Pioneer Days

Rainbow Campground @ Big Lake in the White Mountains.

Clothier Family.

Pyro boy = Burned Hair

We caught more crawdads than fish.

Shumway School House. One room school house built in 1900.

Snowflake Temple

Rodeo Grounds in Taylor where we watched the fireworks and rodeo.

Cotton Candy. MMMM.

Pioneer Parade in Snowflake.

Fruits of her Labor

Tia's new venture this summer was a lemonade stand. She brewed some home-made limeade and lemonade complimented with Otter Pops and Airheads. Tia and her trusted helper Jonathan set up shop on July 3rd and 4th.

Her famous recipe that she no longer needs to follow. Dumb Dad.

We picked a spot behind our wall on the busy corner of Bald Eagle for maximum exposure. American flag, duct tape and a play cash register from about 5 years ago that worked real well. Oh and don't forget the tip jar for excellent service.

It rained a little but that didn't stop the entrepreneur's spirit. The show must go on!

Jonathan kept spending his money on Airheads.

The Clothiers van full of people helped to boost sales. They were very happy after another satisfied customer.

After Tia took out her tithing and paid back her loan for cups, sugar, ice, candy and lemonade packets she was able to enjoy her profits.

The Fruits of her Labors! Cash!

Bee Killer

After arriving home from swim lessons Jonathan asked why there was trash stuck in the tree while sitting in the back of the car. Ruth told him there isn't any trash up there. Jonathan asked why the trash was not blowing away because it was a windy day. Ruth looked up in the palm tree when they got out of the car she noticed it was a blob of bees under a palm leaf. She asked the kids to be careful and called me at work. I in turn called a friend in the pest control business to ask some advice.


He told me that you need to cover yourself head to toe because the bees will attack the face first. He said that it is best to wait until dark to take care of them because they are dormant and will cause less trouble. So I proceeded to cowboy up and find all of my old ski gear from the college days. I waited until 11:30 PM to attack the hive and protect my children from the killer swarm.

I thought about duct taping my pant legs and wrists but I decided to live dangerously.

Once I was properly outfitted with the help of Ruth I proceeded to mix the potion while sweating like crazy. Dish soap and water. I know, that's what I thought. It can't bee that easy. So I dug in the garage for my sprayer and squirted in about half a bottle of dish soap from a small bottle. I added it after I filled the sprayer with water. Ready to rock and roll.

The sprayer was pretty heavy with all of the water so I made sure I had the sprayer working before I climbed the ladder of no return.

Luckily the bees were sleeping. Ruth shined the high beams from the car so I could see and I got in position to climb the ladder. My friend told me that after you give them a good soaking they will start falling off in about 10 minutes. As I climbed the ladder I was expecting a rush of bees so I prepared to spray them even if they started attacking until I was stung. I even had a plan where I was going to jump after the counter attack.

When I started to spray them nothing happened and they hardly even moved. I proceeded to soak them real good just to make sure the bees on the inside sampled my potion too.

Bee Bubble Bath.

The morning after I found a bunch of dead ones just below the palm tree and about fifty crawling around on the ground and in the street that couldn't fly. Mission accomplished.