A fun day!

Well... I know it has been a while, but I have been waiting to post a blog until I got pictures back from my borther of our visit to the East coast. It is sad to get together for a funeral, but SOOOOO nice to see all of my family again! I was able to hang out with my mom, 2 brothers, 2 of my sisters, cousins, and other extended family! My Uncle Rick was able to grab a bunch of pictures from my grandpa's place and one day he had them all out for us to see! We were able to keep pictures of our families and ended up telling and hearing all kinds of stories!! It was a LOT of fun! I will post pictures from the trip as soon as I get them.

TODAY: Ken and I had a really fun day today out with the dogs. We decided to explore the open area where we live more and took a drive through the mountains and canyons in the Uintah Basin.









At one point we parked and walked through a wooded area with the dogs where we came upon a little creek. I leaned up against a tree at one point and ended up with sap on me... here I am trying to rinse it off! LOL



Ken decided to wade out in to the creek a bit and, after he did, Shylo was soon to follow (she always has to be with dad!) So, once she got to him he picked her up laughing and I found myself with a great "kandid moment!"







Ken kept calling to Rudy trying to get him to come into the water as well... he even convinced me to wade out into the creek with him hoping that Rudy would follow suit. But, he just sat on the shore staring at us like he was saying, "You can keep trying, but I am NOT getting in the water."





We followed the creek further up the mountains and found a spot shallow enough to cross in the car. Here is Kenny driving the Durango across the creek... I have to admit, it was a lot of fun!!

After crossing the creek we let the dogs out to play and ended up getting in it ourselves. It was shallow enough to run around with the dogs and keep cool. Here is Shylo and I playing in the water.

It took a lot of work... but, once we finally got Rudy to come in the water, we couldn't get him out!! He was having too much fun! It was so FUNNY!!!!

We unfortunatelly found some butterflies that had been run over, but there were a few that were still somewhat alive, but couldn't fly. We ended up being able to get one that was injured to get onto our hands! I was so cool! I have never held a butterfly before!

Then, to top the day off... we went to a lake to have lunch. I set up the beach umbrella that my mom bought for me in California and relaxed in the shade. Ken had made us a great lunch!!

After lunch, Kenny got in the water to swim and, once again, Shylo came in after him! She was just swimming around him in circles and we were all having a blast! (My hubby looks so happy!!!)

Here is a video of Kenny playing in the creek that we crossed with the dogs. The minute Kenny would call Shylo she would go running straight at him in to the deeper water... it was totally cute!

When's the next vacation?!!?

It has been so crazy since I have gotten home! I got home on Monday and made some piles of laundry from my trip in the back room; I was going to do some loads the next day. On Tuesday morning, when I wake up, my adorable, little, snot of a dog (Shylo) had tore the beads off a brand new shirt that my mom bought me and the elastic off the bottom of my favorite caprice... she would have been shot if it hadn't have been for her saving grace (my husband!)

Later, that same morning, I received a sad call from my mother informing me that my Grandpa (my last living grandparent) has passed away. He had lost my grandmother about a year and a half ago and seemed to be doing well. But, I guess he had taken a pretty bad fall recently and just didn't seem to have the will to recover. He will be missed.

At first I wasn't sure if I should go out to the funeral since both Ken and I were out of work, but I decided that I would regret it if I wasn't there. So, while figuring out arrangements with my mom I have been looking for a job, dealing with school, trying to keep house, and doing it all in a house with no air in 90° weather!!!!!! I am dieing here!! We also had our land lord stop by and inform us that they want us to start working on our yard... you see, we have no lawn... just dirt, so the weeds are QUITE noticeable! I have gotten up around 7am a couple of times this week and went out to work on the lawn until it got too hot... you know, around 9AM!!!!

Anyhoo... My husband got a job yesterday, we don't know how permanent it is, but it's work. Late last night he called and asked me to bring him some dinner; on my way, the moon was just rising and it was a golden/orange color! I have never seen it like that in all my life... it was the most beautiful moon that I have ever seen!! I was hoping to get back to the house in time to pull out my camera and get some shots, but by the time I got home it had risen further in the sky and was just a golden color. Still... it was beautiful, so I took some pictures. I don't have the best camera, so I couldn't get it to focus very well... but, I got some (what I like to call) artistic shots and thought I would share. Enjoy!!

Home again

Well, I am finally home... and I already miss California TERRIBLY!!!! What a wonderful trip that was; I haven't had that much fun in a while!

It is really nice to be home though... to see my husband and our dogs greet me with big smiles! I am not real excited about the fact that we have NO cooling unit, but it will be very nice to sleep in my bed again (I already tested it out this afternoon with a nap!)

Here are some other photos from my trip... on Friday, we all went to the Oakland temple to do the work for my grandmother, then to have her sealed to my grandfather, and finally have my mother sealed to her parents! It was such a spiritual experience to watch my mother's eyes fill up with tears as she has waited 64 years to be sealed to her parents for time and all eternity.

Then, later that night we attended a concert for the 4th of July celebrations in which Cameron, my brother-in-law, played the trumpet in the orchestra.

Lori was also in the concert; her group "A New Light" performed the National Anthem and, with Cam's assistance on the trumpet, the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy! They were amazing!!!

One more day...

So, yesterday... we got up EARLY and went to "China Beach" which is near down town San Francisco. We had been planning for a while to take group pictures on a beach and this ended up being the perfect day! It was a bit over cast which helps with the lighting a lot. I obviously didn't take all the pictures myself because I was in some of them, but I did choreographed most of them. I won't go into too much detail, but here are some of my favorite shots:

These last two shots were taken later that day at the Japanese Tea Garden at the Golden Gate State Park:

More of San Francisco

So... here is the rest of the days activities from Tuesday. We were on Pier 39 and from the end of it you can see Alcatraz. It was really weird knowing that there were once prisoners, like Al Capone, watching people on the pier that I was standing on from the windows of the prison.
According to my brother-in-law, there have been many attempts at escaping... but, no one was has ever succeeded.

We ended up eating on that same pier at Buba Gumps... the restaurant's ambiance is completely surrounded around the movie of Forest Gump. We had a really great time and the food was amazing!!

Towards the end of the day, it wound up being so windy and cool that we all bought matching jackets... got to get a picture, right?!!?

This was taken outside of the Buba Gump's restaurant on the upper part of the pier.

We walked down the main drag along the Ocean side and came across a ton of different artists... one, as you can see, was wearing a HUGE skeleton out fit. Mom, Lori, and I all ended up dancing with him and getting pictures taken. It was hilarious!!!!

Especially Mom... he "dipped" here! LOL

And.... of course, the day would not be complete without a ride on a trolly!! What a DAY!!!!!!

San Francisco

Yesterday was an amazing day!!! Mom, Lori, Cam, and I all spent the day in down town San Francisco, CA! We started out the afternoon by eating at The Cheese Steak Shop where we had some of the best cheese steak sandwitches I have had outside of Philidelphia!
We even saw a picture on the wall of the cheese steak stand in Philly where the sandwitch was originated... Mom and I have actually been and eaten there!

Then, the first thing we did down town was walk around some kraft stands to see all the unique items that were for sale. At this stand they had these beautiful woolen shawls and in this picture I am trying on a pashmina, they had tons in all different colors!
Mom ended up buying a cute yellow shrit from this stand for only $9! It was great!

We also came across a tent with all these stunning, hand made masks! Some were full face, others half. Some with feathers, some

with flowers, and even some with fruit! They had some of the most intricate details and lovely colors! We had so much fun taking turns trying them on and taking pictures... we even bought three masks for mom, Lori, and me to take pictures in! LOL

While strolling around Fisherman's Wharf we came across a silly hat shop! There were so many funny hats!! We were trying them on ourselves, trying them on each other... we even got mom in a hat making a silly face!!! Good times!!!

We did a whole lot more... but, I have to run. I will put more pics on tomorrow and tell you all about the rest of our day!