Summertime at the cabin

I have been behind in posting lately... I thought today would be a good time to catch up on some of our summertime cabin adventures thus far this year...

Bob and I went up for a quick little getaway, and on our Mule ride (not the animal kind of mule, but the four-wheeler kind of mule!), we saw this little guy up in a tree. He seemed to be troubled about how to get down. Actually, I have never seen a porcupine in a tree. We usually see them shuffling around by the side of the road when its almost dark. This guy seemed to not have been trained as to proper porcupine behavior...

On another of our trips, we noticed several hornets' nests in the eaves of the roof line. Our son-in-law, Mike, and Bob were crazy enough brave enough to get up on ladders and poke at them to get them down. We looked like a bunch of scaredy-cats running for our lives when the hornets started flying around. By the way, this photo is of our son-in-law who hates having his picture taken. hehehehe.

And here is what the hornets' nest looks like with all of the papery layers exposed. Pretty intricate and amazing!

Later on, when the four of us went on a Mule ride, we saw several mommy and baby moose pairs. So fun to see the cute little mooses. Some of the moms had their hands(?) full with twin babies. This little duo seemed to know that they belonged in the area... according to the sign above the garage door.

As we rode on a little further, we happened upon this huge bull moose. He didn't seemed to be very impressed with any of us, and certainly wasn't nervous that we were there gawking at him. The guys thought it would be a great idea to get in closer to him (not sure what it is that prods them on to going into the danger zone). So, the guys got out of the Mule, and got as close as they could "for photos" (although only one of them had a camera).

And this is what happened as the moose starting running toward them. At a very great speed. Apparently the bull moose can cover ground at a rate of about 10 times as fast as humans. Who knew?

I do have to say that my husband does a very good job of running very quickly with his hands in his pockets. And he even smiles while running for his life.

Last weekend Bob and I drove up for an over-nighter at the cabin. We brought the tractor up, so we could continue work on a trail on the property. We haven't had a chance to work on it at all this year, so it felt good to make some progress. We probably extended the trail about 55 feet or so, which isn't too bad for just the two of us.

This photo shows the tractor behind Bob, and the next area (between me and the tractor) that we were clearing on the trail. 

And here is part of the trail after we had worked on it.

One day we hope to have a trail that goes from our cabin all the way to the other end of our property, and then goes down by the creek and up the hill back to the cabin. It will probably take years, but its fun even to see the trail growing a little each year. We take that same trail when we do the snow-shoe loop, so it will be nice to have it more cleared off one day. It will make snow-shoeing a little less of an extreme sport!

Looking Back: Days of 47 Parade Float

I was just thinking about what we were doing almost exactly a year ago... and it made me tired to think about it! We were putting the finishing touches on our float to run in the Draper Parade, then to show it in the  Float Preview Party, and then to run it in the big event: Days of  47 Parade.

This is what we started with: a cruddy wood base attached to the skeleton of an old station wagon.

And ended with this beauty:

Since our stake is in Draper, we wanted it to be something to do with Draper. We naturally chose hang-gliders, the rodeo, biking, the historical park pavilion, and then we chose eggs to be the people on the float. Draper used to be known as the "Egg Basket of Utah", so we figured that would be a fun way to bring that in.

At the Preview Party, we had some posters around our float that described the process as being as easy as 1-2-3! (definitely tongue in cheek). The first poster talked about the research and history behind our float.

The next poster showed the team we gathered. 

We knew we had to begin with a great crew. They were amazing, and so willing to work hard and give up their time. You can see some of them in the photo below.

And the last poster showed the supplies and hours it took to put the float together.

Here is Bob, all decked out in his painters coveralls. They were handy for crawling underneath the float, but they were SO hot to wear! 

The back of float as it is running
in the Draper Parade

And the highlight of the Days of 47 Parade was seeing President Monson drive by, with a great smile for the crowds! The photo is a little fuzzy, but I love it!


That was definitely a once in a lifetime assignment (I hope!). We worked harder on that float than on any other project I can think of. We were called a year before the actual Days of 47 Parade, and then started attending meetings and classes, and then began physical work on the float in January. Some weeks we met every weeknight plus Saturday. Oftentimes a group of us gathered during the daytime, too. It was quite the project, and we learned a lot from being involved with it. One thing I had reaffirmed is that my husband can figure out a way to build anything I (or anyone else) can come up with. Its a great talent, and I may or may not take complete advantage of it!

Personal Progress Summer Reminder

Because of the holiday, there is no Young Women mutual activity this week. Since we're about halfway through the summer, I thought I would give the girls a gentle reminder (and treat) to keep on working on Personal Progress during the summer. I think its easy to get a bit slack on doing things like Personal Progress, but I also think that they really have more free time to work on it during the summer than they do in the school year. So, we're working hard to get some things accomplished this summer. We're actually trying to tie in a Personal Progress Value Experience with just about every mutual night. There are a few exceptions, but you can find a way to do it most of the time. Of course that means having a short devotional-type lesson at the beginning of the activities, and also having the girls bring their books, but they actually seem to like getting things done in Personal Progress, so we haven't had any complaints yet...

Personal Progress
Summer Reminder

Oh, and I got the idea from beeinourbonnet.com. They have several cute Personal Progress treat ideas that I want to use in the coming months.

Wedding day exhaustion

The wedding and festivities could not have been more beautiful! I will post about the details when I get some of the photos back, but I thought I'd show you what greeted the guests immediately as they entered the backyard. The clematis was in all its glory for the big day. Thank you, clematis.

Did we look as wiped out as we felt? We were exhausted. Totally.

Mom and Linda catching their breath

Me... thinking about the reception yet to come.

Bob and I are still catching our breath. Sorta feels like we've had the flu. We can't be too lazy, since we're doing my niece's wedding dinner and reception at our home this coming Friday. I have been trying to get everything put away from Lindsay and Ryan's reception. Its harder than it seems to find a place for everything, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. One way or another, the basement and backyard need to be ready for this weekend's events!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Wilson showing us how sparklers are done.

How did it get to be July already? I honestly can't believe it! I have pinned so many cute Fourth of July decorations and some great recipes and food ideas. I'm pretty sure we'll just be doing the same old, same old, which is okay with me. Maybe next year it won't sneak up on me so quickly. Maybe next year I won't be doing two weddings in June. Maybe. At any rate, I thought I'd show you some of the patriotic photos from events through the years...

Robbie is the cutie-patootie on the right.
Taking his patriotic dancing pretty seriously,
don't you think?

Whitney in the Fourth of July
neighborhood parade.

Linds with sparklers.

Bob handing out sparklers

Okay. So, sparklers may be our "go to" firework of choice. We're not all that crazy when it comes to fireworks.

And then Ryan came along and decided it was only proper to spend half a year's salary on fireworks. Quite the display that year. In fact, we had neighbors walking over to check it all out (which our sparkler display had failed to do on previous years). I have to mention that once or twice an exploding firework went awry and came shooting in our direction. I was holding a visiting neighbor baby in my lap. Yikes. See, Ryan? That is why sparklers are a better idea. So safe. So easy. Nothing comes shooting in anyone's direction.

Ryan & Lindsay with the Mega Pack

How much more patriotic does it get than a real eagle, an American flag, and a newly awarded Eagle Scout?

Robbie receiving his Eagle Scout Award.
Yay!

We have gone to the flag field in Sandy a couple of times. It is a beautiful display of American flags... in memory of those who died on 9/11. One can't walk through those flags without feeling a sense of love and pride for our country.

How cute is that man?
I mean really.

I do love this time of year. I love the family gatherings, trips to the cabin, bonfires in the fire pit, warm summer nights, crickets singing in the evening, frogs croaking all night long (well, maybe I don't love that one as much as the others), grilling dinners, family reunions, etc, etc. Love it all!

Bob and Wilson, way back in 1998