On the last one that we did I led us off the trail at a wrong spot. We ended up with six of twelve flat tires.
Here we are fishing again. We might be able to get another time or two in before the end of summer.
The Swift Family Blog
Monday, August 7, 2017
Bike Rides and Fishing
Later this month we are planning to bike the Hiawatha Trail. We have been picking up a few bikes from thrift stores and garage sales here and there and finally have enough. We also purchased a bike rack for the van that will hold four bikes. To prepare for the trip we have been trying to get out and do some longer rides as a family.
On the last one that we did I led us off the trail at a wrong spot. We ended up with six of twelve flat tires.
Here we are fishing again. We might be able to get another time or two in before the end of summer.
On the last one that we did I led us off the trail at a wrong spot. We ended up with six of twelve flat tires.
Here we are fishing again. We might be able to get another time or two in before the end of summer.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
DIY Rustic Picture Frames
Ever since moving in a year and a half ago Rebecca and I have been slowly working on furniture and decorations for our new home. It has been a slow process because we either (1) don't really know what we want or what would look good in certain spaces (how come we don't have any interior decorators in either of our families who could just tell us what to do), (2) we know what we want, but can't seem to find the right things at the stores, or (3) we find the right thing, but it costs about 10 times the amount that we would like to spend on it.
Well recently we found some neat Family Proclamation and The Living Christ posters online that we wanted to put up somewhere. We looked around at the stores and picture frames for the size we wanted were all way too much. So I decided I would try to make some frames on my own. Here is how I did it. I am not a carpenter at all, so there are probably better ways to do this, but these steps were pretty easy for me and Rebecca and I both think that they turned out really nice.
Step 1) Pick out some wood. We decided to go for a rustic look for these frames. We had considered a few different options, but the rustic frames were the ones that we always liked best at the framing stores. We do have some old wood lying around our house that is rustic looking, but it is all super heavy and we didn't want frames that would hurt someone or damage our house if they fall off the wall. Lowes has a lot of rustic frame options. For the 4 inch wide by 8 feet long pieces Lowes charges $8.
A few important things to remember here. Make sure you get your measurements right. Because you are going to cut each of the boards at an angle you are going to need to plan for much longer pieces than the artwork that you are trying to frame. Also, try to get the straightest pieces you can. These rustic boards are more warped than the higher quality wood. If your board is too warped, then you will have a hard time getting the corners to line up right when you cut them all at a 45 degree angle. Last, try to match the color. Even within the same group, there seemed to be a lot of variation in color. I had to pull down and line up probably 15 planks so I could see them all together to get three that seemed straight and to match in color.
Step 2) You will need some cardboard for the backing. We got ours at a furniture store. You will want your cardboard pieces to be at least an inch bigger than the artwork that you are framing and an inch smaller that the outside edge of the eventual finished frame.
Step 3) Attach your artwork to your cardboard. I just taped along the edges since that would be covered by the frame. You could also do some double sided tape or some glue on the back - just something that will keep the artwork in place.
Step 4) Cut the boards at the desired sizes at 45 degree angles. If you have your artwork already on the cardboard then you can just line up the wood and see where you would like the frame. Then mark the first side and top pieces of wood off and do the cutting there. If you plan it right, two sides can be done with just three cuts. Once the first two pieces are cut, then just measure the rest of the cuts off of those two pieces. This is a little tricky though if the wood has some warping to it. So make sure you pay attention to both ends of the sides matching up rather than the middle of the sides.
I borrowed a friends miter saw. This made the cuts really easy. But I don't think it would be too hard to cut by hand if you had to.
Step 5) Attach the sides with L shaped brackets. A four pack of these is just a couple dollars at Lowes. At first I did just one bracket per corner, but since the frames were so large, they were still pretty wobbly. Two brackets per frame made them pretty stable.
One tip here is to make sure the screws for your bracket are not longer than you boards are thick.
Steps 6 & 7) Attach the cardboard to the frame. I used a staple gun to get it through the cardboard and into the wood. I am sure there are a few other options. Then get some hangers and hanging wire and attach that to the sides. You will want to attach that about one third the way down from the top of the frame. Make sure that they line up exactly on both sides.
Step 8) Find a spot that you like and hang them on the wall. These are each framing two feet by three feet posters.
We think they turned out pretty well. We also made a frame for a map that is about 4.5 feet by 3 feet.
Well recently we found some neat Family Proclamation and The Living Christ posters online that we wanted to put up somewhere. We looked around at the stores and picture frames for the size we wanted were all way too much. So I decided I would try to make some frames on my own. Here is how I did it. I am not a carpenter at all, so there are probably better ways to do this, but these steps were pretty easy for me and Rebecca and I both think that they turned out really nice.
Step 1) Pick out some wood. We decided to go for a rustic look for these frames. We had considered a few different options, but the rustic frames were the ones that we always liked best at the framing stores. We do have some old wood lying around our house that is rustic looking, but it is all super heavy and we didn't want frames that would hurt someone or damage our house if they fall off the wall. Lowes has a lot of rustic frame options. For the 4 inch wide by 8 feet long pieces Lowes charges $8.
A few important things to remember here. Make sure you get your measurements right. Because you are going to cut each of the boards at an angle you are going to need to plan for much longer pieces than the artwork that you are trying to frame. Also, try to get the straightest pieces you can. These rustic boards are more warped than the higher quality wood. If your board is too warped, then you will have a hard time getting the corners to line up right when you cut them all at a 45 degree angle. Last, try to match the color. Even within the same group, there seemed to be a lot of variation in color. I had to pull down and line up probably 15 planks so I could see them all together to get three that seemed straight and to match in color.
Step 2) You will need some cardboard for the backing. We got ours at a furniture store. You will want your cardboard pieces to be at least an inch bigger than the artwork that you are framing and an inch smaller that the outside edge of the eventual finished frame.
Step 3) Attach your artwork to your cardboard. I just taped along the edges since that would be covered by the frame. You could also do some double sided tape or some glue on the back - just something that will keep the artwork in place.
Step 4) Cut the boards at the desired sizes at 45 degree angles. If you have your artwork already on the cardboard then you can just line up the wood and see where you would like the frame. Then mark the first side and top pieces of wood off and do the cutting there. If you plan it right, two sides can be done with just three cuts. Once the first two pieces are cut, then just measure the rest of the cuts off of those two pieces. This is a little tricky though if the wood has some warping to it. So make sure you pay attention to both ends of the sides matching up rather than the middle of the sides.
I borrowed a friends miter saw. This made the cuts really easy. But I don't think it would be too hard to cut by hand if you had to.
Step 5) Attach the sides with L shaped brackets. A four pack of these is just a couple dollars at Lowes. At first I did just one bracket per corner, but since the frames were so large, they were still pretty wobbly. Two brackets per frame made them pretty stable.
One tip here is to make sure the screws for your bracket are not longer than you boards are thick.
Steps 6 & 7) Attach the cardboard to the frame. I used a staple gun to get it through the cardboard and into the wood. I am sure there are a few other options. Then get some hangers and hanging wire and attach that to the sides. You will want to attach that about one third the way down from the top of the frame. Make sure that they line up exactly on both sides.
Step 8) Find a spot that you like and hang them on the wall. These are each framing two feet by three feet posters.
We think they turned out pretty well. We also made a frame for a map that is about 4.5 feet by 3 feet.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Idaho Falls Temple
Ever since the re-dedication we have been able to go to the Idaho Falls temple instead of the Rexburg temple. There are a few nice things about that. First, the drive seems so short. Second, right next to the temple is a awesome river walk. I have been taking the kids to do that on their scooters while Rebecca attends the temple, and then we switch and she takes them to a park while I attend. Here are some pictures of us doing scooters around the river. The stretch that we do is 2.3 miles long and so if we take our time we can usually get in two loops while Rebecca is in the temple.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Weekend Activities
Our weekend started off early on Thursday night with our ward's Pioneer Day Celebration. It seemed like everyone had a great time at this! Rebecca co-facilitated this, so it was probably a little more stressful for her.
They started it with a bike parade. Julia and Ethan did their bikes and Elliott and Agnes did their scooters. Since Christian broke his arm, I pulled him and Asher along in our new bike trailer. A very nice lady in our ward sold it to us for just $35!
They also had stilts, hand carts, a few pioneer games, and square dancing. Julia convinced me to do a square dance for her. I am not super in to dancing, but I wanted to be a good dad so I said okay. Then the dance started and it was one of those ones where you trade your partners so I didn't even get to dance with her. She had a blast doing it though.
The highlight of the night was the food. Rebecca picked up 300 pieces of fried chicken. There were also a ton of delicious jello salads, regular salads, rolls, baked beans, potato salads, and desserts. Everyone ate a ton, but there were still tons of left overs. We took home probably 25 pieces of chicken and our old home teachers sent us a big bowl of potato salad. I remember I never liked potato salad growing up, but it is one of those things where my taste buds have changed and I like it a lot now - especially the one that they gave us.
On Friday I took the kids fishing in the morning. We struck out this time and didn't catch anything. While we were gone our washing machine finally gave up. It had been having issues over the past couple of months, but we had always been able to find a way around it by changing some of the water use settings. On Friday though nothing worked. It is always unfortunate when the washer breaks because by default it is always the worst time. All of the children had worn through their clothes from the previous week and the laundry room is packed with dirty clothes. I spent the rest of the afternoon bringing it in to a repair shop. They said they wouldn't be able to check it out until August 2nd. So I looked around at a few stores to see if I could find a cheap, but reliable back up one. We were really frustrated with this washer though since we spent extra money to get a really good one and it broke down on us so quickly. The Maytag people on the phone weren't very helpful and it seems like their 10 year warranty doesn't really cover anything. Talking to people at the appliance shops, they said that they do not sell Maytags any more because they often have these types of small problems. This led to a long Friday and Saturday of washing clothes by hand in our bathtub.
Friday did end on a positive note though. We went to a movie in the park. They were playing Lego Batman! I love these type of community activities. We went a couple hours early and the children just played in the park. They were also handing out free freeze pops. The kids loved that they got to stay up until almost midnight.
On Saturday we had wanted to do a family bike ride, but plans have changed some ever since Christian broke his arm. Instead, we did a walk/scooter ride. We did some garage sale shopping and found some pretty good deals. We found some clothes for all of the children and a baby seat for a bike. I think we are all set now for the Haiwatha trail, as long as Christian gets the okay to ride his bike with his cast on. Then the walk. We were going to one about 5 minutes out of town, but then we noticed that we were lower on gas than we originally thought. So we ended up just doing one that we had done before and it was really nice. Everyone was just having a good time playing around and enjoying each other's company.
To cap the weekend off, Rebecca and I celebrated our 12 anniversary today! That is 1/3 of our lives that we have spent together. It has been wonderful.
They started it with a bike parade. Julia and Ethan did their bikes and Elliott and Agnes did their scooters. Since Christian broke his arm, I pulled him and Asher along in our new bike trailer. A very nice lady in our ward sold it to us for just $35!
They also had stilts, hand carts, a few pioneer games, and square dancing. Julia convinced me to do a square dance for her. I am not super in to dancing, but I wanted to be a good dad so I said okay. Then the dance started and it was one of those ones where you trade your partners so I didn't even get to dance with her. She had a blast doing it though.
The highlight of the night was the food. Rebecca picked up 300 pieces of fried chicken. There were also a ton of delicious jello salads, regular salads, rolls, baked beans, potato salads, and desserts. Everyone ate a ton, but there were still tons of left overs. We took home probably 25 pieces of chicken and our old home teachers sent us a big bowl of potato salad. I remember I never liked potato salad growing up, but it is one of those things where my taste buds have changed and I like it a lot now - especially the one that they gave us.
On Friday I took the kids fishing in the morning. We struck out this time and didn't catch anything. While we were gone our washing machine finally gave up. It had been having issues over the past couple of months, but we had always been able to find a way around it by changing some of the water use settings. On Friday though nothing worked. It is always unfortunate when the washer breaks because by default it is always the worst time. All of the children had worn through their clothes from the previous week and the laundry room is packed with dirty clothes. I spent the rest of the afternoon bringing it in to a repair shop. They said they wouldn't be able to check it out until August 2nd. So I looked around at a few stores to see if I could find a cheap, but reliable back up one. We were really frustrated with this washer though since we spent extra money to get a really good one and it broke down on us so quickly. The Maytag people on the phone weren't very helpful and it seems like their 10 year warranty doesn't really cover anything. Talking to people at the appliance shops, they said that they do not sell Maytags any more because they often have these types of small problems. This led to a long Friday and Saturday of washing clothes by hand in our bathtub.
Friday did end on a positive note though. We went to a movie in the park. They were playing Lego Batman! I love these type of community activities. We went a couple hours early and the children just played in the park. They were also handing out free freeze pops. The kids loved that they got to stay up until almost midnight.
On Saturday we had wanted to do a family bike ride, but plans have changed some ever since Christian broke his arm. Instead, we did a walk/scooter ride. We did some garage sale shopping and found some pretty good deals. We found some clothes for all of the children and a baby seat for a bike. I think we are all set now for the Haiwatha trail, as long as Christian gets the okay to ride his bike with his cast on. Then the walk. We were going to one about 5 minutes out of town, but then we noticed that we were lower on gas than we originally thought. So we ended up just doing one that we had done before and it was really nice. Everyone was just having a good time playing around and enjoying each other's company.
To cap the weekend off, Rebecca and I celebrated our 12 anniversary today! That is 1/3 of our lives that we have spent together. It has been wonderful.
Rebecca's Birthday
This last Monday was Rebecca's birthday. We had a wonderful time celebrating it with her.
One of the highlights of birthdays in our house is getting to pick the food. Rebecca picked shashuka for breakfast, which is always super yummy. For lunch the kids did lunch in the park and Rebecca and I did make your own sandwiches. For dinner we had pulled pork green sauce enchiladas. Then for dessert we had a triple layer chocolate cake, which is kind of a cross between a cheesecake and a torte. Plus, one of her friends brought by a cinnamon roll bread from Panera's.
We started the day with a early morning hike. It has been super hot here, so getting in a hike early in the morning felt nice and cool. Later that morning we opened presents. The highlight was a newspaper that the children put together. They gave Rebecca a free copy for her birthday, but I had to pay 50 cents to be able to read it with her.
We then did the free lunch in the park which we have been doing a lot this summer. It's free and a great opportunity to play around at the park and get some energy out. In the afternoon we went swimming in the lake. This is the same man-made lake that we have been going fishing in. One side of it has been built into a shallower sandy beach.
Rebecca turned 36 this year, which means only 4 more years until 40! I don't know how she has managed it, but she still looks like she is 26 - me on the other hand look like I am 46. Pretty soon I think we will be getting the dad and daughter comments from strangers. It is amazing what she has done with the first 36 years of her life - had six children, served a mission, earned a Master's degree, established a home filled with the Spirit, is helping our children develop fun and happy memories, served in numerous different church callings, and on and on. She really is an inspiration to me. I am so grateful that I get to spend all of her years with her now.
One of the highlights of birthdays in our house is getting to pick the food. Rebecca picked shashuka for breakfast, which is always super yummy. For lunch the kids did lunch in the park and Rebecca and I did make your own sandwiches. For dinner we had pulled pork green sauce enchiladas. Then for dessert we had a triple layer chocolate cake, which is kind of a cross between a cheesecake and a torte. Plus, one of her friends brought by a cinnamon roll bread from Panera's.
We started the day with a early morning hike. It has been super hot here, so getting in a hike early in the morning felt nice and cool. Later that morning we opened presents. The highlight was a newspaper that the children put together. They gave Rebecca a free copy for her birthday, but I had to pay 50 cents to be able to read it with her.
We then did the free lunch in the park which we have been doing a lot this summer. It's free and a great opportunity to play around at the park and get some energy out. In the afternoon we went swimming in the lake. This is the same man-made lake that we have been going fishing in. One side of it has been built into a shallower sandy beach.
Rebecca turned 36 this year, which means only 4 more years until 40! I don't know how she has managed it, but she still looks like she is 26 - me on the other hand look like I am 46. Pretty soon I think we will be getting the dad and daughter comments from strangers. It is amazing what she has done with the first 36 years of her life - had six children, served a mission, earned a Master's degree, established a home filled with the Spirit, is helping our children develop fun and happy memories, served in numerous different church callings, and on and on. She really is an inspiration to me. I am so grateful that I get to spend all of her years with her now.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Broken Arm
Christian broke his arm yesterday :( He and Ethan were wrestling around and Christian fell off the couch on to it. He screamed and said that it hurt really bad. I tried to feel it and check to see if I could notice any problems, but I could tell anything. He went to the couch and rested for a while. After resting he said it hurt a little, but it wasn't bad unless he tried to move it. We decided to wait until the next day to see how he was doing. He said he could go through the night that as long as he was laying down, not moving it he would be fine.
Today, when he woke up he said it was feeling a little better. He said there was a little pain, but he thought it was better than yesterday. Rebecca and I both thought that maybe it was just a sprain. But then we tried to see if he could turn it at all. Whenever we would touch his arm or try to help him turn it, he would wince in pain.
So we got him dressed and took him in to the urgent care. They did some x-rays and sure enough it was broke. Christian was super brave through it all even though he did experience a lot of pain when he had to position his arm just right for the x-rays. The doctor said that he would have to wear a splint for the next week and then they would put him in a cast for a few more weeks.
Although it was pretty painful, I think he also feels special for being the only one in the family who has broken a bone. Later we went to the park and it was sad to see him not playing on the toys. He also didn't get to do the scooters later that day. Hopefully, once he gets his cast on the doctor will allow him to do a lot more.
We did take him and all of the children to Cold Stone and he liked that a lot.
Ethan felt bad yesterday that he was involved with him falling off the couch. He knew it was an accident, but he could see how much pain Christian was in. Today he was all smiles though. He even jokingly told people he broke Christian's arm.
Today, when he woke up he said it was feeling a little better. He said there was a little pain, but he thought it was better than yesterday. Rebecca and I both thought that maybe it was just a sprain. But then we tried to see if he could turn it at all. Whenever we would touch his arm or try to help him turn it, he would wince in pain.
So we got him dressed and took him in to the urgent care. They did some x-rays and sure enough it was broke. Christian was super brave through it all even though he did experience a lot of pain when he had to position his arm just right for the x-rays. The doctor said that he would have to wear a splint for the next week and then they would put him in a cast for a few more weeks.
Although it was pretty painful, I think he also feels special for being the only one in the family who has broken a bone. Later we went to the park and it was sad to see him not playing on the toys. He also didn't get to do the scooters later that day. Hopefully, once he gets his cast on the doctor will allow him to do a lot more.
We did take him and all of the children to Cold Stone and he liked that a lot.
Ethan felt bad yesterday that he was involved with him falling off the couch. He knew it was an accident, but he could see how much pain Christian was in. Today he was all smiles though. He even jokingly told people he broke Christian's arm.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
A Visit from the Porter Family
This past week the Porter family came to visit for a couple of days. It was so much fun to see them. The Porters were some of our good friends back in Oklahoma. Shane and I served as clerks in our church together early on when we lived in Oklahoma. Then, once he and Mary Ellen got married, Mary Ellen and Rebecca became good friends. Their oldest son, Andrew, was born one day before our Ethan. They left Oklahoma one year after we did and have been in Colorado ever since.
They arrived late Tuesday night, so we got to do things with them on all of Wednesday and then Thursday morning. On Wednesday we woke up to a nerf gun war between their children and ours that started while we were still sleeping. It is funny how children are often happy to jump in and play with each other even if they have never really met before. Then, after breakfast we did a hike by our house. It was really hot that day which made the hike harder than usual! It was fun to see their boys playing with ours as they explored the hills. The big thing was playing with the walkie talkies.
The hike took longer than we thought, so as soon as we got home we rushed off to lunch at the park. The children played on the toys there some, then we went to another park to play in a newly installed splash pad. That started off fun - me mainly playing with Agnes or sitting and talking with Rebecca - but then somehow the older children decided to make it their mission to get me or Shane wet. At first I wrestled with them, making sure they were the ones in the water instead of me. But with a 10 year old, two 9 year olds, an 8 year old, and a 7 year old all trying to get me, and lots of littler ones running around my feet, it wasn't long before I decided to run rather than fight. The older children grabbed shirts or hats or other water absorbing clothing and chased after me and they were fast. It made for a exhausting visit to the park, but I was able to stay mostly dry.
When we came home all of the children played with the scooters and bikes on our street. There were a number of falls and scrapes, but those boys just kept going higher and faster down the hill.
We ended the day with some hot dogs around the fire. There was a missionary couple who served in the Porters' ward in Colorado that live here in Pocatello. They joined us for dinner and also brought some ice cream!
The next day we kept things more casual. Just some playing around and talking at our house before lunch at the park again. Then the Porters left for a family reunion down in Utah.
It was great to see them and to reminisce about the Oklahoma days again.
They arrived late Tuesday night, so we got to do things with them on all of Wednesday and then Thursday morning. On Wednesday we woke up to a nerf gun war between their children and ours that started while we were still sleeping. It is funny how children are often happy to jump in and play with each other even if they have never really met before. Then, after breakfast we did a hike by our house. It was really hot that day which made the hike harder than usual! It was fun to see their boys playing with ours as they explored the hills. The big thing was playing with the walkie talkies.
The hike took longer than we thought, so as soon as we got home we rushed off to lunch at the park. The children played on the toys there some, then we went to another park to play in a newly installed splash pad. That started off fun - me mainly playing with Agnes or sitting and talking with Rebecca - but then somehow the older children decided to make it their mission to get me or Shane wet. At first I wrestled with them, making sure they were the ones in the water instead of me. But with a 10 year old, two 9 year olds, an 8 year old, and a 7 year old all trying to get me, and lots of littler ones running around my feet, it wasn't long before I decided to run rather than fight. The older children grabbed shirts or hats or other water absorbing clothing and chased after me and they were fast. It made for a exhausting visit to the park, but I was able to stay mostly dry.
When we came home all of the children played with the scooters and bikes on our street. There were a number of falls and scrapes, but those boys just kept going higher and faster down the hill.
We ended the day with some hot dogs around the fire. There was a missionary couple who served in the Porters' ward in Colorado that live here in Pocatello. They joined us for dinner and also brought some ice cream!
The next day we kept things more casual. Just some playing around and talking at our house before lunch at the park again. Then the Porters left for a family reunion down in Utah.
It was great to see them and to reminisce about the Oklahoma days again.
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