The Haley's: Life's Adventures

I have realized that posting on our blog is something that takes time. And like most things in life that don't give you life, you must take time out of your day to do them. I apparently have not been making time. Here is one of those large posts that try to update you on our life, but will not really do the job. Lets start back in April: April 16. An important day in the life of Kalee and I. I started a new job at Thurcorp Inc. in Rexburg. It has been a great job that is providing me a great way of living. But we also signed a contract for our 1st apartment that night. Kalee was pretty excited!

We did some painting and then moved in!

We traveled to Portland, OR with my parents to attend the baptism of Porter Payne, our nephew. It was a great weekend and we really enjoyed being there.

Reagan provided lots of smiles.

Mom acted funny, just as we should expect on a family trip.

My friend and I went fishing, trying to get the literally world famous Stone Fly hatch on the Henry's Fork. We were two days early, and didn't make it back. The fish knew it was coming, and so they didn't hit our flies much.

I also had the chance to go dirt biking/4 wheeling with my friend Cody south of Twin Falls, ID. It wasn't what we were used to. But it was a fun ride.

We saw some beautiful views from the Mountain Tops.

We were able to see the famous Bill Cosby, live, at BYU-Idaho. Totally worth the money to say we saw him. He has definitely aged, but is still funny.

Kalee and I bought a new bed. Kalee felt like the luckiest girl in the world I think. She still loves her bed to this day.

We have found plenty of time to take Sunday drives. This one was to Mesa Falls. A classic.

We also made it to our new nephew Ethan Wright's baby blessing. It was fun, and is always a special experience.

On the way home from Utah, my car hit 100,000 miles. I had put 30,000 miles on it since I bought it, 18 months previously. I thought that was a lot of miles. Compared to our family in Nebraska, they would think this is sissy miles.

My work moved offices, and I am now in my own office, biggest in the building. Spoiled I know.

Kalee and I took a trip out to Birch Creek to do some fishing. Kalee even caught her very own fish on a fly rod. We then made some dutch oven potatoes around a camp fire.

My buddy Mike Christensen, who provides the boat that we go fishing in, was working in North Dakota. So all I could do it to take Kalee and my parents to Fun Farm bridge and watch the amazing May Fly hatch happen. Another world famous fly hatch in Eastern Idaho.

For Family Home Evening one week, we went to The Riot Zone. It was a perfect night with a perfect lady.

Our night included some miniature golf

As well as Go-Karts. It was a truly fun night.

On the way home, I saw some fake deer in a yard and told Kalee to look at the deer. Not even 100 yards later, Kalee pointed to some REAL deer and said "Vince look at the deer!". She laughed and laughed.

We enjoyed a visit from Cody and Brittany Hawkes. Their daughter, Livia, is a really fun and cute girl.

I also found a SWEET shirt at Wal-Mart. I really wanted to buy it, but Kalee wouldn't let me. I wanted to wear it to Lagoon the following week. It would have been perfect.

We went to Lagoon! The Monday before the 4th of July, we joined all 3 of my sisters and their families at Lagoon. It was really fun and really exhausting.

Ethan enjoyed all of the attention he got all day. He is pretty chill and easy going.

Reagan loves her Aunt Kalee!

The last ride we went on before closing was the Ferris Wheel.

On the 4th, we were able to spend the day with my parents, including going to Idaho Falls for the fireworks. We had fun. The following Saturday, was the Madison County Demolition Derby, that is a fundraiser for the Search and Rescue. It is one of my favorite days of the year.

This year didn't disappoint. Even Kalee loved it, when she didn't think she would.

I even shaved my facial to fit in with the crowd!

We were able to go to Carey, ID to meet up with all of Kalee's siblings, except for Jared, who is on his mission in Australia. Dan and Jesse Mae came from Nebraska. It was a lot of fun. I skipped away for a few hours and tried my luck on Silver Creek, yet another world famous fishery in Eastern Idaho. I caught some hoggs! It takes skill to catch a fish this small.

Kalee was able to help feed the bottle calf of Kyle and Brittany's. She thought it was weird, even though she grew up on a ranch.

Kalee was thrilled to be able to see and play with Chauncey, her newest nephew. This "tiny guy" as his brother Cinch ("little man") calls him, is definitely a good eater! He is happy as can be too.

The kids tried their luck and roping.

And I guess I am a kid too, cause I joined in on the fun. I put on Kyle's sweet hat, and I loved it! Kalee hated it. It reminded me of some of my other hats, along with my brothers.

I thought this collage would be pretty funny. It turned out better than I thought!

I was starting to get the hang of roping!

Kalee's Birthday was July 16th. I bought her some flowers and had them delivered to work. Then I met her in Idaho Falls after work, let her do some shopping, her favorite activity, and then took her to eat at The Olive Garden, her favorite place to eat. Chicken Alfredo, every time!

As a young child, my family went to Bannack Days, at Bannock State Park, outside of Dillion, MT. It is a ghost town that is in very good condition. It is a pretty good drive, but I have wanted to go for a number of years. Kalee wasn't that excited at first, but it turned out to be a fun day. We arrived just in time for the afternoon "shootout", which consisted of some people wanting to shoot guns at each other. There wasn't a good story line to it at all, and it was pretty lame really.

We then walked around town, enjoying the different presentations in the buildings. Click on the below picture to enlarge it. It is awesome!

Saw this in one of the buildings.

I tried my luck at Morris Code. This technology was pretty amazing back in the day.

Made some homemade candles. One of the things I remember as a little boy.

You guessed it, the famous gallows. Some real famous hangings took place here. The original wood is only a few feet away from this one. You can read the life of Henry Plummer, the Sheriff that the townspeople killed here.

Tried my luck at gold panning. I also remember this part as a boy. Gold started this town, and also killed it. A few years ago at Bannack Days, a boy found a gold chunk worth a couple hundred dollars.

The merry go round outside of the school.

And the sign next to it.

School house/Masonic Temple. Hmm....

The inside of the Masonic Temple. Very interesting... especially as a Latter-day Saint. Joseph Smith was a Mason. (Click to enlarge)

The rules of being a teacher back in this day and age. (Click on photo to enlarge)

The below picture and story deserves more time that I have right now. I will continue this blog in the next few days.

If you click on the photo below, you can see how many buildings there were in Bannock. It is quite an amazing town, and in great condition, thanks to the State of Montana.

This is the cemetery, just outside of Bannack. It is actually fairly large. There were a lot of these kinds of fences around the individual headstones. Very amazing.

One of the other few things I remember about this trip as a boy was eating at "Yesterday's Cafe" in Dell, MT. I remember when I was here, all I wanted was mashed potatoes, and nothing else. Nothing more, but nothing else. The reviews for this place are amazing, even though it is a hole in the wall. It is an old school house that has been converted into a resteraunt. It truly is a hole in the wall, but it seemed that everyone that was passing through the area came to eat here. We weren't the only ones that knew about it. They were sold out of their signature plate, the chicken fried steak. No, I didn't get any mashed potatoes. We both had a burger, that I enjoyed a lot.

This is a common sight for me. Kalee staring into her closet. She sometime will stare at her clothes for 10-15 minutes before she chooses something to wear. I laugh every time I see this happen.

My birthday was July 25th. Kalee came home from work, drove back to Idaho Falls with me, and took me out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. I got myself a big prime rib, and it was SO delicious. Their Caesar Salad is to die for as well! It was a lot of fun. After dinner, we went to Edwards Theater and saw "The Dark Knight Rises." I loved it, and it went by really fast for me. Kalee was cold, so it went by a little slower to her. She also didn't remember the other videos.

I am on the Scout Committee, and so I was able to go up to Scout Camp in Island Park, ID for a full day. I had a lot of fun, and would have enjoyed being there longer, if work wouldn't have been so busy. We have a great group of Deacons, and they made me laugh a lot.

Everything is laid out perfectly, just as our Scout Master would have it!

Some free time between the flag ceremony, and the Arrow of Light induction. They were working on carving their projects

Kalee tends to fall asleep in weird places and always curls up in a ball. I started calling her "egg" instead of "Bug", like her family calls her. This doesn't look comfortable. Yet, she was out!

Some friends of ours, JT and Jessica Miller, who live near us, invited us over for dinner and a "sidewalk chalk off", or a competition. We decided our theme would be The Olympics. Kalee and I basically gave up before we even started, knowing that JT and Jessica both has some artistic skills. We found pictures online and tried to copy them. Kalee and I were actually pretty proud of how well ours turned out.

The Millers did Gabbie Douglas, the US Gold Medalist. I Tweeter her a picture, she never responded.

This is seriously done with some simple side walk chalk on a normal sidewalk. Notice however, that they made a diagram to make everything perfect. Crazy good!