Memorial Day at Mill Flat

 I was so glad when Paul came home and said that none of the guys were working and that we should just take the day off and go to Mill Flat!  We have been wanting to go and check it out for the scout hike that it coming right up, but the weather has not been cooperative with rain every time we could go.  The rain has done wonderful things though!  It is green and beautiful and the stream is very high! It made for a lot of crossings, many that were pretty scary for me since I'm not much of a log walker, but by the end of the day and the 50 crossings that up and back entailed, I got pretty good and we didn't take our shoes off once on the way back down!  The weather was absolutely perfect with just a few sprinkles while we ate lunch and on the way down.  Can't wait to get back up and check out Anderson Valley and do a camp out!  

We did have a little mishap at the crossing by this sign.  We deiced to wade it and then afterwards saw a log crossing downstream a little ways that we thought might make it faster for the scouts.  Paul wen across to see how it was and on his way back over one of the logs rolled and he ended up end in the stream.  Thank goodness he was very catlike and landed on his feet and got out very fast.  We had to dry out his boots and wring out his socks, but other than that, all was well and we continued on.

Found lots of pieces of old equipment from the old mill and lots of other cool stuff! 

Ate lunch at Mill Flat where there was still some snow on the ground.

Lunch spot

Waterfalls everywhere!

Temple Quarry

Paul and I were invited to the First Ward's High Priest's dinner the other night.  They held it at the park up by the Temple Quarry trail head.  He demonstrated how they cut the stone for the temple foundation and gave a brief history about it.  Afterwards any who wanted to/were able could hike to the quarry.  Only one couple felt up to it/were interested, but we wanted to just for our evening walk.  We had a good time at the dinner and with the couple who hiked the trail with us.  Very nice evening.  I think everyone was afraid it would rain.  We did have a few sprinkles during the dinner, but none on the hike!  

Desert Garden visits

We have enjoyed taking family members to visit the new desert garden area up by Pioneer Park.  

The Randalls

The Lillywhites

Another school year come and gone...

Well, it's over again.  Every year I'm excited for it to start and then I'm excited for it to end...but also a little melancholy.  Cute little kids who have learned so much, gained confidence and are ready to move on to a whole day at school in 1st grade!  You hope life treats them well and that they will grow up to be amazing people who do good things with their lives!  So long class of 2014-15! 

Our Kindergarten program, funny faces with me and our student teacher, Miss Demkee, Adina's amazing hairdo, and serious (almost) faces with me, Miss Demkee and Ms. Godfrey.  We were short 2 kids - one who had already left town and one who was late.   

Happy #7 Zade!

Zade's birthday kind of got lost in the busyness of the end of school.  We finally sang to him and gave him his present when we dropped him off from our little hike!  Sorry there was no cake and candles, but we did have enjoy spending the afternoon/evening with him and hope the ice cream stop made up for the cake!  Happy birthday Zade!  We love you!

He had a fun army party with his family and friends that morning!  He was pretty excited about his Nutella snacks for sure.  Hopfully he'll have fun with the other stuff too!  

Grand Edventure with the boys

We have been wanting to take  Zade, Koen, Brenden and Noah on a hike. They are finally old enough that we thought they could all have fun hiking with us. We found the right hike and it turned out to be a really fun time for all of us!  We took them up the trail from Brookside to Baker Lake and cooked our dinner along the way.  They did GREAT!  The only way it could have been better was if Noah could have joined us.  We'll have to plan a little more ahead next time so he can come too - we are such last minute edventureres sometimes.  (We planned it while we were on our hike to Dutchman's Draw the night before.)

The first thing they discovered were the ants - piles and piles of them everywhere.  They counted ant hills all the way to the lake!  We also ran into a mother turkey and her chicks.  She was pretty mad at us and kept trying to distract us until we were well away from them.  Grandpa showed the boys how to use joint grass for whistles and they made a great band!  They all were amazed at how beautiful it was on the hike.  

We found a great dinner spot along the stream.  The boys had a great time throwing rocks and sticks in the water and hanging out in the trees while Grandpa cooked hot dogs and Grandma made sure they didn't fall in!  Good food in a beautiful spot! (Zade was trying to hide in the tree in his camo clothes.)

Hiking back was just as fun, and stopping for twist cones was very tasty - and somewhat messy!  

Dutchman's Draw

Took a Friday afternoon/evening hike at Dutchman's Draw.  Did about 10 miles working to get Paul in shape for his upcoming scout hike.  It was a beautiful desert hike with lots of cool things to see!  

Snow Canyon...rain or shine!

So glad we got that State Park pass gift!  We love to hit Snow Canyon whenever we can for a walk or a bike ride...rain or shine!

Bottom left is the yearly falcon next with mom or dad perched on the edge.  Need a better zoom lens!  

Happy #3 Trigg!

Trigg's birthday happened to fall on Family Dinner day, so we ate and celebrated that day!  It was so nice we ate outside!  Our old time Mouse Trap game was a big hit, and the boys always love the cars. We were few in number this time, but we had a great time!  

Happy birthday time!  Trigg is now a three-year-old!  Such a cute boy!  Happy birthday Trigg!  We love you!

Camping, soccer and dinner fun rounded out the week end!

After a busy day trying to get caught up with all that I was behind on (didn't get it all done yet), we threw it in the truck and headed out for a quick camp out up by Browse.  It was absolutely perfect weather.  Paul made great food and we enjoyed walking up a new section of stream...until I missed it and ended up in the water!  Have felt really crummy with a bad sinus infection, but it was still fun!  

In the morning after Paul made a tasty breakfast and we packed the gear and made it home in time for Brenden's last soccer game where he played a great game.  Came home and got more things I needed to done and then the Weavers stopped in for dinner...they brought dinner.  Fun times visiting with them and hanging out in the yard with the kids!  

Happy #13 Kaebri - an awesome teenager!

It was so fun to join Kaebri and family at her before school 6:30 am crepes and present hunting birthday breakfast party last week!  Amazing that Kaebri is now a teenager!  I remember that cute little baby girl all those years ago!  So proud of the beautiful, kind big girl she has become!  Love you Kaebri!  Happy #13!  (She found her Piano Guys concert tickets - after quite a hunt - stapled to the dryer lint trap!)  Thanks for letting us join the fun!