We are going to Washington tomorrow, but the car still isn't packed! 
Here are some pictures I took of my friend Emily yesterday. If you can't see the slideshow, click in the white area where it should be, and then it should start up.
Brittany and Tyler were married yesterday in the Idaho Falls Temple. Here are some pictures from their wedding & reception:
When it rains it pours.....that was this afternoon's motto. It was raining so hard that the drops were just bouncing off our sidewalk and driveway. Actually when it started to rain, the drops were so big that it sounded like hail on the windows. We also had the thunder & lightening and wild wind. The wind blew down plenty of bird's nests in the yard. The lightening must have started a fire somewhere- even in the pouring rain, you could smell the smoke....but Aaron went out hunting and couldn't find the fire.
Later in the evening I took this photo. It's our plum tree...."and this year's plums go to- yes that's right, to the birds!" There is all sorts of green golf balls under our plum tree- way too much wind today. Bummers.
We are in a drought....and haven't had rain in such a long time. It's been even harder when the temperatures are in the upper 90's- 100's day in and day out. But today we figured out how to get it to rain. The last time it rained was when we were cutting hay (6 weeks ago) .....until today....again we are cutting hay. This afternoon a storm came in, down pouring water, thunder & lighting the whole works. Not really what any farmer wants, when the hay is down. Taft was swathing, Drey raking, and Aaron stacking & baling....but that lovely production has come to a stop for a day or two.
Taft Paxman Williams turned 13 years old on July 6th. He is now just over 5 foot ( 5' 1/4") and weighs 104 pounds. Taft is strong.... he took a bag of sand out of the car trunk, walking across the carport with it, the bag weighed 100 pounds, almost as much as he does!
For his birthday, which has become a tradition, we went camping. The above photo is from camping, he is eating his blond brownie...which was close enough to a birthday cake!
This year he has learned to bale, using the equipment to run the one ton baler. Aaron says he does a better job than the hired man....Taft watches behind him, having less broken bale problems. He also understands where to drop off the bales, making it easier for his dad when he picks them up and stacks them.
As part of the celebration of Taft's birthday, our whole family went on boat trip down the Snake River. The adults in our family went on the same trip a couple weeks ago, check older post for scenery photos. Here Taft is trying his hand with fishing, which a couple of them did, without luck. 
One of the high lights of the trip was watching some of the jumpers off the bridge. Sometimes they land in the water, thus the reason for the boat near by. Other wise they land in a flat area behind the clump of trees. There were two jumpers that night, who jumped twice.
Tilmann & Taft are looking at a hole in the rock forms. There are a few of these, which happens with the strong currents over time, and smaller rocks in the hole moving around. Often the holes are perfectly round. It is beautiful down in the canyon, peaceful on the water...and a great place to eat. We were grateful for the Jensen's (our potato farmer) to take our family on a boat ride.
This is my older brother Jon, who lives part of the year in Alaska on the Aleutian Chain of Islands- Sandpoint is where his home is. I've decided that a Fisherman's Life is much like a Farmer's Life....long hours and always something that needs done.
I love the above photo- he is holding a King Salmon. Behind him is Korovin Island. Jon's neighbor sent me photos, so I decided to post them...Mom will love seeing them!
Jon's neighbor- Tina, explains the photos; "The fish in the basket are red (sockeye) salmon and the big fish he is holding up is a King salmon. Reds bring in the highest price. They are a redder and firmer fleshed fish. Jon setnets so he has a net(s) set with anchors or is anchored to the shoreline. He takes the skiff to go out and pick his gear. They then deliver the bags of fish to a tender vessel which comes by during the day or is sometimes anchored near. The small vessel is the boat Jon runs in the summer. It is small, but perfect for setnet fishing and he does live on it during the fish openings and comes in during the closures. He has one crew member. The weather is decent in the summer so the size of the vessel is not an issue. The June season is over now and the July/Aug season on the islands open around the 6th."
Jon's Alaska home...a moment of peace in the morning.
Photo of Jon by the shed stripping a net.
This is our suburban....it sits quietly on the back part of our driveway.... But something happened to the window of the car. Could this event tie in with the fact that Tilmann has been saving his money and finally bought a BB Gun? A gun which by the way worked for a day, and now it's busted. But Tilmann says he didn't do it....it's not the only BB gun in our household, and the brothers wanted to try the new BB gun.....so who is busted?
We figured who ever did it, didn't realize that the lilac greenery in the yard does cover the fact that there is a car on the other side. (see below photo) Tomorrow the window is getting fixed.
Rex & Denise Hoyt and their Whole Family were in town this weekend, for the celebration of (Denise's parents) Russ & Ardith Weaver's 50th wedding anniversary! We've missed the Hoyts (they moved away a year ago) & I am sure we aren't alone....so I am posting a few family photos. (You can click on the photo to enlarge)
This is looking like a great corn year. We've been looking forward to the 4th of July so that we could get a picture of our corn. It's a little bigger than knee high - in fact it's close to an elephants eye. Corn growth is one of the miracles on the farm. Our temperatures are right around 100 and the corn grows about 4-6 inches each day.