The problem: Israel is (of course) not tall enough to reach the basketball hoop on his own, so I am forced to lift him over and over and over again in the following manner until I feel that my arms might fall off.





The solution?


Hiram not only replaced the broken backboard for Is but also lowered it to the perfect level (not without a fair amount of dirty language and throwing of tools). Our little boy loves it! And I have to say I'm pretty thrilled myself.

Israel is such a boy. From a very young age, he has been totally enamored with trucks, tractors, balls of any kind, animals, and tools. He calls basketball hoops "up"s, and guaranteed if he says that word as we're out walking or driving around, seemingly out of the blue, if we look around, we will find an "up."

We've been MIA for some time. I regret that I haven't kept better record of our travels and doings the past few months, but I am posting now to let you all know that we are alive and well. Hiram and Israel and I are back in Lovelock where I have begun substitute teaching to earn a little free money. Also, we just found out we're pregnant! I am totally and completely stoked! (I threw that juicy little tidbit in to see if anyone was actually reading this.)