Busy Summer

Right after our Sister's weekend we brought Ryan and Jackson home with us, as Marian was scheduled to work the weekend. On Friday she called me and told me that she had been demoted and was not going to be the manager in Huntington anymore. The gal she replaced and one of the assistant managers had sabotaged her and had been logging complaints at the office and on the customer service line. They did not fire her, but relieved her of her position. Luckily, though, one of the girls at American Fork was quitting, which Marian was able to jump back into a job here. We moved her back home and so now they are back with us and she is back at American Fork. She is looking for something else, though. She probably does not have a chance at another store.
With Stephanie back in Washington, Jennie has need of day care, so I have her little ones 3-5 days a week for the time being. She is looking for a new day care. The one she had Hayden in is going through some changes that she is not pleased with, so does not want to go back there.
And my garden is in full production. I have been freezing vegetables, making pickles, and generally trying to keep up with it.
Here are some dill pickles and "Dilly Beans" that I canned. They are by some Salsa from last year, that soon I will be adding to that supply. I will do some spaghetti sauce too. We use a lot of that around here. The boys love pasta.

Sorry about the spacing on the last post

I thought it would take less space to put the pictures side-by-side, but it just messed up the spacing on the descriptions of the pictures. I will try to re-do it later.

Sisters Weekend/Our Anniversary

The first weekend in August, Paul and I and Virgil and Marie trekked to Blanding to spend time with Gary and Dorine. Every couple of years we have been able to get some time together as sisters and spouses. Brent and Judy have never been able to join us, but we keep hoping.

Gary was the perfect tour guide and took us to see a lot of beautiful and historic sites.
This posting has lots of pictures, but only a small part of what I took.

Paul and me

Virgil and Marie

Dorine and Gary

Marie, Dorine, and me

Paul, Gary, and Virgil

Paul and me, Virgil and Marie, Dorine and Gary

Blanding Arches
A guy who lives about 4 blocks down from Gary and Dorine has made his own arches. There are about a dozen of them. These are the first 2 that you see when you enter his yard.

This wash is just west of Blanding, and these ancient dwellings are midway up the side of the sheer rock wall.

This hill is called Salvation Knoll. The settlers from Bluff were looking for the Blue
mountains, and this is where they got their first glimpse. We walked up the trail and saw the mountain too.

Comb Ridge

Natural Bridges National Monument

Sipapa Bridge

Kachina Bridge Owachome Bridge
We hiked down the trail to sit under
the bridge.













Goosenecks of the San Juan State Park Navajo Twins (in Bluff)

Mexican Hat

Interesting formations. Can you see the

Lady in the Bathtub? (Center of the picture)

On Tuesday morning we headed home. It was our wedding anniversary, and we took our time.
This rock has a home built inside. Outside are various displays of clever workmanship.
Here are my favorites:

Would not want to be on the
bottom of this outhouse The golfer is made from golf clubs!

Mater

The bull is all metal tools and implements welded together

The Jeep is made from license plates. The wheels, seats, bumpers, etc are metal.

Our next stop was Arches. We did not do much hiking.

Arches National Park
Balanced Rock

"The Three Gossips"

Delicate Arch

Sand Dune Arch

Skyline Arch

This next set of pictures is an area called "The Windows"

From here, we headed home. We stopped and had dinner with Marian and brought her boys home for a few days.

Busy Summer with the Grandkids

My 6 Beautiful Granddaughters
Kylie, Kambree (front), Stephanie, Madeline in Kelsey's arms, Melissa

The Summer has been very busy with activities with the grandkids.
We have taken several trips to Thanksgiving Point. We discovered the fun at the Children's Garden. These are only a few of the pictures, most from the last trip there.

Hayden, Ryan, and Jackson with Grandma

Above, Ryan and Jackson, below, Hayden

The boys love the water at the "Noah's Ark"

Stacking blocks


Stephanie and Melissa have been here for a couple of months, but it is time to send them back home to Washington. For the last get-together, we all went to Living Planet Aquarium. The penguins were a big hit, but the little boys and Kambree loved this frog.
Jackson
Ryan
Kambree
Hayden
Maclay
And the stingray petting pond was another big hit.