Fireworks Booth 2013

On Thursday, after my Nadir appointment, Rachel and Terrance met me in Idaho Falls so we could head up to Challis to set up the fireworks stand. In Arco we stopped to get gas and Terrance heard a strange sound coming from the Jeep. He called his dad who said it sounded like the AC Clutch. They decided to head back to Rexburg since it would be easier to find the part and faster to get it fixed compared to Challis. They are correct.

Rachel and Braxton.  Cute!

Friday Terrance took the Jeep to the mechanic and they ordered the part which came in Saturday morning. In the meantime we hung out in Rexburg. It was nice to be able to rest. I was really tired.

Braxton trying on hats from the hat box.

The Jeep was done on Saturday morning so we were on the road before noon. When we got to Challis, Daulton brought their diesel truck to haul the fireworks stand in to Challis. This saved me from having to jump start, check the fluids, make sure it was road worthy and putting our truck back on insurance and then taking it back off. That made life much easier. We grabbed some snacks from the house and headed out. 

The Fireworks Booth in Lamb's parking lot.

They got it to Lamb’s parking lot without incident and set it up. I went to Stephanie’s to play with Braxton while Terrance, Rachel and Daulton stocked it. They got it pretty well stocked by dusk so it was ready to open up on Sunday. We usually try to avoid opening the booth on Sunday’s but since we lost 2 days, we went ahead and opened it for a few hours. I found out the Clifford’s had stopped to say “Hi” after church but I was at Stephanie’s with Braxton. I was sad I missed seeing them.

Most days Braxton and I would go up to the stand in the morning for a couple of hours then go back to Stephanie’s while he napped then sometimes back to the booth in the evening for a couple of hours. Braxton sure liked crawling and walking around everything in the booth. He loved seeing all of the different fireworks.  It was nice to see people I know in Challis and be able to catch up with them.  It was disappointing to find out I had missed some that had stopped to say “Hi”.  

Best of friends.

Crystal, Donnie, and Olivia came up Wednesday.  Braxton and Olivia got along swimmingly.  Olivia walked and Braxton would crawl along beside her.  They were so cute playing together.

Playing the piano.

Having fun at the parade!

Braxton and I went to the parade with Stephanie’s family.  He was so tired but had fun watching all of the animals and floats.  He got splashed by water balloons or water pistols and didn’t care much about getting any of the candy being thrown.  He just sat on my feet and watched parade go by.

"I had my socks on so I wouldn't slip in the pool."

Donnie and Crystal set up a little swimming pool at Stephanie’s house.  It was a huge hit for all of the little kids, but especially for Braxton.  He stayed in until he got too cold.  He had such a good time.
 

Braxton and me the last day.

Braxton and I went over to the stand 4^th of July evening.  Most of the inventory was about gone.  The booth stayed open until just after the fireworks.  We went over to Stephanie’s and Terrance and Kylie set off some of the bigger fountains and fireworks.  We had some amazing fireworks.  The best part of the show was watching Kylie light the fuse and then run away full speed.  

The next day Rachel and Terrance packed up the firework stand.  A couple of years ago it took me 5 hours to pack up.  It took them under an hour since they had sold most of the inventory.  


Stephanie, Crystal, Olivia, Kylie, Mikayla, Rachel, Terrance, Braxton, and I went out to a Korean BBQ place north of Challis by Watts Bridge called Nummyz.  It was very good.  It was nice to visit and spend some time together before we took off.

Afterward Stephanie drove the firework stand out to the East Fork and Terrance drove the trailer.  While we were there Rob Clifford came to the house to bring out a motorcycle he gave to Ray.  They are going to be moving next week to Colorado.  They will be missed by me, my family, and the community.  They are a wonderful family.

I heard a lot of movement going on upstairs Friday night and went up to see if everything was okay.  Rachel and Braxton were up being sick and Terrance was helping get towels, blankets, bedding, etc...  It was a very long sleepless night.

We headed back to Blackfoot/Rexburg.  Unfortunately I am ill-prepared to handle those situations at my house on the East Fork right now.  No baby medicines or needed adult medicines, juices, etc… and being ½ hour from town on a weekend (with no clinic open) doesn’t make it an ideal place to be sick.  Rachel and Braxton seemed to be doing well but I would hate for anything to escalate way out there.

It was so fun to be with everyone this week and to be able to play with Braxton so much.  He’s so smiley and loves to laugh. 

This round of Chemo went so much better than last round.  I think having the ice in my mouth has made a huge difference.  My mouth and throat have been extremely dry but my throat was nothing like last time, raw and sticky.  Using what happened after the first round and trying to take precautions to prevent it the next round really helped.  Lessons learned:  Drinking tons of fluids will be a norm, resting when I need to is a must, taking precautionary measures makes things much more bearable, and spending time with family is always time well spent.