Our month began with a camping/fishing trip to Salmon Falls Reservoir. The flooding is bad up north because of the snow run off so we had no other option but to go south. Ashton didn't feel good because of his allergies so we took Chandler; and Kim and George took Cooper (Lydia's youngest) and we headed out on Thursday morning the 1st. We got camp set up, fed everyone a sandwich and the men (and boys) headed fishing.
George and Kim bought our camper when we headed to El Salvador. Our campsite with the Reservoir in the background. The water is very high here also because of the run off.
Lon decided to replace one of the lights on the camper that was broken.
Kim and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon. We watched the dark clouds roll in and the winds got very strong and just as the men returned from fishing the hail started. It was ice the size of a dime and came down with such force.
The hail was bouncing off the water
Hail falling
Chandler with a handful of the hail
Then the rains came down with lots of thunder and lightning!
The wind was blowing so hard that we had to turn over the chairs to keep them dry as the rains came in on us even under the canopy.
Lon and George got the fish cleaned that George caught (only one caught this day)
We had taco stew with quesadillas and birthday cake for Kim for supper. The rain finally stopped and a campfire felt good this evening. Chandler slept in a tent and stayed dry and warm all night.
Friday morning, after a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and hot chocolate, the guys again headed to the fishing hole.
They returned for lunch very discouraged as no one had caught a fish and they had ran out of the "right" power bait (Kim and I wondered how it could be the right one when they hadn't caught anything--just wondering) After lunch they headed back out, this time to Roseworth Reservoir and Kim and I headed into Twin Falls (one hour away) to buy them the "right" power bait. By the time we returned and they returned it was time for supper.
George caught three this afternoon so we had fish. You can see that one of them was real nice sized. This is what you call fresh fish. Boy, was it ever good.
The boys were fished out and stayed in camp with Kim and I while the men went out one more time that evening. We played UNO and Cooper won every hand, even when Kim and I tried to gang up on him, he still managed to win.
A fire felt good both morning and night.
Chandler got this one going before anyone else was out of bed.
The boys fought over who got to do the dishes as this gave them the excuse to play in the fire
Because the men got home so late from fishing, smor's never happened at night so we had them after breakfast in the mornings.
I know - dessert for breakfast is a bit strange, but these two grandmothers just couldn't resist the smiles and pleading of two very special young men.
The men all took off fishing one last time and this time they actually caught some fish.
Lon got 2, Cooper got 3, and George got 1. Poor Chandler was the only one to come home empty handed.
very nice sized fish!
The hail caused some damage to our camper.
The vent cover to the bathroom vent was broken. That hail really came down hard!
After cleaning the fish, feeding everyone, and packing up, we headed home.
As Lon put it; we ate good, had plenty, nice campfires, good place to camp.
We got home and unloaded the camper, mowed grass, watered, showered (YAY) and got ready for Sunday.
We spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doing the laundry, getting the garden weeded and lawns mowed, visited with Larry and Blanca, helped in the soup kitchen and packed for our next trip.
We left on Thursday morning 8th of June for Brigham City, Utah and an El Salvador Mission Reunion.
Brigham City Temple
We met at the Brigham City Temple and the 10 of us attended a special session. Wow, it was so great to be all together in the temple again.
Los Thompsons, Los Walls, Los Petersens, Los Kitleys, Los Gibbons
The wind was so strong!
The tabernacle right across the street from the temple
We then went to Maddox Restaurant for lunch and visiting.
It always feels like we have never been apart when we get together. How we love this mission family. Don't know when or if we will ever be together again in this world as the Kitley's are moving to Florida and the Petersen's health is not so great and we are all getting older. We have such fond memories of our time together. I wrote some new words to the tune of "Where Do I Begin" the theme from Love Story and sang it.
Where do I begin to tell the story of our time in El Salvador
The sweet love story of a temple that was new
And of the people that we all came to adore
Where do I start?
The cultural event, the corner stone and dedication were so great
And Monday morning when the temple opened up
Our service there began from morning until late
It filled our hearts.
How to describe: exciting, wonderful, exhausting, great
Nerve wrecking, spiritual, the work was grand!
Oh how I loved our Sundays on the terrace,
Good food with family.
The birds would sing, the trees and flowers would bring us peace, rejuvenate.
Our trips to La Paz, the textile factory, Antiqua and to Copan
Each Monday was a new adventure in our lives
Ruta de Flores, the ocean, the one-eyed pilot
haircuts by Trent
Pupusas we ate, but with elote loco - that was hard to swallow
Majanos, Alas, Lopez, Mendez and Funes
Rivas, Artega, Hernandez, Santos, and Reyes
Memories are sweet.
It was kind of hard for all to hear the song in the restaurant so while we were at Gene's house I taped it and will give a copy to the Petersen's and Gibbon's.
After reminiscing for about 3 hours, we headed on down the road to Orem and spent two nights with Farrell and AnnaVee.
Lon and Farrell went golfing on Friday morning and then the three of us went to the Provo City Center Temple. AnnaVee had Kayanna's kids so could not come with us.
Farrell and Lon in front of the Provo City Center Temple
Lon and Nancy
Kayanna needed to move from her apartment in Salt Lake City to Farrell's garage. She is moving to Seattle later this summer so we went to help get her things.
We girls thought that the men might have loaded the pickup just a bit TOO high! We took all the back roads back to Orem. The wind was really blowing and thoughts of driving down the freeway with this load scared even the men. We made it without any trouble. Saturday morning we left AnnaVee home with the kids and the three of us took their van and the pickup back to SLC for the final load. I helped Kayanna pack boxes while the men loaded. We were happy that we were there to help and finished in time for lunch and then we were down the road again.
We got to Hurricane at around 6pm. Gene and Norma Van Wagoner had supper ready for us. We went to church with them on Sunday the 11th. That evening, Gene took us on a drive to visit Colorado City and Washington, which are polygamist towns. The houses were not finished on the outside because if your house is not finished, your taxes are very small. There were no yards either. It just looked junky and despressed.
Gene has some songs that he wants me to record for him. It is so hard to sing to a tape and not have a piano to follow me. I did a few and hope that he will be happy with them. I am not a very good karaoke singer, I need the words and music and someone to follow me. I guess I am not a very good follower, boy, I had better do something about that!!
Monday morning Gene and Lon went golfing and they had to wear jackets the whole round. Hard to believe that in June in St. George you are wearing jackets. When they got done, took their naps, (they tee-off about 6AM) we headed into St. George to do some shopping. Tuesday morning after golfing, without jackets on the back 9, we headed to Zion's Park for a day of sight-seeing.
We left Gene in line while we went to visit the Visiter's Center
We couldn't believe the lines. We were behind this point and when you got close to the tram, the line wound around and around. It took about an hour to get to the tram.
Finally seated on the tram and on our way!
Aren't they cute! 84 years young and 4 years married. They are so happy! Here are a few of the sights in the park:
The camping area. It is definitely summer time here, people everywhere!
We walked the trail to the Weeping Rock
It was a very warm afternoon
It was hard to show the water coming off the rocks, but it sure was much cooler here.
We had a great day. Just wish that camera's could really capture the beauty of this area. The red hills and greens were just breath taking.
We got home, cleaned up and headed to St. George to attend the temple.
Our third temple this week. Can life get any better.
Gene, Norma, Nancy, Lon
And all too soon, it is time to hit the road again. We left Wednesday morning for Moorpark and Ginger's house. We only got on the wrong road once and had to turn around but all in all it was a good trip through California.
Ginger had tee-off times for both the 15th and the 16. We got to try out two different courses. We enjoyed the second one the best.
Lon tried to use his umbrella (from San Salvador) but the wind would blow it so he finally had to give up. So fun to be on the golf course with Ginger and Lon. I still don't play good, but they are so patient and let me play.
Thursday evening the 15th, Debbie wanted us to see Malibu and eat at one of her favorite restaurants. Jaikka was at dance practice so the four of us went without her.
The Malibu coastline
Friday while we were playing in California and watching Jaikka's dance recital, Tracy graduated from the Police Officer's 10 week course.
So proud of this young man and this great accomplishment. He is now working for the Twin Falls City Police as a patrolman.
He finished 7th out of a class of 35. Not bad for an old man (41) keeping up with the 20 year olds!
So thankful that Shayla and her family could be there to support Tracy
Tracy, Justin, Ryanne, Shayla, Gideon
Meantime in California we were treated to some great dancing on Friday and Saturday nights. Jaikka was in 11 different numbers both nights and we loved every minute of it.
Jaikka dances with such poise and grace. She really feels the music and it is fun to watch her.
And when it was all done, she still had a great smile even though she was totaled!
And all too soon it was time to head down the road again! We headed for home on Sunday morning. We only got turned around once, but were able to back-track and got back on the right road. We drove straight through and got home about 9PM. It was a great 10 days but our bed did feel good.
Tracy was sworn in on Monday afternoon. So glad that we were home for this. It was a very nice ceremony.
The water was again turned on and the Shoshone Falls were beautiful from Tracy's back yard.
We now had five days to recoup, get laundry caught up, serve in the temple 3 days, take Grandma Reid to the doctor, work at BZ and pack for our next road trip!
Tracy and family got to our house about 6:30 AM on Saturday the 24th and we headed to Philomath, Oregon to spend two nights with Dick and Kyla Reid. We drove our car and Chandler road with us while Tracy, Sarah, Ashton, and Eisley followed in their van. We were loaded because we had to bring the golf clubs for some golfing on the Oregon Coast.
We stopped at the Big Bear Restaurant for lunch
The kids are handling the long drive really well. Chandler isn't feeling great but once we get there, he will do better. The unknown makes him worry and gives him a stomach ache.
We arrived at Dick and Kyla's about 6 and Kyla had supper ready for us. We spent the night at Shannon and Justin's house. We had 19 there and it didn't even feel crowded. They have 7 bedrooms and 3 baths.
We went walking through Dick's trees. He has 30 acres here with the two houses, his and Shannon's.
We are so thankful the Christy and Ryan and the boys were able to come down from Portland for the weekend also. Tracy and his family really enjoyed getting to know these cousins.
Lon, Dick, Tracy Wild blackberry bushes taller than a man.
Eisley loved having cousins to play with, the twins, Abby and Cassey. They had to leave on Sunday morning for a family reunion on Justin's side so that was sad for Eisley
Sunday afternoon was spent playing games and just enjoying good company
Eisley was the only girl in the house on Sunday so she tried to entertain herself.
Monday morning we hit the road again and went to Newport, only about an hour from Dick's.
Our first stop was at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We spent several hours here watching sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, octopus, the seabird aviary, sharks and much more.
Chandler, Sarah, and Eisley touching the sea creatures. We ate lunch at a road-side café that had the best clam chowder that I have ever eaten. Then we went to the grocery store to get our food for the rest of the week. Tracy was our official cook and he had a great menu and we really ate well. We drove to Yachets, about 30 minutes south of Newport along the ocean. We arrived at our rental house and Sarah and the kids couldn't resist the ocean and went in with their clothes on!
Tracy walking on the beach taking pictures of his family in the ocean.
The house had a big bedroom and bath upstairs where Tracy, Sarah and Eisley slept. We had a room on the main floor and Chandler slept on the sofa bed. Steve and Bev Roberts, Sarah's parents, and Ashton slept in the guest house above the garage. The kids simply came out the door and walked down to the beach. Eisley lived in the water. She would come in just frozen (50 - 65 degrees daily) and we would put her into the hot tub to thaw out and then she was right back in the cold ocean. Lon, Tracy, and the boys went golfing on Tuesday morning and then we went sight-seeing.
We went to the Heceta Head Lightstation.
Walking up the trail leading to the lighthouse
Hard to believe that this was my smallest baby, only 7pounds and 3 ounces.
We love this young man and are so proud of him.
Ashton, Eisley, Nancy, Tracy, Lon
We got here too late and the tours for the day were done.
The light house is right behind the big tree. The lighthouse keepers house is now a bed and breakfast.
The ocean is so pretty.
This is cousin Freddy, Steve's cousin who lives here. He was fun to meet and had a story for any occasion.
The kids were thrilled to get back to the house and into the ocean, trying to catch a wave.
On Wednesday the 28th we headed to the Cape Perpetua Visitor Center for a day of hiking and exploring.
Heading under the road from the visitor's center to the tide pools
We started out at the Tidepools because it was low tide and the perfect time for them.
We were able to climb all over the rocks and see the creatures of the sea
The rocks are covered with muscles
The kids would stick their finger in the center of the circles and the creature would close up around their finger
Star fish were everywhere
When the starfish are not straight out, they are feeding
Then we hiked to see Thor's Well and the Spouting Horn, but with it being low tide there really wasn't anything to see, so we will come back this afternoon at high tide to see them. We spotted the blow from a whale as we walked along. We were able to watch several whales blowing and swimming along the shore. They never came right up out of the water, but we could see their backs as they would dive back down after blowing.
We hiked to Devil's Churn
water entering the churn
Tracy went to the very end to get the following foto
Tracy could hear the water churning around and around
The hiking was great with trees like this along the way.
We went to the house for lunch and then came back in the afternoon when it was high tide.
Thor's Well is a big hole that is empty until high tide. Then it fills up and finally spills over.
Ashton and Eisley got a little too close as it spilled over
Behind Ashton is the Spouting Horn. As the water comes in, this hole lets off steam.
We got back home and the adults relaxed while the kids played in the ocean.
The kids found crab shells, pretty rocks, sea shells and built sand castles
29th, Thursday
The men and boys went golfing again this morning and then we headed into Newport to visit two lighthouses, shop and sight-see and eat at Mo's
One of the first lighthouses on the Oregon coast that had tours and even a movie about it.
The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse
View from the lighthouse
We went on up the coast to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse but were not able to go inside because of some repairs that were going on. Visited 3 different lighthouses and only got to enter one.
The white forms on the rocks are sea lions. It was fun to watch them but we couldn't get any than the shore.
.
We went on into town and everyone got to pick out a souvenir from the dozens of shops
Ashton as a pirate
We ate at Mo's, supposedly the most famous and best sea food in town, but we liked the small roadside cafe's food better.
Chandler bought a kite and was able to get it up on the first try.
Our last night here. The wind has come up and it is getting quite chilly as we sat and watched the kite and the kids in the ocean. The hot tub was used daily to warm up the kids and which ever adults needed it.
Friday morning we got up to a steady drizzle. We have been so blessed with good weather these four days that we have been here. We packed up and headed for home at about 10:00 AM. Chandler even drove for about 2 and 1/2 hours today. We arrived in Baker City around 5:00 PM. We stayed here for the night as Sarah and the kids wanted to swim and relax before heading on home.
We arrived home around 2:00 PM on the 1st of July, tired and thrilled to be home again. It has been a marathon month of traveling. We are so thankful that we have been able to spend June with family and friends. Memories have been made and we will cherish them always.
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