Crazy Dog!

A few weeks ago, Gary called me on the phone and he thought I answered but there was a lot of crazy noisy static. I tried to call out later and the phone said it was off the hook. I started looking for the other phone and finally found it outside - and very chewed up. Spartan had decided to answer the phone while I was gone. He took it off the counter and the static Gary heard was really him going argh, argh, argh as he chewed away. Yesterday, I was putting the phones in their stations before bed and I couldn't find the chewed up phone again. Oh no! I paged it and I saw a blue light flashing out in the middle of the back yard. Yep, Spartan had answered the phone again for me while I was gone. This is what the phone looks like now. It still works. I think I need to send this picture to AT&T to show them how indestructable their phone is at our house. What do you think? I certainly need to teach the dog better phone manners. So whoever called yesterday and just heard argh, argh, argh - that was just Spartie saying hi!

Julie - A Woman of Strength

My good friend Julie who is battling a vicious type of breast cancer is in the hospital at the moment with sepsis. And as usual, she is not worried about getting better, she is stressing over all the end of the year activities she is missing with her kids and the things she thinks she should be doing for others. I think it is time for her to take care of herself and get better. She is one tough woman - yes, a strong woman and a woman of strength. This thought reminded me of her so I am dedicating it to her. Again, prayers on her behalf are always appreciated.

A grave had been dug up and an animal had been a little too ambitious - not a pleasant sight.
Visiting the old crypt - you can only see through the bullet holes in the door.
Grandma Taylor's three baby boys' graves

Decorating Grandpa Taylor's grave
Fields and fields of wildflowers
The view from our picnic spot

After spending several hours Friday night hunting for stocks in an old mine (to see if we were rich - haha), the kids decided we needed to visit Eureka for Memorial Day. We hadn't been out for quite a few years and that time had been at night in the dark. We told Ali the sad love story of Verna and Earl Watkins and about Grandpa Taylor and his connections to the mines in the area. I dug out old photos and letters and maps before we went to make it all a little more personal this time. We all drove out together. We drove around Eureka, explored the old cemetary where we found the three babies' graves and left flowers, hunted for Silver City and checked out Mammoth. We followed a dirt road who knows where and watched all the sheep with their babies. We found a nice open area overlooking Utah Lake and Mount Timpanogos where we had an old fashioned tail gate picnic. Reminded us of Grandma Thorne and her picnics and stories. We followed the dirt road back to the highway and stopped at the "Sand Castles" as we used to call them. They are all gated off with no trespassing signs so we couldn't hunt for bullfrogs - DARN! Camden loved running all over the place and was quite fascinated with the deer and lambs we saw. I'm sure we bored Ali but she's a good sport. We sure missed Cris and her gang and know she will miss us when she sees these pictures. I'm sure it will bring back great (and some funny - like burying Uncle Don's ashes) memories. It was a great day!

Fun!

Thanks to Elisa for the idea. I've always wanted to try this before so here's my experiment.

More pics of the lovebirds

Carissa has been busy editing and I've been playing around with overlays. What do you think?

Garon's new friend

Garon just picked up his deer mount and hung it in our stairwell. Not too shabby for the his first time hunting. Do you think he's a little bit proud? I didn't even have to tell him to smile. WOW! Spartan is scared to death of it. He hides behind the couch and barks at it. I told him that is what happens to animals that are naughty at my house.

Here's a Sneak Peak!

Here's a few of the engagement pictures for Garon and Whitnie. Of course the professional photographer (aka Carissa) had to fix them and doctor them up. What do you think?

Wahoo - We made it to the lot!!!!!

The wind mills at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. They look way cool.
This is where the 6 foot deep snow drift used to be. It is now down to about 2 1/2 feet.
Yep, I had to try to make it up on the 4 wheeler. Nothin' doin' though. So we shoveled and shoveled and then shoveled some more. We wanted to clear it a little so it would melt by next weekend so we could get the trailer up there.
This is the other snow drift on part of the parking area and going into the eating area. It was about 3 feet deep.
So we drove down it as much as we could to help it melt a little - HOPEFULLY!

This is what it looks like now.
Then we went back to shoveling the drive some more and a really nice man and his two older sons drove by and felt sorry for us and took over. We couldn't believe how nice they were to finish it up for us. And it was a lot of hard work. It's nice to know there are still people that care around. This should melt off the rest of the way now.
Oh Brennen and Garon - remember that snowmobile you lost in a snow drift somewhere? We found it!

Two stinkers!

And I wonder why my couch cushions are always smooshed!

Gary's spring "Projects"

You know how Gary always has some big project he does every spring or summer? At least he used to BC (before cancer). His trailer has certainly been a project. He keeps thinking up things to do to it. So these are our latest projects for the week. He put in a new tub surround. I laid a new floor in the bathroom and then he replumbed and put in a new toilet. And then for some crazy reason he finally decided to replace the faucet in our bathroom. Every time you turn the water on it leaks all over the counter. We've had the new faucet sitting on the floor in the bathroom for at least a year. Anyway, he started to change it and realized the sink was cracked all around the drain and it was leaking underneath. So we went to look for new vanities and sinks. Everything was pretty pricey or we didn't like it so we spray painted the cupboard (it really isn't shiney like in the picture) and then bought a new countertop. I added knobs. Looks better huh? And then last night I was bored while he was at Young Mens so I took one of Carissa's old doors she gave me, painted it to match the trailer, and then made a fun collage of happy lot pictures. Gary is going to hang it up in the trailer for me.

Elisa's Blog

Elisa left me to move to Alaska for the summer - how dare she?!? But she did start a blog. Yeah, I can't wait to see pictures!

Camden and Spartan

Camden LOVES Spartan! It's about the only time I can get a smile out of him. Cam followed him everywhere on Monday and they just hung out or layed around together.

Happy Mother's Day!

To the great grandmas, gwaumas, mothers, and future mothers in my life - have a great day. I love you all!!!!!

A benefit for Julie

I helped out at Bonneville Elementary this afternoon. They held a yard sale for Julie Thurman as part of Bronco Days. A ton of things was donated and it was fun being with people from the stake to set up and price. Julie was totally overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. It was way fun. I hadn't been in the school for over 8 years - can you believe it? Mr. Roper, the principal, said Goosie is still hanging out behind his house. He or she bonded with the other goose and they have had several sets of gooslings. Cool, huh? Julie is feeling pretty good right now - this had to boost her spirits. Check out her blog at www.unite4julie.blogspot.com

Brennen's Birthday Party

Brennen turned 27 this week so we had a barbecue for him. Garon made HUGE burgers (see Mikie P) and Whit made a fancy layered jello and we had lots of other yummy food. The highlight was Camden having a blowout all over Ali - that's why there is the bath pic. As you can see, everyone ate too much and they had to sit around for quite a while. We found out that Kari's birthday is the day after Brennens so we added some flowers to the cake for her. It was lots of fun. Let's do it again, k?

There's a Dr. in the house!

We can now officially call Dave Dr. Beeston. He had his white coat ceremony last night. We wish we could have been there but I imagine this is what he now looks like. Don't you think? Anyway, we're proud of you!

Julie Thurman's Fundraiser Information (click to enlarge)

I attended my Dad's funeral this past week. It was a really nice service. A little different but still nice. But the pastor kept saying throughout her talk, "I believe this is the way it is." Or "I think this is what will happen." It hit me really hard that she has bits and pieces of the gospel but I enjoy the FULNESS of the gospel. I don't think . . . I KNOW! I am very thankful for this knowledge and for the blessings I know we as a family will enjoy by being an eternal family.