Pre-Patrick and Brooke's Wedding fun. What a grand time we had in California!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

My Summer 2009

It's been a very busy and fun summer, one of my very best. We got a new Temple near our home, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, and Bill and I participated in serving a couple of times with the Open House. Also, I went through the temple with my children. And now, Bill serves there as an Ordinance Worker. One day as Bill and I worked in the Temple for the Open House (we were in different parts of the temple) we got to see Elder Holland. He greeted us individually as he came through with a group of Jewish leaders following him. They all spent at least a ½ an hour in the sealing room, where I stood as an Usher. As Elder Holland and his guests exited he blew us all a kiss. I thought that was very sweet.

I've had some fun times with Philip and Karey and their friends this summer. Here we are at the Saloon in Pioneer Park, Lagoon. The two in the middle, top and bottom are Karey and Philip's best friends, Missy and Mark.

Philip and Karey have really cool friends! I love them. Here, Philip and Mark are showing their love for each other.

In July Bill and I made two trips away from home. First, we went to Tennesse for a week to be with Bill's brother and his family. Here's Iris and I as we celebrate the 4th of July.

We had fun on Jacks pontoon boat, fishing and swimming with the ducks. Here I am with Jack and Bill.

And here's Iris and Mark enjoying a game of dominoes.

Then just two days later we went camping at Timponogas with Michelle's family. We had a wonderful time. So much so, that I thought I'd share some stories with you. Above is a picture of Bill fishing with Wyatt. He had a great time fishing with all three of the grandchildren.

It was the first time we'd ever gone camping together, and it is a pleasant memory that I'll not soon forget. If you ask me, our camping spot was the best one in the campground, which was located a couple of miles up the canyon from the Timpanogos Visitors Center. All of the other camp spots were either flesh with the road or in the same area as other camp spots. Ours was the most secluded. We had to walk down a few steps to get to it from the road, and we had no neighbors. Michelle's family tent was on one side of the fire pit and ours lay directly across from theirs. Then, we had to go down a hill of big rocks to get to the stream, just below our campground.

I seemed to be the self designated dish washer. I got lots of exercise climbing down the rocks to rinse the excess debris of the dishes and utensils, and fill pans with water to heat for washing. I also cleaned most of the fish down there, even though I didn't catch any of them. And, I was the only one to go down to brush my teeth and wash my face. I loved having the stream right next to our campground!

What I really loved about this camping trip is that Bill and I didn't have to bring any food! Michelle's family provided it all, and the meals were delicious! For our dinner meals we had the usual hot dogs and s'mores, taco's, and barbecued ribs with scalloped potatoes, for breakfast we had pancakes, French toast, bacon, and eggs, And for lunch we snacked on things or had deli meat and cheese sandwiches.

As we were setting up camp Stetsen complained that us grown ups got to sleep on air mattresses, while he had to sleep on the hard ground. Just previous to this camping trip, Bill and I purchased an extra deep air mattress, twice as deep as Michelle and Darrin's. Michelle extended no sympathy toward Stetsen. She told him that the older you get the more you need an air mattress, and the fatter it's got to be. That's why your grandparents mattress is twice as fat as mom and dads!

With the change in temperature comes some natural deflation of the air mattress. By time Bill and I went to bed our air mattress had deflated considerably. Granted, we never touched ground as we lay on the mattress on that first night, but instead the two of us rested like two giant fish sleeping in a real skinny canoe. The next day as we tried to take a nap together it was even worse. We laughed and laughed as we were glued to each other like two sardines in a can! The second night I wised up and aired up the mattress as much as I could just before we went to sleep. It was better after that, and I'm glad we have the mattress for camping, but it's come in even more handy for use in our home. I've set it up in our extra bedroom, and so we have extra sleeping room for company. While Craig's come recently for a couple of visits his kids have slept on it, and it stays continually inflated.

Our second day there Darrin wanted to go to Bridal Veil Falls. But as we were all riding along in his van he took a wrong turn and we drove for a long ways on a road that really wasn't fit for a car. It was very bumpy, and we kept climbing higher. I thought if we kept going we might end up at the top of Timpanogos! Before turning around to go back we got out and ate our lunch of sandwiches, chips and soda. I really wanted to go for a nice hike, but not a very difficult one, so that Bill could come too. So, I went down to the visitors center and bought a real cool book. It's called 60 hikes within 60 miles, and it's very comprehensive. So, I picked out a real nice hike for us to take the next day. It was a four mile hike up to Stewart Falls.

As it turned out Bill didn't go with us, and boy was I glad he didn't! There was no way he could have done it! He has a hard enough time walking a straight line on level ground. In fact he's very accident prone. First I'll tell you about his little accidents, and then I'll get back to our hike.

There have been many times I've asked Bill how he got this bruise or cut, and he won't even know he's injured let alone how he got it. And he never comes home from a camping trip without some kind of scratch, cut or bruise on himself. One day while we were sitting around the campfire I pointed out to Bill that he was bleeding. He simply proceeded to wipe his blood all over his grandsons. Oh, they all thought that was great fun! On the morning we were to go on our hike Bill climbed down the rocks to the stream, and without anyone seeing him, he slipped and fell, hitting his head on a rock. He never told me about this until after we'd returned from our hike, but he thought maybe that's what made him feel sick. When we left Bill was experiencing diarrhea, and his head was hurting. I asked him if he was sure he didn't mind me going, and he assured me that he would be fine.

Then the next day as I returned from getting some food at the store everyone was leisurely sitting on chairs in the campground. They told me that I missed all the excitement, and said that Bill caught a 180 pound fish! I said, "Sure!" thinking that they were really exaggerating things. They said, "No, really – literally!" Then I saw the little hook that had gone all the way inside and and was hanging out of Bill's arm. He had caught himself! They were all just waiting for me to return so they could get my tool kit out of my trunk. Good thing Bill packed it! We gave the needle nose pliers to Darrin and he went to work prying the hook out of Bill's arm!

The hike we went on was real nice, but I need to get in better shape if I'm going to go on some of the more difficult hikes I want to do. Someday I want to hike to the top of Timpanogos and that's a 15 mile hike! I really want to do a lot more hiking than I've done, but it's not something that Bill and I can do together.

Anyway, on the way up to the falls Cierra was real slow. Sometimes I think she was walking extra slow on purpose. And she had to make lots of stops. As we hiked we saw lots of other little kids coming back. I thought, 'If they can do it Cierra can do it.' We also passed cross country track guys running the whole way! Yeah, it was hard enough for my, let alone Bill! And I didn't think about there being uneven terrain to cross. It was a beautiful hike though, and once we got there the falls were magnificent! We enjoyed the cool mist that came from the falls, and Wyatt drenched himself by going under the falls. There were lots of people there. Kids from Cierra's age to young adults. Most of them came from a summer camp, and a few of the other kids drenched themselves too. The first stretch out of there is a fairly steep incline. I probably shouldn't have, but I felt bad for Cierra, who was already complaining about the hike back. So, I told her to hop on my back and I'd carry her up the hill. Her dad had already carried her for a little ways on the way there. So, she hopped on board. By time I got to the top I'm sure my heart was pounding at least 180 beats per minute! I told Michelle, "Now I know what it must feel like for a 160 pound 4'11" woman to climb this hill! We didn't wait for Cierra this time. Stetsen and Wyatt and I just went at our own pace this time and arrived at the trail head 20 minutes ahead of the other three.

While we were driving back to our campsite I asked Cierra how she was, and she told me that she was just fine. No longer will I worry over a hike being too much for this little girl! She was fine, while I wasn't. My legs were sore and I experienced surges of intense pain in my left leg that would stay for a minute and then let up. My body was telling me – You're getting OLD!

Bill also went on a boy scout camp with 4 boys for a couple of days this month. They all had a great time, and they nicknamed Bill - McGuiver. They all appreciated his fun personality and many skills, including wood chopping, since he chopped enough wood for the whole week and then some!

Here's Bill with Michelle and Cierra modeling her BIG Blue glasses.

August 5th Paul and Marissa's third child, Kaleb Benjamin was born. Isn't he adorable?

My boys like to play my guitar when they come over, and the one that uses it the most is Philip. He's very talented.

Karey and her friend (Megan, I think) playing dress up with my hats and wig. This one and the one below are just two of many pictures that were taken that hot August night.

This is what happens when momma goes to a meeting and leaves the children home alone!

Hopefully, Craig, our Dentist in the family will be able to move to the Salt Lake Valley sometime soon. He's looking into starting a practice here. He's paid us a visit a couple of times this summer, and brought along his swet wife, Cherish and their four beautiful children, all pictured below.

Bayleigh, Cherish and Aslynne

Bayleigh

Camden

Mikiah

Here's Craig, Tyler, Cherish and me going through a gruling workout in our living room.

Well, September's here already. I hope you enjoyed my brief, but somewhat long summary of my summer. Doing this was more time comsuming and compicated than I hoped it would be. I will continue to make entries regularly.