July Goings On

So, we just returned from an 11 day trip to Utah and Idaho. We started our adventure visiting with our dear friends, the Krutschs and the Cox Family, who have moved from Lovely Lancaster to Spanish Fork. It was so good to see all of them and to be in their new home. They treated us like royalty and we had a wonderful night's sleep in a soft cushy bed. Mina and Jess fixed us a tasty 4 point breakfast so we could stay on track with our weight loss. I LOVE THEM! It was the 24th of July when we got there and let me tell you, there was some fantastic fireworks going on in that valley. Oh to live in Zion....

Then on the road again to get to Grandma's house in Preston, Idaho. We spent a few days there enjoying her and the cousins next door. Marcia's kids got a new puppy, a chocolate lab, that we had lots of fun playing with. We spent some time up on the hill one evening. We were going to roast marshmallows and make smore's but the wind was too bad so we just sat around on hay bales and chatted for a couple of hours while the kids played. It was so nice to have a cool breeze (something we don't see much of here in Lovely Lancaster).

Jim and I then headed up to Rexburg for BYUI Ed Week. It was AWESOME and I will do another post or two on all that I learned while I was there.

On our way we stopped in Pocy to see Sarah and her girls, and Aaron. I cannot believe how much that kid has grown! He is taller than his dad now!

Our oldest son, Ryan and his family live there, so we got treated to a delicious dinner Wednesday night. Constance is such a great cook! We ate more than we should have, but it was well worth it! We also got to meet our newest grandchild, Eliza. She is a cutie patootie and never stops smiling, just like her momma. Loved seeing the other kids too.Joshie
Emma
Constance with her mega, football shaped cheesecake!

On our way back from Rexburg we saw the most amazing rainbow. It ended up in a double rainbow and the colors were so vivid. I haven't seen one like that in a long, long time!


Back to Preston for another day and half. We finally made it to the reservoir to make those smore's. It was such a fun night. Grandma brought glow sticks for the kids and they had a blast. I think they enjoyed those more than roasting the marshmallows!


We also got to see one of our "Cupids" in Preston. Sheila was there with her son, Andrew and her mom for Rodeo and her aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary party. It was so darn good to see her!!!

Monday we hit the road again for home. We were lucky to have a friend in Cedar City who welcomed us into her home for the night. We had a very restful evening with her and then on home yesterday.

I love to take trips, but it is ALWAYS good to come home!

Thursday 13

In commemoration of Father's Day:


Thirteen Things I Loved About My Dad (the 1st Man in my life)
1. His sense of humor
2. His love of family
3. He taught me how to work
4. He was always there when I needed him

5. He was a cowboy
6. His smile
7. He always kissed me goodnight
8. He wrote the nicest things in cards and letters to me
9. He never knew a stranger
10. He was an eternal optimist
11. He loved my mother
12. He loved to dance
13. He took us on great trips

Thirteen on Thursday

Thirteen Things I Love About My Mom

1. She is such a good Grandma to Lucy (she even lets Lucy do this to her)
2. She remembers special days
3. She always sends thank you cards
4. She is a fabulous baker
5. She always had nice dinners for us
6. She can get any stain out of laundry
7. Her smile
8. She didn't give up on her desire to become a mom
9. She let me check out as many library books as I wanted when I was a kid
10. Her gardening skills
11. Her cleaning skills
12. That she served an honorable mission
13. She adopted me

More Poppies

You saw the poppies a few weeks ago when my sis was here. Now that Grandma is here we had to take her out to see them and they were even better!

A Trip to the Beach

We had to take my sister and her family to the beach while they were here. We just HAD to!
Emily taking a break from boogie boarding.
Tyler burying himself in the sand
Lucy and I were racing down the beach when she did a faceplant. This is what she looked like when she came up...Hitler mustache and all. I died laughing...she didn't think it was too funny.
Matthew scaling the rocks
Lucy showing off her new swimsuit
Rachel and Lucy playing in the sand.

Poppies

One of the few beauties of the Mojave Desert is the California Poppy Reserve. Whenever there is a good winter (aka one with lots of rain) we get these incredible fields of poppies that just burst with color. It looks like the hills are on fire.

My sister and her family were here for a visit this week so we decided to check out the fields and see if the poppies were out yet. Here they are in all their splendor!

DeAnn, DeeAnn and Lucy

Sunday was DeAnn's last day here so we had Jim take a photo for posterity...tee hee.

Buca di Beppo

My baby brother, Marcus, was in Anaheim for the NAMM Convention and brought his family for a quick couple of days at Disney. We drove down and had dinner with them at Buca di Beppo. This was our first time there and I can't believe I didn't think to take pix of the food. It was outrageous. Never order the large item...we ate on it for DAYS!
Lucy waiting to see Uncle Marcus, Aunt Lily and the kids.
Uncle Marcus, Aunt Lily and Ashlyn
SpencerSidney and Ellie
Uncle Marcus and baby Charlie.

January Beach Trip

My dearest and best missionary companion, DeAnn Hansen, came for a visit and I had promised her a trip to "our" beach before she headed home. Many of you know that the weather here in Southern California has been less than wonderful and it rained cats and dogs and even snowed a little the week she was here. BUT, the weather.com was correct and we had sunny skies and a little warmer weather on Saturday, so we headed to the beach! Yay!
It was a bit chilly, but the water was the same temperature as the air, so we got in the water and enjoyed it. It was the getting out that was BRRRRRR!
Kite Flying with Dad and playing in the seafoam

Who needs SNOW when you have SAND???