The oldest and the youngest grandson's birthdays!

Tavin and Torin are brothers and they are our oldest and youngest grandsons and they just about share a birthday!  Tavin's is on August 25th and Torin's is the next day! This year they turned 15 and 2 They are both pretty special people.  Happy birthdays guys and love to both of you!

Bean's birthday was the 23rd.  He turned 28 but he was not feeling happy to celebrate it this year, so we pretty much just had to let it go other than to give him some movie passes.  Thankfully he was feeling happier the next day.

She's here...Clara Lenae!

So happy that Clara Lenae Lillywhite arrived safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon, August 10th! She's #4 daughter for Jay and Brynn and #24 grand child,/#13 grand daughter for us.  We made a quick trip up to meet her Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.  It was so nice to see her and the rest of the family.  She has some excited older sisters and they are more than willing to help hold her. She's one blessed little girl to come to such a wonderful home where she's so loved and will be so well taught.  So happy for this little one!

Backpacking in the Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado

Paul, Bean, Supe and I hiked in this area once before about 12 years ago.  Paul and scouts have done it and Paul did it as a youth.  The plan was hatched for another trip during Christmas last year.  So this time Paul, Supe and Beacher, Jay, me and Supe's friend Weston did it.  Moss was all set to go and then got sick and had to bail.  Weed had planned to go, but we just had to bring her along in our memory. It turned out to be an awesome hike!

1st day (Friday) we drove to Durango to spend the night and enjoyed driving through Monument Valley along the way.  We walked around town some and then went to the Bar D Chuck Wagon dinner/show that evening.  Good food and good fun.

2nd day (Saturday) we drove to the Pine Creek trail head and started the hike.  It was a nice day and we made our goal of reaching Little Emerald and Emerald Lakes and camping just beyond Emerald. It was a long day! We did between 13 and 14 miles; quite a bit of elevation gain, but spread out over quite a few miles. (We had some rain starting at Little Emerald and in the evening.)  It was a beautiful, flowery hike.  We saw two different groups using goats to carry for them.  And some people had their dogs carry a little.  During the night our camp was visited by a porcupine who chewed holes in Supe's sweaty shirt that it found laying in camp!

3rd day (Sunday) we had planned to just hang out in camp and acclimatize, but we were all fine and it wasn't very far to Moon Lake, our next destination, so we went ahead and moved on.  It wasn't that far, but it was all UP HILL. This was my hardest day because of the elevation gain. This camp was at 11,000.  We were so glad to get there!  And it was so beautiful!  And it was so beautiful along the way with flowers everywhere!  We had rain several times in the two days that we camped in this spot, but enjoyed spending time together under Weston's Noah's Tarp.  We cooked, ate and visited under it as needed in stormy weather.  A porcupine visited this camp too and chewed on some shoes and a walking stick handle. There were also many marmots in the area.  We found a good place to hang our packs to keep them out of the varmint's reach!

4th day (Monday) we hiked up to Moon Lake and then up and over to Rock Lake and some beyond. It was the toughest section as far as elevation gain over a short distance, but we did it as a day hike and didn't have to lug all of our gear along thank goodness! We topped out at 12,500.  It was only 3 miles to the top.  It was beautiful!  We were very glad to reach to top of the pass!  We hiked around and ate lunch and then headed back meeting the storm at the top of the pass with some rain/hail.  We ponchoed up and did just fine.  Later when the sun came out for a while we did our wash, took naps and Supe, Jay and Weston braved the icy water in Moon Lake to do some quick washing up!

5th day (Tuesday) we headed back down going at a fast clip to camp at Little Emerald.  It was pretty rainy so we ate and had a good Rook game under the tarp.  We visited the stream that ran out of Little Emerald and also the island between the two lakes when the sun came out for a while.  Supe took another swim in the icy water there!  

6th day (Wednesday) We hiked out, again at a fast pace, enjoying the downhill!  We got back to the trail head by our goal of 12:30. All in all we did about 47 miles. Then we headed down to Durango to enjoy lunch at Grass Burgers. Then we drove up to Ouray and swam away our sore muscles in the warm waters!  It was so nice!  That evening after getting checked in and cleaned up we ate at a nice Italian restaurant and hit the sack.  

7th day (Thursday) it was time to head home.  Paul and I took the route through Farmington so we could stop in to see Ross at the stone yard.  We got home late afternoon and were glad to see our shower, bed and bathroom.  Not so glad to return to the heat after enjoying the very cool and sometimes cold weather in the mountains!

It was a great trip with only a few mishaps for Paul and I.  He fell down and few times and got some bruises and I did a face plant just a little way from the trail head on the way down when I tripped over a root.  I got a little black eye and some scrapes in that one, but neither fall did any real damage.  The younger set were more agile and faster moving for the whole hike, but they were patient and waited up for us now and then on the hard up hills where youth prevailed.  Our food was good and the scenery and company the best!  What a challenge!  I still feel happy when I walk up the Main St. hill on our daily walks; happy that I'm not carrying that 35 lb. pack!  I'm so glad I went and I was also glad to get home!

July birthdays!

We had Beacher (26), Tahlia (4), Supe (30) and Ellie (10) to wish happy birthday to in July!  We love them all and hope they all know it!  We enjoyed Tahlia's long distance via pictures.  We joined Ellie and family at Mamoth Springs for a picnic.  Supe and Beacher shared their celebration of their week apart birthdays!

The little sheep decided to stand in the road on our way home.  He moved when he got good and ready!