Our temple closed on June 6th for the two week cleaning so we had the opportunity to travel without having to find subs or feel guilty for not serving on our shifts. We spent Monday getting the camper loaded on the truck, filling it with food, and loading the 4 wheelers. Tuesday the 7th Lon, Tracy and Chandler went golfing at Canyon Springs and I spent the morning with Ashton and Eisley. We came home and weeded the garden in 93 degree heat then went to Twin Falls to watch Chandler play baseball.
He started out the game as the catcher.
He did a great job in this position.
He pitched the 3rd and 6th innings.
He struck a couple out
He also played 3rd base.
We finished our loading on Wednesday morning and left with George and Kim Orr. We headed to Little Wood River Resevor which is north and west of Carey, Idaho. It felt good to leave the 90 degree weather at home and enjoy the 70's during the days and cooling off into the 50's at night in the mountains. The camp fire felt good in the mornings and evenings
. Of course, Kim and I always had our sweatshirts on long before the men. Lon loved roasting hot dogs every evening.
The Little Wood River was very high because of the snow runoff. The water was cold, fast, and muddy at camp. Thursday morning we loaded into George's pickup to head to the resevor to see how much water was in the dam and check out the fishing. On our way, we ran into a herd of sheep heading for summer pasture. This group had been sheered and had lots of young with it.
The spring rains have left the pastures green and plush so there is lots of feed for the sheep this summer.
The resevor is almost filled to the overflow.
Lon and George walked out to get in some fishing.
Kim and I tried to find some shade by the truck while the men fished. Kim's bad knee would not let her climb down to the water. (need more practice on selfies)
George is reeling one in. The fishing was successful!
George with the mornings catch.
We went back to camp and cooked the fish up for lunch. They were pink meated and very good.
The morning of the 10th, Friday, we woke up to another herd of sheep right in our camp ground.
Not the same herd as the day before as these were not sheered.
The home of the sheepherder for the rest of the summer.
We tried to figure out how they would get the sheep through the camp ground and around the bridges to the other side of the mountain. The sheep bedded down here for the night and the next morning they had gone over the mountain and into their summer pastures. The sheep dogs were interesting to watch. They really herd the sheep, not the sheepherder.
We took off in George's pickup to do some sight-seeing. George and Kim can't ride on the 4-wheelers for long because of bad knees so we took the truck. We headed to Mormon Hill.
One of the three deer that we saw this weekend
The spring rains have left everything very green and beautiful.
The snow is not completely melted yet.
We did get to take one short ride on the 4-wheelers.
The wild flowers are beautiful. Next time, we will probably not take the 4-wheelers but will take George's boat instead. It's tough to have to admit that our bodies are getting older. We came home on the 11th and unloaded and did laundry. We ran out to the garden to get it weeded before we headed out again on Monday morning.
George and Kim have had a garden here for years. We are helping them keep it weeded this year. We try to go out every Monday morning. It is located right next to Dirk Clarkson's home at 100 north and 200 west. It is looking pretty good.
We left town again on Monday the 13th.
We drove to St. George through Utah to spend a couple of days with Charlotte and Darold and Gene and Norma. Darold is in the hospital with viral meningitis so we stayed with Gene and Norma. Lon and Gene went golfing every morning, early because of the heat, and Norma and I took walks. We spent the afternoon visiting Charlotte and Darold at the hospital, going to the temple and shopping at the DI. Gene has a beautiful flower garden in his back yard and has a humming bird nest in one of the trees.
Two baby humming birds. We enjoyed watching the mother and father take care of their little ones. The parents were very protective and we buzzed us if we got too close.
Lon, Nancy, Norma and Gene in front of the St. George Temple
On the way home from St. George, the Van Wagoner's live in Hurricane, just north of St. George. Gene drove us through the valley to see some of Hurricane.
The sun was just starting to set and the colors on the red rocks were amazing. This is a man made resevor. It was surrounded by sand dunes.
An old volcano named Mollie's Nipple
On the 15th, Gene took us on a tour to visit Zion National Park. We never made it into the park its self but drove through the tunnel to see the Checkerboard Mesa.
View driving up to the tunnel. It was a very windy road heading to the tunnel.
Photo's just don't do the red colors justice.
Trees and bushes growing right out of the rocks
The tunnel was built in the 1920's connecting Zion Canyon to the east side of the park.
Gene and Lon
Desert Bighorn Sheep
It was dark by the time we got back to Hurricane and time to pack. We are heading to Ginger's home tomorrow, the 16th. We had a great time in St. George and Hurricane. Darold is still in the hospital. We pray that he will be able to return home soon.
Our directions to Moorpark were not as clear as we would have liked. We got stuck in traffic in Vegas due to a wreck and were sent on a detour in Victorville. But we made it safe to Ginger's home about 2:00.
We were very happy to be off the road!!
Friday morning Ginger and Lon went golfing and Jaikka and I went to the Mall to shop for sandels. Jaikka had her phone's GPS to guide us. She did great. We stopped for a sandwich on the way home.
Jaikka is very good at selfies! Time to get home and get ready for the dance recital.
Jaikka and Jessie after the recital on Friday evening.
What a surprise the recital was. It was nothing like the recitals of our girls when they were young. We, yes even Lon, thoroughly enjoyed the recital and looked forward to watching it again on Saturday evening. On Friday we attended with Debbie, her mother, Jessie and her boyfriend, and several other special friends of theirs. We didn't bother taking pictures but just sat and enjoyed watching the performance. Lon, Ginger and I went to the Saturday evening show and sat right on the front row and took pictures. Jaikka was in 11 of the dances so we never had very long between her dances. She is a very good dancer. She does ballet, pointe, hip hop, jazz, contemporary and tap. Here are a few photos:
Jaikka is in the middle in the back on her toes
Jaikka dancing Pointe in the middle
Jaikka and another older girl danced with the younger class. The ballet was not with the usual ballet music but with modern music. It was very enjoyable.
These fast dances really made it tough to get a good shot!
Jaikka dances with so much expression. She really feels the music.
Probably our least favorite dance simply because of the costume. Even Jaikka didn't appreciate it. So thankful that she likes to be modest.
Tap dance
This last dance was our favorite over all. The girls did this one in competitions. It was beautiful.
Saturday morning Ginger and Jaikka took us to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Jaikka had been there a few times with school and friends but Ginger had not. We had no idea that it was so large and that we needed hours to really see it all and enjoy it all. We only had about three hours to explore but loved every minute of it.
Jaikka, Ginger, Nancy and Lon in front of the statue of Ronald Reagan
The museum took you through President Reagan's life. We got to go on board Air Force One and see the motorcycles, helicopter and limo that were used by him and the secret service. The museum had some to the clothes worn by Nancy Reagan, boy was she tiny. If you are ever in Southern California, this is a must to see, with 100,000 square feet and 24 different galleries including a replica of the Oval Office and a piece of the Berlin Wall.
The helicopter
President Reagan loved jelly beans and this picture was done in jelly beans.
We met up with Debbie for a late lunch before heading to the Dance Recital.
Our time in southern California went by so fast. We packed after the Recital on Saturday evening, made us a lunch and got up early on Sunday the 17th, Father's Day, and headed for home. We will do this again next year as Jaikka says that she will even have a solo next time. The traffic was not bad at all going through California and Vegas. We headed up through Alamo for home. We stopped at the Alamo Church building to try and find the Wilson's address. We found their daughter and she guided us to their home.
John and Gena Wilson missionaries from Guatemala Temple Mission
John is recovering from having both knees replaced. We had a nice visit and it felt good to be out of the car for a half hour. We arrived home without any problems and found all well here. Now to unpack and reload for the Walker Family Reunion. Monday we weeded the garden and began packing the camper for the reunion. The temple has opened again so we served on our Tuesday morning shift then finished packing and were ready to leave about 10:00am on Wednesday morning.
The Walker Family Reunion was held at Island Park in Eastern Idaho. Tracy and Sarah and the kids went with us and of course the 4-wheelers.
We stopped in Idaho Falls to have lunch with Deloy and Lorna Roberts, missionaries from Guatemala mission who served in the Temple Presidency with us.
As soon as we had camp set up, Tracy's family have a tent and a kitchen tent and we have the camper the men set out for the lake to try some fishing. Tracy, Lon and Chandler
Sarah, Eisley and Ashton seeing how cold the water is, very cold!
Grandpa and Chandler sat on cousin Gregg's boat. The fish were not biting.
That evening Tracy, Sarah and Lon took the kids out for a ride. We borrowed George Orr's 4-wheeler so that we had room for them all. The camp ground was very nice, except that there were no showers or water or electricity to hook up to. Sarah hates to camp but she was such a trooper. The kids had a ball and they all enjoyed meeting new family members.
On Thursday morning, we decided to take a 4-wheel ride to the top of a mountain. It is about a 50 mile round trip. As we were getting ready to leave, my cousin Jeannie Mix offered us her 4-wheeler so that no one had to ride with 3. It made the ride so much more enjoyable for us all.
Taking a break for water and a snack. We are about half way there.
The kids took turns riding behind me as there was no box to lean on and it was harded to ride here.
We were definitely on top of the world here. We were right up with the snow that has not melted yet.
It was cold with a stiff breeze blowing at the top of the mountain.
Tracy, Sarah, Chandler, Ashton and Eisley
It was beautiful. Just wish cameras could really reproduce the view. We headed back down the mountain to the reunion. When we arrived back at camp, we found out that Connie and Mom had arrived and were at the gun range to do some shooting.
Marian Reid, the Walker matriarch, was deadly with the rifle.
She said that she got 4 of them. John Turley with Grandma Reid, Connie and David Means and other family members from the Gregg and Jeanie Mix family.
Ashton, Eisley and Sarah
That evening, Tracy's family and us went to Mack's Inn Playhouse and watched "The Three Amigos". It was a great production and we all laughed till we cried.
Tracy and Chandler cooking breakfast for us.
We woke up each morning to a campfire and hot chocolate as the mornings were a little nippy. Tracy cooked pancakes and eggs or breakfast burritos for everyone.
The men took off to go golfing at the 9 hole course. They were able to golf both Friday and Saturday and had a great time together. Eisley made a friend with Gracie, one of Kathy Swann's granddaughters and they were always together, usually helping to tend the babies in the baby tent. Sarah was always helping and visiting with her new cousins and family members. The Henry Reid family had Mom, Marian,
Dick and Kyla with Christy, Ryan and their 3 boys, Shannon and Justin and their 3 boys and 2 girls
Christy and Ryan and two of their boys with one of Shannons and Ashton
One of Shannon's girls and her son
Connie Hunt
Lon and Nancy with Tracy, Sarah and their 2 boys and 1 girl
Sharon and John with Steve, Angela and their 4, Richard and his family, Bridgette, David and their family.
Bridgette and David with Chris and his family and John and Sharon and Grandma Reid
I didn't get individual family pictures cause we never had everyone together. Dick and Kyla and family rented a cabin as did John and Sharon and their family. Connie and Mom stayed with John and Sharon in their cabin. The reunion officially started on Friday and we were delighted that Aunt Joy Walker was able to come up for the day.
Joy just turned 88. She is living in an assisted living home now. She does get a little confused but handled the trip very well. This will probably be the last time in this mortal life that these two sister-in-laws are together. They spent the afternoon talking and just enjoying being together.
Friday evening Mom welcomed all to the reunion.
Mike Davis shared some stories about our great-grandfather Loren Walker.
Tina and Jeanie Walker entertained us,
Ashton and Sarah stepped up to help Tina sing all 10 verses of "American Pie". I couldn't believe that Ashton knew all 10 verses. He had fun singing several other songs.
On Saturday morning, Dick's family and ours with Connie, Mom, and Darla headed to Mesa Falls. These falls were on Mom's bucket list.
Mom and Connie are on the upper walkway. Mom had to use her walker for the reunion as the ground was not level and she was pretty shaky from all the exertion of the trip.
I think that Mom enjoyed the gift shop. She found 3 new books to buy.
This is the lower Mesa Falls.
Our family was in charge of the Saturday evening meal. Sharon made us a taco salad dinner with rice and beans and homemade salsa. We thought that John had won the prize for the biggest salad until Brian filled his plate.
And he ate the whole thing!! Then went for cobbler.
Brian Walker
The reunion was a success and all had a wonderful time until about 2AM on Sunday morning. Chandler woke up and threw up in the tent.
Sarah spent the next hour trying to clean it all up, using our outside shower on the camper and then the battery on the camper started to die and we had to keep the frig going so the cleanup had to stop until morning. By morning Chandler was feeling much better and Sarah was sick. We decided to just break camp and head for home instead of going to Sacrament Meeting in Island Park. Poor Sarah was sick all the way home and even spent the next day in bed. We got to Tracy's house about 3 and helped them unpack and fed the kids (we sent Sarah to bed). We came home and just parked our truck cause we had Monday to unpack. We had a wonderful time and are so thankful that we were able to attend the reunion and see family that we had not seen for at least 5 years due to our missions.
The last four days of the month were spent weeding the garden, attending 2 baseball games for Chandler, serving our shifts in the temple and taking Mom to two different doctors on two different days. I think we are tired of traveling and look forward to unwinding for at least the 4th of July weekend, then we will begin to organize for our family reunion. We are so thankful that Families Are Forever. The Plan of Happiness brings us joy and peace. May our Heavenly Father watch over our family is our prayer. Good-by June
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