My Birthday

I spent my birthday at girl's camp,

the girl's and the other leaders really 

made my birthday a wonderful day.

Better than staying home alone . . . 

Even so,

I decided to throw myself a birthday lunch

with some of my favorite ladies!

I was a little nervous giving MYSELF a party,

but it turned out great with 12 of us there.

THANKS ALL!

Girl's Camp

This was my 2nd year at girl's camp 

as assistant camp director.

We have a great bunch of girls

that do what they need to do,

be where they need to be,

and can have fun while doing all those things.

We swam,

figured out how to put up a tent,

sang camp songs,

learned to trust,

worked as a team,

conquered our fears,

learned the importance of following instructions,

HAD FUN!

(this was called the flying squirrel, a girl ran in one direction,

while her "team" ran in the opposite direction, pulling her in the air!)

We hiked,

and enjoyed the summit,

hammed it up at kangaroo court,

and did many other things I didn't get pictures of,

boated,

shot bb guns,

did archery,

star gazed,

ate,

held devotionals,

did crafts,

golden hours,

went to a wedding.

AND

celebrated my birthday ;)

The girls made the week fun!

It was a great week.

On the Hunt

When I was in Utah,

Justin, Halley and Chancy and I decided to find a piece of property

that my husband's father had purchased years ago.

If you've ever seen the show Doomsday Preppers,

I can tell you that Lincoln's dad could have had an episode on that show.

This was his spot for us all to bug-out to in case of emergency.

He spent years preparing for a disaster,

spent tons of money,

and many years preparing.

He did this over 20 years ago, 

he passed away over 20 years ago.

My two sons have always wanted to find this place 

and explore, or even possibly live there.

(mountain man style)

(crazy kids).

We got a map from Lincoln's mom,

and after going down a few dirt roads we finally found the place.

Good thing Lincoln's dad had erected this "gate"

or we may not have found it.

Justin and Chancy are pictured below with the gate.

"The Broken Arrow"

A trailer that they were going to use for shelter.

They leave it open for anyone who may come across it.

It was cleaner than I expected.

Maybe someone has been using it?

A note from Lincoln's father . . . . . . . 

He was really INTO this prep stuff!!!!

People have been digging up his supply caches.

One that surprisingly hasn't been dug up.

Some other things that have been disturbed.

I'd been driving by all these wildflowers.

Some patches of flowers on the roadside were quite dense and really pretty.

I had to get pictures.

A nice view.

It was fun to go exploring with the kids.

The garden (an update)

This is a bad picture . . . . 

we have been enjoying the fruits of our garden.

Since these pictures we have had lots of cucumbers,

and to many red tomatoes to eat!

Zucchini and squash don't really do well in this area,

they don't produce enough for you to get sick of them.

We got a few pickings of peas.  

I didn't really plant a whole lot of them,

so it was a good crop while the cool weather lasted.

YUMMA, YUMMA.

To the temple we go

After church, we decided to make the hour trip to the DC temple

to a "Why I Believe" fireside.

I visit teach a new convert to the church,

and she was going to be giving a short testimony at the fireside.

I wanted to support her and my two men came along with me.

Members of our ward who also made the hour trip.

We came to hear the lady on the far right, bottom.

She has her two adorable children with her.

It was either a hazy day, or my cell phone camera lens has a finger print on it.

Pretty anyway . . . . .. 

A nice end to a Sabbath Day.

Grandbaby Asher

Our first grandchild was born in February.

Because of circumstances,

and one reason or other, 

we or I hadn't been able to go and meet him.

I searched and searched for good priced plane tickets 

but couldn't find any.

I heard that tickets to Vegas were cheap,

and so I looked and found some really inexpensive tickets,

and decided to drive the distance from Vegas to Salt Lake.

I really enjoyed the drive.

The terrain is so different than here,

and the wildflowers were in bloom,

and the wide open spaces were fun to see open up in front of me.

One thing that helped was the 80 mph speed limit that covers most of the trip.

They've found in those lonely drives that the faster you can do it the better.

Less accidents that way.

Falling asleep has to be a huge problem.

It was all so worth it to get to snuggle with our sweet little grandbaby!

Asher's mom was sad she needed to work the first day I was there,

but I got to babysit for 9 1/2 hours 

and I loved and savored every second of it! 

I didn't even set him down to sleep.

I held him the whole time,

and thank heavens brought granola bars 

with me so I wouldn't starve to death!!!

He looks a lot like his dad did at that age.

Ah so precious!  

This little guy wrapped me around his little pinky!

I love this "bug" look!!!!!

He was trying so hard to turn over.

A picture of a picture of a picture :)

So cute in his sun glasses.

On the second day,

Justin, Halley and Chancy also came to visit Asher.

Aunt Halley!

Dad, Justin.

Uncle Chancy.

Dad got in on the bathing action.

Asher is such an expressive baby.

I don't think he cried the whole time we were there.

Okay, okay . . . . he WAS a little fussy in his car seat!

Asher really doesn't like being placed down on his back.

He was happy as a clam sitting in his bumbo.

It was so hard to say goodbye.  

I gut bawled, I'm not embarrassed to say.

I wish we lived closer . . . . . . .