards tights.

 

Cole, bless his heart, had a bit of a panic attack when we left the buoy's behind and went "full speed ahead,"  which gave Mom a good chuckle.  But don't worry, once Annie showed him how to be brave, he enjoyed himself just fine.

And here's a random tidbit of information - Cole never wears a hoodie shirt without wearing the hoodie.  It's like he just can't fathom that you would have the hood and not wear it.  I'm sure he shows up to school with spectacular hair some mornings.

All the kids were entertained watching Wally the Walleye who was kept in the fish keep (I don't have any idea what it's official name is, but it's where we keep the fish after we catch them hence it's unofficial name).  Never got old to make Mom get out of her seat so they could watch him swim back and forth through the fish gate.  

Since Ben is old enough to tag along this year, even Mom gets to go!  Wahoo!  Someone to entertain the troops while Dad fishes!

 

Goodbye, Sun!  We'll be back for many more sunsets this summer...

 

P.S.  You can't tell in the picture, but Annie laughed the entire time Dad drove "full speed ahead."  She really likes it.  Sometimes she'll even put her arms up like it's a roller coaster.

Shooting Stars

Cole and Annie both had their last soccer games of the season on Saturday.  I forgot the camera at Cole's game, but here are a few shots of Annie. 

I coached Annie's team this year and our name was the Shooting Stars.  Where we live, you sign up for soccer in the spring and are on the same team for the following fall and spring seasons, so Annie started last August right after she turned 4.  For the record, it was a little young.  She didn't do much and mostly liked sitting out and treats, but this spring was much better.  She was usually right in the thick of things and didn't need to sit out nearly so much.  Phew!

 

Great job, Annie!  Can't wait for next season...

(but actually I won't mind a little break from soccer...)

Eclipse

 Q:  How does a man on the moon cut his hair?

 

A: Eclipse it!

Like my joke?  I think it came from a Laffy Taffy wrapper back when I was in college.  Still makes me chuckle...

And in other riveting news, we watched the eclipse last night.  It was pretty cool and we even snagged one of the last pairs of eclipse glasses that the Ott Planetarium distributed.  Good times.  

  

 I thought about majoring in Astronomy until I considered the practical applications of such a major.  There were none.  Except maybe being recruited to be the official cub scout stargazing merit badge leader.  

I didn't major in it, but I took a few astronomy classes in college anyway and one time when I was at Ricks, I tried to take a test a week early because I liked it so much I had read ahead and was ready for it.  The testing center wouldn't let me.  So I tried again a few days later.  Still no.  Then I got smart and checked the syllabus and realized my mistake and had to wait a few more days before I actually got to take it.  But good news - I aced it.

(And FYI, at Ricks, all tests were taken in a testing center and not during class time.  Which I thought was fun until I transferred to Utah State and realized on test days, you got out of actually having class, which was way better.  And also, one time I got sent home from the testing center for wearing overalls.  Honor code violation).

The End.

Cousins

 My dad sent me an email last week that he received from his cousin containing this quote:

“Cousins are usually the first friends we have as children.

No one will ever understand your crazy family like your

Cousins do, even if you haven’t talked  to them much lately.”

 

 Craziness aside, these kids sure had fun playing together on Mother's Day.

This trampoline shot started out with all 8 grandkids...

 

...but the babies were having none of it and quickly scattered.

 

 But don't worry, they found their own kind of fun...

  

 

I would like to steal this little sweetie with chocolate kiss eyes every time I see her.  She has the sweetest little features and I don't think I've ever heard her make a fuss.  

 

Although it looks like she wasn't too happy about this picture pose...

 

Cole has been really upset with us lately because he doesn't see Nate enough.  He was in heaven having him at our house all afternoon.

 Thanks for coming to celebrate with us!  We had a great time.

And speaking of cousins, I miss mine.  I guess it's time we got together.

Still Crazy

The other day, Ben was being very funny and Cole was laughing hysterically - so was I.  I said to Cole, "that's why you have kids - because they are funny." 

Of course, it's not totally true, but it sure does make being a parent a whole lot funner.  Things that have made me laugh lately:

Cole: he's so grown up.  Seriously, like a teenager for good and for bad.  But every now and again, he does something that reminds you he really is still a little kid.  I adore those moments.  A few weeks ago, I ran a 5K and won.  Cole excitedly asks me every time I race if I won, so I was happy to report that I did.  And he was beyond thrilled, especially when I told him my prize was a $100 gift certificate.  He seriously thought I was the coolest ever.  Then he asked me what I was going to buy with my prize money.  I said, "I don't know.  What should I get?"  Cole replied, "A house in the country!" with such excitement that it nearly killed me to tell him I didn't have quite enough for that.

Those new running shoes are going to be so disappointing for him.

But maybe I could just win like 4000 more 5K's and buy him that house...

 

Annie:  she likes to be grown up too.  She especially likes it when she knows something Cole doesn't.  The other day, he was explaining to us that the real troublemaker kid in his class lives with his mom and grandma and doesn't have a dad or at least Cole's not sure where his dad is.  It was quiet for a few minutes and then Annie said, "I think they got reversed."  It had been a long enough pause in the conversation that I was totally stumped as to what she was talking about until Cole helped me out by clarifying, "You mean they got DIVORCED, Annie." 

She answered with a nod of her head and a "Yep.  That's what I said, I think they got reversed." 

I smiled a bit.

 

 

Ben:  the kid cracks all of us up hourly.  He's just quite entertaining.  He has finally decided to start talking and the first words out of his mouth every morning are "mawnmowah,"  which, for those of you not fluent in 2-year-old talk, means "lawnmower."  And then he proceeds to drag out the lawnmower onto our yard every.single.day.  And the blower.  And the weed eater.  And the bikes.  And the scooters.  It looks like we are having a yard sale every day, but it's actually just his own little fix-it shop.  He uses his "lello tooze" (aka "yellow tools") and spends hours each day fixing. 

His dad is proud.

 

Love you all, little cuties!