Peaches Peaches Peaches

A few weeks ago Shelly and I canned 4 boxes (104 lbs) of peaches. We ended up with 36 quarts, 24 pints, and 16 frozen containers! It took us 12 hours and lots of diet coke/pepsi but we did it. They are so yummy and we are very proud of ourselves. Thanks Shelly - it was exhausting but oh so worth it!

Lucky #13

I give everyone a hard time when they don't post to their blogs and I haven't posted for a very long time, so here goes.

First- Lee and I will be grandparents for the 13th time! Hadley and Pat are expecting their 7th - yes, their 7th child at the end of March. It was very much unplanned and unexpected but after a few tears, they realized this must be the Lord's plan and they are excited. Hadley is not feeling too great but hopefully will be over that soon. The kids are very excited.

Corey (Hadley's oldest) started college and loves it. The rest don't start school until after Labor Day. Shelly's two oldest are in school, Megan starts preschool, and sweet little Emily keeps Mom and Dad smiling. Ashley (Steve's) started preschool and little Andrew, who is healthy and all boy, keeps Mom and Dad on their toes at home.

Lee and I have enjoyed a lot of camping and are sad to see summer coming to a close. As it gets cooler we will just have to go south a little bit. We're headed to Anchorage (yea I know, that's north) for a week in September to get tax school started and plan on doing some fishing. It will be fun to see something besides snow and ice.

We love reading your blogs and enjoy your pictures so keep it up and I promise to do better!

Fun in San Diego and Summer Camping

Okay, I know it's been forever since I posted. We spent a week in San Diego in June and had such a great time. Corey, our oldest granddaughter, graduated from high school and Emily graduated from middle school. I drove down with Shelly and kids and Steve and his family were already there. It was so fun to be together with our three kids and their families. Unfortunately Lee and Ryan weren't able to join us. We had a great time going to graduations, the beach, and, of course, visiting In N' Out, several times! I can't believe Corey is headed to college! She's so grown up and is going to go far with that beautiful voice. What a talent she has!

Early July Lee and I spent a week in Heise Hot Springs, near Idaho Falls. It is one of our favorite spots. There is a 9 hole golf course and we golfed every day at least 18 holes. We left there and met Shelly and family at Lagoon and then on to Cherry Hill where Steve and family joined us. We loved Cardiac Canyon! From there we sent to Pineview Resevoir for 4 days boating. Ryan's parents were kind enough to bring their boat and join us. We had a great time! Lee and I tubed and he water skied. What fun to watch the kids have such a great time. Little 3 month old Emily did great and the boat just rocked her to sleep.

It's been such a great summer and we love going in our fifth wheel. What great family fun!

We took these pictures at a lake near San Diego. Getting 12 kids to all smile and stay in one place was a challenge but they look great! Corey is the oldest at 17 and Emily the youngest is 3 months.

All our cute grandkids!
This one was tricky to get!
Corey's graduation
Emily's graduation

Wedding Bells in Portland

Alan, Hadley, Shelly and Emily
Todd and Angela
Alan's 6 and 2 of my 3
Carma and Emily

My youngest nephew, Todd, got married in the Portland Temple last Saturday. Shelly, Hadley and I flew to Portland on Friday and had a great week-end with my brother Alan's family. It was so fun to see all of them and see how their kids are growing. I treasure the time with Alan and Sharon and don't get to see enough of them.

It was fun to spend time with Hadley and Shelly (and new baby, Emily) and we missed Steve. He was running with Andrea, Ashley and Andrew in the Brain Injury Association of Utah 5K to support their friends, Angel and Rob, and their sweet little baby, Charlie Cooper. What a worthy cause and we are so proud of you.

Lee and I are flying to Virginia Beach this next week-end for a Liberty Tax Convention. Lee is golfing and I am fishing - hopefully I won't get seasick. It should be a alot of fun meeting with everyone with whom we've been in competition with all season.

We still haven't found time to go camping but that's next on the list!

Welcome Home!

Pictures from the trip home... We actually saw some wildlife on the way home because the temperature was finally above zero. Coming over the mountains, the truck had several inches of ice which took two days to melt, even after a car wash.



We are home and loving it! I personally cannot stop organizing, rearranging and just plain "nesting". It feels so good to be in my own home. I planted my pots outside and it feels like spring.

Thank you to Andrea and Shelly for cleaning our house, putting fresh flowers out, and the welcome home message on the garage door. Thanks, Megan, for the great picture you drew.

Thank you to Kara and Justin for taking such good care of our house. It didn't even look like anyone had ever left (just ask one of my neighbors!)

We had a good trip coming home. We stopped to see Lee's sister and brother-in-law in Okanogan, Wash., and played cards for 3 days. A couple of days she and I didn't even get out of our pajamas until noon! Oh did it feel good to rest! On a sad note, Lee's sister-in-law had a heart attack and was in intensive care in Spokane, so we went to see her and Lee's brother. She is doing better and we were so glad we got to have a short visit with them.

Thanks to Michael (owns the Liberty Tax offices) for giving us this great experience, for the wonderful remembrance of Alaska you gave us at the dinner, and for the appreciation you constantly showed us.

We are looking forward to a summer of time with family and camping. My nephew is getting married and my granddaughter is graduating from high school! Where does the time go?

Prince George - Day 4

We arrived today in Prince George, BC. We started out with snow again, but it turned out to be a beautiful drive. We went through a lovely valley and had dry roads through the mountains. I have never been anywhere that has so many lakes and rivers as British Columbia. It must be so beautiful in the summer. The rivers and lakes which are starting to melt are a glacier blue - spectacular! We have one more day in Canada and then we will be to Lee's sister's home in Washington State. We will visit with them a couple of days and then head home.

These few months have been an amazing experience. At times it was awful, a lot exhausting, certainly rewarding and relationships we made are treasured. I personally grew tremendously in my abilities and understanding of managing 20 - 30 people. I certainly found out my strengths and weaknesses. Lee already was experienced and he just ran with it. His staff loved him (except for the two he fired!) I had to be pretty tough in the beginning and hopefully my staff respected me and I think some even like me!!! I know I made some dear friends who I will miss.

What a unique experience to see as much as we have. The Alaska Canadian Highway was an experience unto itself. There is so much untouched wilderness and so few people. It is 425 - 500 kilometers between towns, so driving is a shorter day or a very long day if you go two towns instead of one. Anchorage seems so small and so little traffic - we love the rural feeling. The traffic in Salt Lake will be overwhelming for a while. However, home cooked meals (even by me) and our own bed will feel good - also green grass and glorious sunshine!

We miss our kids and grandkids and look forward to a great summer with family and friends. How will we ever thank Kara and Justin for keeping our home safe and cared for. Thanks guys. Thanks to you who phoned us, emailed us and kept us in your prayers. An experience to remember.

Tax Season is Over - On Our Way Home

Hi everyone - tax season ended and we had a great season. We almost think it was worth coming! We are headed home and are in Fort St. John, British Columbia. We left Monday morning - Canada is huge! We had beautiful weather Monday and Tuesday and woke up today to snow and had it all day as we wandered through 300 miles of mountains. We have gone 1300 miles and have nearly 2000 left. We have seen lots of wild life this trip - buffalos, reindeer, mountain sheep, and various little critters. We are anxious to get home but want to "enjoy the journey".

By the way, I got my splint and cast off and am trying to exercise and get my wrist stronger. Yea, it's getting better.

We will update as we go - love to all.