Pack, Peddle, Paddle

The "preachers" (teachers and priests) from our ward had a great adventure last week: Pack, Peddle, Paddle. They backpacked for three days in the Uintas, then took a 40-mile bike ride, followed by a day on the river in rafts and canoes. Michael was a participant in this event and I got to drive some of the boys and their packs in Michael's truck to the trailhead: 2 1/2 hours to Roosevelt, 1/2 hour east and then 1 hour on a dirt road going 25 mph. After dropping them off I turned around and made the trip home - an eight-hour round trip! It was fun to see them head off into the mountains with their packs.

Much better than the last time I was at this trailhead: 12 years ago I dropped Brian off there with the Scouts to hike King's Peak. It was pouring rain and I was leaving my first son on his first backpacking trip and everything he owned was wet. I cried most of the way home.

Girls Road Trip

1. Somehow I managed to get to the ripe old age of 50 having never seen the Grand Canyon. It has a been a dream of mine for some time to see this amazing natural wonder. My friend, Judy Richards, just a year my junior has shared this dream with me for some years now.

2. Jenny's sweetie, Trevor, is working hard for their future selling food storage in Mesa so, of course, wanted to visit him.

3. My friend, Clyda Thurman has two daughters and seven grandchildren living in Mesa, so she's always up for a road trip to visit her family. And her cute daughter, Kylee who is one of my lovely Laurels joined us.

All of which led to a really fun Girls Road Trip! So on June 27 the six of us headed out bright and early for Mesa, AZ - a 10-hour drive. I have never been to Arizona (if you don't count that little piece between St George and Las Vegas) so it was great to see new country. Our first stop was on the bridge next to the damn that creates Lake Powell. Judy, Jenny and I thought we should walk across it just for fun. After that we decided that we were the best "dam" friends ever!

We had a delightful weekend staying at Mandy and Aaron's lovely home, complete with swimming pool and fun grandchildren! We shopped a little, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, went to the Mesa Temple ( #22 for me) and visitor's center. I got to see Trevor's house and he even took me to a Fresh Produce store. (my favorite clothing brand) It was a really pleasant and relaxing trip.

On Monday we headed home via the Grand Canyon. We got there Monday night just as the sun was setting. We tried to do some stargazing, but it was cloudy. (darn!) Tuesday morning we watched an IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon and then drove east along the South Rim stopping at several view points along the way and even venturing a little hiking.

I have to say that after anticipating seeing the Grand Canyon for many years, it does NOT disappoint! It is awesome and amazing; beautiful and scary at the same time. These pictures definitely do not do it justice!

Thanks to my fun traveling companions, especially Clyda for being such a great and generous driver. It was a wonderful trip!

YCL Retreat

Yesterday from 3:30 pm to 12:30 am we had our YCL (Youth Camp Leader) Retreat to prepare for YW Camp. It was SO fun! We went to the Nickle's cabin east of Heber, ate pizza and other yummy junk food, rode four-wheelers, and cut, taped, glued, sewed and laminated in preparation for camp. We also had fun making up silly and wonderful cheers for our ward.

My favorite flower: forget-me-nots. The ones in my yard have already bloomed and gone to seed, but up at higher elevation, they're still blooming. I took this picture with my phone, so it could be my background. One of the reasons I love forget-me-nots is because I was taught that they remind us of the Savior: forget-me-not = Always Remember Him

Beautiful sunset from the cabin balcony

One of our activities was taking the Color Code personality test. The girls asked to do it and it was so fun to get to know each other and now I can understand my Laurels better!

I really like learning about people's "color personality," it helps me to "get" them and have more realistic expectations. I was reminded last night about the description of my personality from the book:

"The most difficult color combination within one individual is the mixture of Red and Blue. If you are strong in both categories, you will often find yourself stepping on someone's toes to get a task completed (Red), but feeling guilty afterward for making that person unhappy (Blue). "

OR
as I like to put it:
"I like to kick butt, but feel guilty taking names."

I DID IT!

Okay, this may be a weird post, but I had a really productive week, so here's what I did:

Cleaned out all the beds in the yard
Planted a vegetable garden
Put miracle gro on all the plants in the yard
Swept the patio and cleaned the grill in preparation for Fathers Day BBQ
Cleaned 3 bathrooms (the downstairs one had become the "Texaco bathroom" and required lots of clorox)
Dusted all furniture
Vacuumed entire house (Jenny did the stairs, Thanks!)
Mopped wood floor
Cleaned out fridge and pantry
Laundry (several times)
Ironing (twice, including Rich's temple clothes - I'm not fond of pleats!)
Finances (twice - entering receipts into Quicken and balancing with online checking and paying bills)
Swept out garage
Bathed the dog
Changed the furnace filter
Cleaned the storage room
Cleaned shed (Brian and Michael helped, thanks guys!)
Inventoried our food storage
Father's Day shopping
Food shopping (three times, including Costco, which I hate)
Attended the Salt Lake Temple (It was great to be with my nephew, Brent his first time!)
Got my nails done
Got my hair done
Mailed a package to Laura in NY
Turned my mattress and washed ALL the bedding (Again, thanks to Brian & Michael for the use of their guns)
I served at the Linden Cannery for 2 1/2 hours (note: don't sign up for the 5 pm shift - it's heavy duty cleaning!)
Went to Mutual with the Laurels, visiting a nursing home
Went to RS Birthday dinner and provided Korean centerpiece and food (I have to be honest, I ordered the food from Sam Hawk Korean restaurant and Rich picked it up for me, but that didn't stop me from complaining about it, so all blessings are negated!)
I went out to lunch with my Mom, Jenny and Jill
I created a Master list for Jenny and Trevor's Wedding Plans
Prepared Laurel lesson for Sunday, including "necktie" notes and treats for them to give their fathers
Caught up on Relief Society lesson reading
Walked 2-3 miles each morning with my friends and my dog
Took an Advil PM every night so I could be rested and ready to work!

*To all you mothers of young children out there: I did NOT take care of any children or feed people during this productive week.

Sophie Lynn

Sophie Lynn on her 2nd birthday rocking her new baby in her new pink rocking chair. What a sweetie! Gotta love those dimples!

I Garden, I'm a Gardner

So, today this 50-year-old woman spent SEVEN hours working outside in the yard. I cleaned out the front beds, planted some flowers, (which you can't really see because they need to grow) and decorated for the
Fourth of July. By the way, there's an open invitation for whiling away some time on my porch swing!

I'm especially pleased with the clematis climbing up the mailbox; I've been coaxing it for four years!

The BIG news is that we have a VEGETABLE GARDEN. It's been years since I planted vegetables. This year we took out the sandbox that Papa built when Michael was little and I was left with a patch of sand, so I decided to make it a garden. I put in the little fence and planted tomatoes, anaheim peppers, (which Rich puts in his ramen noodles for breakfast each morning) cucumbers and zuchini and a daisy in the middle for fun.

This little bed outside the back door did really well last year with impatients so I planted them again this year.

I do like being outside and "playing in the dirt" and making my little piece of earth look beautiful and I hope I can move tomorrow!

Rainbow in June

So far it has been a cold and cloudy June, but I saw the most amazing rainbow on Monday night. This picture does not even come close to how vibrant and beautiful it really was. Somehow it makes all those clouds worth it!