Monday, July 29, 2019

And the Days Keep Rolling On!!!!

After the trip to Italy, which was far more than I was ready for....I spent the next two months recuperating! Spring arrived slowly and my schedule was light, so spent time doing Family History and attending the temple. Of course the biggest thrill was listening to President Nelson announce a temple in tiny little Moses Lake!! You are correct, I was anything but reverent!!! 
 My little yard continues to blossom and bring me joy all year round!

March 10 marked Matthias' 9th birthday, Ailene's birthday and it would have been our 47th wedding anniversary....one of those eventful calendar days!


 Ariel came over from Yakima to go to the cemetery with Haven, Liora and I in commemoration of Kelsey's 13th year in paradise and Doyle's 3rd year with Kelsey! Sure do miss my boys!
 The end of April and first of May I made a trip to Utah for Micah's Cosette, who had her 8th birthday and was baptized into the Church. She is quite an amazing little gal!

Friends and family came from near and far! We were able to celebrate Noble's birthday at Chuck-A-Rama one evening as well!! (Oh the sacrifices we make for the grandkids!)
 Cosi wanted me to make a bunny birthday cake and the kids all agreed that it was cute and a bit terrifying! 

 The first week in June found me in Island Park, Idaho with my two best buddies! Deanna's brother in law let us stay in his cabin and we had a blast. Went to a melodrama, The Music Man in West Yellowstone and enjoyed a parody of The Princess Bride at the theater in Island Park.
 This is the Upper Mesa Falls on Henry's Fork River....so beautiful!!
Lower Mesa Falls.
 These great gals have had my back (no pun intended) for the past 30 years! 
LOVE them so much!
Blue skies and scenic views everywhere we looked!
This little guy poked his head out for a photo and then disappeared!
 Made our way up to Virginia and Nevada City in Montana. Loved this charming 50's malt shop!

 Visitor information and small museum. So many of the shops and homes have been preserved. We got a real feel for what it must have been like back in the mid 1800s!
Quaint narrow gage railroad took us between Virginia and Nevada City, complete with a gal giving us a history lesson.
 The old train on the left is a wooden model that was actually in use in 1870.
Another building housed old musical and carnival pieces. Fancy old calliope!
Deanna and I at the lodge in West Yellowstone. Largest log structure in the US.
 Carol had never seen Old Faithful, so after much waiting in traffic, we arrived just in time to see it blow! That geyser never disappoints!
 We had our lunch on the outdoor veranda at the Lodge. Another beautiful day!
Lots of fun shops in West Yellowstone!
The cabin in Island Park was spacious and beautiful. We had so much fun together playing games, exploring and just being together and talking! 
 The last two days the weather decided to show off! As is said, you can get all four seasons in one day in Northern Idaho! Carol and I ran out between thunderstorms, rain and hail to roast our hot dogs! 
 The little creek by the cabin eased over its banks as the rain pelted down...then hailstones and sure enough the sun emerged an hour later! What a memorable trip!
July found us road tripping to Breckenridge, Colorado for our Brown Family Reunion! The weather was perfect, but the altitude kept me moving pretty slow. 10k feet is tough on all us sea-level folk!
 Autumn silk-screened our matching T-Shirts. Thought you might like to see a close up of how well they turned out!

No photo shoot is complete without the silly picture! Thanks to Micah for the great photos!!
My thirteen beautiful grand-babies....well, some of them would resent the baby part! Ha! Such great kids and they all get along so well! Nothing like cousins!
 After the reunion, I flew home and my NYC kids Ammon and family brought my car back to Moses Lake, via Logan, Craters of the Moon and family in Boise. They were here for two weeks and we had so much fun! They enjoyed feeding the koi at the Japanese park.
Our two city kids went out to the Merrell farm to ride horses, and see the 4H hogs and calves. 
 Kids crawled up onto the tractor and clever Aden turned the key and started it....gave Marlo quite the surprise!! Fortunately Aden's legs were too short to hit the gas pedal!!
A bucket of kids!
My neighbor loaned us the use of their little bouncy house...made grandma's backyard lots more fun!
Everyone gone now....my house is much too quiet!