What we have been UP to...

But first a warning.
Back up your hard drive.
So that if it crashes - like mine did,
you don't lose everything!

About a month ago the hard drive on my Mac crashed.
The Apple people we able to recover NOTHING.
This whole experience has caused me to...

not want to blog
not want to read blogs
not want to download any pictures
pretty much not use the computer unless I have to.

After avoiding the computer for most of the month,
I have decided I need to jump back in.
And of course start BACKING UP.

So don't do what I did.
Back up your hard drive.
Regularly.
And then you will not grieve over
lost pictures and documents.

Now this is what we have been up to...

We said GOODBYE to my sister and her family from California,
it was so good to have them not only visit with us,
but to be able to stay with us.


Then, a few weeks later we said GOODBYE
to our live in summer resident,
my other sister who returned to Hawaii for college.


Every Saturday for the past 5 weeks
we have enjoyed watching this young man
up his game in soccer.


Our oldest got to fly in a small airplane
with his dad and our Bishop (the pilot)
to earn his aviation merit badge.


We visited the "Healing Field"
in remembrance of 9/11.
It is such an AWESOME tribute.

My two youngest started preschool
with one of the greatest people we know,
Miss Cindy.

The hubby and I had a getaway where we spent one night
at Daniel's Summit Lodge and...

drove around where we got to see Utah
in all its autumn splendor. I love this time of year.

I got to visit son number two in his classroom at school.
That is his teacher sitting next to him,
I secretly think she is still in High School :).

Last Friday the two youngsters and I
spent a lovely day at Thanksgiving Point
with Nanna and Papa,
feeding the animals and

viewing and exploring the fabulous gardens there.

And Finally,
on Sunday evening we went for a drive up the canyon
with my Brother's family,
to once again enjoy the beauty of
Autumn.

Sisters Then and Now

20 Years Ago
this was my role in our family.

I was a big sister to six siblings
but with these two youngest sisters,
(and the brother who was between them),
it was almost as if I played their mother at times.

Times have changed, although only recently.

Over the past week we have all been living under the same roof again.
The youngest is living with us for the summer
and our other sister brought her young family up from California
to visit us for a few days.

It has been wonderful for me.

This has been the first time that I have looked upon these two
not just as younger sisters to take care of and look after
but as real friends.

I have seen in other families
and have often admired sisters that are just that,
best friends that spend a lot of time together,
share personal triumphs and heartaches
but I have never experienced that for myself.

We stayed up a couple of nights into the wee hours of the morning
just talking and sharing and laughing,
and I could not help but think I want more.

I wish we could all be in the same place,
raising our families in the same city,
sharing on a weekly basis the highs and lows
or what works and what doesn't.

But it is not that way.
And it will probably never be.
Nonetheless, I do hope for more reunions in the future
where we can pick up from where we left off and
just be friends and sisters.

Camping at Lava

This past weekend we took a mini-vacation
with the extended family to
LAVA HOT SPRINGS.

Where we played in the water


and on the slides

for many hours.

We also paraded around with our floaties

napped from exhaustion

and got a little too much sun.

Later, a few of us ran the RIVER

and learned to carry tubes twice our size.

At night we retired to the campground


hung out in the bed of the truck

played family friendly games


and of coarse had a campfire.

Good Times.

Beautiful For Me

I was shown this the other day
and now I can't stop playing it over and over.

I love the words
I love her voice
I LOVE this song.

And I love that it is tied to Veggie Tales.
My kids have enjoyed watching Veggie Tales for a long time.
And so have I.