A Look at Life on the Other Side of the Border

Neal

2012-02-07T09:20:00.006-07:00

On Sunday, Neal (Mark is out of town) and I decided to go for a drive into Waterton. The weather was spectacular last week so we decided that good weather = a Sunday drive.

I love how the sun is shining a goldy/orange on the mountain tops and this reflection? It just does not happen very often here! Waterton and wind kinda go together.

Just me and my boy :)

Neal's favorite picture. I sure wished I had brought my camera.

Phones work.

If you look close you can see the moon.

Neal and I had a good afternoon hanging out, delivering cookies, and visiting with some of our favorite people here in Leavitt. It was a good day!

Michelle and Jordan are Engaged!

2012-01-28T09:19:00.003-07:00

Can you believe it? We're having a wedding! Jordan proposed last night and I am telling you, Michelle is one happy girl!

It will be in the Salt Lake Temple, but no official date yet.

Christmas 2011 Pt 2

2012-01-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

First off....HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This was taken at a party in Waterton with my phone. Nope, I wasn't there. I fell asleep at 9:30 pm watching The Walking Dead in bed (dumb), woke up at 12:30 and missed it all. I really should not have gotten that comfortable. Look at Rachel! She just returned home from her mission to Italy a couple of weeks ago.

Neal and Clark finally finished this really cool little project. Clark made one similar to this for his place in Hawaii. A bed, a desk, an organizer, a "whatever you need it to be" kinda place.

Neal has a friend whose dad was collecting old cars from the farms around here, to crush and make some moola. Before they were crushed Neal went over and took all the cool emblems off of the vehicles and this is what he is doing with them.

Game time with Lou Lou's family on Christmas Eve.

It's nice having older kids for sure. They can check Neal out of class. Our family had an important activity. (see below)

Our family took a turn at the soup kitchen on the Blood Reserve. Mark and I have done this quite a few times with various organizations and I thought it would be a good thing for our family to do together.

We provide the food for between 40-75 people and then serve them. Some of these people sleep here at the shelter and might be the only meal of the day for some of them. They are very appreciative. A lot of them make a special point to thank us.

A couple of days after Christmas we had a little Cahoon get together. "Little" is so relative here. We had around 30+ people from age 7 months to 91 years old. We had a potluck appetizer meal, played games and visited. It was a nice evening!

We love Aunt Edna! She is Joyce's sister in law and actually double related to Mark, through marriage and also genetically. It can be crazy in these here parts, let me tell you. She is 91, remembers everything about everything and also has a son who is serving as mission president in Australia. That's not all, her daughter, along with her husband just received a call to be mission presidents- French Speaking. They haven't been assigned their place yet, but will be one of three places that are open. Aunt Edna is a wealth of information and Clark is loving this conversation. I actually can look out my kitchen window and see Aunt Edna's grandmother's house/log house. Ann Eliza Baker was the midwife in Leavitt and surrounding areas and never lost a baby!

So there you have it, the Cahoon happenings of the 2011 Christmas season. I need to add that Michelle had her 4 wisdom teeth taken out after Christmas. That was not fun.

Christmas 2011 Pt 1

2012-01-02T19:30:00.012-07:00

Christmas is over and the kids are gone. Just like that! The good thing is that they will all be back in mid February when Laurel has her mission farewell, and then the week that she enters the MTC, Neal has the week off of school so we can spend the whole week in Utah with kids and have more fun.

Here is a quick run down of some of our holiday time together.

Notice the roof? Mark can't help himself when it comes to any kind of roof. He has to be in on the action. Neccos make perfect shingles.

Laurel and Michelle having fun before the ward Christmas party.

And the boys doing the same.

We love our family stockings for two reasons.

1) my mother knit them all. Mine is, of course, 51 years old

2) they stretch, which is very important when Santa fills them.

Lou Lou's family came for Christmas Eve dinner.

Love when that happens!

A Christmas morning tradition that our family enjoys is having homemade cinnamon rolls. So so yummy!

Our "crazy" family picture. I have no idea what I'm doing, but it does add to the weirdness for sure.

Maybe you have heard that we have no snow. We drove to Waterton hoping to find a hill to sled down, but it didn't happen. Not to say that it wasn't cold though. A frozen waterfall.

It has been a fairly windy winter and this is what happens when the wind blows. The snow blows away.

Cold and windy!

Windy and cold!

Happy 21st Birthday Michelle!

2011-12-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

Oh Michelle!

Michelle

Michelle, please don't grow up anymore!

I know you'll never be too old to fish with your daddy,

but please don't get too old to cuddle with me :)

I hope this is your best birthday ever!

We love you, Clark, Brad, Laurel, Neal

Mom & Dad!

They're Coming Home!

2011-12-11T14:17:00.003-07:00

The 4 big kids are coming home next weekend and it's gonna be fun!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. I think this has been our most "low key" one ever. Lou Lou's family wasn't able to make it so it was just the 6 of us ( Clark is still working in Hawaii).

Michelle doctored up the turkey this year with garlic and rosemary.

Michelle also set the table. Michelle loves being a homemaker!

We played Ticket to Ride a few times. Brad was the high winner twice with scores of 207 and 197. Whatever Brad!

There is just something about a mommas bed isn't there?

The girls and I went into Lethbridge for shopping and sushi, which was pretty yummy. The bento, not the shopping.

Yep, another game. See how happy everyone is while waiting for Mark to take his turn?

Brad and Michelle took a drive up to Waterton and this is what they found. It is not summertime anymore :(

They also found the elk hanging around. No bugling, but still very cool. Sometimes you can see hundreds of elk.

This is a little rest stop just the other side of the border. I like how Old Chief is there in the background just hanging out. This was taken on a mail run to Babb. With no shipping on most items these days and no Montana tax, shopping online rocks!

Sunrise.

Our little local paper is little, but once or twice a month it is packed with information. Do you see Laurel's name?

Poor Michelle was SO embarrassed when we met up with Lou Lou at Costco. Like, really embarrassed! Lou Lou and I usually plan what we are going to wear when we are together even down to our hair. One of us has to wear it up or down. This time it didn't happen and look what happened! We're twins, it's gonna happen!

Just a few more weeks and we will ALL be together again!

Old Chief

2011-11-20T01:21:00.001-07:00

Old Chief is a landmark here in southern Alberta. The funny thing, is that it is in Montana, just barely over the border. People climb Old Chief. A few years ago, I thought it would be kind of fun to get a group together and climb Old Chief when I turned 50. Didn't do it, haven't done it and I don't think I ever will. I might change my mind, but I'm just not feelin' it. Clark climbed it this summer and LOVED it and now he wants me to climb it with him next summer. Maybe. Maybe not.

We look out on Old Chief every single day. He is just outside our kitchen window, our bedroom window,and our living room window. He is always changing because the weather is always changing here. You see him when you drive, when you hike, when you fish, when you motor bike, when you ride, in the summer, in the winter, in the spring, and in the fall. He is everywhere, most of the time.

I decided to post a few pictures of Old Chief.

This is one of Brad's favorites.

I really should be facing the camera.

This picture and the next are some of my favorites. Mark and I were driving home from fishing and I had him stop so I could take these two pictures. It was at the end of a summer day and the sun was hitting Old Chief in a way we don't see from our house.

From on top of a horse.

This was taken right outside Neal's school last year. Graduation from "grade 9". He is now in high school in "grade 10".

Taken from inside of a truck on our way to the community pasture round-up in September.

Spring time, nope late summer? How about mid summer? All I know is that I love the blue and the green!

The crazy thing about this picture is how close Old Chief seems to be. This was taken from our deck. We are not very close to him at all from here. I don't know if it is the air, the weather, the sun, the moon, the stars, but he seems to keep us on our toes.

This was taken at the US border crossing a couple of weeks ago. A different shape all together.

Clark took this and the next three pictures this summer on his hike up Old Chief.

Old Chief is very narrow at the top due to erosion.

Cwark is so big and bwave......huh Brad? ( I just want to see if you read my blog Brad)

Just a Fun Day with Lou Lou

2011-11-10T16:30:00.001-07:00

So I am a volunteer for Find A Grave. I know. That sounds kinda weird. A couple of summers ago I was helping a woman that had contacted our Bishop, to find some pictures of distant relatives in this area. She was related to the Cahoon's so the Bishop thought I would be a logical choice. Sure, why not? Her inquiries made me a little more interested in how we "met up" so in my searching I happened upon the Find A Grave site. It was pretty interesting and figured I could help. Within the last couple of months I have been contacted through Find A Grave to photograph headstones for people who are interested in finding information on their families. All three cemeteries were in Montana, right over the border in and near Browning. I figured this was something I didn't want to do alone and knew that Lou Lou would want to come along, plus we figured it would be an adventure too.

This is the Cahoon Hotel in downtown Cardston. Yes, it is our Cahoon family, but not as close as you would think. This "hotel" is not a hotel anymore. It is really run down in the inside, like really rundown, and it is the kind of a place where undesirables might live and hangout at. Anyways, I was sitting in the car waiting for Lou Lou while she was picking something up, and thought I would use my new found setting and take a cool picture for fun. Thus the start of our day.

So Browning is a town where the Blackfeet Indians live. It is a small town just outside of East Glacier. It is flat, and windy, and kind of an unkempt town. We pass through here on our way to and from Utah. We always stop at the same gas station to fill up one last time and get our favorite US treat. Mine would be Hostess Snowballs, Neal likes the Hostess Chocolate Pies, and Mark loves their chicken wings. Anyway, this is a picture of St.Michael's Cemetery. Super interesting. Graves just placed here and there in no particular order. A few little walking paths and nothing is kept up. You gotta click on the picture to get the idea. We were looking for 3 graves here and found 2 of them.

There are some neat places to stop at. There is a Blackfeet Museum and a big shop that sells some neat native items, but we decided to go to the pawn shop. It has some interesting items for sure. Pendelton blankets, clothing, boots, and more used socket wrenches than I will ever see again. There were buckets of them. Weird.

And saddles. Lots of saddles just stacked on top of each other.

Our next stop took us to Dupuyer which is about 30 miles south of Browning. No problem. We have enough gas to get there and back and plus I am sure there is a gas station there. Our family has gone through Dupuyer maybe 50 times or more. Nope. No gas station. We did see this pump, but it was just on the side of the road and clearly this pump was not in working order. We didn't really know where the Dupuyer Cemetery was so we decided to drive 30 more miles to Choteau where I knew there was a gas station for sure. We didn't want to go searching and searching for the cemetery and use up the last of our gas right? Guess what? When we headed back to Dupuyer the road to the Dupuyer Cemetery was at the end of the block where this gas pump was. Oh, and we found who we were looking for here as well.

Choteau is a neat little town with some character here and there.

Dusk is the time to watch for deer.

This is the entry to the Holy Family Mission Cemetery. Yep, we are adventuresome. It looks darker than it really was, but really, it was a little dark to be headstone hunting. We had to look for Charles Choquette. He was kind of a big wig in this area and his name was on the information board at the opening. We couldn't come all this way and not try to find him. We had no luck though. When we go to Utah in better weather we will have to get off the beaten path and see what we can find in daylight.

It's pretty vast out here on the Blackfeet Reservation. This has info. on Charles Croquette if you click on it.

The graves are interesting for sure. Lots of plastic flowers and momentos. We thought this was interesting. It certainly tells a lot about the person. I know, you are probably thinking that this is a weird picture to post, but it's interesting and it certainly added to the experience.

Yah, I ran over old barbed wire. Oh and to make this creepier, when I was taking a picture of the entrance board (above), I heard a gunshot. No word of a lie! It wasn't like right near us, but I could kind of hear the richochet. Lou Lou said it was probably from hunters so we were good. We weren't going to come all this way and let a little flying bullet stop us. No Siree.

This is actually Lou Lou, but I have the same jacket and shoes so really, it could be me too.

Volleyball

2011-11-05T20:40:00.002-06:00

I thought I had better do a post for Clark, Brad, Laurel, Michelle, Grandpa Hatch, and for those of you who would go to Neal's game if you were around. I guess this is also for those who love my Nealster .

Yep, the team is Cardston Cougars, and yes, their colors are blue and white just like BYU. With the Cardston Temple literally across the street you could guess that the church is pretty big here in these parts.

Watch for #12

#12 is the second guy from the back.

# 12 is at the net on the right.

#12 is clapping because, well, Cardston got the point.

Hey Brad, did you know that you were #12 when you were on the NP team your senior year? Yah, and Neal uses your knee pads too.

PS Mark just informed me that he had #12 on his High School jersey for basketball.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-26T07:52:00.012-06:00

I kinda think this is the first year we have carved pumpkins since moving here. I'm not sure the real reason for that, although I blame it on the move. I suppose it took me out of my rhythm. All holidays and celebrations have changed since July 2006. But thanks to Laurel we had a real Halloween Family Home Evening on Monday night. Pumpkin carving, roasting seeds, and root beer floats.

I have a new camera. Remember me mentioning that I lost my "less than a year old camera" in the pasture? My new camera (Cannon PowerShot ELPH 300HS) has some fun settings. This one above is the toy camera setting.

Neal and Laurel were very creative this year. It's a good thing we took this picture soon after carving because the next morning we woke up to a sad looking mummy pumpkin. Our dog chewed the pumpkin to pieces. We have a funny dog. Right when the pumpkins came home, and after Laurel walked in the door, Rio ate the stems off.

Neal is interested in logos these days as you can tell from his pumpkin carving. He has a friend whose dad is collecting old cars and having them crushed for money so Monday after VolleyBall practice he zipped up there to take off the vehicle logos. I have to admit this collection is pretty neat, hey Clark?

Kalispell 5k

2011-10-13T00:06:00.005-06:00

I had another excuse to go to Montana. My second 5k. I'm not sure what part of the weekend was the most fun. The friends, having Laurel come this year, eating out, the shopping, singing to the radio, the hotel stay, the laughing, the run. It was all just plain fun.

Barb is missing :( She is our inspiration and running expert. Last minute she came down with the flu so of course she wasn't able to come. Laurel came instead to be our photographer.

See the lady to the right? She was in my sight pretty much the whole time. And you know why? Because I saw her walking at times and thought to myself, "I'm not gonna walk, I'm gonna run the whole way". At one point I saw her holding her side, and I felt bad that she had a cramp. She would run and I would see her walk a bit, then she would run, and then walk a bit. But then you know what happened? She beat me. And not by a lot. Maybe 20 seconds. Not a huge huge deal, but after I realized we were in the same age bracket and that the first 3 runners (I was 4th) in each bracket got a little something I was kinda disappointed. Had I known right I would have really boogied. So my next run, I have decided that whoever is in front of me, you know, in my real close proximity, I am going to sprint to the finish line.

The thumb is up, I did it again!

When this picture was being taken I thought it was cute that Laurel and I were sharing earphones, but looking at the picture it looks kinda silly.

It's hard to compare the two runs because the courses were different. Last year the course was flat and this year the course was not, but I am still happy with my time. I only added 1 minute. I was really surprised at my time because I felt like I was going so so slow at times, but then realized that I must have been going at a pretty good clip otherwise. I don't run outside, only on my treadmill with no incline at all. My thought has been that I just want to be able to run with not stopping but after this 5k I want to increase my speed as well, for next time. A friend of ours just qualified for the Boston Marathon so I think I'll pick his brain for some running tips.

I'm not sure what Kaylynn and I are doing, but clearly Dixie was the only ready for the photo and we had to get a picture with our 5k t-shirts.

The Call Has Arrived!

2011-10-06T15:42:00.011-06:00

I am guessing you all just want to know details right? Ok, here goes.........

Argentina Buenos Aires West and she reports to the mission home on February 22.

She is so happy and so are we! We love you wittle waurel wee!

Head em' up & Move em' out !

2011-09-26T16:35:00.002-06:00

It's round-up time in the community pasture. In order to be able to keep your cattle in the community pasture, you have to have shares. More shares = more cattle and this year there were close to 1000 cattle which made for 4 full days of rounding em' up. And guess what? I was there. On the back of a horse. For 2 full days. As you know, one of my favorite things to do is helping with a round-up/cattle drive. Love it!

On our way at 7:30 am. The community pasture is 4 miles square that borders the US which is right under Old Chief. fyi....Old Chief is in Montana.

It takes a lot of cowboys to round up 1000 head of cattle. Besides having trailers to bring your horses, you need trailers to haul your cattle home in.

When you have so many cattle to round-up you need to be organized. A group will get together and decide who goes where and then off you go and hope you find some cattle. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't but that can be fun because you never know what you will find. When our little group went out we came across one of Dixie's cows that had been killed by a wolf.

You need to click on the picture to see the cattle and the cowboys in the distance.

Just bringin em' in.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is so "cowboy" to me- so true western and I am so lucky to be just a small part of it.

Drivin em' down the road towards the corrals.

Look who we have here. It's the home stretch for these guys.

Horses can go quite awhile without drinking so when they cross the creek they want to drink. Horses suck the water. Did you now that?

Here are the holding pens. You bring them into one big corral where they are then sorted one at a time down a pathway and directed into the right corral. Each corral is designated for the person who owns the cattle.

Each man you see is at the gate opening of their corral. One guy at the end yells a person's name and then that person opens the gate to their corral and their cows goes in.

The gals just hanging out watching the men work. Dixie, Shauna, and I.

(Shauna's daughter is the first young woman you see in the video)

Loading up the cattle. Shauna's husband and two sons are there. It's a family affair.

I thought I would take a picture of Downey, the horse I ride these days. She is a good horse. fyi..... my father's saddle is on Downey and I am so happy to be able to use it. He made it while he and my mother were living in Samoa working for the church in the 80's. My father is a cowboy at heart which makes him happy that I am learning how to ride and that I enjoy it so much.

This is Tiffys Lucky Wrangler. She is yawning after a hard days work.

I hope you all don't mind posts about cows and horses. I don't have any grandkids, so I suppose this is entertaining me until that happens.

Happy Birthday Neal!

2011-09-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

Sixteen years old! 16 years old. My youngest child is 16 years old. That's weird to me. In 3 years his mission papers will be in.

Neal is super loving the motor bikes this year. They have been out of commission for a couple of years due to wear and tear so Neal is making up for lost time.

The pictures below are now and before instead before and after.

Happy Birthday Neal!!!

Summer Days

2011-09-14T16:50:00.001-06:00

Summer is just about over and that makes me sad. We've had a pretty nice summer this year and it is going to be hard to let it go.

Here are a few random pictures taken from the camera that popped out of the right back pocket of my Wrangler jeans while riding my father's saddle in my friends pasture(s). Yep, I went to take a picture of the cattle on the rolling hills with Old Chief in the background against a blue sky and low and behold when I went to fetch my camera from my right back pocket of my Wrangler jeans, it was gone. And the thing is, where do you even begin to look for a camera when you are in the third pasture of the day. My camera is gone forever!

Mini Chuckwagon races right in downtown Cardston.

Brent and Marge are our neighborly neighbors. Brent is a rodeo announcer and Marge is a super seamstress! I just love 'em.

We moved this nest from our garage door opener onto the window sill in our garage and the momma bird was still attentive.

Rio is a gopher catcher. She has her nose down the gopher hole. Crazy dog!

Laurel's 23rd Birthday photo. Love her!

Huckleberry picking on a ski slope. You pay 10 dollars, bring your own bucket and pick till your done.

Logan's Pass in Montana

The birthday boys.

Lou Lou and I didn't spend as much time together as we hoped to, but I'm sure we will make up for this fall.

I did a fair amount of riding this summer. I added about 50 hours to my riding hours and earned myself a 100 hour rocketbar to add to my 50 hour patch. I am enrolled in the riding club for AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) and with that you get little "prizes" along the way. It's kind of fun actually. I'm always up for incentives.

Our 51st Birthday! I really don't like the way that looks or sounds. At. All.

The creek. "27" to be super exact. Long story. Short story. Sad story. "Goodbye "27". We have loved visiting you for generations but good things must come to an end." You know that song from the 70's? Why can't we be friends? Yah, too bad we can't all live in harmony when it comes to sharing the land.

Goodbye summer. It's been great this year and hope that next summer is just as good, but let's get going a little earlier than July. K?

The Creek

2011-09-04T20:10:00.000-06:00

Our creek visits to "27" are dwindling. It's a sad thing. "27" refers to section 27 when looking at a land map. Generations of the Cahoon family have been going to "27" for a very long time. We have pictures of Mark's dad back in the day at "27", and Mark when he was a teenager. We have pictures of our kids at "27" taken throughout the years and it is one of our family's favorite spots in the whole wide world. There is now a NO TRESPASSING sign posted at the last gate. What? Are you kidding? We were lucky enough to have a day at the creek for our family reunion (we asked permission), but it just isn't the same when you have to call the owner of the land to go to the creek. We have a new part of Lee's Creek to visit. It takes a little longer to get to and it not quite the same, but at least we can go without breaking the law.

The fishing is good which makes Mark pretty happy.

Ok. So I always try to remember to take my camera when I go to fun places because you never know what you will see right?

Bear tracks!

Coyote

Deer

Raccoon

And I think these are Bobcat tracks, along with bird tracks.

So although it is not "27", at least we still have a creek we can visit without any hassles.

Happy Birthday Laurel!

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

We all love you!

A Hawk Story

2011-08-28T07:00:00.008-06:00

A few weeks ago, on our way home from the creek we found this baby hawk sitting in the middle of the gravel road. Mark had a plastic bin in the back of his truck so he emptied it out and put this hawk in and brought it home. It seemed that maybe one of his wings was a little injured and we didn't want it to be left on the road. We also thought that maybe he might have left the nest a little too early and wasn't strong enough to fly away.

Don't let the look on Clark's face fool you. Look at those talons. Clark is acting like it didn't hurt. It hurt! Clark named him Mordecai. It is a Hebrew name meaning, little man. Good choice.

Brad wanted a turn to hold it too. It's not everyday you get to hold a hawk.

Whenever we put it in the tree it would sit for awhile then try to take off but he always ended up on the ground. Just wasn't quite strong enough.

Every few days Mark worked with him. He put a tether on one of Mordecai's' legs to give it exercise, knowing it wasn't strong enough to really go anywhere. Mordecai always ended up in a bush or a low branch. Out here in the middle of nowhere we have foxes and coyotes so we wanted to make sure Mordecai could fly when he needed to.

Mark would whistle at Mordecai and sometimes Mordecai would whistle back.

My foot.

See? He is headed for the bushes.

We kept Mordecai in Rio's old dog cage. Mark would faithfully give it water from my turkey baster( I know, super gross) and meat from leftovers. Look at Rio with his tongue hanging out.

After a few days of our food Mark went out and shot a gopher. You
should have seen Mordecai grab onto that gopher. He acted like he knew what he was doing. Animals are so instinctive. You forget sometimes.

After almost three weeks and three gophers we decided it was time to let Mordecai go. He had started getting really antsy in the cage and more vocal.

There he goes........

And here he sits, in our backyard, in a tree right over our fire pit. There are two hawks, a male and a female, that have nested right next to us and they did not like Mordecai at all. They had a baby that they were teaching to fly so they were very vocal and protective. They have settled down now. Mordecai has a unique cry so we can here him in the mornings. Really. Honest. This morning when I was in the kitchen I heard him so Mark went out to the field behind us and saw him. He seems to hang around "home". These hawks are territorial and have one mate for life. They also migrate from here in the winter to South America and other far off warm places and then head back home in the spring. Mordecai has a red tie on his one leg so we will be able to recognize him forever and always.
More about the Swainson's Hawk.

Don't Go Michelle!

2011-08-25T08:33:00.004-06:00

She didn't listen to me. I went into her room this morning and even made her an offer. "Michelle, let's run away and live together and we can cook all day. Don't go back to BYU".

I know she is gonna miss us and we are going to miss her too!

But here she is, happy as can be, which is the way it should be.

Just take care of that sweet car Michelle. You know how I love to drive it when it is here.

WE LOVE YOU!

Leavitt Ladies Ride Again

2011-08-18T20:59:00.015-06:00

Our second annual ride yesterday was as much fun as last year, but sad to say we were missing some fun gals. Hopefully we can do this again within the next month or so. We gotta hurry cuz it could snow any day, really. That's how fast it can happen here.

We decided to go to the community pasture again but a different area. Can't tell you where though. North, South, East, or West? I don't know. It seemed to me we went straight, then right for a long time with some turns and then up a hill. That's how I work.

We are all here. That's me, the shadow.

This is the top of Pole Haven. We are looking out over our area of Mountain View and Leavitt. I think everyone is looking at Police Lake. Am I right? Payne Lake is to the left behind the trees.

There is an old ski cabin that was built in 1939 that is used by people in the area. Neal has been there with his scout group a couple of times. Didn't know that!

I was a little hesitant to open the door because I didn't know what to expect. For all I knew, bats would fly out. But I was pleasantly surprised. It's hard to see here, but every inch of the walls and ceiling had names of everyone who has ever been there. Of course I didn't know that Neal had been here until after I got home, but his name is there also.

Of course I had to add my (our) signature. I'm not sure it matters if you are 15 or 51. Why not?

I wish we could have gotten everyone in this picture. Dixie was the picture taker, shucks!

Lunch time!

Our horses were in grass heaven.

This is the best we could do to get a group shot. I had to set my camera on a stump pretty far away, set it on timer and then run and get on my horse before it clicked. I barely made it!

Kaylynn, Dixie, Me, Shauna, Jill, Hali, Joy, and Pam.

The weather was perfect! We could not have asked for a more perfect day to ride.

This was fun. I like the sound of the hooves on the rocks when going through a creek. I also love to hear horses on pavement. Just sayin'.

Thirsty horses.

Just a shot of me with my horse. I rode Downey this year and Shasta last year and even though Downey gave me a hard time, here at the top of Pole Haven, she is still my first choice.

And there you have it, the tale(tail) end of the day. See how my pony tail is the same color as Downey's tail? Just thought I would point that out.

Campfire

2011-08-16T21:14:00.006-06:00

We have a new campfire spot. The only bad thing about it is that is not near any water. It has other benefits though so that's alright.

I guess if there is no water to play in then Rio better just hangout with us.

Michelle was taking this campfire stuff very serious.

Brad and Michelle found this sweet spot and built this fire-pit with rocks collected from around the area. Hopefully before Michelle leaves for school we can put up the tent and have a real camping experience.

We had hotdogs for our dinner and then s'mores of course. But after the s'mores we had another yummy dessert. Bannock. It is a native indian bread that you cook over the campfire. After you cook the dough wrapped wiener sticks slowly over the coals you then dip it in honey butter. It's pretty darn good. The kids love it.

Bannock
8 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Mix together and add 1/2 cup melted butter and 3 cups water. Be careful not to make the dough too stiff.

* you can half the recipe, it makes a lot

After dinner Brad and I took some pictures as the sun was setting.

Look where our new campsite is. It's in our very own backyard with all the conveniences of home whenever you need them!

Date Night

2011-08-14T15:22:00.006-06:00

Our date nights have changed drastically in the last 5 years. In California it was usually dinner out and maybe a movie with friends. We never go to the movies and never go out to dinner. Our dates are much much different now. We love getting in the truck and roaming the hills of the Cahoon Homestead and surrounding land. A couple of weeks ago, we ended up on a hill overlooking Lee's Creek and we saw something pretty neat. A pack of coyotes , we thought, playing around. We mentioned this to someone and they told us that they had heard there was a pack of wolves hanging around the creek so we think that is what we saw. Wolves!

Last night we wanted to see if we could find the wolves again. No wolf in sight!

I'd rather do this than go to dinner and movie any day!

Cahoon Reunion 2011

2011-08-10T11:21:00.008-06:00

Another Cahoon Reunion has come and gone. They come every two years, roughly, and usually last a few days with every minute planned so as to make the most it.

I couldn't do a post about the Cahoon Family without a picture of the two of them that started it all. We missed Lervae who passed away 5 years ago.

Here are 10 of the 11 children Joyce and Lervae had. Colleen passed away in 1982 and was the last girl born, right before Orlan (far right). Oldest to youngest, left to right.

On Friday we hiked to Crandell Lake and had a picnic then went to the Waterton townsite for outdoor games. Can you see the balloons in the air?

The 5 cousins. Neal, Bethany, Kelsey, Kaden, and Caden. Caden is actually a 2nd cousin to these guys and just a year younger than Neal. You get that kinda thing in big family.

You gotta have relay games. After you run you go to Grandma and she gives you a licorice.

In the evening we had a subway dinner at the Waterton church and then the always popular and family favorite, talent show. Every immediate family can participate twice. Here are Bethany, Michelle, Tessa, and Laurel singing. They sung at the Waterton Branch the week before and also the Sunday of the reunion in Leavitt. They have that song down!

There is always the parade. Neal played the drums like last year in the marching band where his uncle is the band teacher. Kaden and Tessa also played drums, the drums, however you say it.

And the creek. Gotta go to "27". Always. The other half of the group is on the left side of the tarp tent.

Another family picture. Brad was able to break away from Kalood and joined us for a few days.

On Sunday after the family dinner, the adults had a sing song time in the chapel. Merlene brought some choir music for us and we also sang hymns. Cahoons love to sing the hymns together. Pam is playing the piano.

In the afternoon we all went o the cemetery to visit the graves of Lervae and Colleen. We sang, Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other, around Lervae and then sang the song that Colleen wrote for her parents 40th Wedding Anniversary, We're Thanking You around Colleen's grave. This little cemetery has so much history of Leavitt. Our children are 4th generation Cahoons to live here.

Ready for some Cahoon Family Facts?

Joyce and Lervae married in 1942.

They had 11 children.

They have 57 grandchildren.

They have 77 great-grandchildren. (Kennedy decided to have her baby, #77, on the way to the reunion, Saturday morning, and joined us after dinner on Sunday)

There have been 35 mission served, 3 by Joyce and Lervae.

And 43 temple marriages.

Oh, and 24 grandchildren have not started families yet.

129 family members were here with 51 missing. Yep, 178 posterity. Crazy isn't it?

**these numbers might not be super exact. I decided to see what I could do on my own during Sunday School class. Yah, I know. I am supposed to be listening during SS, but it has never been my favorite hour of the three hour block. Sorry?

POW WOW

2011-08-07T07:45:00.004-06:00

Pow Wows are the Native American people’s way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships, and making new ones.

A few days ago Cardston and the Blood Tribe held their 4th Annual Pow Wow here in town. We have heard that it is a pretty amazing event so we decided to go this year. I took a few pictures of the competitors, which as you can see, were all different ages. Every single costume was different.

This is part of the opening ceremonies. Our town mayor is in the center with the traditional head dress.

So cute.

They pick a Pow Wow Princess every year. The girl in the white was the winner for 2011. After being named Princess she and her family and friends walk around the arena where anybody can join in and walk with her. They play traditional music as you walk to the beat.

I thought this teenage girl was so pretty and poised. The bead work on this costume had to have taken hours and hours to make.

He is one of the "Chicken Dancers". Yep, they move all over the place.

These girls are "Jingle Dancers". Those little silver pieces are metal bells that jingle with a neat sound when the girls dance.

The event started a little late so we weren't able to see all of the dances and I think it would have been hard to really do justice without a video anyway, but I think you get the idea with these costume pictures.

The Birthday Boys

2011-08-04T10:18:00.003-06:00

Today is Mark and Brad's birthday. They share the same day with 30 years between them. How about that? Brad is up for the Cahoon Reunion that starts today through Sunday so it is going to be pretty busy around here with an extra, let's just throw a number out there, 150 ish people, ages 87-newborn(s).

Brad is an avid bicyclist these days so he brought his bike and gear up. Have fun on your bike ride and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Summer Jobs

2011-07-30T22:04:00.005-06:00

Can you guess what these 4 children of ours have in common this summer?

They work here, in Waterton. Yes siree, you read that right. They all work in Waterton. Of course, different schedules which means at least two cars, sometimes three cars going into Waterton on any given day. I'll give you the run down on where they all work.

Well, Neal here is a dishwasher at Pizza of Waterton. He works about 3 nights a week and brings home a bit of tip money each night along with a paycheck once in awhile. He is not that crazy about working, but that is the way the ball bounces around here in the summer, you gotta stay busy.

Michelle is working at Akamina Gifts. This is her third summer here so she is a pro.

Laurel is a server at Pizza of Waterton, where Neal works. Their schedules are about the same which helps with the car situation. Laurel not only serves, but she also is a part-time nanny for the owners' two little girls. She is tutoring them in Spanish as well.

And Clark is a server at Trappers, a new restaurant n Waterton. Sometimes he comes home with close to $200 bucks in tips for one shift. I know, it's super crazy isn't it?

This year I decided not to work, I figured it was best that I manage the crew and cars. So maybe next year we can get that teepee that we were hoping for if I had worked again this summer. Oh well. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Guess what Clark and Laurel have in common? They each have a liquor license. Weird huh?

Lately

2011-07-17T20:19:00.008-06:00

The weather has been pretty spectacular lately and we totally deserve it this summer after the cold summer we had last year. We might not get our summer heat as early as most of you, but when we get it we are haaaaaappppyyy! This is what has been going on the last week.

Every year the Stake Relief Society does a hike in Waterton. Crandell Lake was our destination this year and it was nice. It seems that every time I go there it is windy, but this year it was perfectomundo.

The group from Leavitt Ward.

Yep, this is bear country so why not get a picture with a bear.

Brad was up for a visit this week so Dixie once again, hooked us up with a terrific horse back ride to Oakey Hole and "21". Really fun. This is Neal on the ridge above Oakey Hole.

Neal is a natural in the saddle.

I have been thinking about climbing Old Chief this year, but I don't think I am going to do it. I figured out that I love the idea more than actually doing it. I will scratch that off of my bucket list with no regret.

Mark drove the truck down with Laurel, Michelle, Lou-Lou, and Clark to meet up with the riders for a little picnic and motor biking.

Yesterday we went to Waterton and up Red Rock for a little hike to the falls and look what we saw on our way back. So so cute. I know, this looks like a museum exhibit but this is real folks.

Just hanging out at Waterton Lake. Can you tell what Brad and Neal are doing? Pretty much the only thing we do when we come here and when the lake is calm.

Skipping rocks.....

Love it when the kids are together!

Girls Camp 2011

2011-07-11T14:04:00.007-06:00

The summer has been busy (kids are home for the summer). I like it and then I don't like it. I like it because that means we are having fun, but then it is bad because when you are having fun then time flies.

Two weeks ago Neal attended BYU basketball camp for the second year. This year he paid for it by selling oranges to the "neighbors". On one of Marks' trip to CA he brought back a whole whack of oranges that were picked by the people he was staying with. Neal bagged them up, started making phone calls, and bingo, over $300 for camp.

Three days after getting home from Utah, it was Helaman's Encampment, a huge scouting event commemorating 100 years of scouting in Alberta. 136 wards from 24 stakes across 3 provinces participated with over 3,000 people. It was a week long event with all things scouting. Neal had a great time. When Neal was gone it was our ward's girl's camp. We camped in Beazer near Cahoon Crossing (a creek). Beazer is a little hamlet just 10 minutes from here. We are so lucky here because perfect camping spots are pretty much in our backyard.

These silly girls came with clean hair and then the first day of camp they washed their hair in the creek.

The girls made pillow cases for an activity in the spring and then decorated them with glow/neon paints.

All thirty girls stayed in the same tent. Yep, one big army tent. It was donated from a man who was once in the Canadian army and they have been so handy. It takes 4 men about 2 hours to put it up.

You gotta have tin foil dinners.

Skits, of course!

Certification.

Um, the leaders.

Our last day was a service project. We were lucky enough to use a private campground so we decided to sand the 4 picnic tables and stain them as a thank-you.

Ah, my Mia Maids (4 missing). I had these girls in Achievement Days when we first moved here so when I was called as 1st Counselor in YW I was excited to be with these girls again!

You are looking at a real great bunch of girls. We all had a great time getting to know each other and just having fun.

Happy Anniversary !

2011-06-27T08:28:00.005-06:00

30 years ago......

.........and here is what we have to show for it. Five great kids!

Daddy's Visit

2011-06-22T13:46:00.008-06:00

Daddy drove all the way up from St. George, Utah for a visit, a birthday visit. Last year Lou Lou and I drove to Utah and spent our birthday with Daddy there and this year he drove up here to spend it here. We are 30 years apart and he turns 81 this year so........................yah, it was our 51st birthday.

A few weeks ago Lou Lou and I went to Kalispell for an overnight birthday vacay and celebrated our birthday then. That was our gift to each other and our husband's gift to us. Here we all are celebrating together in Lethbridge at Moxie's for a family celebration. It was delicious and I already know what I want to order next time we go.

Last weekend was Youth Days for our stake. All the wards in our stake play softball against each other on a Saturday usually starting with a pancake breakfast. This year was a little different in that the stake fed the whole town of Cardston a hotdog lunch instead. Not really, but almost. We combined the noon meal with the opening of the new soccer park in Cardston so it was almost like the whole town because the high council were busy peeling the plastic off of 3,500 hotdogs. I really wished I could have help Mark out, but I had score keeping to do. Shucks!

If you look real close you can see that Neal is swinging the bat. Neal's senior team took home 2nd place.

Laurel came to the first of 7 games before heading to work.

Ok, This is cool. I am sitting in the back of a pick-up with grain pellets and these wild horses are running after us. All 70 or so of them. Dixie's father has a herd of wild horses that are used for local and not so local rodeos. And since they are wild you have to trick them in order to contain them so Denver can hand pick each horse he needs. This day he needed 14 for bucking horses at a rodeo in northern Alberta. My header picture was taken from the truck too.

Daddy had a real good time just hanging out watching the process.

And I did too, sitting on top of the huge John Deere tractor.

Such brave brave men to stand near wild horses.

Afterwards, Clark and I went to Dixie's to ride a bit and round-up a hand full of bulls. It's that time of year when the bulls are taken back to their gals for the season after a long and lonely winter.

This little colt is only a few months old. So cute. We were helping to get the momma and baby on the trailer to take back up to the ranch.

Mother son photo.

To top off the fun filled two weeks with Daddy we celebrated his birthday (June 27) on Father's Day, the day before heading back home. This look is a genuine happy look. It's a look that we don't see all that often. Not that he is not genuinely happy at other times, but to capture it on camera is another thing.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!
Happy Birthday Daddy!

Come back real soon now, ya hear?

KALOOD

2011-06-16T20:45:00.005-06:00

Ok everybody, you gotta watch this video. It explains all about what Kalood is, how it works, and what it can do for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bGsEOrsRiI&feature=share

Another Graduation

2011-06-10T22:44:00.000-06:00

We have had our share of graduations the last 6 months. Clark and Laurel in December, Brad in April and now Neal. Mountain View School is a K-9 school which means Neal will be in High school this fall. Very very weird. Like, really weird.

Yep, 8 kids. And such nice, nice kids.
Becca, Erika, Devonie, Neal, Jordan, Connor, Breanne, and Kayenta with Mr. Petersen, the principal.

A fun bunch.

Neal was asked to give the low down on boys sports. Just a report kinda thing on how the team did this season.

Neal was awarded the Most Improved award along with a check for $50.00. He has had a great year and it's nice that he was recognized for it.

Congratulations Nealster.

Our Birthday :)

2011-06-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU-LOU!

Love Love Love living only 1 hour away from you and the zillion phone calls a day!

( I'm on the left, right?)

2nd Annual Gopher Hunt

2011-06-05T14:55:00.008-06:00

22 rifle.....check
Scissors.....check
Ammo......check
Baggie..........check
Hook....check
Matching t-shirts.....double check
Perfect weather......triple check

The gopher hunt is a big deal and something you need to take very seriously. You gotta be prepared for the unexpected and that is just what we were. Prepared. Just look at that list! We maybe should have each had our own scissors and hook, but other than that we were like boy scouts. But what we didn't expect were those gophers to hover in their holes. They just were not venturing out and about this season. I mean, we were killing them because, well, you can see the blood, but they would slither into their holes and that was that. No gopher tail, no score.

Just gettin' ready.

Have you guys seen Lou-Lou's sweet pink gun yet? Christmas gift from her husband, which was on the top of her "wish list".

Dixie is carrying a dead gopher. You gotta do what you gotta do. Lou-Lou had the scissors so we had to carry the gopher to the quad until we could get a hold of the scissors. I admit, it's kinda gross.

Yah, this is kinda gross too.

Here we are, the Gopher Girls! Lou-Lou, Dixie, and I after the official count. Only 29 tails this year which does not tell the complete story what so ever. We shot a lot of gophers, but getting their tales is another thing. We were told that if we are going to use 22 rifles then we need to use Yellow Jackets. These bullets have more of a punch and bang so that when you shoot you kill.

We came in 7th place........out of 7 teams. But sometimes losers can be winners which is what happened in our case. How can the sponsors deny this faithful, fun, and fabluous team a prize for our efforts? We got a free lunch at Subway that we really preferred anyways. The other prizes would have been hard to split 3 ways.
The top tails collected yesterday was 147 and we collected 29. But did thay have as much fun as we did? Don't think so.

We thought we would act like teenagers after lunch and just take a bunch of silly pictures. "Hurry up Lou-Lou, get in the picture and jump".

Just a little documentation on the picnic table.

If you were maybe wanting to plan your summer vacation around the gopher hunt it's really easy. Go to K&D Implements, sign up your group, give em' twenty bucks, and you are off to the races. Easy breezy. Oh wait, that might not work. The border guys (Hi Dixie) won't let you bring your guns over the border. Never mind.

If you want to read about last years hunt you can read all about it here.

Branding

2011-05-24T07:00:00.011-06:00

I'm telling you, there are a lot of nice things to love about Leavitt. Lou Lou comes out every other week from Lethbridge and then every other week I leave the country to go to the big city of Lethbridge. It's fun. Period. Just last week she came out to visit, and we were driving over the hills on our homestead, listening to country music because that is what we do when we are in the truck on the hills looking for gophers, when she just out of the blue said, " I really like coming here LeeLee, I just love coming out to Leavitt and forgetting my troubles". I think I should make bumper stickers that say, "Love it in Leavitt". Anyways, it makes me feel good when she says things like that. It feels like home to her and I like that. Back to my story, Lou Lou came out again on Saturday because her husband, Chris, is tiling her kitchen area and thought it be better if she was away from the mess. Nice yah? I had already made plans to help Dixie sort her 16 pairs from the herd of 300 pairs in the morning so Lou Lou just hung out at home until I was finished. I went home to pickup Lou Lou and we headed back out to Dixie's to do a little gopher hunting for an hour or so , but when we got to her place plans had been made to brand her 16 babies after gopher hunting. Do you know what that meant for me? Getting back on that horse and rounding up the cattle and putting them in the pen then sorting. Love that!

This is Downey and I pretty much love her. Remember my last post when I said that I wasn't going to ride Downey because Dixie was getting ready to show her and I didn't want to do anything to mess up all the training? Well, the event was cancelled/postponed for at least a month due to the equine herpes virus that is going around in the states right now so I was able to ride Downey and it was fu-un let me tell you. Right here I am sorting the mammas from their babies in the pen. See how Downey's head is pointed towards the mamma cow? That is how it is done. Downey/me is steering the momma in the direction I need her to go. Oh man, this is fun. To be on a horse riding is fun, but when you have a job to do it makes it more fun.

And here I am doing the same thing. Sorting the mammas from the babies. See the mammas behind the metal fence? They want their babies real bad and the babies want their mammas real bad too.

When it is branding time people seem to come out of the woodwork. Trucks and trailers just kept coming with people of all ages, from little babies to grandmas and grandpas.

Look at all these friends and family that came to help Dixie with her cows. Country folk are nice like that.

After the mammas are separated then you have to get the babies one by one to brand them. When Neal and I went to watch branding a few years ago at another place and last fall, it was done differently. Here they rope the babies, hold them down, then do their thing. This is Austin, he is the Jr. High Principal and the teachers' quorum advisor for Neal.

Poor thing. She just wants her baby.

Lou Lou totally feels the mammas' pain because she knows what is coming up. But look at those cute little boys with their little cowboy hats.

Branding irons in hot coals.

It takes at least two people to hold these babies down. They not only get branded with three separate brading irons, they also get vaccinated and? if you are a boy baby a couple of things get removed and now the term, " it's like adding salt to the wound" really hits home. Rio had a nice little treat when I got home. Ok, a few nice little treats.

Girls do this sort of thing too. That is Raven in the green and she is one of my Mia Maids. Jill is there too, she is a Beehive but would like to be with the Mia Maids, anyways, her dad is Austin. She has three sisters and they can all ride. Her mom Kaylynn learned how to load horses into a trailer and haul the trailer this year. I think that is amazing that she can do that all by herself. When she married Austin she didn't know a thing about horses and now she is an old pro.

Here is Jill and her grandpa, Buck, showing her the ropes of wrangling a calf.

A family affair with Dixie, her niece Raven and her dad, Denver.

Here is Dixie's brand. Three separate brands. Ouch. Double ouch, and Triple Ouch! It's Bar Ziggy Ranch. This is on the upper back corner on the left hip. I tried to turn this picture right side up and it just looked funny.

Lou Lou took this picture of me and I love it. I am a little bit country and a little rock and roll because I have a designer hair bobble thingy in my hair from my California days. See, I still have a bit of city girl in me. Oh, in YW on Sunday, we had a minute of telling what we did on Saturday and the girls said this and that. I told them that I had sorted cattle, rounded up cattle, separated cattle, and went gopher hunting. The advisor then told the girls that this is a cool thing because I am a city girl. Then you know what I said? I said yep, I can shoot and shop!

Ok, I wasn't going to post this picture, but I love it almost as much as the one above. I love the coloring, the background, the look on my face, all of it. Only one thing wrong with this picture though, is one hand is on the horn. Darn it.

I'm working on loping with two hands on the bridle more. It's coming, but I'm told that it takes more time in the saddle. I'll work on that.

Springtime in Leavitt

2011-05-20T08:24:00.013-06:00

When the crocus appear in the pastures it means spring has sprung in these here parts and I am happy. We haven't had snow for a few weeks which is a big thing because two years ago it snowed on my 49th birthday (June 7th). Not good! Below are the things that tell me that spring is all around and that the next season is summer which means warmth and heat and tans and creeks visits, and fishing, and Waterton days, and all things sunny and yummy.

Michelle is home for the summer and she loves planting pots with flowers and herbs so last week we went downtown to the indoor nursery and bought a few things to make our home feel like spring.

We keep these in our house on our window sill because the wind blows on our house on the hill and they would not survive on the deck, plus it brings the outdoors inside which we like.

This poor momma robin got stuck in our garage and Rio really really wanted her. She finally got a hold of the robin then took it to her doghouse, but the robin somehow escaped and she was spared. And so were her babies-to be.

Yep, here she is on top of our garage door opener. She just sits quietly and warms those eggs up while Rio barks, but she pays no mind to Rio because she has a job to do.

Neal loves loves loves to mow lawns. He would mow lawns all day everyday if he could. After he mows he just sits back, so to speak, and looks over his mow job. He loves the lines the rider mower makes and the plushness of the grass. Our garden boxes and getting close to being planted. Hopefully next week.

Last week I went riding with Dixie on her land. It was warm (around 60 degrees maybe) with a slight breeze. Remember, springtime in Leavitt is different, it can be snowing so this is super great weather for this time of year. Ziggy and her baby are standing oh so close to each other that it is hard to see them.

I am on Shasta here. She has been a real good horse for me to learn on. I'm not crazy about her lope though. Now Downey is nice for loping, but Dixie is showing her next week and I do not want to be responsible for anything happening to Downey beforehand. I will totally wait my turn.

PS. I am riding my father's saddle.

Here is a much better picture of Ziggy and her baby right between the horses ears. See? always beside her momma.

A couple of weeks ago Mark and I went gopher hunting on the Cahoon Homestead which is where these cows are from. Nope, they are not ours but the land is. Now I know these next few shots are weird, but I found it interesting that these cows look so different. Look at these ears. Straight out the side with a defined point!

Kinda squatty and fluffy and she has horns too. She was suppose to be dehorned at branding. I don't think a girl looks cute with horns, ever.

Average ears but look at her tummy, she is ready to burst, dontcha think? Yep, it's spring when the momma cows have their babies. You should see the newborn babies run and play. So so cute.

Her ears are fat and round.

Now on to prettier things, crocus. I learned that to get really great crocus shots you have to lie down on your tummy. You just have to remember to brush off the dirt and dried cow poo poo.

Love my little camera folks.

And you thought that swans were only found in fairy tales, but nope, we have them right here in Leavitt.

I took this photo as the sun was setting, and on my tummy of course.

So there you have just some of the spring things that go on in Leavitt that make us all pretty darn happy around here. And guess what I saw in the classifieds today? Uh huh, the Gopher Hunt is set for June 4th. Stayed tuned !

California. The End.

2011-05-16T10:30:00.001-06:00

I'm thinking that Mark is not going to be as cool about this as Marlboro Man, with this photo of his, well, Levi's. But there really is a story to this so keep reading and you will totally be on my side after you see these pictures below.

El Matador Beach with a very full parking lot.

A visit to the beach was on top of Michelle's list for this trip so we obliged her. We discovered El Matador Beach a year before we moved and have loved visiting there each time we go to California. If you are on the PCH and don't really know what you are looking for you might just miss the sign. In fact, now that I think about it, I think we just happened upon this beach. Ya, I think that's right. Pretty positive about that.

Hmmm... we are getting closer now, but these guys do not look like they are ready to jump in the water at all.

And why is she all dressed up sitting on a rock? We had to know cuz she definitely is not ready for a dip in the ocean either. Let's ask someone.

"Excuse me sir, what's going on here?" asks Bradley.
"Oh, we're shooting a Levi's ad for Europe", says the camera man.
See? So there you have the reason I could not resist taking the picture of Mark's Levi's.
El Matador is frequently shooting something here and I am 100% sure it is NEVER gophers. It's that time of year, sorry.

We had a family photo shoot here at El Matador just before Brad went on his mission. 2005 at sundown

Three Pelicans

Just heading into Ventura on the 101. It was so weird to see these palm trees along the freeway, I felt at home, yet I felt like a tourist at the same time.

This stretch of the 101 (Camarillo grade) means we are almost home. Just up over the hill is our old neck of the woods.

We are up and over and into the Conejo Valley. I realize there are lots of cars, but really, this is pretty open freeway for this area. The exit to your right takes you to Clark, Brad, Laurel, and Michelle's old high school, and up a few exits to your right is our Lynn Road exit to home.

So anyways, since we were only visiting "home" we stayed in a hotel right down the road from "home" and right next to In & Out, which we took advantage of. We walked to In & Out and it was great. Recognize the jogger waving to me? That's my Mark.

Just relaxing by the pool. Had to do it right? Even fully dressed it was a real treat.

Ok, this is the best place to have Mexican tacos like you cannot even believe. It is just down the road from where Mark used to have his shop and discovered it from his workers. It is a little Mexican grocery store when you walk in, but head on to the back of the store and it gets a little more interesting.

Told ya. This is a place where you have to know what you want and just order. There is really weird stuff in those pans. We just ordered chicken and carne asada tacos. They double up on the small corn tortillas and stuff them full of yummy ingredients. Oh man oh man. And can I just mention the price? Um, 2 for $1.00 !!! Yah, 50 cents each.

We were pretty happy to have Brad, our translator with us. That boy of ours really does come in handy for a few things. Thanks Brad.

Yah, because he served his mission in Nicaragua where they eat every bit of a cow, Brad thought he would go back in time and order a cow tongue taco. He didn't actually say that when he ordered. It's lengua in Spanish and he said it was pretty tasty.

Look at these sweet Mexican popsicles. We were a little disappointed with the flavor though because they were not that distinguishable. But I would get them again because it was a perfect ending to our yummy tacos.

And this was on the top of my California list. Buying strawberries from the truck on the corner. A 1/2 flat with 9 baskets was $11.00. The price whether it was good or bad was not much of an issue, just buying them from a truck, and knowing they were picked that day, locally, was the thrill. They were pretty delicioso.

Michelle is not too thrilled that Laurel is tanner than she is. Ok, I'll tell you why. Laurel's friend, Kelly has an older sister who just got certified as a spray tan gal so Maren sprayed Laurel for free. There. You're ok with this information getting out right Laurel? Michelle and I would have done the same thing, right Michelle? And who doesn't want an instant tan while in California?

So there you finally have the conclusion of the Cahoon Utah/California vacation. The only thing wrong with it was that Clark was not with us. We will make up for it this summer though. Clark has a job in Waterton. Michelle has a job in Waterton, and Laurel pretty much has a job in Waterton as well. So it will be a busy house this summer which is going to be fun fun fun!!

San Juan Bautista

2011-05-13T11:30:00.004-06:00

Love this sign! This is a place I wish we had more time to visit. We got here a little later than we had hoped for so we had to rush through a bit. That's ok though, because now we know we want to come back again.

San Juan Bautista is very quaint with antique shops all long the "downtown" area. The girls loved it and the boys (happily?) endured it. And guess what I found? A large golden yellow pyrex bowl like my mother had. I remember her using it for potato salad. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! See the rooster? These guys were everywhere and it just added to the coolness of it all.

Thanks girls for posing next to this little lady here. Michelle is happy to pose and as you can see Laurel is just humoring me. Not sure why Laurel couldn't have just gotten into her stage acting face for me.

Everywhere I tell ya.

This was my third visit to Mission San Juan Bautista. My first visit was when I was in 4th grade studying California Missions. Our school class came here for a field trip. It was familiar like all of California. It's just home to me. Anyway, we didn't go on the tour due to our late arrival, but we walked around the grounds and really liked it. The weather was warm with a slight breeze. Aahhhhh....

This is the El Camino Real mission bell. These bells are dotted along the 101 freeway symbolizing the trail that the..............enlarge the picture below and you can read it all better than I can tell you.

This is the mission cemetery but look to your right behind Father Serra. Fields of freshly planted and soon to be planted produce. Not pastures like around here in Leavitt, which I do like, but fields. Ok, I guess we have wheat fields.

I stood in this very spot, let's see, over 41 years ago during my class field trip. Ouch, that is a mighty long time ago. Ouch, again!

* I thought I had found the picture of me in 4th grade, but it's a no go *

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2011-05-10T18:40:00.002-06:00

Laurel had been here before but the rest of us hadn't and she didn't mind going again because it's cool. Very cool. I really don't have a very great camera. It is just a pocket camera that I love because it is slim and lightweight and plus when I go riding I want to not be boggled down with a big, heavy, bulky camera. It is a Cannon PowerShot SD940 IS. The reason why I mention this is because I was pretty amazed at how well these indoor, low lighting photos turned out.

I know, I have a hat on. Lou Lou wears ball caps quite often and when I do Mark thinks I am Lou Lou. I mean, not really, but because we are twins, why wouldn't I look like her? And since I like her in a hat I like me in a hat. Simple Simon.

Notice the one legged action ?

Careful Michelle!

Here is some information I pulled from the internet. In quiet waters, these flattened animals stand on end, partially buried in the sand. When waters are rough, sand dollars hold their ground by lying flat—or burrowing under. In fast-moving waters, adults also fight the currents by growing heavier skeletons. Young sand dollars swallow heavy sand grains to weigh themselves down. I never really thought how these guys lived so I found this bit of info. kinda interesting.

Tell Captain Jack you have to be on your way Michelle. I know he is cute and all, but I know for a fact he will be waiting for you when you visit Monterey again. Promise!

I begged and begged these guys to just turn around for a cute picture and they just wouldn't do it.

Goodbye till my next post.

Hearst Castle

2011-05-09T08:34:00.002-06:00

Hearst Castle was the home of William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper publisher and newspaper magnate. He was a very rich man. He furnished his castle/home with art, antiques, and sometimes entire rooms from Europe. After he died his family donated his home to the state of California in 1957 and is now a historical monument. My first visit to Hearst Castle was when I was 12.

This was taken from the bus at the top of the hill. See where the green stops? That is the ocean.

This was taken from the beach. Enlarge and you can see the castle.

I could totally live here if: 1) I had a few full time maids 2) a few full time gardeners 3 )a pool cleaner 4) a full time cook 5) a personal driver or a sweet BMW 6) and a few million dollars. But it's not gonna happen because I am not moving again, it's not for sale, and if it was for sale I can't afford it. So that's that.

After our tour we went to the beach at Cambria for a picnic and a walk on the pier.

My eyes are open, barely. My baby blues are sensitive to the sun bouncing off the ocean waves.

Not sure about the next post yet. I do have a few more up my sleeve so we will see what turns my crank.

Off the 101 (freeway)

2011-05-07T08:51:00.002-06:00

As promised, a mention of The Garlic Capital of the World, Gilroy. There are a couple of garlic shops right off the freeway but of course you don't really see those shops until you are practically on top of them. We missed the first one and almost the second one, but because Mark is quick behind the wheel, we, phew! made it.

Neal being a garlic head, a head of garlic, a tourist.

I have a friend, we'll call her Susan because her name is Susan. Hi Susan. She loves garlic. She loves it so much that she goes to a restaurant called the Stinky Rose in LA that serves EVERYTHING garlic, even garlic ice-cream.

I'm not sure if Susan likes garlic ice-cream, but I can tell you who doesn't like garlic ice-cream. The Cahoon Family. It's pretty bad, just look at those sorry faces. We got a little energetic and bought 2 vanilla and 1 chocolate thinking we would love it. The lady at the checkout said that she liked the vanilla better because the chocolate was a little overbearing. They were both pretty bad but the chocolate was better for sure because everything is better with chocolate right? We took the third unopened container back and exchanged it for two Snicker bars when the lady told us that garlic ice-cream is an acquired taste. Um? Maybe. Maybe not.

Ah, familiar places. The best one is San Jose. I was born there and yes, I do know the way to San Jose. I remember when I was maybe 8 or 10 years old, driving to the bay area and then catching BART to San Fransisco where my mother, Lou Lou , and I would shop in China Town. I still have one of the little polka dot bowls from one of our day trips.

Man they pack a lot of people here in San Fransisco. This really boggles my mind. Tons of people, tons of cars, hard to find parking, tall buildings. It was a little weird to me. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just SO different from here. I'm also not saying that I am a country girl now and not a city girl. I'm both. I can take or leave either one which I think that makes me adaptable. Lucky lucky Mark.

Have you guys seen the "bush man"? Brad and I stood behind him for quite awhile just watching. He keeps the bushes in front of him until some unsuspecting person walks by and then he scares them. It's funny. Real funny sometimes. We were laughing with the scardy cats and we told them so. It was very entertaining.

Why not? Why would I not play that game for 25 cents? In fact, I played it twice. I'd rather shoot my 22 single shot though.

Click to see the seals :)
Poor poor Michelle. But you know what? She does ask for it sometimes and Brad is more than happy to give it to her and? as you can see, it's pretty old hat for us. (Michelle secretly likes it)

We had a fun time in San Fransisco and as you can see the weather was perfect.

Next post will be Hearst Castle. Yah, I think you will like that one. Hearst Castle it is.

Greenfield, California is Green

2011-05-04T07:40:00.002-06:00

After Bradley graduated we all got into the car and drove to California for a 6 day vacay. It was marvelous. It was glorious. It was sunny. It was warm. It was beautiful. It was fun. It was like home.

Greenfield is about 2 1/2 hours south of San Fransisco and 3 1/2 hours north of Thousand Oaks where we used to live. It is a small town of about 16,000 people. The reason they call it Greenfield is because there are fields of produce everywhere! In fact, Greenfield is the Broccoli Capital of the World but we saw mostly carrots and lettuce. Salinas is 1/2 hour north and it is the Lettuce Capital of the World and just about 40 miles north is Gilroy which is the Garlic Capital of the World. More on that little visit at the end of this post. Actually, I'm going to wait and make that my next post. Sorry for the teaser.

Perfect huh?

This is where we stayed for most of the time, above the three car garage. It is called a carriage suite and let me tell you, it was sweet. It was perfect for us. It had a separate bedroom with a full bath, a 1/2 kitchen and a full size living room. The kids just crashed on mats/sleeping bags and were pretty content for the most part. The day we arrived Michelle was planning a party with friends this summer and Laurel was thinking it would be a great place to live while teaching here. I could totally spend time here too.

Look how close to the fields we are. Mark, Laurel, and I went running a couple of mornings and it was perfect. I just put in my earphones, put a little Beyonce, Taylor, and top 20 in and I was in heaven. You can sing out loud when you are running amongst carrots and lettuce. Super fun!

Can't resist a picture of the American flag. Just a little something I saw while on my walk with Neal through the neighborhood.

It's a Celebration!

2011-05-02T15:07:00.007-06:00

Another college graduation, yea! Bradley graduated last week from Brigham Young University with a degree in Business from the Marriott School.

Congratulations Bradley, we love you!

The Marriott Center wasn't full, but as you can see there were a lot of students graduating and a lot of people there to watch. FYI, Jimmers' (Jimmer Fredette) girlfriend was sitting right in front of us but didn't know it till it was over though. Not that it would have made any difference. But still.

Here is the Kalood team. Brad, Matt, and Neal. Now that school is over they are 100% focusing on Kalood.

My father drove up from St. George to help celebrate Brad's special day. We missed Clark. He is finishing up things in Hawaii but maybe when Michelle graduates we can all be together for that one.

Laurel and Whitney. These two have known each other since they were 18 months old. Whitney's husband was graduating and we just happened to run into them afterwards. Whitney always had the best birthday parties at her house. Remember the mermaid party Whitney when your mom painted the mermaid and the kids could poke their little faces through the face and "be the mermaid"? So cute.

Erica, Natalie, and Laurel. Erica is Michelle's age and Laurel and Natalie are the same age. These girls grew up together in Newbury Park too, along with Whitney. Their brother Jacob graduated and we were invited to the party afterwards. (Michelle couldn't make the party due to deadlines in moving from her apt.)

Our good friends from "back in the day", Art and Patti Rascon. The Rascons lived in Newbury Park for only 5 or so years, but we will always be life long friends. So good to see them and wished the visit could have been longer. Mark and Patti are related, how about that? They share the same relative, Anne Eliza Baker.

Here is the Rascon Family minus Matthew.

Stay tuned for more fun!

Happy Birthday Clark!

2011-04-16T06:26:00.001-06:00

Twenty-Eight years ago today I had my first baby when I was 22 years old.
Clark Reynolds Cahoon. (still really love his name)

Loves music. Loves adventure. Loves reading. Loves extended family. Loves photography. Loves good times with friends. Loves hiking. Loves Canada. Loves t-shirts. Loves being organized. Loves history. Loves thrift stores. Loves basketball. Loves good food. Loves gopher hunting. Loves to travel. Loves the creek. Loves his mom, his dad, his brother Bradley, his sister Laurel, his sister Michelle and his brother Neal.
And we all love you Clark!

Ranch Hand

2011-04-11T06:43:00.001-06:00

There is a lot of work to do on a ranch. A ranch with 300 cows. A ranch with 300 pregnant cows. A ranch with 300 pregnant cows having calves.

Look at the view from the barn door. Is this not a spectacular vision? Those momma cows are having baby calves regularly. Like 5 or so, give or take, a day. That is where a ranch hand comes in mighty handy. Those babies need earrings. Big plastic ones with numbers on them.

Now this momma was just fine with having her babies ear pierced. No problem at all. Can you see the family resemblance?

Oh, that reminds me of a funny story. Do you want to hear an ear piercing story from back in the day, like 1972? Lou Lou and I begged to get our ears pierced when we were 12 years old. Begged and begged and begged. Our parents were really not excited about it, but some parents give in to things, weird. So anyways, we get our ears pierced. Fine and dandy right? That night......." Leeeeee Leeeeeee, I don't know if I want my ears pierced anymore. Do you?" You guessed it. We both took our earrings out. Can you even believe it? I mean, really now. Our parents said we couldn't get them re-pierced until we were 16 and that was that. Yah, they were pretty darn mad.

Back to work. Sitting on a baby calf was a little tricky especially since the momma was a little concerned. She was a nice momma, not like the one that practically rolled Dixie. Oh man, I would have been so super scared. Can you even imagine a mad momma cow charging you? Dixie handled it very well and came out of it unscathed.

I am not a strong ranch hand. No way. Sometimes if you pull a face you might get the job done. It's like a friend I had in grade school. She always stuck out her tongue when she would write.

" We're safe now baby, let's get far away from these ranch hands".

Swans taking flight.

Lunch break. All ranch hands work hard so all ranch hands need a break.

When was the last time you swung on a rope from a hay loft? I thought so.

We finished off the afternoon gopher hunting. My first 10 of the season. Bring on the gopher hunt!

Via Dolorosa

2011-04-06T07:00:00.002-06:00

Last semester Michelle worked for Jon McNaughton. She worked in the warehouse, his store in the Provo Towne Center, and also worked on setting up his blog. Sometimes you get perks from your place of employment, like free food or discounts on clothing, right? How about a modeling job?

Can you see Michelle? She is standing, with her head slightly bowed behind the old man in white, in the lower left hand corner. See her? She is portraying Catherine of Alexandria. If you go the website and click on Via Dolorosa you will be able to scroll over each person in the painting and see who they are.

Watch this. It explains Jon McNaughton's thoughts on this painting.

A Winner!

2011-04-03T22:39:00.005-06:00

I might as well just go ahead and say it. "Kalood took 1st place in the BYU Business Plan Competition last Friday".

The competition that Kalood placed 2nd in back in February was the business model competition. This one was the business plan competition.

Look at the size of this trophy, would ya? This trophy is not a trophy you take home though. Each year, the winner of the competition will have their named engraved and then it stays in a trophy case I presume. The winner of the 2003 competition is a friend/mentor/past roommate of Brad's so that's kind of fun for the two of them.

Here is the Kalood team. Neal, Matt, and Brad. Um... this is a nice fat check yah? Kalood took home $50,000.

Michelle, Laurel, and Mark were there for the big event. Lucky!

Kalood has another competition this weekend in Oregon and then one more after that. Needless to say, Brad will be glad when this semester is over. Trying to finish up his business degree and start a venture like this has been a little busy.

KALOOD

2011-03-30T11:18:00.010-06:00

OK EVERYONE!

I HAVE A REALLY SIMPLE SIMON FAVOR TO ASK OF YOU. KALOOD IS LAUNCHING ON FRIDAY AND WE NEED MORE SIGN UPS. GO TO WWW.KALOOD.COM TO SIGN UP. YOU ENTER YOUR EMAIL AND ZIPCODE, INVITE THREE FRIENDS, AND WHEN THEY SIGN UP YOU ARE IN. WHO WOULDN'T WANT AN EMAIL FROM KALOOD?

IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT KALOOD GO HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT.

BRAD HAS ANOTHER COMPETITION ON FRIDAY AND YOUR SIGN-UP WILL REALLY MAKE KALOOD GO BIG!

LOVE, HIS MOM

Ski Whitefish Montana

2011-03-27T17:05:00.001-06:00

Chris and Lou Lou invited Neal and I to meet them in Kalispell and go skiing on Friday. They were picking up the flooring they had ordered a couple of weeks ago and decided to make a trip out of it. It took me a good long time to make up my mind, but am glad that I decided to go. I had only gone skiing once before and that was last year. It was fun last year, but when I got to thinking about skiing again I got all insecure. The thought of driving to the United States in my car listening to XM, eating out and doing some shopping was what interested me more. I know, odd.

This historic hotel in downtown Kalispell was a neat little find. Lou Lou found it online and with a $25 discount it was worth the stay.

The twins. Yah, we are wearing twin clothes. We know that. It was not planned. I probably should do a "twin posting" one of these days. Lately it seems that poor Lou Lou is getting confused with me or for me. People think she is me and I'm telling you, it happens in the darndest places.

This is the breakfast bar area. Lou Lou was feeling a little spunky so she decided to feed this moose some food.....

give him a drink......

then wipe his mouth.

Here we are. Oh wait, it looks like I am heading off to do something fun with my camera. It can take three shots every few seconds.

Look closely, you can see me behind the group.

Now, I'm standing beside Chris. Yah, I know. How old am I again?

Ok. You might be wondering why I am shaking hands with the boot fitter guy. Well, I'll tell you why. Since this was only my second time skiing I wasn't super sure on how the boots were suppose to fit. I could barely get them on so I thought maybe they were too small. He told me they should fit like a really hard handshake. I shook his hand and at that moment I knew my boots were a perfect fit.

Just Neal and I.

Here we are on the first lift ride of the day. Picture perfect day all morning long. Sunny and slightly cool.

Neal is a super star on the that snowboard. He has gone snowboarding 6 times, at four different resorts and two different countries. I guess that would make him an international snowboarder. Chris took him down one of the steepest slopes and he rocked it. Black Diamond run!

Me on the ground? Par for the course as you know. I did fall a few times, on purpose and not so on purpose. Lou Lou and Dixie said I did a face plant on one of the falls. Actually, it was quite the wipeout. I flipped and tumbled and my skis popped off. I was fine.

I have to admit that after lunch I was totally content to stay off my skis for the remainder of the day and never go skiing again. Really. But after an additional hour long break I was ready to try again. Lou Lou took me on a more level-ish slope and I did just fine. Now? Sure, I'll go skiing again.

Neal loves his aunty too.

Neck lock. Nice Neal.

Last run of the day. Good Times.

Side note: Mark is in Utah helping Brad with Kalood. If you haven't signed up yet, you better hurry. You only have a matter of days left to be a part of the beta launch next month. Go here to be a part of something big.

Daily Universe

2011-03-22T06:57:00.005-06:00

An article about Brad/Kalood is in the Daily Universe ( BYU Newspaper) this morning. As a mother, I have to admit that it did bring a tear to my eye. It didn't trickle down my face or anything cuz that might be a bit much. That's my boy Brad, the boy who always tried to get out of yard work and chores. I know, it's hard to believe, but it is as true as true can be. Just ask him.

The article explains what Kalood is and how it works. The launch date is March 30 if all goes as planned. If you have already signed up, you will get an email (US phone numbers only) otherwise you can sign up here. I have seen the site ( I have an "in") and it is pretty cool.

The definition:
kalood [kuh-lood]
Beautifully acting together to achieve a brilliant, fresh, or divine purpose; conspire.

How to use in a sentence:
"I kalooded with my friends and we convinced the Utah Jazz to give us 50% off lower bowl tickets to tonight’s game."

So there you have it. Kalood.

Clark R Cahoon

2011-03-17T20:22:00.005-06:00

FACEBOOK Status yesterday.

Clark Reynolds Cahoon
"Our SIFE team won at Regionals and will now be heading to Nationals in Minnesota this May."

My reply through email.

"My goodness the Cahoon Boys get around in the competition world. Congratulations on your team winning. Minnesota huh? That's pretty neat-o Clark. Were you able to get in on the night? The man in the wings is an important place to be Clark. That's exciting."

Clark's reply.

"Thanks mom. I wasn't part of the actual presentation but I have been putting a lot of time in to it. I am on the team but one of the alternates, a back up in case something happens to one of the actual presenters. I have been practicing with them and going over the script over and over again till it was perfect. It was such a good presentation. I think it will be recorded next week when we do it in front of the school. My role has been to work with the team on memorizing. I sit behind the judges and point to each person who will be speaking next, setting up the projector and computer, and I also helped put the script together for the Mozo project part of the presentation that I am a project leader for."

A video on the Mozo project.

"I love working on this project. I'm glad I have been able to be around to see things come together with it. It's an added bonus to have been asked to be a part of the presentation team too. It's been great." Clark

Cannot wait to see how Clark and Brad do with their upcoming competitions. Crazy I tell you! Ca-Ra-Zy.

Spring Is Just Around The Corner

2011-03-11T08:07:00.003-07:00

I know that Spring is close. Not because it is March. Not because the snow is melting, again. Not because there are flowers blooming. Spring is near because there was a sighting of something great and wonderful, right outside my kitchen window in my neighbors field. You guessed it. The gophers are coming, the gophers are coming. And watch out, the twins are gonna take that gopher hunting contest this year. Ok, well at least do better than 8th place. Whatever. The only girl team is gonna rock though, that's for sure.

Remember now, gopher hunting in these parts is a good thing. It is a necessary part of life here in the country. It's what Lou Lou and I can do to help this land repair and recover so the livestock can stay safe. It's what we gotta do for the environment. It's almost like saving the spotted owl, it's like..........ok, we do it for fun. And really, when Lou Lou uses her new pink gun she got for Christmas, how can that not be fun?

Zones

2011-03-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

After winning divisionals last month, Neal's basketball team was able to play at zones, which was last weekend. The tournament was held in Burdett, a half an hour east of Lethbridge and two hours from home. Burdett is a small community with a post office, I think a cafe, and a few abandoned buildings, but more interesting is that Mexican Mennonites live and farm there. Really wanted to go to one of their restaurants but they were closed on Saturday. Maybe someday we can take the drive and see what they serve. Anyway, the boys did great and ended up placing 2nd. With a team made up of the only abled bodies 8th and 9th graders they did a super duper job.

The team last year ended up in 2nd place for zones too so this year was a hard loss. They really wanted the win and to "bring home the banner" for the school. You can see a bit of a banner on the left side of this picture.

We stayed at Lou Lou's house on Friday which was nice, real nice. We walked in after the game on Friday and she had dinner ready for us and on Saturday she made pancakes and sausage. Eagan Bed & Breakfast is a place I could go to lots. Thanks Lou Lou!

Poor Neal woke up at 5am on Saturday morning with a migraine which always keeps him down for a day or two, but the minute we walked into the school, just like that, a couple of the moms took matters into their own hands. Beth did some reflexology magic along with some chiropractic work, and Kristen had some essential oil for headaches, so between the two of them Neal was up and running ( I know, can you imagine running with a headache?) in time for the 2nd half of the 2nd game. They won the game which enabled them to play for the title.

All smiles, that boy Neal.

Don't let this photo fool you. These boys were S.A.D. sad. They were faking their smiles for the cameras.

The girls team was also in zones and were playing just 30 minutes away so after their game was over (they got 4th place out of 8 teams) they skidaddled over to the watch the boys play. These kids really love each other. Small schools and communities will do that to kids. It's nice. All these girls are in our ward and two of them are my Mia Maids. (yep, they pulled me from RS to YW)

See that ball in mid air? It was bouncing while I took the picture. Funny.

We had a fun weekend because we love watching our kids do just about anything from sports to singing to acting to business competitions, to graduating, to speaking in church, to teaching Sunday School to just about anything.

Now on to badminton!

Utah

2011-03-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Last week Neal had the week off from school so we headed to Utah to visit the kids. It was a busy week with a lot of juggling of schedules but we did manage to be all together for one fun night. When I say all, I really do mean all. Just stick with me, you'll see.

When we lived down the street from In & Out, I rarely went. I don't know, it just never really sounded good to me. But while in Utah? we went three times! And all three times I ordered the protein burger ( meat is wrapped in lettuce, no bun), a chocolate shake and fries. MMMMMMmmmmmmm!!

Danece and Niels live in Syracuse so we stayed there for a couple of nights and had a fun time visiting, as always. They have a horse that Abby and Emma ride and show so on our way to Provo we stopped by the stables to see how horses live in the city. Very, very different than around these parts, that is for sure.

Emma is a tiny thing and she just loves these big animals. Emma always has a smile on her face.

"Hi Emma, you're doing a great job".

Just because family comes to visit does not mean the studying stops. Laurel had papers to grade and Michelle had tests to study for. This of course is break time.

Brad is working on his business plan that he presented in Cincinnati a few days after we got there. He didn't make it to the finals, but he managed to win the consolation prize. He had 10 minutes in a limo with an Angel investor to pitch his pitch and apparently they loved it so much that he won 1000 buckaroos. Go Brad.

I know this picture is dark, but I was focusing on the building behind Brad and Laurel. That is where I lived while I was at BYU. Regency Apartments. This is where Mark and I met....ahhhhh.

Love Julia's bangs!

A trip to Provo wouldn't be complete without a BYU basketball game. We bought tickets online 9 days before the game and we ended up way at the tippy top on benches. I thought the seats would be awful, but it was nice and cool way up there and since we had the last row we had the wall to lean against. We had quite the overall view too.

See the "jimmered" sign on the screen? It is Jimmer mania there at BYU.

Is he gonna make the shot?

Yea, Jimmer made the shot. Way to cheer him on Laurel and Michelle!

See? What did I tell you? We were ALL together. Clark happened to be coming to the mainland the same time we were going to be in Utah to be in a friends wedding in CA. He caught a ride to Utah and here we are together again, the only few hours in fact.

While in Utah we decided to take a quick trip to St. George and visit daddy (hi daddy). He is a volunteer guide at the Dino Tracks there so we were lucky to get a free guided tour. It is very small, but pretty good for it's size.

Daddy doing his thing.

Neal is standing beside a T-Rex foot print. Kinda cool.

Neal and his grandpa.

My mother was a volunteer at the old hospital in St. George and passed away while the new one was being built. Because everyone loved her so much, a fund was set up and all the money donated went to a bench dedicated to her for her many many hours of service. Here it is right by the emergency room entrance of the new hospital.

We had pretty good weather while in Utah which always makes for a better trip right? And boy were we glad we were not home. The weather in Alberta was in the negative, very very negative and the wind? I guess with all the blowing snow and frigid temperatures it was downright awful.

Marriott School of Business

2011-02-16T00:43:00.001-07:00

I am including another post on Brad's business model for journaling purposes. This article was in the Marriott School of Business news release.

Business Model Competition Shows New Approach to Entrepreneurship
Feb 11 2011

Business Model Competition finalists meet with judges Steve Blank and Nathan Furr and Rollins Center directors Scott Peterson and Steve LiddlePROVO, Utah – Feb 11, 2011 – Some entrepreneurs plan their businesses from behind desks. But a new wave of thought, captured in the first international Business Model Competition, challenges entrepreneurs to test their assumptions in the field before committing them to a business plan. The competition, sponsored by the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at Brigham Young University, culminated with teams of students presenting their innovative findings to a panel of accomplished professionals.

Business Model Competition finalists meet with judges Steve Blank and Nathan Furr and Rollins Center directors Scott Peterson and Steve Liddle

"What started here today is something unique for entrepreneurship worldwide," says Steve Blank, famed entrepreneur and BMC judge. "It was breathtaking to see every one of these teams get out of the building and test their hypotheses instead of guessing what a business is like."

A business model is different from the more familiar business plan because it focuses on internal factors and the evolving process of establishing a business. The inaugural year of the Business Model Competition brought 45 entries from student teams around the nation and the world. The four finalists presented before a live audience at the final event, where they were judged on creativity and how well their model addressed potential customers' needs.

The grand prize and $15,000 was awarded to a pair of American University undergraduates for their social gaming website Gamegnat. Their site creates a central location for gaming information and provides gamers with a streamlined approach to connecting with their peers.

Brad Cahoon, founder and CEO of Kalood, presents at the Business Model Competition. Kalood won second place and the audience choice award.

A grand total of nearly $50,000 was awarded to the final four student teams, three of which were comprised of Marriott School students. Second place and the audience choice award were given to customer texting service Kalood. Third and fourth places were awarded to campus dining innovator MealDrop and restaurant service program TextWaiter, respectively.

Nathan Furr, a Marriott School entrepreneurship professor and BMC judge, says he was pleased with the quality of entries and the teams' unique entrepreneurial perspectives. "This is a competition where we're rewarding student entrepreneurs who have gone through this new approach of quickly testing their business assumptions in the field instead of just planning. These teams are the future of entrepreneurship,"

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.

Contact: Joseph Ogden (801) 422-8938
Writer: Michelle Treasure

Clark Needs Your Help/Vote

2011-02-11T08:03:00.007-07:00

This is from Clark. He would love your help so please read below.

Dear Family and friends,

Some good friends of mine and I are starting a non-profit organization in Israel/Palestine that connects youth from both cultures in an outdoor wilderness survival program similar to what Anasazi does in Arizona. It has a proven rate of effectiveness that we feel will work in the Middle East as well.

I have spent my college experience getting to know the conflict in that region through studying Political Science , Conflict Resolution, and even doing a study abroad in Jerusalem. If you could take the time to follow a few simple steps and vote on the Dell Social Innovation website it would mean a great deal to me. It will take about 30 seconds of your time and will have huge potential in allowing myself and my close friends work towards accomplishing our goal of getting this project off the ground. Your support will be greatly appreciated and have huge implications.

If you could also forward this message to as many people you can, it would mean a lot to me. I know mass messages and forwarding emails may be awkward for some of you, but your help will really go a long way. Here are the steps you can take to help this project get funded. I hope all of you are doing well and this message finds you having a great day.

Vote for WALKING SALEM. This is a wilderness based peacebuilding program focused on helping youth in Israel/Palestine. Each vote is worth ten and the winner of the competition is awarded $50,000 to start their project. Registering and voting only takes about 30 seconds! Shown below are the simple steps in order to vote, its as easy as 1,2,3. Thank you so much, we cannot do this without you! You can vote once for every email account you have.

Step 1: Go To - http://www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com/ideaview?id=08780000000DcbIAAS

Step 2: Register – Registering is a two step 30 second process. It’s on the right side of the webpage that says: Register Now>

Step 3: Login and search – Walking Salem than click VOTE! (The search bar is in the top right corner of the page)

DONE!

Thank you so much!

-Clark Reynolds Cahoon

P.S. Feel free to join our facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153164748070231

Mountain View Grizzlies

2011-02-08T20:30:00.001-07:00

Neal goes to Mountain View School in Mountain View. The school is about a 10 minute drive from home which is 10 minutes closer to Waterton National Park. He really does have a sweet view from his school. Mountain View has a church, a couple of bed and breakfast places, a ma & pa general store with a gas station and motel rooms. And if you buy an ice cream cone from the Barn Store you get quite the bang for your buck. Most of the kids that go to Mountain View school either live in Leavitt or Mountain View. It's a small school. Maybe 8-12 kids per grade, maybe. It is a K-9 school. What's great about this school is that all the kids play all the sports, pretty much. Volleyball, basketball, and badminton. Neal has played on all the teams since 6th grade. Sometimes the teams are all one grade or sometimes the grades are mixed. It just depends on the students in a given grade in a given year. This year Neal's team for these sports are made up of 8th and 9th graders. Now if you live in Cardston there are tryouts for the sports teams, but not in Mountain View, everyone plays because they need everyone to form a team. So there's the background for these parts concerning sports. Just look what our boys pulled off today.......

Today was the final game for the division. The Mountain View team took first place today after heading into the finals undefeated. Now we play for zone champion. That will be in early March.

Shucks, it's blurry. Mark is the assistant coach so he got a winning medal also. They don't give out trophies here which I am glad about. I still have boxes of trophies from the other kids and really now, what do I do with them?

The winners holding the new team ball. Neat prize. They are all going to sign it at the team party on saturday. It's going to be here and they will be watching the BYU game then eating and playing ping pong. Should be fun. It is a nice group of boys!

The final score was 63-83. Look at all of the points Neal made. If Neal's name was, say, Luke or Larry or Landon, they would call him Layup Luke or Layup Larry or Layup Landon. He is really great with the breakaways and those under the basket layups. Love watching him do those. He got a really great "3" today too. Go Go Grizzlies!!

Kalood

2011-02-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a an explanation of Kalood in Brad's words. I figured he could explain it much better than I ever could.

Kalood is a social platform that allows customers (users) to browse, collaborate with friends and receive notifications for when items, services, or events they're interested in are discounted. The website will help with deal discovery and allow for greater interaction and buyer power for those who use it. Basically, you click "watch" on things you like and we tell you when that thing(s) is discounted. And it's free.

On the backend of the website, Kalood is providing analytics to the retailers who sign up so that they can gauge consumer interest, discount accordingly while increasing store and product visibility. Cool right?

Sign up at kalood.com

Recommend us to friends and get an invite for our private beta testing.

If you have any more questions, call me at 805.390.1360. Or leave a message with my secretary at 805.390.1360

Brad Cahoon - Founder, CEO - Kalood

Kalood wants you!

Business Model Competition

2011-01-31T07:21:00.005-07:00

This is the follow-up to the Speed Pitch competition that Brad won in November. Keep in mind when you read the article at the end of this post, that Brad's business idea was first called Token Text (mentioned in the speed pitch post) , but because ideas are always evolving it is now called Kalood. This competition was on Monday, January 24, in Provo, Utah.

Each team had 10 minutes to present their business model to the judges. These are some of the businesses that Brad has signed up so far.

He did a great job on his presentation! So comfortable on his feet, unlike his mom.

Pam and Orlan, Mark's sister and his brother, came to the competition and Laurel zipped down from Taylorsville after teaching to join us. Of course Michelle was there, but Neal stayed home so he wouldn't miss any school.

Professor Nathan Furr and Steve Blank with Brad. They were two of the three judges.

Before announcing the winners, there was an audience participation vote. Each team had their own text number so you could text for your favorite, just like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. It was pretty cool. Brad won with 40% of the votes and won a whopping $1000. Brad might not have won first place in the competition, but his idea was the favorite in the people's choice.

Brad told me that the day after the competition, students in Professor Furr's class "had a word with their teacher" and a heated discussion followed with the teacher defending his decision. We all look at the "good idea" end of it, and the judges were judging him on his model. We all think Brad is the big winner here and he really does have a great idea and I will post it on Wednesday.

International Business Model Competition Focuses on Progress
By Stacey Wallace - Sun, 01/23/2011 - 22:15

A new competition has hit BYU, one focusing not only on end results, but the change occurring along the way.
Today BYU hosts its first international Business Model Competition at the Varsity Theater.
Business models have a different function than the more familiar business plan, according to Jeff Brown, the assistant director in the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.
“A business plan is putting on paper what your business is all about. Your business model is basically how you are going to make money. It’s how you’re going to interact with your customers and your suppliers; it’s kind of your secret sauce,” Brown said. “No business plan is complete without first having a business model.”
Although most competitions feature finished products, today’s targets evolution within the business models, said Todd Kirk, a senior from Beaumont, Texas, and the student director over the Business Model Competition.
“There’s never really a point where you arrive with a business model,” Kirk said. “It’s something that is always changing and they want to see that you are continually progressing.”
Entrepreneur Steve Blank heads a panel of judges who will evaluate each team’s creativity and awareness of customer needs, according to the Marriott School news release.
More than 45 teams entered the Business Model Competition, according to a Marriott School news release, of which four teams are the finalists competing today.
The finalists are Gamegnat, from American University in Washington, D.C., and Kalood, MealDrop and TextWaiter from BYU.
Judges will award the winning team $15,000 cash and $10,000 in-kind services. Audience members can be part of the action and enter a raffle to win a 42-inch HDTV.

We didn't win the TV, the hat, the jacket, the headphones or the ipod Nano. Laurel was close though. It was a very quick trip to Utah, but so worth it.

The Twins Ski

2011-01-29T08:00:00.002-07:00

Nope. Not the twins I'm thinking of, but they do look an awful lot alike.

Lou Lou drove out on Thursday for our weekly visit and we had our usual fun. It really doesn't matter what we do, it is always fun. Todays' activity was to go cross-country skiing in Waterton. They have a great trail near Cameron Lake that is groomed and always ready to go, plus ski rentals are just 15 bucks a day. Maybe one of these days/years I will invest in a set of my own.

I have only been cross-country skiing 2x before so I am still pretty focused on the ground in front of me. When I ride horses, I do the same thing. I look straight in front of me instead of looking ahead at a certain target.

You will never guess where this picture was taken from.

Yep, from the ground. Me on my back to be exact. If your skis get out of the groomed trail then sometimes this happens. At least it does with me.

Here are the twins! Twin jackets, can you tell?

The beauty of nature.

And we did a puzzle. There is a story behind this puzzle.

My mother used to do puzzles. She loved them and it looks like we are now carrying on that little hobby. You might notice though, that the puzzles we are working on are exactly the same. My parents have had three different schipperke dogs through out their marriage and each one was named Satch. Satch Hatch. Anyway, their last schipperke they had in Lincoln, Montana about 10-15 years ago was not the most friendly dog. A little protective you might say. A little nippy. A little annoyed with our children. A little territorial. He was not the favorite dog of the bunch that they had for sure. So anyways, a few Christmas's ago, my father thought it was a great idea to give LouLou and I a puzzle of a schipperke and today we decided to get them out and make our father chuckle.

Twins in twin shirts doing twin puzzles. Weird.

Speed Pitch

2011-01-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Bradley is on fire! He is LOVING his entrepreneurship class.

Here is an excerpt from Marriot School web page. This event took place last semester.

Bradley Cahoon, left, a senior entrepreneurship student from Newbury Park, Calif. pitches his winning idea for TokenText.

Fast-talking student entrepreneurs win in Speed Pitch Competition

Although a successful business can take years to build, a great idea shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to pitch. Finalists in the Speed Pitch Competition rapidly presented their business ideas before a group of local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists as part of the Business Plan Competition at Brigham Young University.

Chosen from ten finalists, Bradley Cahoon, a senior entrepreneurship major from Newbury Park, Calif., took first place and won $300 with the idea for TokenText.

“I plan on being an entrepreneur the rest of my life, so I wanted the experience of pitching and getting my ideas across,” Cahoon says. “This event has been a huge confidence builder but has also helped me see areas of my idea that need improvement.”

TokenText is similar to Groupon in purpose, but it is designed to offer targeted discounts on items users show interest in rather than a generic daily deal. The company’s website tracks how many people are watching items at participating retail stores to know when they go on sale. When a large enough group is watching an item and willing to buy at a discount, the company is notified to reduce their price. Once the reduction has been made, users receive an alert that the desired price point is available.

In addition to prize money, Cahoon won a seat at a local FundingUniverse luncheon, an event bringing together more than 20 investors to network and share business ideas. FundingUniverse, which hosted the Speed Pitch Competition, was established to help angel investing and small business financing become more efficient by rapidly matching lenders with entrepreneurs at events held throughout the country.

Finalists were given three minutes to pitch their ideas before judges, followed immediately by a two minute question-and-answer session. Contestants then rotated between tables of judges until each team presented ten times during the course of the event. Finalists were chosen from written entries submitted a week prior to the event and invited to pitch their ideas live before judges and spectators.

Better When We're Together

2011-01-19T20:54:00.004-07:00

Listening to Jack Johnson in Hawaii is the only way to go.
It really is better when we're together!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Modeling at Makapu'u & Other Interesting Sights

2011-01-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok. After church we did some sight seeing on our way home. What's funny about this statement is that on your way home from anywhere in Hawaii, is a sightseeing tour. Am I right? So. Hawaii Kai Chapel is on a corner of a main intersection that leads to Hanauma Bay, Sandy Beach, Makapu'u, and so on, so of course that is the way we went back to the North Shore. The scenic route. We decided to drive into the parking lot of Makapu'u to get a different view of the lighthouse, which was not as good as I thought it would be, but oh well, you just move on right? You take pictures of something different. Here goes.

Brad and Laurel.

Brad and Laurel.

Brad and Laurel.

Brad and Laurel.

Brad and Laurel. My favorite one. Brad's favorite one and also Laurel's favorite one. They are posing in front of a Heiau. Life in ancient Hawaii focused on propitiating the gods, and the various islands housed many types of temples invoking peace, war, health, or profitable fishing and farming. Chiefs and specific occupational groups, such as fishermen, practiced formalized worship in the heiau (place of worship). The heiau structure ranged from single houses surrounded by a wooden fence to stonewalled enclosures containing more than one house to the massive open-air temples with terraces, large stone platforms, and numerous carved idols in which ruling chiefs paid homage to the major Hawaiian gods. A history lesson for you thanks to Aloha-Hawaii.com.

Interesting sight #1

We have had our eye on this house since our first trip with the kids about 6 years ago. It is just down the road from a secret opening to the back end of Bellows in Waimanalo. Tourists don't know about this spot because you have to live in Hawaii to know where it is. Me and Lou Lou would go here alot because the waves were just right for body surfing. But you gotta watch out because when it is rainy you can get stung by a Man-o-War, a type of jelly fish. Never happened to me. So back to the house. The first time we saw this the people were in the middle of building it and we noticed it, or should I say, Mark noticed it because of the shake roof. The owners were nice enough to give us a little tour. The gate was open this go around so I took this picture. It's very cool. It has been featured in magazines.

Interesting site #2

I think they call this a fan palm. Brad thought this was pretty dang cool. Oh, fans are cool, they cool you down. Fan palm. Weird.

Interesting sight #3

Look what we found on the very end of Portlock Road in Hawaii Kai near Spitting Cave (that is a point you jump off of. Clark has done this and come to think of it, Lou Lou's old boyfriend, Steven, has probably done that too). The Bounty Hunter lives here. Can you believe that gate? It is probably made out of Koa wood which would be crazy. It could be Teak though, too. Whatever, I love it.

Interesting sight #4

Mark and Marilee kissing like it's 1981!

PS. There is an Interesting sight #5
Jaguar is all I can say. hahahahahaha................inside joke for some of us, sorry.

Graduation Day!

2011-01-11T08:00:00.002-07:00

Crazy, crazy, crazy! Clark and Laurel graduated on the same day, in different states, and an ocean apart. Clark's graduation was on the morning of the 17th and Laurel's graduation was the evening of the 17th. So how could we attend both you ask? We divided and conquered. I flew with Neal to Hawaii and Mark drove down to Idaho. Brad and Michelle took their finals early so they were able to fly to Hawaii a few days early as well. We were all together in Hawaii for 10 glorious days in paradise after we all reunited on the Sunday following graduation. Did you know that I want to live there? Anyway, here is a slideshow of the two graduations. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh, Laurel graduated in Art and History Education and is now student teaching in Taylorsville, Utah at a Jr. High teaching Utah History and Art. So far so good.

Clark graduated in Political Science and is assisting with two research papers at BYU for a professor this semester and then time will tell. Clark also completed a Peace Building course, which along with his major, his time at the Jerusalem Center, and his great people skills, should help him find a profession that is the perfect fit for him.

Brad graduates from BYU in April and Michelle is in her 2nd year at BYU. Neal is in 9th grade and grows taller and his voice gets deeper every time we turn around. We are proud of Clark, Brad, Laurel, Michelle, and Neal. We love that they make good choices, love each other, and are becoming good, good people.

Hawaii anyone?

Chinaman's Hat

2011-01-08T11:59:00.002-07:00

Love Chinaman's Hat. Love the day we spent at Chinaman's Hat. Love the pictures we took at Chinaman's Hat.

This is the cover of a book about this little island. It tells the legend of how the island got it's name. You can also buy this photo as a print, which my parents did when they lived in Hawaii and I am lucky enough to have it. For now.

Didn't take this picture, bet you didn't know that. I took this off of the internet because the view was so different. Seeing it from the top makes me feel a little better that I didn't make it to the top. Keep reading and you will see who did make it all the way to the tippy top.

Three trips, 15 minutes each way, to get us all out there on Clark's kayak.

The lifeguard taking his three poi (what they call mixed breeds) dogs out for a little ride.

BYU-Hawaii graduate!

It's crazy to look at a family picture when your kids are this old because, well, it's hard to believe they are really yours. I don't know. Can't really explain it. All I know is that we had a great time on this island, just the 7 of us. A private getaway in Hawaii.

Sea glass hunting was a fun activity we did and what better bowl than a coconut.

This was all the beach there was, or is, on this island. That little stretch of sand you see is where we hunted for the sea glass. Michelle is usually the one who loves doing this but this time we all got in on the action.

Play time!

More play time!

And more play time!

Brad and Mark snorkeled pretty much all the way around the island.

Ok, now this might not mean much to you all, but this was the last part of the climb to the top that some of us just couldn't muster. It was straight up lava. I'm not talking "straight up" like a phrase, I'm talking straight up as in vertical lava. Because it has rained recently, Clark said it was better if we climb with nothing on our feet. Uh, ok. So we did. We listened to the resident expert, but when the last 15 feet or so looked like this? No way, slippers (sandals, flip flops, whatever you call them) or no slippers, there was no way I was going to risk life and limb.

I think this is a great shot from our highest vantage point, don't you?

Yah, yah, yah. Big shots! Look at their bare feet.

It started raining on the way back with Michelle and I in the first trip back. We sat in the car while Clark picked up everyone else, which was only one other trip because Brad and Neal swam behind the kayak most of the way. Anyways, Neal came running to the car telling Michelle and I that we needed to meet them at the kayak for a family picture with Chinaman's Hat in the background. This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. Love it!
See Laurel? We have another college graduate in the bunch. Laurel graduated from BYU-Idaho. I will fill you in on that little adventure soon.

Clark has a total "local" truck. See the two chairs bolted in the back ? Completely legit, as Clark would say.

This was the funnest day of the vacation for me.

I want to live there!

Ono Food

2011-01-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

There are certain foods we like to eat while in Hawaii. Plate lunches are the best, manapuas are yummy, malasadas are tasty, and of course it has to be Hawaiian Sun drinks. Our family favorite, Orange Passion. Oh yah, forgot to mention musubi from the Kahuku store on the corner next to the place where they sell fresh Hawaiian Sweet bread and coco rice. Oh man, I just remembered that. It's like a thick chocolate milk with rice , made with coconut milk. I have got to find the recipe for that. Now that is ono . The only problem with this list is that we didn't get the malasadas nor the musubi, and we should not have had the shrimp from the shrimp stand.

What we were very happy about was the food at Kahuku Grill. Our friends, Art and Peggy Hannemann own and run the grill. This is where we should have had our shrimp. They sell Coco Shrimp and Garlic Shrimp. I had the Teri Chicken plate three times (don't ask me why I didn't get shrimp from here because I don't know. I guess teriyaki chicken trumps it all). That plate lunch takes me back to the days when I lived there in high school, going to the beach and then getting a plate lunch from the plate lunch truck afterwords. Yah, I could pretty much snap my fingers and go back in time. Just for certain moments though. Actually, some songs can put me right back to great times, I can almost feel what I felt back then. Pretty crazy.

" Hi Art, we love your food and especially Peggy's Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread."
Actually I think it might be Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread. Either way it is very good and I think I might even have the recipe from the good old days in CA.

Ok, this is one of Clark's favorite places to get the most amazing sandwich. Turkey Pesto on Herb and Cheese bread at the Waialua Bakery in Haleiwa. Clark and I had a few hours by ourselves while Neal was at Turtle Bay with the gang and Mark, Brad, Laurel, and Michelle went to the Buddhist Temple. We split the sandwich, split the banana bread pudding, and a berry smoothie. It was very good for sure, and I have to say I would get it again Clark.

Clark is just a chillin' and a eatin' and a readin'.

If you click on this picture there are quotes from customers that I thought was kind of fun.

You gotta click on this picture to really see what is important. See that meal? A plate lunch from Kahuku Grill and Hawaiian Sun drink. The perfect meal while in Hawaii. I really could eat that everyday.

This is where we should not have eaten. Not because it was a bad place , because these places are always busy, but because we got the wrong menu item. I wish I could remember what kind we got. Maybe the Spicy Shrimp?

See that pile of dark stuff on the shrimp? Garlic, pure garlic and too much garlic.

Here are the shrimp farmers bringing in their nets. We don't have these kinds of farmers here in Leavitt. Or Cardston. Or Lethbridge. Or Calgary. Or anywhere in Alberta, but you probably already knew that.