Time Marches On . . .

It's so true that time marches on, and I have absolutely no idea where the time went.  All I wanted to do was take a short break from blogging...and then it was today!  I'm afraid that this post will be, photo-overload!

What's been happening in my world?

Well, Thursday was the 4th of July, and we kept it pretty quiet at our house, well at least quiet in our yard, as there was BIG noise all around us!  Last night was no exception, there were very big booms all around us until at least midnight.  I'm babysitting my daughter's little dog, and he was scared to death!

On the 4th, my son and his family came to celebrate with us and they brought a few little fireworks, it was a good time, as always.

 And what would my blog be without a sunset?  This was the sunset right before the fireworks.  I think Mother Nature always has the best fireworks display.

These sunsets are an accumulation of the past few weeks.  I love this time of year, I am never disappointed by our beautiful Idaho sunsets.

In June we went camping with my girls and their families, we had really fun...in between the rain storms, and the wind ;0)  But it sure made everything fresh and green!

I took this photo of a funnel cloud trying to form during one of the storms...kind of scary!

My son-in-law had a birthday while we were there, so of course we had to celebrate!

After breakfast the guys were getting ready to go fishing, so I took a picture of them, and I loved how the sun was shining down right on the birthday boy himself!!  Tanner doesn't look very enthused about going fishing does he?  I think he was just cold...it was pretty cold that week-end as well.

Jess and the boys decided to make a teepee one day, and the boys had really fun playing in it.

 Tanner built some little teepee's for his animals, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of them...so cute.

Ladder ball was a big hit! So was taking a walk with Averi.  Averi loves to go for a walk, but she has to have someone with her, so Nathan and Caleb were the boys for the job!

 It was so cold and we really needed a fire to warm up, so Emily and Tanner went hunting for kindling, they were such good sports because it really was cold!

But worth it in the end, the fire felt soooo good!

We had a hard time keeping Nathan out of the creek, he was always wet!  He didn't care how cold it was he just wanted to be in the water.

Averi had  fun sitting by the lake, she loves to go camping.  She was throwing rocks in the water...one of her favorite things to do, she loves to hear them splash!

The lake was just beautiful!!  

One day we made little sun catchers...it helped pass the time while the wind was blowing.  They looked really pretty the next morning in the sun.

 Oh, and did I mention the sunsets?!  I'm not kidding, they were just beautiful!! 

We really did miss our sweet old, Cole Dog...He loved to go camping.

Until next time!  I can't wait to catch up with everyone!!

Be safe!

Hugs and Love,

Barb

Happy Mother's Day !!

I can hardly believe that it has been almost a month since I have posted anything.  I will admit that it's been a long month with too many changes.  It was really difficult losing our Cole, he was such a part of our family, and to be quite honest, I didn't expect it to be so hard.  I think that after losing my mom in October, it just knocked me down.  We also had a few projects going on, so I just didn't have a chance to get to everything I wanted to do.  But, I really did miss all of you!

I'll just share a little of the blessings I had last month.  My daughter sent these gorgeous flowers the day that Cole passed away...loved them!

On the same day, a sweet friend stopped by to bring me a beautiful pot of Mums, and this cute little, Willow Tree figurine of a dog.  She had no idea that Cole had passed, she knew he wasn't doing well, but didn't realize that we had put him to sleep that very day...tender mercies.

In April, Bob and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary!!  We had planned on going to Arizona, just to get out of the cold, but we both felt like like sticking closer to home this year.  Instead, we took a long day trip, and anyone who knows me well, knows how much I love a good day trip.  We decided to go have lunch at a sweet little grill about 70 miles from home, in Spencer, Idaho...it was wonderful!  But before we went to lunch we decided to go to, Lima, Montana, which is just up the road from Spencer.  I won't lie, there's not much in Lima, it's a very small, very quaint and quiet little town.  Forty Years ago a good friend of my husbands passed away and was buried there, So we decided we would go to the cemetery to see if we could find his grave site.  Despite it being such a long time ago, we drove right to it!  

I know it's kind of strange, but I love to go look around old cemeteries, actually any cemetery,  I think it's so interesting to see the different headstones and think about the folks buried there and what their lives were like, I find it to be very peaceful and comforting.  While we were walking around, we ran across a headstone of one of my husband's relatives.  We didn't know these people, so I did a little research and found out a little more about them.  He is my husband's 4th cousin.  They weren't from Lima, but had family there.  They loved this little community so much that they wanted their final resting place to be in this beautiful little valley.  They were both cremated, and from what I could gather, when his wife passed away, about a year after he passed, they desired their ashes scattered in the mountains surrounding, Lima.  Their headstone is still in the cemetery...very sweet.  It looks like a piece of petrified wood on top, really interesting.

This is a photo of the Lima Cemetery, very small, but very peaceful with the beautiful mountains in the background.

 

After lunch, we drove over to Driggs, to look at the Tetons, they were still covered with snow,  the beauty of these majestic peaks never disappoints!  

Mother's Day is extra sad for me this year.  This will the the first year in 63 years that I haven't been able to call my mom or give her a hug and kiss on Mother's Day.  I think mom was about 18 years old in this photo,  boy, do I miss her!

 

You will always be my hero. I miss you mom. Happy Mother's Day. XOXO

Hugs and Love,

Barb

 

 

Happy Easter . . .

Artwork by Mary Evans

  “On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most long-awaited and glorious event in the history of the world. It is the day that changed everything. On that day, my life changed. Your life changed. The destiny of all God’s children changed. When I think of what the Savior did for us leading up to that first Easter Sunday, I want to lift up my voice and shout praises to the Most High God and His Son, Jesus Christ! The gates of heaven are unlocked! The windows of heaven are opened! Today and forevermore, God’s grace is available to all.”

  ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf~

XOXOXO

Hugs and Love,

Barb