Roberts Rap

Happy Anniversary to us.

2012-02-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

29 Years ago on February 18th these two baby faced kids took the plunge into matrimony.

Here is to another 29 plus years and even more adventures.

Yoder, Wyoming

2012-02-02T19:07:00.001-08:00

After driving across the country for three days with a five-year old, a three-year old and a three week old baby. Stopping at countless gas stations and trying to kill an hour while the baby ate. Sharing a hotel room with all five of us and a baby that got up twice at night and eating on the road. Nothing looked so much like heaven as pulling into my brother's house in Yoder, Wyoming. Luckily I had been to his house a month previous because the GPS took us on a back-dirt road and right by an empty field told us we had arrived at our destination. I did spy his house about a mile up the road.

My nieces Sammy and Karly were great. They took the girls and kept them entertained all afternoon. Cristal took the baby and me and Heather were able to sit on the couch and do nothing. We had a wonderful home cooked meal that night, that Braelyn loved and requested the exact meal for her birthday dinner.

It was a much needed break on a very long road trip.

That afternoon Russell took us out to feed the horses. Berkley was a little gun-shy and only stayed on the horse for a minute, but Braelyn climbed on in front of Sammy and rode for along time.

Families are great and the love and support of my Mom and brothers and sisters during this trip was so appreciated. I look back and still can't believe we did it.
Never thought I would drive 1,700 miles during winter with my daughter and three little girls. Arriving in Cedar Hills safe and sound I knew many prayers had been answered.

The golden trophy

2012-01-19T19:37:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years we have held a game tournament on Christmas Eve. We play 3 different games and the winner gets the beautiful gold trophy to display for the year. Last year I won and the trophy was proudly put in my curio cabinet for everyone to see. This year we played 9-ball. Greg won two of the three games by knocking in the nine-ball with another ball. I still can't believe he made the shoots. Then we went on to play memory. Yes this is a game that you play with pre-schoolers. We laughed so hard playing it because our memories are terrible. Of course Lauren won this game. Me and Steve didn't stand a chance.

Then we played spoons. We used to play this game all the time, but haven't for about 15 years. It took us awhile to remember the rules but then it got mean. Taryn won this game. Taryn, Greg and Lauren had each won a game so to see who took home the trophy they played a game of racko.

Greg ended up winning and I sadly handed over the trophy. But no worries because next year I will dominate.

Bellamy Moon Allred is here.

2011-12-16T09:15:00.001-08:00

Bellamy Moon Allred came into this world two weeks early weighing 10 lbs and 2 oz. She was 22 inches long. Heather kept saying she was so big that this baby was going to be big, but when I would see her on skpe I didn't think she looked that big. Heather became allergic to this baby and had been itching for a couple of weeks. Her hip was bugging her and she was pretty miserable. Now we understand why. She went to her check-up and was dilated to a 7. They sent her to the hospital where she sat at a 7 until they broke her water that night. My daughter is a super woman for delivering that big of a baby. I can't imagine what Bellamy would weigh if she had gone full-term.

She has lots of black hair and those cheeks were made to kiss.

She was having trouble breathing so they immediately took her and hooked her up. It was a scary night for Heather and Kevin without alot of sleep. That morning she was breathing better and they got to hold her. She would forget to breath when she was eating and Heather said would turn a dusky color. They think she had swallowed some of the amniotic fluid and had an infection. They put her on antibiotics and she was kept in the NICU

Even in the NICU her sister got to go in and see her.

Braelyn told me that when she would talk to Bellamy, she would open her eyes and try to look at her. I'm sure she is very familiar with her sisters voices. I remember when my Mom had my brothers and sisters and we weren't even allowed to hold them, so it's nice that they got to be that close to her.

I asked Heather if she was about 3 times the size of all the other babies in the NICU and she said yes. I just talked to her and her infection is gone, but she has some blockage problems that they need to figure out. Yesterday she did not have a wet diaper. So she is back on the IV and they won't feed her with a bottle today until they figure out what is wrong. Thank goodness for modern medicine and the power of prayer. It's great to belong to such a big family and know that you can count on their love and prayers. We hope they can figure out this latest development and soon be home with her family. I told Heather that they better get all the holding in because once I'm there that baby is not leaving my arms. Love you Bellamy.

Time to close up.

2011-11-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

I remember the first three years of building the cabin and come September we had worked so hard I was ready to close it up and rest for a few months. But now anymore. We both dread the coming of winter and having to say goodbye to our getaway. We made the most of fall and Steve got to play cowboy many times. Here he is with my Mom and two nephews. They brought the cows down. I did my part and drove the truck and trailer.

Steve usually has to go on a four-wheeler run to check out the deer. This first shot he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the camera and it came our pretty neat. This is what he was trying to take.

Finally the weekend of November 19th I made him blow out the water pipes and shut the place down. I will admit I was a pretty sad as we drove away. Steve came up with an excuse to head back out yesterday to install some parts on the electric baseboard heaters we installed. The good news is next time we open it up Taylor will be with us and in the summer we will get to introduce our newest Granddaughter to the cabin.

Best $99.00 I have ever spent.

2011-11-11T14:57:00.001-08:00

I never watch infomercials. But the other weekend up at the cabin I was bored and flipping through the guide when I saw a show called never rake again. Each Fall raking our scrub oak is the worst job every and I do not look forward to it. So I clicked on the show and they were advertising the worx tri-vac. It's a blower, vacuum and mulcher. You do not have to change parts and you switch from a blower to a vacuum by pushing down a lever. It will also mulch down 10 garbage bags of leaves to one. I wrote down the name and thought I would call when we got home.

Looking at my leaves Monday morning, I looked it up on the website. It had a 4 1/2 star rating out of 5 so I decided I would give it a try. I ordered it on Monday and I had it by Thursday. The best part is the shipping and handling were free. Friday morning I got up to try my new toy.
This is what the scrub oak looked like before I started.

This is what it looked like 2 hours later. I spread some mulch on my garden and the rest filled a garbage bag and a half. Compare that to last year when we filled the back of the truck and our trailer with leaves It also would take me about 8 hours to rake it. What you can't see with the picture is all the new growth that catches your rake. That is why it took so long to rake. Most of the time I would have Steve take the trimmer and cut all the new growth out so I could rake it. I was able to listen to a book on tape while I vacuumed my leaves and wasn't even sweaty when I finished.

I love it! It was worth every penny and right now is my favorite thing. Can't wait for the apple and cherry tree's to drop their leaves.

General Conference Weekend.

2011-10-29T18:48:00.001-07:00

I accidentally deleted this picture and now I can't get it back in order. So we will start with it. Lauren's cute family.

Lauren's family joined us at the cabin for Conference weekend. Her family is great and very easy to have up there. I feel like all I do is sit and they cook and clean-up so it's great. Saturday in between sessions we headed up Rhodes Canyon. Greg and the girls all took a turn on the swing.

The colors were gorgeous. My Mom was at the ranch so we had her bring her Ranger and go with us on the drive.

We drove up to the top and they valley you can see is North Fork. You can even see the road that you take to the bottom of the Grand Daddies.

For Christmas Taryn wanted to get a picture of me and my Dad to put up in the cabin. As I searched for one I realized that my options were very limited. I'll never have that opportunity to have a great picture with him so I'm trying hard to take more pictures of the people that I love. Now I just need to remember to do that at reunions and family parties. Her is me and my cute Mom.

Finally Steve got done talking to a group of riders and I grabbed him for a picture. I've been up here many times, but am still amazed at how beautiful it is. It was a wonderful weekend. I felt like every talk was just for me. I loved it and spending it with family friends made for a awesome weekend.

Guns, guns and more guns

2011-10-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends out to the cabin we seem to have a theme going. Steve got a shotgun for Christmas and this is only the second time he has got it out. Lauren's family came out for General Conference and after the second session before they had to leave for Priesthood we got the guns out. I even tried the shotgun and the 22. Neither of them have a kick so it was fun. The 22 I could hit the target, but I missed the clay pigeons with the shot-gun. Lauren's sister Sidney came out to shoot with us and even hit one of the pigeons.

I then had to bring out my 9mm and let everyone try it out.

It is a fun gun to shoot, but really loud. I am proud to say that I hit the target with my gun.

Larry brought out his 22 to practice with.

Last weekend our friends the Yardley's came out and Brian brought a couple of his guns. Steve and Brian spent a lot of time shooting.

Brian brought out his 223 assault rifle. They stuck some cans across the river and the bullet would shatter the cans. I had to try this one and could not get the scope to work for me. It was loud but did not have a kick at all. I am going to have to practice looking through a scope so I can one day hit a can with a rifle.

Both Kayden and Keyana shot it. It is nice that we have a place where it is safe to practice shooting.

It doesn't get better then this.

2011-09-25T13:39:00.001-07:00

Steve wanted to take the boat out one last time before we stored it for the winter. He talked to Taryn and she was able to come out that Friday. We were up to the cabin and when we woke up it was 35 degrees. That really doesn't make you want to get your swimming suit on.

We meet Taryn in Duchesne and headed up to the lake. The site that greeted us was pure glass.

Steve hasn't had really nice water this year so we let him go first. He said that he couldn't figure out what this sound was when he was out skiing, but it finally dawned on his the water was so smooth you could hear your ski cutting through it.

I went next and words can't describe skiing on glass. I almost fell twice because the water was so smooth that my ski slipped on me. I do remember going behind the boat and thinking it was rough. Which is funny because you usually go behind the boat because it's smoother.

Have I ever told you that Starvation is my favorite lake. Not to mention but I was baptized just over to the right of this picture. It was a great day just us and a few fishing boats.

I blame my parents.

2011-09-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

We were lucky this week and got to go to the cabin Wednesday after I worked. Our goal this week was to paint the wood stove in the sheep camp and put in a new floor. When we were done with that we were going to rest and relax and just enjoy being up there. Wednesday I did relax and after cleaning up all the flies. (That is the part I hate about Fall up there) I just relaxed and laid around. Meanwhile Steve went on a four-wheeler ride up to the troughs to see if any of the cows were still up there and saw a herd of elk with a huge bull. He said they were running really hard, so he started to look around to see what they were running from and saw a huge bear. He was a long way away so he wasn't worried. I told him that when he goes alone on these rides is when he sees things. Thursday morning we took a long ride up Rhodes Canyon looking for cows, then went down to visit with my Mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the cabin and cooking dinner. Friday morning we were up early and I was ready to do something. Two days of not accomplishing anything was killing me. I helped Steve get the stove out of the sheep camp and then hauled 15 wheelbarrows of dirt to cover up where we had run the sprinkler lines and thought I would work a little bit on the top half of the rock wall.

This time we used bigger rocks from the field. It only took about 10 trips in the ranger to get all the rocks. We have worked that vehicle to death and at times had it so loaded down with rocks that Steve had a hard time getting it to turn. Once I got going I knew I had to finish it this weekend. I think it looks great and to think that it cost nothing. The test will come next spring seeing if it will hold up. Steve laughed at me and told me that he knew I wouldn't wait until next year to finish this wall. I blame my parents for teaching me how to work and not be lazy. Now we just need to lay some gravel down on the four-wheeler road and we are good.

Steve put this new floor in the Sheep-Camp and it looks much better then the old one. We ran out of paint for the stove so pictures of that will come later.

We are done, at least for this year.

2011-09-03T18:45:00.001-07:00

For the first couple of months this spring this is what our yard looked like. We were full of water. Poor Steve spent weeks digging a trench to try and drain all the water, he even ran a big pipe at the base of the dam all the way through the yard to the other end of the fence to try and dry us out.

His next plan after getting all the water drained was to pull down some of the side hill and fill in the low spot and level out the yard. Our wonderful neighbor Tom is very generous and told us that we could use his back- hoe anytime. The only problem was this summer Tom and his back- hoe were not at his cabin. We were getting ready to call and have someone come do the work for us. By some miracle Steve ran into Tom's dad and discovered they were bringing up the back-hoe that day and wouldn't be using it for a couple of days so it was free for us to use.

Steve is pretty amazing and leveled it out pretty good. The only problem is every square inch of earth up there is full of rocks. So after he leveled it all out, we spent weeks raking up and getting rid of rocks.

This is what my socks would look like at the end of the day. I also have the habit of wiping my face with my gloves when I sweat so my face looked about that dirty also. I didn't let Steve take a picture.

We had the problem of what to do with all those rocks and we also needed to secure the hillside so I thought of stacking the rocks up to build a wall. We had to make a four-wheeler road and used rocks to section that off. Up above the lower rock wall is the road for the four-wheelers. I am not finished with the wall, but the other half will happen next year when I recover from all this work. We will cut back the hill all even and terrace another rock wall up to the top. I wanted to plant some plants in the lower terrace but the fill is all rocks so I am thinking that will be a rock garden and the grandkids and Taylor can put their cool rocks in it.

I'm excited that our lawn about doubled with this and hopefully next week I will see evidence of new grass.

It is amazing everything we have done with rocks up there. We had to go looking for some big rocks to be our base and it's amazing that within 1/4 mile of the cabin we have four very different kinds of rocks. Hopefully it will all blend together and look great.

Cabin Time with the girls

2011-08-22T18:14:00.001-07:00

We had the best three weeks when Heather and the girls came out for a visit. We were lucky and able to spend every weekend up at the cabin. The girls loved fixing pretend meals in the sheep camp. They were able to spend some time with Grandma Moon.

Greg and Lauren and Taryn came up to visit the first weekend so the girls got to sack out in the loft on the bean bag mattress. They look pretty comfortable.

Getting ready for a four-wheeler ride. This was their pirate imitation.

Berkley loves our puppet monkeys and this one kept her entertained for hours.

Greg was playing hide and seek with them. We told them that if they stood by the bear and were really still Greg would not be able to see them. I love the look on both of their faces as they watch Greg come find them.

It doesn't matter how old my children get they still will not be serious and take a good picture. Heather should know better since she has to try and get her girls to take good pictures.

Kellee brought her girls up on Saturday and we went up to Tom's pond to fish. Braelyn tried for about 20 minutes to catch a fish but we had no luck this time.

Me and Kellee were in the ranger with all four of them and Kiley turned to Braelyn and said "Why do you have to talk all the time?" Braelyn didn't seem offended and replied back "because I like to talk".
And she continued to talk the whole ride with papa on the four-wheeler. She turned to him and said "We both like to talk".
I don't know how but Taryn spotted this rope hung from the tree on the road and had to give it a try. Luckily it was sturdy enough.

The next weekend Kevin was flying in so we took the two girls out to the cabin with us so Heather and Kevin could spend the weekend alone. The first night we went for a ride and saw a couple of deer out in the field. We got out and tried to sneak up on them, but of course they ran away. That night we put the girls in the blue room. We have two double beds in that room and it was the first time at the cabin that they got their own room and their own bed. They were so excited and the next morning Braelyn told me that it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in.

We sat the pool up out on the deck and spent many hours out there playing. By afternoon the water was bathtub warm.

Steve had rented a trencher this weekend to put the sprinkler system in. Braelyn helped him for about an hour shoveling rocks.
Too cute, papa taught her how to lean on her shovel like a real farm girl. He taught her that last year and she remembered.

Berkley put in her time and helped me mow the lawn. We went out on Thursday and Saturday afternoon came too fast for me. I could have stayed another couple of days with them.
The next weekend we spent the day at Starvation and then to finish off supper we built a fire and made smores.

Berkley loves her food and the smore was no exception. I think she ate two of them.

I think these three liked their smores too.

Boating

2011-08-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy summer. I can't believe it is August already. The sad thing is thinking soon we will be putting the boat away. Usually we pull the boat out in May and go a couple of times. By the end of June we had only gone boating one time and that was on Utah Lake.

So when Steve's birthday rolled around and we had Heather and the girls we ventured out to Deer Creek. It was stormy that morning and we thought about not going a few times, but it turned into an awesome day on the lake. It was my first time skiing this year and I wish I could explain how fun it is to be out there on a ski. Nothing like it and I hope to be doing it for years to come. We let Braelyn drive the boat and she was so serious about it. She would look at the compass and ask us what way she should go.

The old man still looks pretty good.

Braelyn just loved being pulled behind the boat on the skim skate. Next year we need to buy some little ski's and get her up on them.

Finally we got out to Starvation. It is my favorite lake. This year it is so full that there are tons of cliffs to jump. I talked Braelyn into swimming over to these little rocks and jumping off them.

The big sandy beach isn't so big this year. Most of it is under water, but we had to stop and play in the sand for awhile. I had Braelyn and Berkley over at Indian Bay for awhile and we had the sand toys. Berkley does not like to get dirty and told me that the wet sand was the ugly sand and the dry sand was the pretty sand. I also had to rinse out her bucket numerous times because it was dirty. Berkley stayed on the boat when we stopped here.

With two kids out of state we have had to go boating a couple of times by ourselves. With the exception of nobody to spot while we are skiing we totally love just hanging out alone. Too bad after one ski we are tired and just want to lay around, because that water looks pretty nice. I'm hoping for a calm Fall and being able to boat until October.

Days of 47 Rodeo

2011-08-01T20:32:00.001-07:00

My sister Amy barrel races and I'm ashamed to admit that I've only seen her do it once. She has been doing really well this year and with Heather and the girls out we decided to finally support her and go to the days of 47 rodeo. I remember the rodeo from growing up and it was hot sitting out on the bleachers, it lasted forever. So I was never excited to attend another one. But Amy is so sweet to Heather and the girls that we wanted to go. She was the first one out for the barrel races and did awesome. She said Doughby tripped by the first barrel but I didn't notice. Braelyn was so excited and screamed so loud for Amy. She missed first place by a 1/4 of a second. Braelyn was so sad that she didn't take first place, but kept saying that Amy was still a winner. I agree with Braelyn.

I was surprised that the girls liked the rodeo as much as they did. They were so good and watched each event.

I love the look on her face. It was priceless.

It was a super fun night and I will definitely go again.

Birthdays

2011-07-25T19:42:00.001-07:00

My birthday this year fell on a Sunday, and being the Primary Secretary I got to go up twice to have the birthday song sung to me. Braelyn thought that was awesome that I was getting sung to. She gave me the thumbs up song and sang the loudest. Taryn got up early that morning and made me a birthday cake. Which I really appreciated. Greg and Lauren came up for dinner also.

It was really sad when a couple of months ago I realized that I was 46. Most of last year I thought I was 45. Hopefully I will be able to remember that I'm 47 this year.

Taylor often did this pose so I made the other three children pose like this so I could send Elder T, the picture. In case your wondering Heather is not putting on weight but I will get another beautiful grandchild in December.

We bought this ball last year at Costco and it has been a huge hit. Braelyn would roll it up the hill, climb in and roll down it. We thought Berkley would be brave this year and try it, but no amount of coaching would make her do it. At least this year she climbed into it.

Steve's birthday fell on a Tuesday. The weather that morning was stormy and cloudy and we about cancelled going boating. Luckily we didn't and had an awesome time. We went up to Deer Creek.

We love to go up Snow's Canyon and just play around in the water. It was nice this year because the girls didn't mind wearing the life jackets.

I asked Braelyn if she wanted to ride on the skim skate and she said yes. I laid behind her and steadied the board. She was kneeling on top of it and Steve took off. She loved it. After she was done I decided to give the skim skate a try. I can get up, but could not get myself out of the wake.

Braelyn took the job of steering the boat very seriously. She would look at the compass and ask which way she should go. Every time we got in the car she would tell us what way the car was headed.

Berkley also needed a turn.

The old man looked pretty good.

I was so excited that night to go home and give Steve his pumpkin pie. I got up early at 6:00 to make it, and I hate making pumpkin pies. It looked amazing but after a couple of bites I realized that I had forgotten the sugar. It tasted horrible. I am getting old so I'll blame it on my age. Happy Birthday to us.

Love my cabin

2011-07-03T13:49:00.001-07:00

Steve left for Florida on Monday and then flew into Cincinnati to spend the weekend with Heather and Kevin and the girls and will fly home with Heather and the girls on Tuesday morning. I knew that I would rather be alone up at the cabin then here in Cedar Hills. My week got busy and I could see no way for me to leave before Thursday morning. Because of trek and being so busy with that I had not been to the temple for two weeks so I knew that I couldn't go out until I had attended the temple, also since I'm the only one home I needed to get the lawn mowed. I also had to cleaning jobs scheduled for Wednesday. I had bought a new king mattress for the cabin and had to pick it up and do some bed shuffling here. We decided that we would bring the king mattress from the cabin back here and move the queen mattress that we had here up to the cabin and get rid of one of the double beds. Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:30 am. I was still tired and tried to sleep but gave up at 5:30 and got ready for the temple. Got right in and was done with the temple at 7:00. Waited until 7:30 to mow the lawn and finished about 8:30. Went in to get ready for work and found a message that one of my cleaning jobs was cancelled. Went and cleaned the one house, picked up the new mattress and had Greg and Lauren help me haul out the queen mattress's and tie them all up and I headed out to the cabin Wednesday afternoon. I was so happy that I had been able to attend the temple and get the lawn mowed that morning so that I could leave. While driving up there I knew that I would have to get the mattress in the cabin before the rain hit. I don't know how I did it, but I hauled all three mattress's into the cabin by myself and 10 minutes later the heavens opened up.

I love when it rains up there and spent the evening watching the rain. Luckily my mom was up there and she helped carry the king mattress up the stairs. I tried and tried but could not get it up the stairs by myself. The next morning was stormy and rainy and the perfect morning to stay inside. That afternoon the clouds disappeared and I was able to get some yard work done. I love my new riding mower and mowing the lawn is a blast. My sweet husband said that I work too hard so he will mow the cabin lawn for me. I think I'll pass on that offer.

Friday I was sitting outside eating lunch and looking over at the mountains and realized how blessed I am to have this cabin. I love watching the clouds come over the mountains. Everyone should be able to enjoy lunch with this view. My Dad showed us this spot for our cabin and I thank him every time we go out. That afternoon Greg, Lauren and her parents and younger sister came out for the night.

It was great, they brought all the food and cooked it and I got to enjoy their company. Saturday we went up to Tom's to go fishing. Sidney loves to fish and caught a couple of them.
One of Tom's grandson's hooked onto Greg. He reminds me of Carsen when he was little.

Me, Lauren and her Mom just chilled out reading and visiting while they fished. It was a fun few days for me, but next weekend will be even better when everyone is out there except for Elder Taylor.

The River has flooded

2011-06-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

We knew the Duchesne River was going to flood. It's been predicated for awhile and while we were at the cabin it happened. We got up there Wednesday afternoon and had to take some pictures. The water was really muddy and brown. This is a picture from the top of the hill. Normally the river is a calm river.

Here is a view from the cabin. We come down this road to cross the river to ride over the loop.

We missed the really high water as you can tell from all the drift wood that is jammed against the fence and the road. In this picture is a big piece of wood that is now in the middle of the road.

Where the small water fall is where we normally cross the river. Who knows what the banks will look like once all this flooding is over. We may be finding a new place to cross.

Down by my Mom's ranch house there is a ditch that runs along the road and right below the ditch at the bottom is a small creek. I do mean small but not today. This is the creek that has busted out of all it's banks.

You can see the ditch spilling over it's banks and running into the creek. I have never seen the water this high in all my life. I'm glad we took pictures Wednesday night because on Thursday the creek was almost back to normal. My Mom stayed at the ranch that night and said the creek was so loud it sounded like a freeway.
When we were first looking for a place to build the cabin we found this beautiful spot across the river right at the base of the mountain. Luckily we didn't build there because the river has flooded that spot.
Larry and Talitha came up Friday night and we had a blast going four-wheeling with them. We tried going all the way up Rhodes Canyon but had to stop because there are still snow drifts on the road. We had a great time with them. They are the perfect guests, they bring their own bed (a motor-home), their own four-wheelers and wonderful food. The best part was me and Talitha even won two hands of skipbo.

I had to get a picture of the mountains because I've never seen them so green. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful state.

Stake Trek

2011-06-20T12:45:00.001-07:00

Around December I started thinking about Stake Trek. Our stake goes every four years and I've had the privilege of going 3 times. The first time they called a week before trek and asked if I would help with food. That was an easy assignment, I helped load the trailer and then pass out the food to the families. I got to walk the trail with the handcarts and my job was to spray them off with my spray bottle to keep them cool. It was fun to be up there with Heather.

The next time we had trek they asked me and Steve to be a Ma and Pa. This was a lot more work, but we had the best kids and it was so much fun. The downside was they didn't give the ma and pa a tent or the boys so the last night it started to rain. We covered all our boys the best we could with the tarps and then realized we had nothing for ourselves. We saw a truck and decided to crawl under it with our sleeping bags to try and keep dry. The person was asleep in his truck so we didn't want to wake him and needless to say I didn't sleep the whole night worrying that he was going to take off with us under the truck. Also the ground was slanted and my sleeping bag got soaked with the rain. The next morning we were awakened to "O what a beautiful Morning" All I could do was laugh. Taryn and Greg were on this trek.

The next time trek rolled around we were asked again to be a Ma and Pa. We were excited because we loved last time and Taylor would be going on this trek. This was the most difficult trek. They had a heat wave and it was in the upper 90's in the mountains. They also thought that it would be great to make us go an extra 3 miles the first day. The last 2 miles we ran out of water and we could not find the water truck. Kids were dropping like flies due to the heat and no water. We made it to the campsite and everyone just collapsed. The kids were so worn out that they didn't want to play the games or do the square dancing that night. The next day it was still that hot, but we were able to camp in the upper meadow and with all the green grass and trees we were able to cool off and have a great night. Along with the heat, we were also hungry. I guess poor planning lead to not enough food. That day we were supposed to have meat sandwiches and they didn't even have enough cheese for everyone or mayo, so I had a meat sandwich with no cheese or mayo.
So around December I started thinking of what I would say if they asked us to be Ma and Pa's again. I decided I would tell them no and then the thought came to me that they were going to ask us to do the food. I hoped that I was just having strange thoughts, so when they gave us the assignment I knew the Lord had been preparing me.
One day while buying 72 bags of chips in the store I ran into the lady that I helped do food with for the trek and told her what I was doing. She said that doing trek food was the hardest assignment she has ever done. I agree with her I put in 100's of hours before hand buying food, looking for sales, figuring out amounts and praying for help.

The day before trek begin was a nightmare. We got the trailer loaded up that they had given us and realized it could not handle the weight of all the food. Also our truck was not going to budge it. Luckily Chris's brother loaned us his diesel ton-truck to pull the big trailer and we rounded up three other trailers to get all our food and gear up there. Here are some of the helpers loading up the trailer.

Steve decided to grow a beard a couple of weeks before the trek. We had to laugh that the middle part was so snowy white. It started to bug him a week before and he couldn't wait until trek was over to shave it off. We worked our heads off up there feeding 360 people. The first night we cooked them pulled-pork sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad and watermelon. That night after the dance we served peach cobbler and chocolate cherry cobbler. Then we cleaned and packed everything up and drove 2 miles away to set up for breakfast. We were all up at 4:00 getting ready for breakfast. We served breakfast burritos, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, bananas and hot chocolate. Then we had 20 minutes to clean up and head up the trail before they took off in their handcarts. Up on top we served yummy Gandolfo's sandwiches with chips, cookies and apples. Once they reached the top we had more cookies and apples and bananas to eat. That night they made taco-topper soup and biscuits in the dutch oven. After the fireside they ate brownies. The next morning we sat our yogurt, muffins, cinnamon rolls and bananas. Once they reached the end we had watermelon sat up for them. One boy at the end told me that I gave them too much food. I am taking that as a compliment. With all that food I still was $1,500.00 under budget. Will I ever do this assignment again. That would be a big fat NO. But I'm happy that it was successful and the kids were never happy and loved the food.

Memorial Weekend and my new Toy!

2011-06-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

We started out our Memorial Weekend by participating in the Kalemia 5k run. I've always hated running and would kill myself by just running 2 miles. It has bugged me that running is so hard for me so I thought this would be a great opportunity to train and get in shape. It was a great opportunity I just never took advantage of it so I about killed myself running the 5K. Me, Steve, Greg, Jared, Mary and Morgan all started out together at the end of the pack. Jared left us rather quickly, then Greg and Steve took off. I stayed with Morgan and Mary. At one point I thought I was holding them back so I told them they could take off without me. They said they were fine. Soon Morgan quit running and it was just me and Mary. Steve was about 30 yards ahead of me and Greg was no where in sight. After about a mile I thought my heart was going to burst and I wanted to just walk. I could walk all day and be fine. Soon Mary stopped running and I was all by myself. Lucky for me I am really stubborn and wanted to prove that I could run the whole way and I did. Not very fast, but I did it. I hated every minute but want to keep running to see if one day I will like it.

After the race and visiting we headed up to the cold, cold cabin. Our stake trek is in a few weeks and there has been concern that the regular route we go on will be covered in snow so they have asked us to see if there is a route they could take up at the ranch. As we were driving on this route we looked up and saw two of the ugliest moose you have ever seen.
Sunday we ran down to my Mom's church and it turned out to be my friends son's farewell so that was exciting to get to hear him speak before he leaves on his mission. We went and visited my Dad and Grandparents grave and then headed back up to the cabin. Greg, Lauren and their friends Kylie and Dustin came up with them. Monday morning we woke up to more snow.
After lunch we all gave up and headed home.

This weekend was a much different story, look at that sunshine and look at my wonderful new toy my sweet husband bought me. For the last two years I have been mowing two lawns every week. So this year my husband bought me this new lawn mower for the cabin. It was sweet, I mowed the lawn in half the time and it was fun.

The river is so high. I'm sure it's going to spill over it's banks this year. This is where we usually swim and the river is about 2 feet higher then normal. We haven't even been able to cross it on the four-wheelers yet.

During the summer the water just makes it to the pile of rocks you see in the middle of the picture. The willows up above are flooded with water and we haven't seen the worst of it.

Still Closed

2011-05-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

We love the drive over to the cabin. We drive it most every week for 5 months and we never get tired of the scenery. For obvious reasons they close the road in the winter, but most years we are able to drive over it in April. Many years there is only one lane open for a week or two, but it cuts 1/2 hour off driving the long way so we take our chances. Last week we thought for sure at least one lane was opened up. We took a break in the afternoon and saw a truck and car pass by on the road. We figured if we didn't see them in 20 minutes then the road was opened up. We never saw them come back.

We packed up and headed up the hill. Both lanes were open and it was looking pretty good. About a mile from the top it turned into one lane with snow taller then the truck on both sides. At the top we saw some men on snowmobiles and asked them if the road was open. Much to our dismay they informed us that it was still closed but that we needed to go see it.
The top picture is how the road ends. Unfortunately the road will not be opened up Memorial Weekend. They are predicting it won't open up until the middle of June. It's crazy the amount of snow that still needs to melt. Glad we have the boat in the driveway, it may come in handy.

Water, water everywhere

2011-05-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

We are in shock with the amount of water up at the cabin. Water is seeping out of the mountains and hills. This is supposed to be our lawn but water is seeping out of the hill by it and filling the yard with water. Steve built the pond outside the fence to help water the meadow and the pond is also filled with water.

This side of the cabin has ponds all over it. Normally it is dry and dusty. We have a big willow right below this picture and the hill it is below is leaking water and the tree is surrounded.
A couple of ducks have discovered our pond and for some reason we think that is cool to look out and see ducks on it.
Behind the cabin we have a canyon that we love to hike up. It has a small stream that will run after a lot of rain or sometimes in the spring but this year we have a creek. We decided to hike up it to see where all the water is coming from. This stream is what filled up the pond and filling up our yard.

Almost to the top of the canyon on one side of the hill we saw one of the sources of water and it is just coming out of the mountain.
This was taken at the top in the middle of April. A lot has melted since then but we may still see snow up there in July.
Normally a tiny pond for the sheep and goats to drink from.
The road is still closed to go over the mountain but we wanted to see how far they have gone. It is a one lane road and you can see how much snow they still have. My sister posted a video of a friend who had taken a drive up there and they haven't broken through yet. Hopefully in two weeks when we go back out the road will be open. The river was really high when we left on Saturday and I wish I could be out there this week to watch the river.
Greg and Lauren came out on Friday and it was fun to have some company. Steve had someone to shoot with and I had someone to play games with. At least we will have a very green spring and early summer.

RHS Rhone

2011-04-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

On the cruise we went scuba diving off the island Tortola. We dove the RHS Rhone which had the distinct honor of being the second ship deemed unsinkable. After this ship sank they quit calling ships unsinkable. Steve was really excited about the dive and I of course was not as excited. I get really worried about my ears being able to clear and that I will make a fatal mistake while diving. This dive was also 85 feet down and that had me worried. But I was able to descend with no problems and the visibility was great.

The handle of the dive camera broke right before the dive so Steve was the one responsible for the pictures. I feel bad that I couldn't take his picture. Not that we look so great in our dive gear.
They tried to take off in a Hurricane and hit a rock which tore a hole in the ship and when the cold water hit the hot boilers they exploded. The sad thing is since this ship was unsinkable they had just transferred a bunch of people from another ship which safely made it through the hurricane. The ship sunk in 30 seconds which is a good thing since all the passengers were tied down in their beds for the night. That thought makes me crazy.

This is one of the boilers that blew up.

I can't believe Steve even spotted this fish since he blends in so well. This was a two tank dive and one of my favorite. I can't wait for the next one.

What they switched to Pepsi!

2011-04-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Me and Steve were able to take a week long cruise to the eastern Caribbean last week. We had been to St. Thomas before but not Samana or Tortola so we were excited to visit some new places. I guess I need to explain the title for my post. We usually purchase the soda package on the ships. Nothing tastes so good as a nice cold diet coke when your sitting out in the sun. Last time we cruised with Norwegian they served coke products so we both purchased the package. Before we joked about what we would do if they served Pepsi. Thinking that would never happen I wasn't worried. We got on board and went to get our insulated cups when I looked and the cups said Pepsi on them. I can't stand the taste of Pepsi so luckily they refunded me my money and I figured I would live without anything. I wished I had packed some crystal light packets with me, but figured I wouldn't die. The second day at sea we got talking with a couple from Minnesota and somehow we got to talking about them switching to Pepsi. She said that she had found out before and brought bottles of coke on board. After lunch we went back to our chairs and she had brought me one of her bottles of diet coke. We had an instant friendship and it was fun seeing them around the boat and visiting with them. They also found out we were LDS and we got talking about the church and he was so shocked to find out that we had never drank alchol. He was very impressed and even high-fived Steve for it. Maybe if the missionaires stop by their house they will let them in to find out more. We meet another LDS family and a kid from Vernal that we had fun talking to.

We didn't pull the camera out much so we only have a few pictures. In Samana we just stayed on board. It was windy and they were having a hard time with the tenders. It's a new port so not much to do on shore. At St. Thomas we took a taxi over to Magens Bay and went swimming. After that we got dressed and looked around the stores.

In Tortola we went scuba diving the RMS rone. It was the second ship that had been named unsinkable. They now do not say that about ships. It was one of my favorite dives. We got to swim through the propellers of the ship and that was cool. Steve had his dive camera so I will post the dive later.

Just some of the fun towel animals they made for us. The monkey hanging from the ceiling was my favorite.

My favorite stop on a cruise is their private island. It is so relaxing and nice. They bring food out so your never hungry and you get to lay around and play in the ocean. We found that we had to keep shirts on most of the trip to keep from sun burning. We even had 30 sun screen that we applied alot. It was a great trip we had beautiful weather and nice ports to see. I love spending time with my best friend.

Taryn is 25

2011-03-28T18:18:00.001-07:00

Taryn had asked us months ago if she could go out to the cabin to celebrate her birthday. Of course we said yes and hoped that by her birthday the snow would be gone and they would have a wonderful spring weekend. Well we just seem to want to hang onto winter this year. Usually by now the snow has melted on the sunny side of the road but we still have a couple of feet of snow. This is how we got all the supplies into the cabin. Steve hooked some mess onto the snow so things wouldn't fall off. Luckily we only have to walk about 1/2 mile to the truck. We dumped off our stuff and took the sleigh back so Taryn could use it to bring her stuff in.

The next day me and Steve went for a walk. Since we are trying to get in shape we decided to hike up the hill. Luckily this side of the hill most of the snow is gone. Steve's goal is to hike King's Peak this summer so I think we will spend a lot of time this summer hiking up hills.

We got up to the top and there is still alot of snow. We didn't bring our snow shoes so at times we would just sink in. We had so much fun playing around in the snow. We made snow balls and would see who's snow ball made it to the bottom. Steve shocked me when he laid down and made a snow angel. Going down the hill we thought it would have been fun to bring the sleigh up and ride it down. So when Taryn and her friends decided to go for a hike we told them to take the sleigh and ride it down. I have never seen a sleigh go so fast. Jace was the only one brave enough to go for a ride.

Cambri and Jace warming up by the fire after their hike. Chris was glued to the tv watching March Madness.

We left that night and they stayed over. Unfortunately Chris caught a bug and was sick all night so they packed up early and headed home.

They came over that night for a birthday dinner and Greg and Lauren joined us. I can't believe my baby girl is 25. Am I really that old. She's a beautiful girl and I'm proud of the young women she has become.

Thank-You Steve

2011-03-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

On our drive to Kentucky this Thanksgiving we stayed the first night in Kansas. As I was getting ready for bed I took off my wedding ring and the thought occurred to me to put it in my purse so I wouldn't forget it the next morning when we left. We got up early the next morning to take off for another long day of driving and about an hour after we left I started looking in my purse for my wedding ring. Searched and searched and could not find it. Steve called the hotel and they said they would search our room to see if it had been left. Meanwhile I am sick thinking I had lost my ring. I hate to lose anything, but especially something so sentimental as a wedding ring. The hotel got our number and said they would call. Meanwhile we thought it could be in our luggage or in the laundry. I didn't worry alot about it thinking we would find it when we got to Heathers. Once there I tore our luggage apart and searched everywhere. It then hit me that it was gone for good. The hotel had called and said they looked everywhere but could not find it. The lady seemed geniuenly upset that it was lost.

After we got home Steve called the hotel back and they said that someone had found a ring in the parking lot and that they would send it right away if we would pay postage. Of course we would pay for the postage. I was so excited and went to work with a smile on my face. Later that afternoon Steve got a call back from the hotel and said that the ring had been claimed and it wasn't ours. Something about this whole story seems fishy. Over the years I had always joked with Steve about getting me a big rock for a wedding ring. I was just teasing and never thought it would happen. We stopped by a jewlrey store on our anniversary and I fell in love with this ring. A few days later my sweet husband went and bought it for me. I have designated spots where I will take it off so I won't lose this one. Thanks Hon.

Taylor's Hump Day!

2011-03-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

I learned that a Mom really does survive having her son gone for two years on a mission. The first few weeks after Greg left I wondered if that was true. Don't get me wrong I am so happy that both of them have chosen to serve, and to give up two years of their life to share their testimony of Christ. But I do miss having them around. March 3rd was Taylor's hump day. Only one more year. I love having the countdown. Only two more phone calls, two more General Conferences and one more Christmas.

Then we get this goofy kid back. We know his crazy personality is the same and we look forward to his e-mails every week. But the best part is I get a Son who has learned to put his whole trust in his Heavenly Father. Who understands that with his help anything is possible. Who has seen lives changed for the better and has learned to listen to the promptings of the Spirit. These are the lessons that I'm grateful he has learned while serving.

I wanted to share a part of his e-mail that we received today.

"We didn't have any set appointments the whole day, blegh...But as we were leaving an apartment complex I saw a homeless man limping across the street. All of a sudden he looks at me "I;m going to commit suicide, I want to kill myself." Me "Don't do it! I know God loves you and cares about you."

Man "What does God care about me?" Then he comes over and sits down and shows us his destroyed knee. He vented all of his anger toward God for letting all this happen. I swuatted down by him and just listened for a while. He was actually pretty sane. He told us about how some guys had beat him up for ten dollars. He told them to just take the money and leave him alone but they beat him up anyways. He started tearing up and I almost cried too. Then he wanted me to read some stuff in the Bible so we did. I just reassured him that God did love him. He asked "Why does everyone hate me? You're the first ones that have even come close to talk to me". I helped him up and you could feel a different spirit. He told me "I'm not going to kill myself." Then we said goodbye and he to look for some food in the dumpsters. I can't ever be the same after an experience like that. The Lord puts us in the right places at the right time. If we are living right he will do miracles through us. I know nothing is impossible with God.

I love what mission does to these young men.

The girls are back in Town

2011-03-09T15:15:00.001-08:00

We had been looking forward to this visit for months. Kevin's family planned a trip to Disneyland so we were lucky that Heather had a layover in Salt Lake. Braelyn turned 5 in January but we kept her presents for when she got here. They flew in Saturday night and stayed with us until Friday. Then her and the girls flew to California. Kevin flew in that night and they stayed there until Wednesday and flew back here to Utah for a week and a half.

Braelyn loves everything you give to her. I also took her shopping to pick out her own birthday gift.

Berkley is trying some of Braelyns new lip gloss. Braelyn picked out a doll head that you can put make-up on and Berkley was very serious when she applied the make-up. The more make-up on the doll the prettier both girls thought she was. Hopefully their tastes will change when they grow up and wear their own make-up.
Braelyn loved having some sticker earrings to wear. Sunday was great having someone to sit on my lap and I loved watching Braelyn in primary. She has such a happy personality and loves being around kids her age. She makes friends everywhere she goes.
Monday was valentines day. While shopping I came upon a barbie and ken valentine doll that I just had to get for them. It's so much fun being a Grandma and spoiling your grandchildren.

Here the girls are delivering Steve's valentine present to him. When my kids were little I found this cute valentines song. You start out singing about leaving a valentine at a friends house. Then the paino plays a little part that the kids tip-toe around and then the music changes to a loud fast part that the kids run home after leaving the valentine. The girls loved that song and we played it often as they pretended to leave valentines. They left Friday and me and Steve celebrated our 28 anniversary. We had dinner at Texas Rhodehouse and before we ate we stopped at a jewelry store to look for a wedding ring to replace the one I lost in Kansas. I found three that I really liked. Tuesday Steve went back and picked out the one I chose. Wednesday the girls came back. Thursday after work we packed up and drove to Duchesne. Amy is such a great aunt and sends the girls packages all the time and Braelyn really wanted to play with Kiley.

Here Amy is splitting up all her change between the four girls. Kellee brought her two over and they played all afternoon. The next day the girls played again and we went to Duchesne's new Chinese Cafe. It was good. I never thought I would see a Chinese Cafe in Duchesne. Amy and Josh stopped by on their way to a rodeo so the girls could feed and see the horses.

Braelyn got brave and let us put her on the horse. Berkley was not that brave and was content just to watch them.

Braelyn even feed them. It was nice of Amy to take the time and pull the horses out of the trailer so the girls could see them.

We went up to Taryns work to see where she works and for the girls to see the minature horses. We had to laugh that we spent so much time visiting horses and they live in Kentucky. They had alot of fun playing with the cats. They found some twine and the cats loved chasing it. Berkley hates the sun so whenever she is outside she wears her sunglasses. We even had to close the blinds sometimes in the house because of the sun.

The best part of the trip for Berkley was dipping her fries in the frosty.

I loved very minute they were here. I loved reading them bedtime stories and seeing their cute faces early in the morning. I don't Braelyn slept past 6:30. One night I woke up around 3:00 and saw lights on downstairs. I went down and she was quietly playing with some toys. I made a bed for her on the couch and luckily she went back to sleep. It was really hard taking them to the airport and saying goodbye. Heather said Berkley cried for 15 minutes on the plane saying she missed Munga and Papa. I feel like I could cry that long also.

Been Busy

2011-02-04T08:29:00.001-08:00

I don't know if anybody else is like us but we get the urge to do a project right after Christmas. Steve has made fun of me taking down the decorations right after Christmas but it dawned on me it is because we are always doing some new project. I had bought a cute sink from my friend who owned the real deal store in Springville. She gave it to me at cost and I knew it would look so cute in the kids bathroom. It sat in the office for about a year. Finally last year after Christmas we installed the sink and put travertine down on the floor. It looked great but the lovely white tile with a teal accent in the bathtub stood out like a sore thumb. Before you judge me those were the colors that were popular when we built the house 20 years ago. We didn't want to tear that tile out with Greg getting home from his mission and Heather and the girls visiting and Taylor leaving so we just kept the shower curtains closed and it didn't bug me.

So after Christmas with nobody using this bathroom we tore out the beautiful white tile and my handy husband installed this tile. He did such a great job it looks beautiful. I know the fixtures are still the old ones but to replace them it will be over $300.00 so I just painted them. New fixtures will eventually come.

Here is the cute sink I got from my friend and the new floors. Such a difference from the standard bathroom sink and the white tile with the tiny teal diamonds.

Steve is not the only handy one and I saw on the Nate Berkus show this magnetic paint. I thought I would give it a try and it really works. You put a couple of coats on and then paint over it the color of your walls and you have an instant magnetic board.

Years ago we had given one of the bunk beds to our friends who needed it. I completely forgot about it and she asked me after Christmas if we would like it back. I said yes thinking we would just store the frame and maybe one of the kids would use it when they had children. It took about a week before I realized that we could make the bunk beds again. The problem was she had painted hers white and the frame we had was stained. So two hours of sanding later I painted both of the black. Which Braelyn and Berkley thought was a very boring color. They thought orange or yellow would have been much better. Hopefully with the cute purple comforters they will not notice that the frames are boring black. Only a few more days and these beds will have two cute girls in them. Now I just need to do something about my oak stair railings. Maybe next year after Christmas.

Snow shoeing into the Cabin

2011-01-22T14:41:00.001-08:00

We haven't had the chance to snow shoe into the cabin this year. Even with a storm coming in on Saturday we headed out Friday afternoon to stay the night. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was out and no wind. It is 1/2 mile from the road where we park the truck. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to snow shoe. We had to get a picture of the deck. The snow is almost up to the door handles. Duchesne has had 213 percent snow pack. That was one of the reason's for heading out to get the snow off the decks.

I'm standing over the fence. All you can see is the top 5 inches. Most of our trees are buried under all the snow. And it's hard to tell where the road is with all the snow.
We arrived at the cabin around 5:00 and happily the temperature inside was a warm 41 degrees. By about 8:00 that night we had the inside temperature up to 55 degrees. Which isn't too bad considering many times it's below 0 up there.

We read, ate, watched movies and played games that night. Very relaxing and thanks to an electric blanket we slept nice and cozy. The next morning a storm was blowning in and it was windy. Here Steve is getting the snow off our deck. I felt bad for him and helped him do the other deck. The wind can really whip off that deck so as we would throw a shovel full of snow half of it would blow back into our face. Luckily with all the lifting and shoveling we stayed warm.

Even with the bad weather we had to go for a walk.

Most of the river was frozen over. I tried to get Steve to go set on that log but he wouldn't go for it. We crossed over a frozen part of it and headed into a blizzard. Okay it wasn't really a blizzard but hard to look up with the snow blowing into your face. Finally we gave up and headed back. It was much nicer going with the wind on your back instead of your face. I wasn't thrilled about going up this weekend because of the cold but we had a great time and stayed pretty warm. Only a few more months and we will open it back up. I don't think I will ever get tired of going up there.

The best winter exercise

2011-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago we received snow shoes for Christmas. The first time out I fell in love with the sport. There is something magical about walking around the forest with snow covering everything. It is so quiet and peaceful.

We decided to head up American Fork Canyon with Greg, Lauren, Taryn and some of her friends. Last year we had gone up this trail but didn't make it very far so we thought we would attempt it again. I can't remember what the trail is called but it's above Mutual Dell. We headed up the trail which was really snow-packed. I prefer to go where nobody else has gone so the snow is nice and soft, but we forged ahead on our packed trail. It would have been easier to take off our snow shoes and just hike up it, but we were told higher up we would need the snow shoes. At one spot we decided to head straight up the mountain and see what we could see. After about killing ourselves climbing up we chose the easier route back down and just slid.

Tom lost control and tumbled into Lauren. Luckily nobody was hurt but it made a great picture. We attracted some attention sliding down and an older couple stopped to watch. They were coming down the trail so we asked them what was up ahead. They told us there were two meadows and we really needed to see the top meadow.
Since they were older then me and Steve my competitiveness kicked in and we had to make it to the top meadow. I think the kids would have stopped anytime and headed back, but I had to prove that I could make it.
The first meadow was really pretty, but we had been told the top meadow was better so we headed on. The trail was less snow packed which made for easier walking.

We were all exhausted when we made it to the top. It was 2 miles from the parking lot and since this was our first snow-shoeing trip I was impressed that we had did it. We looked around and nobody could figure out why we had to come to the second meadow. We rested for a bit then started the trip down.

In the first meadow somebody had built a snowman. Before I could stop her Taryn ran full force at it and knocked it and herself over. I thought I had raised my children better. We made it down the hill in about 20 minutes. Much easier then going up. Hopefully this weekend we will find the time to go again. If you want a great work out in the winter there is nothing better.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the smells and the music of Christmas. As the kids have grown alot of our traditions have gone by the wayside and we are finding that we have to reinvent Christmas at our house. Which is hard with the kids growing up and moving on with their lives, but hopefully we can create some wonderful family traditions with the grandchildren. When the kids were small we rarely made it out to the Moon's Christmas Eve party, but this year we grabbed Taryn and headed out to Duchesne to have dinner with my family. We gathered at the resturant so there would be plenty of room. I had to get a picture of Navyie with Taryn since they both had the hair decorations. This is the only picture I took, I put down the camera to get some food and forgot to pick it back up. The food and company was great and I really enjoyed having a soda fountain. We drove back home and opened our Christmas Book and then tried to watch Elf. Taryn lasted maybe 10 minutes and after about 30 minutes I had to go to sleep.

Christmas morning I was awake at 5:00. Not because I was excited but because my body thinks that is when I should wake up. Steve got up around 8:00 and we skyped Heather and Kevin and the girls to see what Santa Claus had brought them. Braelyn showed us all her gifts but Berkley was obsessed with the make-up kit she had received and spent the whole call putting on make-up. Thank goodness for modern technology so we can see the girls.

Opening up gifts didn't take long with just 3 of us. When I was shopping in Sedona with my friends we found this cute store. I loved the jackets but knew I had to find a small one with extra long arms to fit Taryn. We searched for awhile and finally found this one. I can't believe it fits and neither can she.
Greg and Lauren came over around 10:30 and we watched them open their gifts.
A couple of years ago we started a tournament on Christmas and the winner got to keep the gold trophy for the year. Taylor won the first year and Taryn last year. Poor Taryn had to move that trophy 7 times last year. The first year we did a WI tournament last year we played ping-pong and guitar hero and racko. This year I choose games that I thought everyone would have a fair chance at winning. The first game was 9-ball. We played 5 games. Lauren won one, Steve won one, Greg won one and I won two of them. I think Lauren was the most shocked when she knocked the nine-ball in and won.

The next game was Ker-plunk. This was a game both me and Steve played as children. We decided that the loser would be out. It came down to Lauren and Steve playing for the championship.
It was funny watching how intense they became. Lauren was the winner of Ker-plunk. The last and final game was Mexican Train. We decided that we would play 3 games and if we needed a play-off then the winners would play a game to determine who won. I won the first round, Greg the second and Taryn the third so we played a fourth game. Taryn only had one tile left when Greg laid a double. That caused each of us to draw several new tiles and totally threw Taryn off and I won. So I'm the winner of the golden trophy and it has a special place in my curio. Grandma Roberts came over to spend the day and after all the teasing Steve gave her I don't know if she will ever play Mexican Train again. Of course the highlight was the phone call from Taylor. Steve talked with him for a few minutes in Spanish and said he sounded great. He loves his mission and hopes to stay in Compton for along time. I'm excited because we only have 2 more phone calls and he will be home. We had a lovely Christmas dinner and it turned out to be a great day.

Tuesday morning I woke up again at 5:00 and just puttered around the house when I went up to the rec room and looked out the window and this what I saw.

It was horrible, I started screaming at Steve and we both got dressed and ran outside and down the street. We were joined by half the ward and we all stood in horror watching our neighbors house go down in flames. It took awhile to get the water on the house, but the fire was so intense I don't know if anything could have saved it. We watched the garage cave in and then the second floor fall down. Soon it was just the frame of the front door and window and then they collapsed. The house was destroyed in less then an hour. Luckily they were in California visiting so nobody was hurt.

Usually when you see houses on the news that have burnt you still see the shell of the house, but there is nothing left of this one. They both bore their testimonies in church today of what is truly important and of God's plan. Yes they will miss alot of stuff that is gone, but he brought up an interesting point. He said the things they will miss the most are the things that have no value as far as money is concerned. I totally agree with him. Hopefully something good will come of this fire for them. Christmas is now packed up and ready to go next year. It is exciting to see what 2011 holds for us.

Company Party

2010-12-22T05:41:00.001-08:00

Tuesday morning we woke up to this. All week the forecast for the weather has been rain in the valleys and snow in the mountains. We received about 8 inches of snow and had to get a picture before the rain melts it all. Steve was thrilled it snowed so he could get the four-wheeler out and do some plowing. Taylor has also been hit with this storm and riding a bike has kept him soaked. It's hard to complain about moisture when we live in a desert.

When Steve went to work on his own and Christmas rolled around we missed having a party to attend so we decided we would have our own company party. We go out to eat and then do an activity. This year we went up to Salt Lake and ate at the Red Iguania which is one of Taryn's favorite resturants.

It's decorated in the bright Mexican colors and looks like a dive but it is always packed and when we left there were people waiting out front in the cold. The food was great and the company even better.

We try to hit Temple Square every year to see the lights so this year after dinner we went to see the lights. It helps that Taryn knows Salt Lake because she took us to this parking garage that nobody knows about and we parked without a problem.
I had to have my picture taken by this tree because the orange and white lights were so pretty. We all got a bit dizzy walking through the trees with all the red lights.

After the Grand Canyon I'm really into the jumping shots so we wanted to get a jumping shot. Steve held the button down and was ready to take the picture but with the flash we just couldn't get the timing down so here are the two pictures of us looking pretty stupid. We gave up after two shots but will have to figure out how to do it with the flash.

We had a fun night, but I can't help missing my other two children. This will be my third Christmas with a missionary and I'm excited for the phone call but can't wait for the Christmas when I have all my children home again.

We ended the night visiting Taryn's favorite nativity. I think it might be my favorite also. I really do enjoy these company parties.

3,364 miles!

2010-11-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year we had a bright idea that we would drive to Kentucky to spend Thanksgiving with Kevin, Heather and the girls. Yes I did say drive. When I told somebody we were driving to Kentucky they said to me "Don't you guys have frequent flyer miles you can use". Yes we do, but we have wanted to take our car on a road trip. The car was very comfortable and we enjoyed seeing the country but 14 hours a day driving is too much for me. Was it worth it? For these two little girls we would do anything. But next time we will fly.

We left Saturday morning and decided to stay Sunday night an hour away so that we could arrive at their house rested and ready to play. We got there early Monday morning and Berkley answered the door. At first she just looked at us but then jumped into my arms and I got the biggest hug. Braelyn then saw us and came running down the hall to give us hugs. That first day I would be holding Berkley and she would turn and look at me and say "I love you Munga".

That afternoon Heather took us to a park by their house. We played at the playground and climbed trees.

I can't believe their faces are so calm because there was some complaining from them as we put them up in the tree.

My cub scouts had built bird houses this month and I had some extra bird seed so I brought it along and we made some bird feeders from the pine cones we found at the park. After we hung them in the tree in the front yard the girls would keep looking out the window to see if the birds had discovered them.

Taryn was supposed to fly in on Wednesday but when she heard there was a blizzard coming to Utah Wednesday she had Steve switch her flight and arrived Tuesday night. She had just got over being sick and was exhausted so she spent alot of time in the chair with one of the girls on her lap.

Braelyn loves to dress-up. It's probably her favorite activity so I told her that I would be her fashion designer and make-up some costumes for her to model for her papa and mom. Here are two of her favorite ones. The first one she is a Japanese Indian Princess and the second one she is a Red-Neck Princess. Yes, we came up with some great outfits.

Steve has missed seeing the girls in the morning with their messy hair, so one morning I heard Berkley get up and hurried and grabbed her and brought her into our room so Heather could sleep a little longer. Soon we were joined by Braelyn. It was fun to snuggle and play with them in the morning. We miss that.

Thanksgiving day the girls wanted to wear their princess dresses and while we waited for the pies to cook they let me curl their hair. Then after they filled the nut cups with yummy chocolate mints. I have never seen Berkley so happy then sitting at Thanksgiving dinner eating those mints. The bad part is that is all she ate for dinner, but she was happy.

I guess the mints weren't enough chocolate because after dinner we made chocolate santa suckers. The girls helped paint the red chocolate into the forms and we had some very interesting suckers.

I guess the sugar high finally left Berkley. It was a nice day with wonderful food and the only way it could have been better was if Greg, Lauren and Taylor would have been with us.

The next day we went to a horse farm. You can't go to Kentucky without seeing the horses. They kept alot of the old race horses and it was interesting to hear about them. We saw the horse that was in Sea Biscuit. Braelyn's favorite was the miniture horse.

We thought this horse had an interesting name and had to take Heather's picture by it.

We left early Saturday morning. We said our goodbyes Friday night and my heart couldn't take another good bye in the morning. Plus neither of us sleep well and we were up and out of the house around 5:30. I think I stopped crying about the time we left Kentucky. I enjoyed the visit and was grateful we were able to see them again. It's just hard thinking that the next time we get to hold them could be months away. We are thankful that we made the trip safe and sound.

Closing it up.

2010-11-09T17:40:00.001-08:00

I always hate the weekend when we have to shut the cabin up for the winter. It was really hard this time because the weather was so nice. We only needed the fireplace at night and in the morning. Jackets were perfect outside. I didn't even get cold on our four-wheeler rides. But we know that living in Utah the weather can change like that and it has. I've been wearing a jacket inside our house here to stay warm. We got out there Thursday afternoon and Steve wanted to go for a ride. I have not wanted to go on many rides lately so I said I would go. We loaded up on the green four wheeler and thought we would drive the loop. It had snowed the week before but most of the snow was gone and we thought that the road would be dry. Big mistake it was really muddy and the tires would kick mud every where. We decided to go the whole way and when we were almost to the bottom by the beaver ponds we saw this.
Two bull elks with their heads cut off. We were pretty mad that someone would do this and leave the meat behind. I'm fine with hunting as long as the meat isn't wasted. We got home and Steve called the poaching hot line. After describing to her where we saw them she hooked us up with the fish and game lady that patrols up there. She knew exactly where we had saw the elk. She then explained that these two elk got in a fight and their horns hooked and they ended up drowning in the beaver pond. So fish and game came up and cut off their heads. We were happy that it wasn't poachers.

Friday we went on some more four-wheeler rides and that night Steve went for a ride by himself. We have a theory that if we leave the camera at home then that is when we see moose, elk, bear and all other interesting animals. Steve had left the camera at home so of course he would see not one but three bull moose. He saw the first one across the valley so he took off in a hurry to see if he could get a closer look. He rounded a corner and right in front of him was this big old bull moose. The moose looked at him, but didn't seem to mind Steve that close to him. About ten minutes later another bull moose came through the thicket. They started playing around and were pushing each other with their antlers. Steve did have the state of mind to turn the four-wheeler around in case he needed to get away. He watched these two for awhile and then a third bull moose came into the picture. He was so excited when he got home and couldn't The next morning we got up and went to the spot where he saw the moose. I did bring the camera with me so therefore we didn't see any moose. I had never been on the pipeline trail and the view was awesome.

I couldn't resist doing another jumping shot. Maybe that will be the new thing I have everyone do in all our pictures. These crack me up, probably because we look so stupid.

Well now for the count down to when we open the cabin back up. Today we were trying to figure out the cost of running electric heaters all winter so we wouldn't have to drain the pipes and we could also spend winters up there. I guess it is pretty obvious where we like to spend our time. But we do have a trip planned to Kentucky to see Kevin and Heather and the girls in two weeks so life is still good. We will just try to stay busy until April and we open it back up.

The girls of 1982

2010-10-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

When we had our 25Th high school reunion I was talking with Jerilyn and we decided that before we turned 50 we would hike the Grand Canyon. So this year I got a date set with everyone and we tried to book the Phantom Ranch. We knew that we would not be able to hike all our sleeping stuff down the canyon so we wanted to stay there. Unfortunately we could not get a room and I thought the trip would never happen. Jerilyn lives in Phoenix and suggested that we come out and she will take us on some hikes around the Grand Canyon. We meet in Flagstaff and stayed in a nice hotel. Just our kind of vacation.

It took us 8 hours to get to Flagstaff so the first night we just went out to eat and then hit the hot-tub. The weather was chilly and the warm water felt great. The next morning we got up and headed for the Grand Canyon. My daughter Taryn always does these jumping shots in her pictures so Gini said she would do it with me. Annette couldn't get the shot with her camera so we kept jumping. It was really freaky because as we would jump I would see tons of flashes. I guess everyone around us wanted a picture of some old ladies jumping. Luckily we got a shot with my camera.
Here we are all happy before our hike. It was perfect weather for me to hike. I hate the heat and with the cloud cover it made for a nice day. We decided we would hike down 2 1/2 miles and then come back up.
The hike down was harder for me because my knees ache with the down-hill walk. It's a pretty steep drop and with the rain they had received that morning it was pretty muddy. Luckily it wasn't the slick mud they have in Hawaii and we made it down safe with nobody falling. Gini did trip on the way up but she was trying to text at the same time.
This is truly how we felt at times on this hike.

It is so pretty down there and we would have to remind ourselves to look up once in awhile to see how beautiful it was. Luckily there were many people willing to take a picture. We would ask them and then hand them three cameras, but nobody complained.
We thought we were pretty cool doing this hike at our age until we meet Tom. He is 90 years old and two days ago hiked down the North Rim, stayed at the Phantom Ranch for two days and was on his way up the South Rim home. He was truly inspiring and I hope to be in that good of shape when I'm his age. We made it up to the top and the lightening started so we ran to the lodge to have some lunch. Okay we didn't really run because we were sore but we hobbled as fast as we could. Once we got inside the skies opened up and it hailed for about 20 minutes. We had beat Tom up the trail and were so worried that he was still on the trail when the hail hit. We had talked to his son up at the top so hopefully they got him up and safe. I really would like to hike all the way down and stay for a couple of days. Hopefully I can fulfill that dream some day.

The next day Jerilyn took us to Sedona. We took the scenic route there and drove through a canyon that was so pretty. I wish I could remember names, but I can't recall what it was named. I've heard about Sedona but didn't know anything about it. It is amazing and if you have the chance to visit I would encourage it.

We had all pulled various muscles in our legs yesterday on the hike in the Grand Canyon and after sitting in the car for an hour the sight of us getting out and trying to walk was hilarious. We looked even older then we are. Luckily we found a great 5 mile hike that was pretty level and not hard at all so after awhile we were able to walk normally. But every time we sat for awhile we would cramp up and had the hardest time walking. Going down stairs was the best and we would have to stop in the middle because we were laughing so hard at how funny we looked trying to walk down them.
We found a great spot to rest. Down below these rocks was a little waterfall and stream.
The hike ended on a big rock so you could overlook part of the valley. We tried a couple of jump shots off this rock but they didn't work. When I landed on my other foot I thought it was time to stop. I don't know if my friends could carry me out.

After the hike we went into town and had lunch at a wonderful Mexican resturant and then took a short 1/2 hour trolley ride to learn some history of Sedona.

She took us to the opposite side of town from our hike and we saw some more beautiful country. She told us about a box canyon up there that I would love to explore some day.

My camera batteries were low at the Grand Canyon so I wasn't able to take alot of pictures. Luckily I had charged the camera and could take alot of pictures of Sedona. I love this bottom one the colors are so pretty and to think I took it with a scuba camera. Not too bad.

The last day we went out to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. I'm surprised at how pretty it was with the broken lava rock. It also amazes me when I see trees growing up in the middle of it. After the lava fields we went to the Wupatki National Monument and were able to see some Indain ruins. They were really well preserved and the two we saw were big.

They had this blow hole that blew air. I've never seen a blow hole that wasn't close to an ocean but you would lean over and your hair would blow up. I thought I had downloaded the big picture of the house but I guess I didn't. If I could figure out how I would put it in. It was fun to try and figure out how they lived and what rooms were used for what. That afternoon we did what women do best and shopped in old town Flagstaff. They had alot of cute shops and everyone found a treasure. That night we wanted to hear Jerilyn sing again so we went to a karoke bar and went back 30 years when she belted out Pat Benatars "Hit me with your Best Shot". She still has a beautiful voice and it was great to hear her sing. It was a awesome week filled with yummy food, fun talk and lots of laughter. It's pretty amazing that we have known each other since kindergarten and are still friends. We already have our next reunion planned.

Conference Weekend

2010-10-13T17:57:00.001-07:00

I look forward to Conference and being able to hear from our Prophet and Apostles. Just hearing them brings so much peace and comfort to me. The weather was perfect Conference Weekend and we were able to spend it up at the cabin. I couldn't ask for a better weekend. Okay it would have been nice if all the kids were able to be with us. Luckily Taryn was able to come out for the weekend.

During the Saturday break we took a four-wheeler ride up Rhodes Canyon. The leaves were almost gone. I wouldn't say that this year was a spectacular year up there for the colors. But it is still a beautiful drive.

Steve was getting artsy and took these pictures of the leaves on the ground.

Sunday between sessions we decided to hike up the mountain. Me and Steve were huffing and puffing getting up it and Taryn just breezed up it. We will blame it on the altitude and not the fact that we are out of shape.

When we used to hike with Taylor he would always push over the dead trees. Sometimes our hikes took along time. In honor of Taylor Steve decided he would push this tree over.
He got it swaying pretty good, but the top part of the tree was swaying in a different direction then the bottom. I thought I hope this doesn't snap and fall on him. Just after the thought, Taryn screamed at Steve to move because a big part of the top snapped off and just grazed his shoulder. Maybe he should leave the tree pushing to the younger kids. In Taylor's e-mail when he heard we went out to the cabin for Conference said that he will have an easier time being away from home for Christmas then he does being away from the cabin. Loved every session of Conference and can't wait to watch the talks again on the DVR. I've often wished we could have it every 3 months. What a great weekend.

Missionaries and Moms

2010-09-26T16:19:00.001-07:00

When Greg left on his mission it was really hard on me. I missed being able to talk to him when I wanted and his easy going personality around the house. He also always emptied the dishwasher for me and that's a chore I hate. But what surprised me was that I missed his friends also. While he was serving I thought it would be great when he came home to have all his friends and Mom's up to the cabin for a night so we could hear about their missions. I'm thankful that both of my boys had such good friends. All of Greg's friends served faithful missions and I grateful for their influence in his life.

When Greg got engaged and planned to get married in July I figured that the night at the cabin wouldn't happen. His friend Landon didn't get home from his mission until August so we couldn't do it before the wedding. Luckily Greg still wanted to and I have a wonderful daughter-in-law that didn't mind Greg leaving for a night.

A couple of the moms weren't able to make it and I appreciate Rebecca, Deb and Elaine for coming up. I didn't know Deb or Elaine and it was fun getting to know them. We had dinner and then sat around while the boys talked about their missions.
It's amazing to think that they each spent two-years of their lives serving their Heavenly Father and that they are still goofy.
Around 10:30 they decided they needed to do a night-time loop run. I just had to take this shot of Dave in my coat. I think he looks better in it then me. Greg and Taylor lead the way up the road in the ranger and told us that up on the mountain, Taylor jumped out of the ranger and hid on the side of the road to scare the other two four-wheelers. Dave and Alex were the next ones by and Taylor got them good. Landon and Jacob were on the second four-wheeler and didn't even get scared. Taylor said it sounded like a good idea to scare them until he was left by the side of the road in the dark. Jacob had to get to his job early on Saturday so they left around 7:30. Me and Landon's mom woke the boys up at 9:00 for breakfast and then they had to leave. Greg and the rest went four-wheeling, shot my gun and then packed up and went home.

This is the moon coming up over the mountain on Thursday night. Steve thought it was appropriate to take a picture of the moon coming up over Moon Ranch.
The weather was beautiful and the fall colors are out. The quakes are very bright and yellow this year. Good times at the cabin.

A bear are you kidding!

2010-09-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

I'm sure many of you have heard about our bear sighting at the cabin this weekend. Here are the details. Me and Steve went out to the cabin Thursday afternoon. Friday night our friends the Krugers came out. Saturday morning I ran back to Cedar Hills to attend the wedding luncheon of our friends the Bates. Their daughter Jessica got married. In the meantime the Hudgins and Greg and Lauren went out to the cabin. I got back around 3:00 and soon after the Hudgins and Steve, Greg and Lauren came back from a four-wheeler ride. We were sitting out on the deck eating some yummy homemade salsa and visiting. After about an hour the men left and it was just us women talking. We got up and headed back inside the cabin when I happened to glance out in the field. Between our two pines trees I thought I saw a bear walking. I said to Ali "what animal is that" She replied "A Bear". I ran into the cabin to get the binoculars the whole time screaming "A Bear, A Bear". Everyone came running out to the deck to see it. When we couldn't see it from the deck we decided to head down to the river and look. Yes I know it wasn't smart and to top it off me and Lauren had our flip flops on. My thought in all of this is I just have to run faster then Larry who was leading the pack. I hung towards the back worrying about running in flip-flops. We searched all over and couldn't find it. We then had the brighter idea to get on the four-wheelers and search up the canyon for it. While I was getting my shoes on (yes I do have a brain), Larry had taken off on his four-wheeler. Steve figured that the noise would scare the bear off and we would diminish our chance of seeing it again, so he stayed home and Greg and Lauren joined me in the ranger and Talithia rode her four-wheeler. We crossed the river and just up a the hill Larry had stopped and was pointing towards the river. We stopped and immediately Greg and Lauren saw the bear. I had a harder time finding him with the camera. Luckily I did get that shot of it. Talithia said while we were pointing and screaming the bear turned and looked right at us. I wish I could have got a shot of that. He just kept heading along the river and up the valley. We followed on the four-wheelers but didn't get another chance at a picture. Lauren and Greg spotted it again, but I couldn't find it in the camera. Larry guessed it to weigh about 350 lbs. It was a full grown bear. We named him Fred in honor of Greg's friend. I never thought I would see a bear that close to the cabin right in the middle of the day. I hope it's the last time I do. The scary part is he was right by the head gate that Steve is always opening and closing.

With all the excitement we didn't get dinner going until late that night. The Hudgins left that night. Steve got up early Sunday to fulfill his new calling as High Priest Group Leader back in Cedar Hills. The rest of us stayed and attended Church in Tabionia. That afternoon we laid around talking and reading. It was nice to be able to relax and do nothing.

Greg and Lauren had to go home that night. Greg had to work on Labor Day and Lauren needed to get things ready for teaching.

That night we drove up the switch backs to check the troughs for my mom. We alway like an excuse to use the four-wheelers. The ranger was perfect for Ali with her hurt foot.
I think the Krugers should use this as there Christmas card. The view is beautiful.
I don't think me and Steve will be using this one. The view is great but not so much the outfit.

The next day Chris and Bubba helped Steve move some of the old pipes that were sitting by the river. It looks much better. It was a busy but fun weekend and made more enjoyable spending time with friends and family. It never matters how long we are up there we always hate coming home.

Lake Powell

2010-09-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

We haven't been to Lake Powell for a few years and it's a place we would love to go every year if we could. Now that the kids are older and have jobs and school it is really hard to find a time to go. Taryn told Steve that she could go in August so he booked the hotel and told her the date and she said she could go every weekend but that one. Luckily Greg and Lauren were able to go with us.

A few years back we decided to try staying in a hotel instead of camping on the beach. I loved that option and we have been doing it ever since. It is so refreshing to come back and shower and sleep in an air conditioned room. And the biggest perk is I don't have to cook dinner. All I have to pack is food for lunch and a few clothes. It's great! We got there late Wednesday night and hit the lake early Thursday morning. Thursday was a perfect Lake Powell day. The sun was out, the water was smooth and with school starting that week the lake was not busy at all. We hit Navajo Canyon and did some skiing and then drove to Rainbow Bridge.

We found this little cove off Rainbow Bridge were it was nice and shady and had lunch and cooled off.
Before his mission Greg mostly wake-boarded but since his return the ski is his favorite.

This was Greg and Lauren's favorite spot on the boat. They did spend a fair amount of time sleeping here.

We had to have one picture with all of us. This is as creative as we get.
We found a canyon marked Labryinth Canyon and decided to explore it. It was narrow and twisty. We saw a boat ahead of us and would have turned around sooner, but knowing they made it we plunged ahead.

It was a cool canyon. I'm glad Steve drives them, it would make me to nervous.
We were only able to stay for three days. We decided to play around Lone Rock on Saturday and realized that nobody had used the wake-boards. Greg wanted to double on them and talked Lauren into going with him.

When they were done he asked me if I wanted to go. I haven't been on a wake-board for years. I really can't take the pain when you crash on one so I've stayed off it. Of course I had to take the challenge and got up. I feel really un-coordinated once I get up and can hardly get out of the wake. Luckily I got out but never attempted to get back in. I did surf the wake abit but that is all I can do on a wake-board.

Can you believe how talented I am and the muscle control I have to be able to do this in the middle of the Lake. I can't either and the rock that was out there helped.

We played around on this rock and it took us a few minutes to figure out what the big long scrapes on the rock were. Quite a few props have been destroyed when the lake is deeper. It's right in the middle of a huge canyon. It was a fun and relaxing few days. Can't wait to go next year.

All about the Granddaughters

2010-08-23T12:16:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to get to spend a month with our Granddaughters. Having them across the country in Georgia is hard and with them being so young and changing daily we were excited to have them in our lives for that long. Some of our adventures for the month included. Going to the zoo and getting to go behind the bars and feed the momma and baby elephant. Braelyn had a piece of bread to give to Crystal the mother and see reached out her trunk and blew the bread out of Braelyn's hand and scared both of us. Berkley was having nothing to do with touching the elephants. Then we got to go feed the giraffe some crackers. Braelyn was okay feeding it. It was fun to have connections and be able to do that. We went to the Lindon Pool and it's awesome for kids. Braelyn would go in the lazy river and stick her head under and float. Berkley loved going down the slide. Love that pool and can't wait to go next year. Our McDonalds opened up in Cedar Hills so we visited it weekly. Went to my friend Karen's pool a few times. Braelyn hung out with my scouts and even went swimming with them. Found a racoon in our garden. Went to the new pizza place in Draper and played miniture golf, bowling, bumper cars and Heather and Braelyn won first place in the go-carts. Saw a movie, went to the park and played in the creek, had a family reunion, tried out Highlands splash park. Enjoyed Greg's wedding and reception and also Ben and Charlee's reception. We took the girls and hiked up to the Grand Daddies in the Uintah's. We did all that and went to the cabin and boating. It was a busy month.

A couple of months before they came out we saw this inflatable ball at costco. You blow it up and the kids can climb inside and roll down the hill. Braelyn loved it, but Berkley wasn't to fond of being rolled all over. It quickly became a neighborhood hit and Braelyn had plenty of friends to play with in it.

They love going to the cabin and Braelyn loves the four-wheeler rides. Berkley would sit by me in the ranger, but I couldn't tell if she loved it or not. She was quiet and not screaming so we went on plenty of them. Braelyn likes the other four-wheelers and even asked if she could ride with Grandma Moon on hers.

Taryn had the great idea of going up American Fork Canyon to have a picnic lunch for Steve's 50th birthday. The girls were so excited to preform on the stage up there. I had a video of them performing their version of "I'm a single lady" but after 4 hours of trying to get it to download I'm giving up on it.

Of course we took them boating a few times. Starvation has the best beaches and the girls love playing in the sand. We had to invite Kellee and her girls and Braelyn and Kiley pick up right where they left off. Berkley was funny and loved to go walking along the beach. She didn't love the boat or I should say wearing a life jacket so she spent most of the time on the beach. The first time she was on the boat, after I parked the truck as I'm headed down to get on the boat I hear this blood curdling screaming and it's from Berkley because of the life jacket. I had to wonder if I even wanted to get on the boat. We quickly ran over to the big sandy beach and she was fine. Braelyn even got on the tube with her Dad and had fun.

In the midst of our crazy July Heather and Kevin moved from Georgia to Kentucky. I know that is where they are supposed to be, but my heart and arms still ache to have them closer. I have the cutest granddaughters in the world.

We are looking forward to the next visit. Thank goodness for skype and cell phones and blogs so I can see them weekly and hear about their adventures.

Greg and Lauren's Wedding

2010-08-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Greg and Lauren chose July 29th to be married in the Mount Timpangos Temple. The sealer was Max Caldwell and I've never been to a ceremony that was so beautiful and inspired all of us to work on our marriages to make them celestial worthy. Lauren couldn't keep a smile off her face, while Greg was a little more serious during the ceremony. They chose the biggest room and we only had two empty seats right by Greg's Grandma's. Steve pointed out that they were saved for Greg's Grandpa's who I'm sure were in attendence that day.

I'm sure you are wondering why we have a picture of feet. Taylor loves to take pictures of his feet and if anyone left their cell phone laying around they would soon have a picture of his feet. He sent us this picture from his mission. We wanted to include him so we blew up the picture and got a couple of shots of it. So here is a shot of all my children.

We are so excited to have Lauren as part of our family.

I was in charge of the wedding luncheon and after calling around I was so excited to discover that Texas Roadhouse does luncheons. They don't open until 4:00pm so we had the resturant to ourselves. Everybody got to order what they wanted and they food was so delicious. It wasn't formal or fancy but I was told by a few that it was the best luncheon they had been to and I happen to agree.

We had the reception in Lauren's backyard and it was so nice. Her parents worked so hard this summer getting it ready and it was perfect. Towards the end Greg was so tired of all the wedding planning but it was worth all the planning and everything looked wonderful.

My Mom and granddaughters.
My Mom wasn't able to stay for the whole reception so she let Braelyn have her flowers and Braelyn was thrilled. Like most of her pictures she strikes the princess pose.

Lauren's sister Kate has two little boys. The oldest one loves Greg and they asked him the day of the wedding who was getting married and he said "Lauren and Greg and Greg and Sam". Hopefully he will be content with Greg as his uncle.
Greg had his high school friends play during the wedding. Over the years they had formed a couple of different bands. Here Steve is pretending he is a member of a band. It's been fun having them over to the house since their missions and I'm really going to miss having them come over.

I just had to throw in a picture of my good-looking husband. He really cleans up well.

While they were taking Lauren's families pictures we hear them all scream to Kevin to catch the cake. It was so warm outside that the top part of the cake started slipping off. Kevin grabbed it and stopped it from slipping but the frosting had cracked so we took that layer off and arranged the flowers on top of the next one. It still looked beautiful.

The weather held out and the whole day was perfect. They make a darling couple and I wish them an eternity of happiness. Thanks to all our family and friends that came out and supported them on their wedding day.

July flying by...

2010-07-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

It seems like July is always a busy month jammed packed with celebrations and reunions and for us time at the cabin and boating. This year was so cold that we only took the boat out once in June. For the fourth weekend we headed out to the cabin and boating on Starvation. It was just me and Steve on Friday and the water was glassy. We couldn't resist it so we went down to the end of the lake without any other boats and each took a turn skiing. I don't know how Steve was able to drive and also take a picture. It is so much fun to ski on smooth water.

That night Taryn, her friend Cambri, Greg and Laureen came up to the cabin. We went out and built a fire and roasted marshmellows.
I love that my kids get along and enjoy being together. There is nothing like sitting around a fire and talking. Saturday we took the kids out on the boat. I love the fact that on a national holiday Starvation doesn't feel crowded. The water was a bit choppy but the kids got out and played. That night Taryn and her friend left. Sunday we went to church and about froze to death. At least I about did. I didn't pack a sweater to wear to church thinking that it was July and would not be cold. I guess I should always be prepared up there for cold weather. Greg and Lauren went home that afternoon.

Russell and Cristal and their family were out staying at the ranch so I got to take my nieces for a ride and get to know them a bit better. Russell will soon be moving to Wyoming and we won't get to see them as much. He has great kids and the girls are fun to be around. I wish them alot of luck on their new adventure.
Wednesday afternoon me and Brenley, Lisa and Janet went out to the cabin for a little retreat. It was awesome to just visit and hang out with such wonderful women. It was a special treat for me because they did all the cooking. We went on a couple of four-wheeler rides, but spent the majority of the time sitting around and talking.
Thursday night we got a special treat when Heather and Kevin and the girls flew in from Georgia. I have missed those little ones so much. They will be staying with us for a few weeks. Kevin is interviewing with a company in Lehi and flies tomorrow to California for an advance interview. Our prayers are that they will soon be back in Utah.

Friday we headed back out to the cabin and Saturday went to Starvation. My mom, Carly, Sammy, Kellee, Carsen and Kylie went with us to the lake. Berkley hated her life-jacket so instead of having making her scream on the boat we went over to the big sandy beach to let the girls play.

Braelyn and Kiley are such good friends that you wouldn't know that they hadn't seen each other for almost a year. While the kids played on the beach the rest of us went out on the boat and I was able to ski on glassy water.

It was a great birthday and being able to be out on the lake with family made it even better. I hope I get to spend the next 20 birthdays there.

Levan and cabin

2010-06-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

Last fall when the Johnson's came out to the cabin we planned that next year we would go to their place in Levan for the weekend. We found a weekend in June that worked for both of us and made our plans. We were going to go four-wheeling up in the mountains by their place the first night, the next morning go to the sand dunes and then the lake that afternoon. The weather was not looking good with the high's around 50, but with busy summer schedules we decided to still go that weekend and do what we could. We got their and they have a cute little house that they have fixed up very nice. We took off on the four-wheelers to explore the mountains. I can't remember what they called that canyon but it was beautiful. With all the rain it was very green. Took some pictures by a waterfall and even saw a turkey with 8 little turkeys running up the mountain. Got back to their place just before a big rainstorm started. Had a huge dinner and then sat around visiting.

The next morning the weather wasn't any better but we loaded up the four-wheelers and went out to the sand dunes. The one good thing about the weather was that it wasn't busy. I can't imagine playing out their when it is busy. Steve and Ben took the dune four-wheelers and me and Jolene took the other ones.

I was nervous driving their brand-new four-wheeler but Jolene took me on easy trails and I had a blast.

Luckily we split up from the boys for most of the day since they are alot more daring then us. We then hooked up and watched as they played on a big dune. I wish I wasn't such a chicken, but my stomach can't handle things like that. It was really fun and I'm glad we went down.
We had crossed two things off our list and with the weather being so cold I didn't think playing on the lake would happen, but I was wrong. We didn't change into swimsuits and climbed on the boat with coats and blankets. They haven't had a chance to take their boat out yet and wanted to see if everything was working properly.

We have gone out with them before in cold weather and Ben has gotten in to ski, so I wasn't surprised when he said that he wanted to go wake-boarding. We were all fully dressed and I wondered if maybe he would go out in his G's, but Steve had the great idea of just putting on a wet suit and going. I can't believe he got in because I was fully dressed with two jackets and a blanket and was still cold.

Luckily everything worked out and we got the boat on the trailer just as it started to rain. We really did luck out with the weather and had a fun day playing and catching up with friends. Thanks Johnsons.

We got home Saturday night and Steve flew to Florida on Sunday. He worked that week and then drove up to Georgia to see Heather and Kevin and the girls and then to Orlando on Monday to meet with another county about some work. I wasn't looking forward to being by myself over the weekend so Thursday after scout camp I headed up to the cabin by myself. The first night I slept from 8:30 to 7:00 in the morning. It felt so good to finally sleep. I love sleeping at the cabin. Friday I spent the day in the yard trying to get it caught up, Saturday just hung around doing odd jobs and that night Taryn came up. We watched a movie and then waited for her friend Kevin to make it up. He had called and got directions about 8:00 so we expected him around 10:30. He had never been there and we were worried that he was lost somewhere. Finally about 11:30 he made it.

The next morning we ran down to church and then took a four- wheeler ride up the loop. Since they saw a bear over on that mountain I was a little nervous. I think we were one of the first ones on the trail because we ran into alot of trees that had fallen over.

Just after the fenced in pasture we ran into this tree that had fallen over. We thought we could easily move it since it wasn't so big but it was a tall tree and we could not budge it. Taryn and Kevin decided to go around it and down the trail, but I choose to turn around so I could slowly drive home and look at things. I think Taryn takes after my sister Jodi and just punches it on the four-wheeler and they had to keep pulling over to wait for me. I had a nice drive back, but did get a little nervous when I was going down the hill. Lucky for me the bear was not in sight. I have a theory that if you bring along a camera then you won't see animals like bear or moose, so I think I will be packing one with me everywhere up there. It was a fun weekend and I enjoyed having some time with Taryn.

Memorial Weekend

2010-06-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

We really had a great time up at the cabin over Memorial Weekend. Me and Steve went up Friday and then Taryn, Greg, Lauren, Alex and Taylor came out on Saturday. The weather was still crazy and on Saturday we spent alot of time outside with our jackets on. We finally got out the Boce balls. That was a fun game and I even won a few rounds. It's great because it only takes a few minutes to play a game.

Poor Lauren has been working two jobs and planning a wedding. She was so tired she even fell asleep twice outside on the deck.
We thought we would go for a hike up the canyon and these guys all thought it would be funny to put on the masks. Sometimes I would have to remind myself that all three of these boys served a mission, they still acted so crazy.

We found this spot and had everyone pose for pictures.

Poor Alex had nobody to pose with.
Taryn was nice enough to let Taylor pose with her.

Such a cute picture.

We went to Sacrement meeting down in Tabionia and were really hoping to find some cute girlfriends for Alex and Taylor but we arrived a minute before it started and had to sit in the way back so we had no luck. We told them that we would stay for the other meetings so they could find them one, but they passed. When we got home the sun was out so we grabbed some blankets and laid out on the deck. It felt so good to be warm.
That afternoon the most exciting thing happened to the boys. All weekend long they were talking about seeing a bear. We have seen bear tracks up there but have never spotted one. So they climbed into the ranger and Steve took them up on the mountain were we saw a cub track last year. The whole way up they started every sentence with bear. Finally Greg got so tired of it that he asked if they had to mention bear in every thing they said. They got to the top of the mountain and parked the ranger and walked over to the edge of the cliff. It's a deep canyon with a tiny stream at the bottom. Greg, Steve and Taylor were all looking around when Alex came over and immediately said "There's a big animal, it's a bear" and pointed to the bottom of the canyon. They all looked and there was a bear. Instead of being quiet so they could observe him they were all screaming and high fiving each other and the bear took off and climbed straight up the other side of the canyon. Steve said he would climb and then look over at them. He said he made it up the other side in less then a minute. Pretty scary that they can go that fast. Off course they didn't have the camera or even their cell phones to take a picture. So all in all it was a great weekend. The kids are all great kids and fun to be around. I think we have learned one lesson and that is in order to see neat things you have to leave the camera behind.

Waimeia Canyon

2010-05-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

We thought Waimeia Canyon was gorgeous. They say it's the Pacific Island's Grand Canyon. On such a small island I can't believe they have such a deep canyon. We were up at this observation deck and asked this young couple if they would take out picture. They agreed and the wife took the camera. While we were getting ready the husband told us that they would take the picture even with Steve's blue BYU hat on. We found out that they were from Utah and he had graduated from the University of Utah. Steve had his BYU shirt on and we stopped at a McDonalds and a cute little guy with no teeth said something about BYU's volleyball team. Wearing a college t-shirt is a great conversation starter.

At the end of the road you could see the Napali coastline. It was so pretty. They had a sign for a small mile hike. We weren't really dressed for hiking but thought that we could easily do a mile hike. We started out and it was fine. The ground was a little muddy, and when we were on our boat ride the captain had mentioned that the dirt up in these mountains turn into an ice-rink when it gets muddy. He was right on. I kept slipping and it was a bit scary taking a step because you didn't feel in control. It was hilly and thank goodness for all the folige because I had to keep grabbing it so I could stay upright.
This is what the trail looked like. By the time we got back to the car out feet where caked with mud. It was the worst hike I have ever been on. I never knew a two mile round trip hike could take that long. The sad thing is the view never got better so we could have saved us alot of time and stayed clean just staying at the top. After the canyon we stopped in Waimeia at a little shrimp shop and had one of the best meals. I had shrimp tacos and they were so good. I'm really missing the wonderful sea-food we had in Kauai.

Kauai

2010-05-23T17:49:00.001-07:00

Sometime this winter Steve was looking on the internet and found a deal to fly us to Kauai and it would only cost us 40,000 miles. That is a great deal to go to Hawaii and since we have always wanted to visit Kauai I told him to book it. We figured May would be a great month to go. It is very nice not to plan our vacations around the school system. That is one plus to being empty nesters.

We got to Kauai and the only activity we really wanted to do was get on a zodiac boat and see the Napali coastline. This was our third day on Kauai and the sun was still hiding behind the clouds. I was starting to think that the sun doesn't shine in Kauai. We put on sun-screen before we took off but with the cloud cover didn't reaply and almost got burned. The tops of my legs were getting a bit red and Steve's chest was getting red.

Being on the zodiac was great because he was able to take us into the caves and under the waterfalls. I wasn't pleased when he took me right under the fertility waterfall. Hopefully that is an old Hawaiian legend.
The coastline was so beautiful. Steve had brought his scuba camera so we were able to keep it out the whole time. We got a seat right up front and the waves were coming over our head and soaking us. The water was pretty rough.
At one cave he floored it and we couldn't see anything but the dark. It was a bit scary but cool.

We stopped for lunch at a beach that has an ancient Hawaiian village. We got to take a tour of it and hear some of the history of how they lived. Our guide pointed out that back then the women's only chore was to take care of the children. The men cooked and gathered the food. I'm thinking that was a great life.
After lunch and the tour we spent some time snorkling. The corel in Kauai looks really dead and this was the only cool thing we saw. They call them convict fish, I guess because of their stripes. They had some cold springs running into the ocean and after about ten minutes of snorkeling I had to get out because of the cold. It was fun and what a great way to see the coastline.

Taylor leaving for Long Beach

2010-05-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Before Taylor left for the MTC Steve booked us a trip to Kauai. We were pleasantly surprised when a week before we left Taylor wrote us in his e-mail that he would be flying to Long Beach the same morning we were leaving for Kauai.

We knew his flight was at 8:30 so we got to the airport around 6:30. We checked in and went to the gate his flight was leaving from. He wasn't there so we asked some other missionaires that were waiting if there was multiple buses that went to the airport that day and they informed us yes. We grabbed breakfast and then went to wait by security so we wouldn't miss him.
Before we had left for the airport Steve asked if I was going to cry. That could have been one of the dumbest questions he had ever asked. Being married to me for 27 years, surely he knew that of course I would cry. We were sitting and waiting when Steve saw a bunch of missionaries coming through security and there was Taylor. Just seeing him immediately got the tear ducts going. I tried really hard to stop before he got through. Steve was busy snapping pictures when one of the airport policemen came up to him and asked if we had a missionary. When Steve said yes he told him to get closer to take the picture. It was funny because right before Steve said I bet security comes over and asks me what I'm doing taking pictures.

Taylor was flying out with 9 other missionaries that were also going to Long Beach. Because he had been put in the intermediate spanish classes he didn't know them. Luckily his companion just wanted to make a phone call so while he was calling we grabbed Taylor breakfast and were able to talk for about an hour.

Taylor's confidence has grown and right before he boarded the plane he stopped and talked to this lady. I don't know what their conversation was about but he seemed very comfortable talking.

Here he is leaving for a wonderful opportunity. I'm excited for him and that we also get to share through e-mails this experience. He will make a great missionary and the people of Long Beach are in for a treat. Good Luck Taylor.

Kitchen Remodel

2010-04-26T13:58:00.001-07:00

For the last three weeks we have been busy with a kitchen remodel. After we tore out the top cupboards I realized that I did not have a picture of what the kitchen looked like so this picture of Taryn and Zach at Taylor's farewell and Greg's homecoming will have to do. When we built we just had the standard oak cabinets put in. Over the years I have painted them white with a stain and then I painted them twice red. But as our family dynamics have changed the kitchen really didn't meet our needs.

So I talked Steve into looking for a new house with a kitchen that would work better for us. After a few months of searching we realized that house prices were still pretty high and since our home is almost paid off that it made more sense to remodel the kichen then buy a new house. So we found someone to custom build the cabinets and when he came out to look and give us some options we decided to tear out the part they had framed out above the cabinets. He assured us that only once has he ever ran into anything in them. Well he doesn't tell anybody that anymore. We had a lazy builder who hired even lazier subs so there was wiring and plumbing and all sorts of stuff that should not have been there.

Luckily I married a handy man and he was able to fix the wiring and plumbing and sheetrock it up. He even took out our big florescent light and put in recessed lighting. He is amazing and I'm lucky to be married to him. He is also smart and one afternoon Greg had a couple of his friends over so Steve put them to work helping us tear out the remaining cabinets.
It is nice to have someone else do the hard work.
This is what it looked like all torn up. We did that Monday and that night I started painting and getting it ready for the cabinets to be installed on Wednesday.

Here are my new cabinets and I couldn't be happier. We took out our bar and he built me the cutest island. It has a butcher block top and is perfect for preparing dinner on. They have measured for the granite and it will be installed in a week. I never realized how much I use my kitchen sink. I've been hauling dishes up to the bathtub for a week and have another week left. But I don't mind the inconvenience because I love my new kitchen.

Snowy but great weekend

2010-04-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed up to the cabin to open it up for the year. We knew the weather would be cold and snowy but Greg really wanted to go up so we did. Knowing that the road down to the cabin would still be snow-packed we made plans to get all the stuff and ourselves inside. We were pleasantly surprised when we drove up and found that our great neighbor Tom had plowed the road for us. We made it inside on dry roads and thought we were safe. The next morning when we woke up and saw that it had snowed 6 inches, Steve decided that he better drive the truck out to the road in case it kept snowing.

Greg really wanted to go to the cabin so he could propose to Lauren up there. During the break in conference on Saturday they took a windy cold walk and he asked her to marry him. We are excited to have Lauren in our family and think they make a cute couple. They don't have a date yet but sometime this summer. I took this picture hoping you could see the ring in it, I will have to post another one with the ring later. That night Steve and Greg rode the four-wheeler out to the truck and drove down to watch Priesthood. Me, Taryn and Lauren just hung around the cabin, playing games and relaxing.

Easter morning we woke up to another 4 inches of snow and lots of sunshine. It was so beautiful. During the break in conference we went for a long walk and enjoyed being outside with the sun on our faces.
Of course Steve and Greg had to cross the river. We walked along the ditch bank and we would be walking along fine and then somebody would step and sink up to their knees. It got hilarious watching someone walking fine and then sinking to their knees.
We found a patch of ice on the river and tried to break it apart by throwing rocks. I have a hard time passing the river without throwing rocks into it.

We played outside for an hour then headed back inside to prepare dinner and get ready for the last session of conference. Taryn and Steve spent the time listening and putting together puzzles. The first one had 1000 pieces and they did it. The company was fun, the scenery beautiful and conference was amazing. I can't wait to watch the talks again and again. I'm so excited for Greg and Lauren and this new stage in their lives. If we had Taylor and Heather's family with us then it would have been the perfect weekend.

Snowshoeing and the Cabin

2010-03-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

After dropping Taylor off at the MTC on Wednesday, I knew that I needed to get away that weekend and stay busy. Since I haven't been out to the cabin this winter we decided to snowshoe in and spend the night.

We parked the truck and walked up the road to the cabin. It is always a relief to me when I see it standing and all the windows intact. Inside it was a balmy 40 degree's, but everything looked great. It amazes me that there is no dust. You would think after sitting for a few months there would be a layer of dust, but it's perfectly clean.

We decided to go out walking and was able to cross a spot on the river that was still crusted over with ice. We headed up the road and Steve had the bright idea that we would again cross the river and walk down the ditch bank along the hill. He knew his snow boots were water-proof, but I didn't know if mine were. Luckily they were and we made it across the river okay. On the other side the snow was really deep and very soft. Even with snow shoes we still were sinking in up to the tops of our legs. At one point I could not pull my snow shoes out and had to unhook them and pull them out with my hand. Luckily by the time we hit the ditch bank the snow was firmer and we were able to walk without sinking.
That night a storm came in and it was so beautiful watching the snow fall. We pulled the table in front of the fireplace and passed the time eating and playing cards. Steve won every hand and I'm still waiting for a rematch. We turned on the electric blanket and slept really warm all night. The next day you couldn't even see our tracks where we had walked in. Unfortunately the wind blew all morning and I had no desire to explore, so around noon we packed up and headed home. It was a fun to be with Steve and to be back up at the cabin. Can't wait to open it up General Conference weekend.

Elder Taylor

2010-03-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's official we have another missionary. It's something I always wanted my boys to do and I'm proud that they have lived worthy to serve the Lord. Taylor has had a long wait to serve. He got his call the end of November and would have packed up and left then. I'm glad that we got some time with all the kids together before he left.

Personally after hearing stories from other parents about dropping their sons off at the MTC and watching the sad video and then seeing the missionairies go out one door and the families leave through another, I was grateful that we now just drop them off at the curb. I cry at the drop of a hat and am not a pretty when I cry. It was much easier to say a quick goodbye.

We had a number of people tell us at Taylor's farewell that he gave the talk of a returned missionary, his testimony was so strong. So I'm excited to see him grow even stronger in his testimony and to receive his e-mails. I'm glad to live in this time and to be able to receive those weekly e-mails from my missionaires. I don't know how mom's made it waiting for the snail mail.
I can't count down the days until his return because the number is too high right now, but I only have two more Christmas's without him and then he will be home. Two isn't a high number.

Braelyn and Berkley come to visit!

2010-02-24T17:41:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to have Heather and the girls come to visit for three weeks. They arrived on Sunday and we picked Greg up on Tuesday. At the airport they saw us and called out our names and came running with big hugs. It's so nice to have little one's to hug and squeeze again.

There isn't much to do in the wintertime with little ones so we took them to Cabela's. They really loved feeding the fish and seeing the stuffed animals. Berkley loves Lion King so the African animals were a hit with her. Braelyn loves to try on everything and this hat looked great.
One night we decided to build a fire out on the deck and roast hot-dogs for dinner. After we cooked the hot-dogs and were eating them Braelyn turned to me and said "I have a good idea lets count this food as our dinner". That was the original plan but it was cute that she thought she had came up with the idea.
Berkley is stubborn and we could not convince her to put a coat on. She also just wanted a cold hot dog and after each bite she would have us put more ketchup on it and then she would take another bite. Maybe she has enough layers on her that she really doesn't get cold.

She also has this low voice and calls Steve Papa-pop and I'm just Mung, Taylor is tay-tay. After about a week she warmed up to Greg and whenever she would see him would say Hi Greg. She is a cuddler and there is nothing better then to have her snuggle down into your lap.
It was a great having them here and hard to send them back to Georgia. It was a busy three weeks with Greg coming home and getting Taylor ready for his mission. Time went by too fast. I can't wait until this summer when they come out and we can just relax and enjoy them. Nothing is better then being a Grandma. (In my case a Munga)

Greg's Homecoming and Taylor's Farewell

2010-02-15T14:50:00.001-08:00

With Greg coming home on January 26th and Taylor leaving March 3rd we asked if we could do a combined homecoming/farewell for them. We knew it would be impossible for family members to attend two seperate events within weeks. So they let us have them both speak and combine the events. It was a beautiful day and the spirit was so strong in the meeting as each of them bore testimony of the power of prayer and the knowledge that their Heavenly Father and Jesus knows and loves each one of us. I was so proud of the way they have grown up and the men they are. Taylor can hardly wait to get on his mission.

I just had to throw in a picture of my beautiful granddaughters. We have had fun having them in the house and getting plenty of hugs and kisses.

All of our family but two sisters were able to make it out. I'm so thankful for their love and support. I counted over 110 people who made the effort to com and hear the boys speak. After the meeting we had everyone over for lunch. It was crazy and people were sitting anywhere they could find a spot.
It's been fun having Greg home and his friends back in our house.
I'm not sure how this started, I was probably taking a well deserved Sunday nap, but Sunday afternoon will often find the older three trying to hold Taylor down.

This started years ago when they were young and it still continues.
I guess we will see what happens when Taylor returns from his mission. It was a wonderful day and our friends and family made it even more special.

Elder Greg is home!

2010-01-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling like I did when I was younger and it was Christmas morning, but it was even better. After two long years (at least for me, it went by much faster for everyone else) Greg was coming home from Brazil.

We flew Heather and the girls in from Georgia on Sunday. We didn't tell Greg that they would be there. Taryn had booked a cruise for the end of January thinking Greg would be coming home the first week of February. Because of the strict visa laws in Brazil they send the missionaries home a week early. She will get back in Utah on Monday morning. Braelyn remembered Greg and went right to him. It is taking Berkley alot longer to get used to him.

When I have gone to the airport I've loved watching the families as their missionaries come home. Last month I talked to a few Elders in Atlanta who were flying home from their mission in Las Vegas. It got me so exciting knowing that our turn was coming.
Greg was a little surprised that his younger brother has grown taller then him. I was expecting Greg to have gained some weight. When he had been out a couple of months he sent home some pictures and he had gained weight, but with all the walking they do in Brazil and the fact that it was summer there and they had no air conditioning in their apartment he came back with no extra weight. Maybe I need to go on a mission.
I've loved having him back home, he has only struggled with his english when he is saying a prayer. What a great experience for him and his testimony of his Savior is priceless. It was worth the two years to have him learn the things he learned and to become the young man that he is. I will need to remember this next month when I send Taylor out. It will be fun to see the next chapter of his life unfold. I'm sure he has great things in store.

Braelyn is four!

2010-01-17T17:13:00.001-08:00

Four years ago was one of the happiest days of my life when a fat little dark haired beauty came into my life. I've always loved babies and I'm never happier then when one is in my arms. We were lucky when Braelyn was born that they only lived 10 minutes away so we got to see her alot.

She has been a busy baby from day one and always has to be going or doing something. She was blessed with fat cheeks just perfect for kissing and she got plenty of those. When she was about six months old Heather returned to work so I got to babysit a few days a week. I even had her for a week while they went to Mexico. I know why you have your children when you are young and have energy. She can wear you out.

When she was younger instead of calling me grandma she called me Munga. We don't know where this came from, but I've never been grandma. I'm just Munga and that is fine with me. One day during a rain storm we went out and played in the rain. She thought that was great and laughed and laughed.

This summer I took her out to the cabin alone with me. We got these big bean bags that when you take them out of the cover they turn into a queen size mattress. Up at the cabin that is Braelyn's bed. That night she fell asleep with me in my bed and I just let her stay but that morning she woke up and realized she wasn't on her bed. She is a early riser so I thought our day was going to start, but she climbed off my bed and unto hers and went back asleep. I had to take a picture of her sleeping. It is a rare thing. She has been my shadow since she was born and when I found out they were moving to Georgia I thought my heart would break. But luckily I have been able to see them twice since they moved and the camera phone on the computer is a blessing.

Next week they fly in to stay for three weeks, and I can't wait for a messy haired little girl to come down in the morning and climb up on the bar stool and ask me how I slept. Being the first she will always hold a special place in my heart. I love her energy and her ability to make friends wherever we go. She is so friendly and outgoing. Love you Braelyn and Happy Birthday.

A great day!

2010-01-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

This Saturday we had the opportunity to take Taylor through the temple. It was made even more special because he got to go through with his friend Zach. Both of these young men will be leaving for their missions in March. As goofy as they were I always knew they were good boys and would be worthy to serve a mission and attend the temple.

Grandma Roberts was able to join us for the session. Grandma Moon had to work in the Vernal temple so she wasn't able to make it. But we know both Grandpa's were there and I'm sure they are so proud of the young man Taylor has turned into.

We have been lucky that Taylor has had such good friends growing up. The Breurs have been great second parents to Taylor and I appreciate the influence they have had on his life. It was a great day and I'm looking forward to the time when I can have all four of my children in the temple again. Last time was when we were in the Nauvoo Temple and they were able to do baptisms for the dead. It was such a neat experience having my family all in the temple that I went through a whole box of tissue while they performed the baptisms. But I guess that is our goal in life to have our children worthy and able to attend the temple.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas started on the 23rd when we went out to Duchesne to the Moon Christmas Party. We had stopped in at my grandma's a few weeks before and asked about her tree. She said she thought about putting it up but the thought of putting it away was too much for her so she left it in the garage. At the age of 92 she can do what she wants. But I can't stand the thought of no decorations for Christmas so we got her a small potted tree that she can throw away after Christmas. She is amazing and I hope I have her energy when I get that old. She still snowblows her driveway, drives by herself and was the best Grandma. We got to visit for a few minutes before the party.

We held it at my Brother's restaurant. We had prime-rib and chicken fettuccine. The food was wonderful and the company better. After dinner Mom and Amy handed out the gifts they had bought.

Taylor received a nice wallet for his mission. He started to laugh because Grandma Moon had given him his first wallet that he still used. It's a red-Velcro one with a picture of a dinosaur on it. He really loved that wallet. I'll have to ask him if he switched yet.
Taryn got a hat to wear to the rodeo's and we got a really nice tool chest to use at the cabin. They usually do the party on Christmas Eve so we haven't been able to attend. I'm glad they changed so we could attend. It was fun to see everyone.
Christmas Eve we decided to try cooking King Crab legs. We bought it at Costco and since we had never cooked it before we asked the guy in front of us that was also buying it. Steve took over that task and the sea-food smell about did me in. It really was stinky while we were cooking it. It was quite funny watching as they tried to crack it open. Steve finally got out the pliers and it worked great.

I have a real problem with touching things and after looking at the legs I knew that I wouldn't be able to touch it, so my sweet husband gave me some of his. It was really good. I think next time we will cook it outdoors and have plenty of pliers on hand.
Christmas Day keeps starting later and later. One of Taryns old clients had no where to go for Christmas so she went and got him so he could spend the day with us. His name is Jay and he is 61 years old. His cute little stuffed dog is called yodel. I've never seen a stuffed animal that was so loved. He had a cute personality and was so thrilled when we told him he could take the Santa hat home.

We didn't start opening presents until after 10:00. Christmas is really different with out little kids around, but we still had a few surprises under the tree. Taylor donated money for a hive for me and Steve and donated money to buy some Chickens for his siblings gift. I can't remember what organization they do this with but I couldn't ask for a better gift.
Taryn gave me a slanket, which is like a snuggie. I have loved it, it is so soft and warm. Later that day we got to talk to Heather and Kevin and the girls and see their Christmas gifts. The girls seemed very happy with Santa and the gifts. Braelyn was a little disappointed that they didn't get snow for Christmas.
We had to have a contest to see who would win our coveted gold ball trophy this year. So we decided to do a pool-ping-pong and guitar hero tournament. Taryn won the pool game, Steve won ping-pong and Taylor won the guitar hero part.
Not a huge surprise that I didn't win any of them so we decided that whoever won racko was the winner. I won the first game of racko, I was pretty excited thinking that I might have a shot at this trophy. We played one more game to determine the winner.
Taryn won and took the trophy away from Taylor. I think I will plan card games next year for the trophy. I might stand a chance at winning them.

Of course the high light of Christmas was the phone call to Greg. We only got to talk for 40 minutes so the time flew by. He sounded tired, but happy. He has worked hard and is an awesome missionary. We have less then a month before he comes home. Then next Christmas we will look forward to our call to Taylor. We miss Heather and Kevin but are happy that they are making their memories with their own little family.

Trip to Georgia

2009-12-21T09:16:00.000-08:00

Last Week I was able to fly to Georgia to spend some time with Braelyn and Berkley so Heather and Kevin could attend a conference in Tennesse. I flew in on Tuesday and back home Sunday morning. I was so excited to go and feel warm again. I was wrong, it was cold. Not freezing, but you didn't want to venture outdoors for a walk. Wednesday I went with them to the library for a Christmas party and then that night we went to the Frog Prince. It is a cute movie with a wonderful message. The next morning before Heather and Kevin left we let them open the Christmas present from us.

It was a train table and the girls have loved playing with it. Braelyn loves to use the crane. We gave it to them early so that they would have something new to entertain them while I was there. I'm not one that loves to go drive places that I'm not familiar with so we spent alot of time home.

Berkely will be dressed and the next minute whe has taken off her clothes. She spent alot of the the time just in her diaper. She was happy so I didn't care. Good thing she has a layer of fat on her or she would freeze.

Braelyn is not the best eater and can go all day without eating anything. So I made her a Minnie Mouse pancake for breakfast and it did the trick she ate it all gone. Berkley will eat just about anything, so I don't worry about her.

I also found out that water is a great entertainer. They played in the sink with cups for over an hour. We did have to wipe up a few spills.

Steve was in Florida and planning to fly into Savanah Friday afternoon. Of course they delayed his flight from West Palm for two hours so he missed his connection in Atlanta by 5 minutes. Then they delayed more flights and he didn't make it to their house until 11:30 that night. We figured that if he had drove to Georgia he would have made it by 6:00 that night. I was just thankful he was willing to rent a car so I wouldn't have to drive and pick him up that late at night.
Saturday we made cookies and Braelyn loved putting the recesse peanut-butter cup in the middle. Berkley just loved the peanut-butter cup.

Braelyn is quite the character and she performed her version of Beyonce's single lady. She was so happy and good the whole time I was there and about 1/2 hour after performing this she said she was tired and wanted to go have a rest in her room. She never goes to sleep or takes a nap so we thought that was strange. We went in 10 minutes later and she was sound asleep. We let her sleep for about an hour and then went in to check and she had a fever. She was so polite and nice but would not take her medicine. She just layed there in her bed and kept falling asleep. Heather and Kevin made it home, but they couldn't get her to take her medicine. Heather did convince her to have a blessing. That night she wanted to sleep by us on the couch and we were on the air mattress by it. The whole night she would wake me up and I would hold her hand until she fell back asleep. Luckily that is all it took, but needless to say I didn't get alot of sleep. The next morning she woke up and felt alot better. We left around 8:00 and when we told Berkley bye she started to cry until I held her and then she turned to her mom and dad and told them bye and blew kisses and was ready to go with us. It was so much fun to spend some time with them. I do wish they lived closer. They have the cutest little personalities. Can't wait to see them in January.

Taylor's mission call

2009-11-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

Taylor put in his papers two weeks ago. He is so excited to serve a mission that he sent in his papers 100 days in advance of his birthday. We waited this morning for a phone call from the post office to tell us his call came in. Around 9:00 I called the post office and they informed me that if you want them to call you need to let them know ahead of time. So we spent a long morning waiting for the mail to be delivered. We took Taylor to lunch and when we came home there was his letter.

We called Taryn and she was able to come right down from Salt Lake. Taylor called a couple of his friends and we sat and waited for Taryn to get there.

Like Greg he hurried and skimmed down to see where he was going as he was reading the call and was a little disappointed to see California since he really wanted to learn a language. Then he got to the part of California Long Beach spanish speaking mission and was really excited. He can't wait to learn spanish better and serve in California. The weather in Long Beach sounds perfect and I as a mother am excited that it won't cost me an arm and a leg to send packages to Taylor. He leaves for the MTC on March 3 and will spend 8 weeks there learning the language. This summer he applied for the regency scholarship and to get it he had to take two on-line spanish classes. What a blessing for him that he has had that head start in learning the language.

His roomate at BYU will be serving in the mission right next to Taylors. His is also a spanish speaking mission. Exciting time ahead for us. Greg gets home January 28 and we will fly Heather and the girls in from Georgia before Taylor leaves so maybe for a few weeks I will have all of them under one roof again.

Final weeks at the cabin

2009-11-15T18:50:00.001-08:00

We love and also dread this time of the year. It's nice when all the hunts are over and the ranch seems to shut down and we are the only ones up there. But we dread the thought of closing it up for a few months and not being able to use it. We went out Thursday night and late Friday night Taryn and her friend Trevor came out. After breakfast we bundled up and went for a ride over the loop.

The leaves have all fallen off and everything looks pretty dead but we still think it's beautiful. You get to the top of the mountain and you can see forever. Taryn and Trevor left around 1:00 so Taryn could get back to the Ute's football game. We weren't alone for long, around 3:00 Taylor and four of his roommates and his friend Jenny came up.

Taylor has really enjoyed his roommates and they all get along. His roommate went to Lone Peak but they never hung out until college. It was nice to be able to met them and it's great to know that there are awesome kids out there. Jenny was a trooper coming up with 5 boys. She said she is used to that having 5 brothers and no sisters. We left early the next morning to attend stake conference. They stayed that day and got up early to attend church at Tabiona. they arrived in time but nobody was there. After Taylor told us I remembered that my mom had said they were also having stake conference that weekend.

With the snow coming this weekend me and Steve headed out Wednesday to spend the day. The weather was perfect and we spent a few hours four-wheeling. We found a road that took us through really tall thin pines. It was so beautiful and of course we had left the camera at home. We got alot of stuff put away for the winter weather and before we left Steve had to go on one more ride. I choose to stay at the cabin and stay warm. It was getting around 5:00 and starting to get dark so I went out on our balcony to see if I could hear or see Steve on the four-wheeler. As soon as I stepped out a four-point buck stopped on the road and looked at me. I didn't move and we stopped and looked at each other for awhile and then he turned around and started walking into the yard. I ran downstairs and out to the deck and there in the yard was another four-point buck with about 10 doe. They looked at me for a minute and then one buck went one way with about five doe and the other buck went the other way with about five doe. So cool and of course no camera. Steve was wishing he had stayed home from his ride since he didn't see any wildlife on it. I think winter is here and after Thanksgiving we will have to shut the water down and give the cabin a rest for a few months.

Cave Tubing

2009-11-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

We heard from a few friends that when we stopped in Belize we needed to do the cave tubing. Last time we went and saw the ruins so that sounded fun. It was about an 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the river and cave. Belize has alot of poverty and most of the houses were in bad shape. Seeing how most of the world lives really made me appreciate how lucky I am.

The river is a calm one and going through the cave takes about 15 minutes. They give you headlamps to wear so you can see in the dark. Luckily we saw no snakes. That was my biggest fear.

After going through the cave you get to float down the river. Of course we forgot the good dive camera and bought one of those cheap ones on the cruise, so that is the reason for the blurry pictures.
Our dentist told us that his wife got really cold doing this so I brought my short wet suit. The water felt great and I was wishing I had left the wet suit home.

It was a fun excursion. When we got back to where the buses were parked we had lunch in an outside resturant. The food was delicious. It beats shopping in the little tourist shops.

Friends, friends and more friends

2009-10-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

This week me and my high school friends were finally able to get together. Gini and Leisa meet me at the cabin and we drove to Heber to check out all the cute boutiques and do some shopping. Later that afternoon we meet up with Annette for dinner in Kamas. Then we drove back to the cabin and visited until midnight. Leisa and Gini had to head home that night, so me and Annette were able to visit some more before we feel asleep. The next morning after breakfast and a quick ride, Annette left for a quick visit to her mom and then home. I'm grateful that I had such great friends to grow up with. It's amazing that we still have so much in common. Can't wait until next year.

Friday night Galloways and Krugers came up for the night. It was nice just to have adults and be able to visit without all the kids wanting attention.

I knew it would be cold so Ali brought up her snuggi and even shared with me.
It was cold the next morning but we bundled up and went four-wheeling. The leaves are gone, but it's still beautiful. My nephew had seen a moose earlier that morning so we were all on the look-out for it. Whoever spies it first gets to choose where we eat for the next year. I guess we will take turns since nobody spotted it.
That night we played games. I love to play card games and it was fun to have someone to do that with. After cards we switched to catch phrase and we all about died laughing when someone tried to describe hanky-panky. I will never be able to hear that word again without laughing.

Becky showing off her CNA skills getting a sliver out of Steve's finger. I had a great time this week with friends. The cabin is a perfect place to get-together and just relax. We have had so much fun with friends the last couple of weeks that we need to start inviting earlier next year so we can have more memories.

Weekend with friends

2009-10-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend with our friends Ben and Jolene. We lived in the same ward in Layton with them and still enjoy spending time together. They arrived Friday night and we stayed up until 1:30 catching up on our lives. For anybody that knows me that is amazing. My bedtime is usually around 9:00.

We had the best weather. Beautiful and sunny. Not so great for the deer hunters but awesome for us. We took off on the four-wheelers up to Tom's cabin. Jolene got out her fishing pole and I said she should put a swedish fish on the end, she did and Steve and Ben told us that it was a dumb idea. About 5 minutes later she caught one. In fact she caught 5 fish while we were there. I enjoyed myself just sitting in the warm sunshine and watching. The men took off to four-wheel so Jolene had to kill and take the fish off the hook. We decided it was easier to kill it first and then take the hook off it's mouth. I was no help. I really don't like touching things.

Here is Ben taking his four-wheeler up a steep hill. He didn't make it the first time, but did the second time. I can't watch people do things like that.
The view at the top is breathtaking. You can see forever. Luckily for us there weren't any deer hunters.

Right before they left we brought the pistols out to shoot. I think I scared Ben and Jolene to death because I'm horrible at shooting. I really need to practice, I just wish they had really cheap fake bullets to practice with. The real ones are too costly. The day ended to soon and we had to head back to the real world. Thanks Ben and Jolene for the great time.

Fun two weeks

2009-10-05T05:32:00.001-07:00

We have had a great two weeks. I went with Steve to Florida to work. He worked and I relaxed. I do have to laugh that they call it the sunshine state, because it's mostly cloudy when I visit. I didn't mind the clouds because it was so hot. The hotel had a pool and I was the only one that layed out during the day. So it was very relaxing. I don't think I could handle more then a week of doing nothing. On Friday we loaded up and headed to Georgia. Heather and Kevin live about 6 hours away from where Steve works. We were a little early so we just walked in to surprise them. Braelyn shouted out our names and came and gave us a big hug. Berkley just looked at us and then came and sat on my lap. It felt so good to have my arms around them again. I couldn't show up emty handed and heeded Heather when she said they didn't need anymore clothes or toys, so I bought them each an umbrella and Braelyn some cute boots to play in the rain.

The girls love being outside so we spent most of our time out there. Luckily it had cooled down a bit from our trip in August and I could handle being out there.

I saw this cute haunted house kit at Macy's. You make the form with chocolate rice krispies. I can handle that. Then we let Braelyn decorate it however she wanted. Heather helped do Berkley's.
We were able to attend church with them. Luckily they only live 10 minutes from the building. Their ward has been very friendly and welcoming to them. It was fun to meet some of them. They had one new member that after church has a bag of candy that he hands out to all the kids. They have nick named him the candy man.

One of my Grandpa's cousins live in their ward and it was his 91st birthday so we were invited over for cake and ice-cream. Afterwards we visited with him. It was amazing the things he could recall and the stories he told of my dad and grandpa. It just goes to show what a small world this is. I tried to make every minute count and here is a picture of me and Braelyn dressing up to go to dinner at the queen's house. The weekend went to fast and we had to leave that night to make it to the cruise the next day.
Our first stop on the cruise was Key West. It was bigger then I thought and the houses were so cool. I would have loved to walk through them. We just walked around the town taking in the sites.
We went to a musuem and learned alot about the history of Key West. At one time they had more millionaires then anywhere in the United States. It was a fun town to visit but I don't think I would want to live there.
The second day we were in Cozumel. At the last minute we booked a snorkeling trip. We meet alot of nice people of the trip, but once you scuba dive, snorkeling is a bit boring. That night was formal night. We got our own table facing the ocean and had a nice dinner. I do love being able to try new food. We usually try two appetizers. The deserts were a bit disappointing. I guess that is good since then we only ordered one.

Here was the exciting part of the cruise. We were still at dock in Cozumel and were planning on taking off in an hour. A storm rolled in, just as the Carnival cruise ship took off. We were on the top deck and felt a big rock of the ship. We thought it was from the waves of the Carnival cruise ship taking off. We were talking to some friends we had made on the snorkeling trip when over the speaker we heard "Echo, Echo all crew members to deck four". Then we knew something was up and ran across the deck and this is what we saw. Carnival had crashed into us. Everyone from our boat ran up to the top and all of Carnival's people were on their side. Luckily no serious damage and they were able to get pushed off us and on their way. We did have alot of fun harrasing the Carnival cruisers.
We were grateful in Belize that they just anchor and we didn't have to be close to Carnival. In Belize we took the cave river run. It was fun and we got to see alot of Belize while driving to it. We bought a cheap water camera so I have to wait to get the pictures developed and then I will post them. The last day was a day at sea and the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in sight. They were running a spa special so I talked Steve into doing it. My girl was wonderful and I felt so relaxed after it. Steve didn't have the same luck. We spent the day outside soaking up the sun and of course eating. It was fun to be with Steve and I'm lucky I have someone in my life that I enjoy spending time with.

I did it!

2009-09-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

When we built the cabin our dream was to have a stone fireplace run through the middle of the cabin to the top. We even had the floor of the basement reinforced so we could do it. We had someone give us the bid and when we were told it would be $25,000.00 to do it we realized that our pocket book would not allow that dream. So we thought that it would look nice to rock the outside of the basement. We had just become empty nesters so when Steve went to Florida I decided that I would rather be alone out at the cabin then here in Cedar Hills and that I would put up the rocks. Steve did help me get the first couple of rows in and we gathered enough rocks we thought to finish it. So the next week I drove out and started working some more on it. Since they are real rocks I had to be picky about where they would go because they had to rest on the rock below it. So I would pick up a rock and walk it all the way around seeing if it would fit anywhere. Most of the time it would not and I would start again with another rock. After doing a couple of rows I would have to let them set and really dry. It was fun at the first but towards the end I was tired of it.

Luckily my mom came over one day to help. I was almost out of rocks so she helped me gather some more of them and then spent about 5 hours scrubbing the grout off the rocks I had already put up. I'm so grateful for her help. This weekend I finished the last couple of rows and started to grout between them. Of course we had not bought enough mortar and had to do a quick trip to Park City on Friday night to get some more. Saturday Steve was able to help me finish grouting between them.
It was so much work and I hope my back recovers from it, but it looks great. I can't believe I did it. And the grand total was around $80.00. Not too bad.

Labor Day

2009-09-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

You will never guess it but we went up to the cabin for the Labor Day weekend. We had our good friends Larry and Talitha Hudgins come up.

My brother Ken got the ditch cleared out so Steve opened it up to let the water come down and the plan was that it would water the meadow outside the cabin. Apparently it wasn't sloped the way we had hoped and we got a big pond in our front yard.

So thanks to our great neighbor Tom who lets us borrow his equipment Steve started working to get the water flowing better. We decided there are two spots at the ranch that isn't rocky. Ken found the first one when he sunk the cat and Steve found the second one and almost sunk the back hoe. Luckily we had family there and after throwing in all of Jodi and Mike's firewood they had just chopped and half our wood pile they were able to get the back hoe out. This picture was taken when they were almost out. I didn't

want to remember how it looked before.
That night we decided to take a midnight run over the loop. It took awhile for the moon to come over the mountains but when it did it was beautiful.
Steve and Taylor were on the four-wheeler and led out. Taylor and Larry had spotlights, but all we saw was one deer and a bunch of mice.
It gets a little spooky driving it at night, but Steve said nothing would have attacked us because me and Talitha were talking so loud. He said he could hear everything we said. We had alot of great food and good conversations. The only thing missing was the rest of my family.

My beautiful granddaughters

2009-09-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

It has been almost two weeks since they moved to Georgia. After having them live with us for a year it was really hard to see them go so far away. But I'm excited for them to have this experience and to be their own little family.

The weekend before they left was cold, Taylor called after his shift and said the storm has moved over Deer Creek and the water is flat and their are no boats on it.

We hurried and jumped in the truck and headed to the lake.

The temperature was only 68 degrees but I got some good water to ski on so it was worth the trip.
It's been so hot this summer that the girls didn't use the playhouse much. So we went in one evening and they had so much fun playing with the dishes. Braelyn was the cook and came up with some fun dinner combinations.

Braelyn would ask every day if we could go to the park. I really hate the heat and would try to distract her to do something else. So the last week they were here we headed out first thing in the morning. Braelyn is old enough to do things but you have to follow Berkley around to keep her safe.
I can't wait until the end of September when I get to see them again.

Road trip to Georgia

2009-08-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Much to our dismay we loaded up the moving truck last Monday and Tuesday afternoon me and Steve took off to Georgia. This is how big we were. We pulled up by an eighteen wheeler and we were about 2 feet shorter. Being this big made the trip very interesting. Also when you are towing a vehicle you can't back up, so we had to be very careful about the exits we took and where we gased up and where we stayed the night.

In a car the trip is supposed to take 31 hours. In a moving truck the trip took 40 hours. I have never enjoyed road trips and was not excited about this one, but me and Steve had a great time.
I thought it was a beautiful drive once we left Wyoming. Missouri really surprised me at how green it was. In my mind I had always pictured it dry and ugly. Maybe because of the way they treated the early mormons. We loved seeing all the cool old barns and I would love to go back and photograph them.

We thought this sign was pretty funny. At times we felt like we were nowhere.
We would get up and leave the motel by six and drive until 9:oo. Luckily for us their are alot of rest stops along the way. We could only ride for about 2 hours and then we had to stretch our legs.
I got a GPS for christmas and this tool will save or marriage and allow us to go on road trips. We hit St. Louis and I was driving. Because of road construction they had a detour through the city. We were going all over and would have been completely lost without the GPS. It was scary for me to drive and at one time I had to get across three lanes of traffic in about 20 seconds. Not easy in a car, but in the truck it was scary. Luckily I did and we made it through.

I can't wait to drive it again, although this time in a car. Georgia is really pretty and the people we meet were so nice and friendly. I guess it's that southern hospitality coming out. Kevin found a nice little three-bedroom home to rent in a quiet neighborhood. It's a college town and they have the busiest wal-mart in Georgia. I will be grateful for our quiet wal-mart in Cedar Hills. The ward is so nice and alot of people dropped over on Saturday with food and to welcome them into the ward. We meet one of their cute neighbors on a walk and she had the best accent. I love the way they talk. I wish Heather and Kevin the best and I think they will really love the time they spend in Georgia. That is if they get used to the humidity.

Taylor's party

2009-08-10T05:09:00.001-07:00

We had talked of Taylor inviting some friends up to the cabin all summer, so we finally found a date that worked with us. They loaded up in a van and came out Friday afternoon. They were only in the cabin for a few minutes when they decided to hike the mountain. I was outside shucking corn so I watched them and it only took them a few minutes to hike up and around the cliff. Wouldn't it be great to be young and have energy again.

Zach brought out some guns and Taylor had his so they went shooting. Some of the girls had never shot a gun before. I think Shea was the only girl that enjoyed it.

They all graduated this year so I decided to see how smart the kids from Lone Peak are and had them play this is a fork, this is a spoon game. Didn't seem to smart to me.

The weather forcast for this weekend was not good. A high of 71 on the wasatch front. The weather out in the basin is always different, but since we were going boating I was worried. We woke up to a brisk 50 degrees, but it was sunny.
By the time we got to Starvation I think it was in the 70's. They started the day cliff jumping. The water was warm but when you climbed back out the air was chilly.

A couple of the kids had never jumped off a cliff. Once they climbed on the boat, they all commented that it wasn't a very high cliff. But at least they were safe.

Derrick had to be last. We got a few hours of good water and sunshine and then the winds started so we ended the party early. They were a great good of kids and very easy to be around. What impressed me was the girls all had modest swimsuits on and no drama. Taylor said that's why their his friends.

Moon Reunion

2009-08-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this will come as a big surprise but we went up to the cabin again this weekend. Heather and the girls were able to come with us. On Friday morning Braelyn looked out the window and said there's deer. We looked out and saw the cows and told her they were cows. She said there were deer and we looked up on the hill and saw about 7 deer coming out of the trees and running up the mountain. They were also there on Saturday morning. They must sleep in the trees. One mother had little twins running behind her. It's amazing how fast they can travel. I wish I had that ability.

Both Braelyn and Berkley love to go for four-wheeler rides so we loaded up the ranger and went on the loop. After you get to the top there is this old corral. I think it is beautiful and wish I could go back in the past and see it in use. Steve would have loved to live back then and spend the summer up in the mountains. When my Grandmother first got married she lived in a tent up in the mountains, while Grandpa herded sheep.

Saturday was the reunion at the ranch. Wade and Karen's kids are some of my favorite cousins and I love visiting with them and catching up on their lives. Karen had planned games to play that afternoon but we were all content to visit and the kids were having a ball running around and playing in the ditch and on the four-wheeler.
Braelyn was so happy when Kilee came. They have turned into best friends and they spent the day playing.
Here is Berkley with my nieces daughter Kali. I wanted to show Berkley's big brown eyes and Kali's big blue eyes, but my camera isn't that good. It was a great weekend and I'm lucky to be part of such a wonderful family.

Another good weekend

2009-07-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I headed out to the cabin by myself. This is the first time this year that I was able to go out alone. I pulled the boat to Duchesne and then went up. I don't know what it is but I love being alone up there. Maybe it's because I can be as lazy as I want to be and nobody knows. On Friday Taylor brought Braelyn out to spend the weekend with us.

We had a family barbaque at the ranch house and as always the food was great. This is my little sister Kellee with her daughter Karson.

Grandma Moon and Karson.

When it got dark the fireworks started. You couldn't have a more beautiful back drop then the mountains. They were pretty good. Steve and Taryn were supposed to come out that night, but Steve's flight was delayed and he missed his connection so he had to stay the night. Luckily he got an early flight and they made it to Starvation by 1:00.
This was the first time Steve hasn't been on the boat, but Taylor did a great job of taking it off and driving. Kellee, Kirk and Kylie came with us. There is a big sandy beach that the girls had a great time playing on.

Braelyn loved playing in the waves.

Taylor keeps himself entertained on a beach. Him and Kirk tried running up the sand cliffs.
Taryn and Steve showed up the same time as the Hudgins so we went and had lunch and then we went cliff jumping. Steve was busy sitting on the boat so there are no pictures of us girls jumping the cliffs. I was surprised that Talitha joined us since she hates cold water.
Carly brought a friend and they tubed for a long time. Steve loves teasing and gave them a great ride. Watching them get thrown around on the tube I really can't figure out why people love it. It had been overcast most of the day but around 5:00 the sun came out and the water became smooth. Taylor and Taryn got some good wake-board time in, but by the time Steve got ready to ski all the boats had come back out and the water was choopy. It was a still a great day being with friends and family.
We stayed the night at the cabin and this is what I got to wake up to. She looked so sweet and was an angel that weekend. I hope I get many more weekends with my sweet granddaughter at the cabin. That day we attended my nephews farewell. He is going to Peru. I wish him the best. It's wonderful to see my nieces and nephews growing strong in the church.

George Strait

2009-07-21T06:34:00.001-07:00

For our birthday's Taryn got us tickets to George Strait.

We had the grass seats but Taryn went early and got us a good spot. Which is a good thing because traffic going into the amphitheater was terrible. It took us two hours to get parked. We saw a LDS church about 10 blocks below it and parked and walked the rest of the way. We arrived during Julianna Huff, but I didn't mind. Then Blake Shelton played. I like his songs but was not impressed with his attitude. It was really hot that day and I was worried about the heat but once the sun went down it was nice. George is such a class act. It was wonderful and thanks to Steve's great binoculars it was like I had a front row seat. I don't know how he picks his songs since he has 57 number one hits, there was one song that I wished he had played and that's I get carried away. It's one of my favorites, but I could say that about most of his songs. Thanks Taryn for a wonderful gift.

Deer Creek with Galloways

2009-07-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

Monday night we invited the Galloways to come up to Deer Creek for a lake side family night. Taylor got off work at 3:00 so he meet us up there. The water was okay and the boys each took their turn on the wake-board or skim skate. Here is Taylor's dismount off the skim skate. He even went feet first into the water.

The best part of boating is the yummy food. I had been at scout camp all day so Becky shared her food with us.

The boys had worked really hard and needed some food to get strength to go again. After dinner the water was still a bit choppy but me, Steve and Taylor had to get in a ski run.

Everyone drove the boat, even Becky but she said her legs were shaking. She was a good sport and hung in there when Taylor started driving, and he was driving very fast. It was a fun night at the lake and with friends.