Our Travel Itinerary

Here's the up-to-the-minute itinerary:
Jul 24 - UT to Greeley, CO
Jul 25 - Justin (White) b'day in CO
Jul 26 - CO to Sioux City, IA
Jul 27 - IA to Yankton, SD and Sioux Falls, SD
Jul 28 - SD to Hector, MN
Jul 29 - Family BBQ @ PJ's
Jul 30 - visit to Kociemba's?
Jul 31 - Hector to Comstock/Moorhead
Aug 1 - hanging in Moorhead area
Aug 2 - MN to Mt. Rushmore/Hot Springs?
Aug 3 - Hot Springs to Casper, WY
Aug 4 - hanging in Casper
Aug 5 - leave Casper for UT
Aug 6 - be home in UT

We are traveling in the Corolla, with 2 dogs and our trunk full of stuff...

On a more community service note.... WE ARE UP FOR A PEPSI REFRESH GRANT!!!! My friend Dee (aforementioned amazing gardener and camping buddy) put together a proposal that was accepted. We are trying to get our Firestation/Town building to be more gathering-friendly. We need EVERYONE to vote (most votes gets funded)!!! It doesn't matter if you don't live in the area, and you can vote 3 times a day (from one computer, which means I'll be voting about 12 times a day once school starts). Voting opens for the Apple Valley, UT project on August 1 and runs all month. Anyone who's ever lived in a small town understands the tribulations of getting things up and running...we've only been incorporated for about 5 years! Please go to http://www.refresheverything.com/ and click on the right side (VOTE). We have "gone big", so at the top, please select the $250,000 category, or search under Neighborhoods at the top. I will inlcude the link in the side menu as well. Thanks in advance... I'll keep you updated on our progress.

I wonder...

Why would 2 people take 4 dogs camping?
Why would 6 people take 7 dogs camping?
or, as Judy would say, why camp?









Because it's priceless...
1) getting out of the heat up to Navajo Lake (natural and clean!)









2) campfires, friends, beer, and good food
3) that many dogs is just hysterical!









Diane is out of town until tomorrow (Mon), so we took the whole pack with us on the camping trip. Mojo was the only male, boy did he love that! Most of the girls were the same age/size...Sadie was the old gal, but she kept up with those whipper-snappers! The funniest thing was going back and forth with that contingent...professional dogwalkers are severely underrated! We went down to the lake and let them swim/catch sticks and balls/tire themselves out - it worked like a charm... notice I said catch sticks and balls. Sarah still refuses to believe that she is a retriever...she does it for herself, not for us (note to those of you who think all dogs will play fetch).









Andy's got finals this week, then we should be on our way. More adventures will be posted later!

It's Too Quiet

MB left yesterday with Megan and Maddie, Mary and Savannah and Holly. It's too quiet.... there's 4 dogs, but they are all lying around. There's only me at home, running the washing machine...


The girls played with Jocelyn almost every day last week, coming back and forth in Jocie's Cadillac Escalade (too cute). MB and I took the girls to see Shrek on Monday before they left. It was tons of fun for 3 1/2 weeks, but I'm worn out. It doesn't look like Kate needs me next week, so I'll have to turn my attention to some classroom business. After some serious napping!

Catching Up on Activities

This post will be working backward in time, to save me from having to spend hours rearranging all these photos. We've been having a great time...the guest list has grown and shrunk...we said goodbye to Justin this morning. It was great having him here! MB and I went to see Eclipse last night - I'm still on the fence. Twilight took me a while to deal with the music, New Moon was pretty good, Eclipse I think has me wishing more for the emotion than the action - but the guys will like it... MB took the girls over to Angie's yesterday for more swimming. We've been to Zion a couple of times, Megan got her Junior Ranger activities done and will get her badge tomorrow when we go. This photo is from Monday, when we took the girls to do the Temple of Sinawava trail. Lots of squirrels and fun in the water... and I have a fellow rock hound! I introduced Megan to my favorite rock shop in Springdale.

This photo was from Saturday morning when Logan and Ivy were leaving. We got everyone together for the first ever cousin picture! Guess who just woke up?

We had a fire and s'mores on Friday night ... there was marshmallow-y goodness everywhere!

We went to the river with everybody - including the neighbor, Jocelyn - on Friday. Tubing, floating, sandcastle building, tadpole catching ... who says fun is expensive?

This was from the Great Basin Ranger station... Ivy and Logan completed their activities and had to take the Junior Ranger oath!

We had a great time in Lehman Caves - our Ranger had lots of good stories about the cave, and Logan had to be the caboose (official title - flashlight holder) and Ivy had to make sure no one touched anything. They both did great... after Ivy got used to the tunnel!

"Helping" Uncle Andy get the lantern ready... Logan was not all that keen on helping with the cooking and cleaning parts (girl's work), even though Uncle Andy laughed and told him it was camping, so it wasn't that bad. The kids did great with the dogs, walking them a bunch and helping keep the tent clean.

Whew! I think we might take Megan and Madison to Shrek today, if I can find a theater still showing it... Mari comes tomorrow and we'll have the big 4th of July at the fire station on Saturday night. Fireworks! Can't wait...

Look Mommy!

(This MAY make showering easier...) Ivy's NOT actually dead, she's showing off her new face-in-the-water skills. Of course, she did call for a towel to wipe her face the first time - that didn't happen, so then it passed. We went to the Moore's for a swim and barbecue...thanks for sharing the awesome pool and tramp! Glad we could help you pop some springs.

So far this week...
1) Park with Uncle Andy and McDonald's!
2) Making yummy chocolate chip cookies
3) Seeing Shrek 4 -Rumplestiltskin is scary :(
4) Playing with Jocelyn - who had her tonsils out on Tuesday morning, but is up and around already
5) Library, picnic, and Hurricane pool - they really want to try the diving board, but the lifeguards won't let them with the lifevests on (long story, but funny!)
6) Dog park, Jimmy John's, and water park
7) Rice Crispy treats (another Ivy specialty) and hangin' at the Moore's...

and I'm leaving out the reading, hide and seek, fine art sessions, Chutes and Ladders (Chinese checkers wasn't so hot), card games, and ....

We're headed off for Great Basin and Lehman Cave. We'll check back in with more photos next week!

Summer's Here

The weather has been really warm lately. I think it was like the coldest May in years, but it perked right up in the last week. We may be close to the end of "cedar gnat" season, so I'll be able to go outdoors without getting eaten alive. Speaking of eaten alive and skin, what's with pool chemicals? I have been every day for water aerobics (except Monday when i had a class that started at 8)...even without Nikki (this is big news for people who knew me when). Andy's even decided to change his morning schedule so I can go when the kids are here...not sure if I'm going to be thanking him for that. I am SO sore - Andrea's not running a class for chatters and wimps. (Speaking of Andrea, check out my blog list - she's starting a new photo biz and she's pretty good!) We do "normal" stuff Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then "noodle" work on Tuesdays and Thursdays (one day shallow, one day deep). Noodle resistance is no laughing matter!
We went to Apple Valley, CA over the weekend for MB's retirement shindig - very nice! Caught up with many people, put faces with names we've heard for years, and Andy took TONS of pics. Angie (Simoneschi) Moore went with us, very forgiving of her canine companions in the backseat. I can't believe MB's retired... I can't even imagine it myself, but she's excited for the freedom - can't blame her. Here's some photos:










Did you recognize Janis (retiring w/MB - of course) and Donna in the first picture? The gals were truly roasted and honored by old friends and colleagues... Look how amazing Mary Pat looks? She was very nice to the ladies in her speech, and we enjoyed catching up.

OMG, It's June...

People, where does the time go????? Well, school's out for me, in for Andy (summer math - yech). I have officially begun water aerobics (already counting the days I "can't" go, but I did enjoy it...) and the gnats have begun their relentless assault on my tasty person (I have calamine lotion all over). Andy put in some more shelves...you can actually see across our spacious garage now - and we have 2 cars in it (usually). And how tidy is that workbench?

We had a less than successful camping trip over the weekend. I mean, seriously, how many trips have we taken? To have forgotten the sleeping bags only 2 times is pretty darn good...of course, when you're less than 80 miles from home, you pack up and sleep warm in your own bed. But, we found good dirt roads, good hikes, and good camping spots for the future.

So now, it's on to the "dog days".... that's what happens at my house anyway (see exhibits below).










Plans include: 2 classes with WCSD (techie stuff), water aerobics (as faithfully as possible), hopefully working 3 days ($100 a day?!), Logan and Ivy time (2 weeks, Kate must trust me!), MB retirement party (next weekend), MB and Megan and Madison and Justin time, bike rides, practice hikes (want to do Havasupai in October), AND reading some classics (book club will be combined with water aerobics - thanks Nikki!). And of course, I'm trying to convince Andy to trek through the Midwest for the "Grandparent Loop" the end of July... we'll see (gas, please stay reasonable). Sheesh! I'm exhausted just thinking about all of it... guess I'll go have lunch and dust.

If you didn't already know, Mom and Dad will have their 40th anniversary this month... I know this picture is 2 years old, but dontcha know they're still this happy!