Days of 47 Parade...

 

I know this is not the best shot of Pres. Monson but we were able to see him in the parade.  We arrived a few minutes late for it but landed more at the end of the parade route and were able to wave at him.  I chased his car down to get this shot!

This was actually the first shot I had of our prophet... we were all thrilled to be able to see him.  Governor Herbert and his wife were in the car behind Pres. Monson.

Kylie and Cara watching the floats... there were some pretty neat one's!

The family watching more of the parade...

The girl's of the family...

One of the floats...

Kelsey knew a husband and wife that ride in this group from Rexburg.  You should have seen their face's when they recognized Kelsey on the street!  They were so excited to see her!

Yet, another float!!! Thought Kylie would enjoy remembering some of them...

After about an hour of floats some of us lost our enthusiasm for the parade...it did go on for two hours but we headed for food after an hour and a half...

The girl's giving the little girl's a ride to the restaurant...

Apparently the parade wiped out Reese!  Notice the sucker still in her little hand...

We are at Hire's Big H Drive-In.  This is where Mitt Romney came and we were able to meet him.  They do have the "best" fry sauce and rootbeer on the planet!

Free re-fills of Hire's rootbeer is a good thing!  Jamie was loving it & apparently I was, as well!

Kylie sharing her corn dog with little sis...Reese!

Reesa-bug is the cutest twenty month old in the universe!  Her little voice is so precious...come here Nana, the way she says Kylie, I love you are some of my favorites!

Hiking in Alpine is pretty much amazing....

On July 30, 2011 Conrad, Kylie, Rick (Bapa) & Cathy (Nana) ventured off right above where we live to hike the Lone Peak Trail.  Here is the beginning of this adventure!

Our oldest grand-darling...Kylie starts school in a few weeks back in Arizona.  She is five and quite the hiker!!!

This is me at the first Hamongog which is basically,  a beautiful meadow!  There are two of these Hamongog's up this trail and we saw both of them!  

Little Miss Kylie standing on a rock in the middle of Hamongog One!  At this point we did not know that we had made it to the first one.... we had hiked for two hours to reach #1.

Heading up to the second Hamongog....crossing a little stream that I ended up drinking out of on the way down!

Conrad is such a cute DAd and loves his girls!  Kylie loves him and loved the ride!

This is the other man in Kylie's life!  Her Bapa is her biggest fan and they have such a cute relationship!  NOtice the view in the back....pretty much amazing!!!

Quick little shot of the two of us....

Soon to be our little kindergartner! It has been so much fun having Kylie here this summer!

Nana and Kylie coming down the mountain....Kylie made my dream come true to reach both of the Hamongog's.  She wanted to keep going and I did too!  But, she was the reason we did keep moving forward...she has tons of energy!!!

 At the second Hamongog.  Lots of people backpack and camp up here.  There was a beautiful little stream that was right next to the meadow.  Looks like this could be a great campfire spot for anyone who makes it up there!

We think Lone Peak is behind us.  I'm so happy we were able to reach our destination!  It was a five hour hike and almost seven miles....straight up!

Love this shot of the valley's....Utah County to the left and Salt Lake County to the right!

Pretty much amazing!!!!

Love this shot as well....this was a pretty big type of dandelion with the view of Utah County in the back...

I think this is a little stream that was on our hike...

What is it about nature that just speaks to my soul???

I love the silly side of Kylie....she cracks us all up!!!

Pioneer days at Moyle Park

Kylie, Reese, Jamie and I took a morning to walk up to Moyle Park and enjoy going back in time.  The girls were able to get a taste of what pioneer life was like by doing the following:

Learning to made candles...no electricity back then and you had to make your candles...one dip at a time!  Kylie made her own candle!

Kylie and Jamie were able to climb up the ladder to check out the top of the tower that was used to protect the Moyle family from Indians.

Jamie, Reese and Kylie in front of the tower...notice the holes in the rock (that is where they would use their guns to protect themselves.)

No washing machines back then...Ky and Reese were able to use a washboard and wash an article of clothing. It wouldn't be too bad in the summer but can you imagine doing your laundry in the cold winter month's?

Then Kylie was able to hang up her laundry!  Cutest girl ever!!!

The girls making butter...no going to the grocery store to buy a stick of butter!

Lots of fun learning about the pioneer lifestyle...

Ky jumping rope with some of the pioneer children....

On our walk home Kylie found a little secret place in the woods....it had a tiny bench and fun places to play and use her amazing imagination!

Anniversary work party!!!

Here we are.... thirty one years of marriage!  The kids organized a work party with our family to help us with our yard.  Ask me if I'd ever buy a house that has no yard and the answer would be....NO!!! This summer besides dealing with Rick's surgeries and healing we have had to put a yard in.

Kurt and Conrad helping move gravel to place under where the trampoline will go.

Rick's Mom grilling hot dogs for all of us to eat...

Jen, Grandma's Josie and Janet having a bite to eat.

Craig, Leslie and Jamie (the organizer of the party...LoVe this girl!)

Brianna and Kylie helped by emptying buckets of weeds into the garbage can.  Even the little one's can help.... thank you girls!!!

The boys putting in a new mailbox and pathway from the street.  I'll post what it looks like now.....very happy how it turned out!

Craig, Leslie and Mark with little Reese.  Thanks for your help!!!

Conrad, Kels and Kurt helping with the mailbox....Lot's of work got done and we truly appreciated it!

It is so nice having all of the girls home!  And no....I'm not really this tall!

Rick's sister~ Jenny and hubby Tony came to help, too!  Love our family!!!  Did not get a picture of Joe but he with three of his girls were part of this evening....

Lots of time with the grand darlings...

Kelsey and I had Cannon over for a few days to give Jen some "real" bed rest.  She is due in September and has been on doctor's orders to take it easy.  Is he not the most handsomest little guy around?  He is so smart and a talker!!!

Mr. Cannon loves helping Nana by watering my plants! What a big helper he was and we had so much fun playing with him!!!

I got to Glendale on Thursday and was warmly (in more than one way...) welcomed!  This is their porch...Jamie is so creative! She inherited this cute dresser from a friend and painted it and added new adorable hand made knobs...love the chalkboard!

Here is little Miss Reesa-bug....in heaven as she is slurping chocolate milk with a licorice straw...life is good!

 Reese playing at the park in Scottsdale....what a fun city!
We took the trolley ride around town and saw all of the fun area's.

What is a trip to Scottsdale without going to Sugar Bowl?  The trolley driver told us about this fun restaurant that is a must eat at!  It started in 1958 and has been going strong ever since! We shared some sandwiches and then shared some ice cream. Jamie and I ordered the most amazing walnut/hot fudge sundae! I am still thinking about it....

 Kylie standing by one big cowboy boot on the streets of old town Scottsdale/little Mexico!

Kylie and Nana at Sugar Bowl snarfing down the ice cream and having some fun....always fun with Ky!

The Nana Dialogues...

Ok...so I am in Glendale, AZ  and I actually saw rain today! I also did laundry like a college student....filled the blue IkeA bag with dirty clothes, towels and what not, then swung an adorable eighteen month old onto my hip with the blue bag on the opposite shoulder, then grabbed the laundry card, laundry soap, keys and traipsed off to the laundry room that is by the pool.  The load was so heavy I had to use the industrial sized, double seater stroller to manuever everything to the laundry room. Reese was a champ and understands the drill...I'm sure she has seen her Mommy, Momma, Mom (as she keeps telling me all day) do this a few times. 
      
I started the official in charge of Reese a.k.a. ReesA, Reesa-bug and cutie pie...on Monday as Jamie (also known as Mommy...refer to the above paragraph) and Kylie headed to Orlando to hang out and be bored at Magic Kingdom with Conrad's family.

Conrad has been busy all week with finals at Midwestern. I have been busy all week with Reese...today I changed (don't read the next line if you don't want to hear about what come's out of a baby's bottom)   FiVe DiRtY or for a more accurate account..PooPy diapers!  She was really hungry this morning and kept on eating and eating everything I would place in front of her!

We also took a long walk to the library, post office and to the grocery store. It was extremely windy and the sky actually had dark clouds in them! I was secretly hoping for a lightening storm but had to settle for a little rain in the evening...

Now I know there are those of us who have had our babies and have moved onto the next stage of life...  I'm here to tell you that raising little one's is a busy life.  I have been reminded of this lifestyle the last few weeks.

Right before I left for Arizona we had Mr. Cannon stay with us from Monday to Wednesday and then on Thursday I was on a plane to Phoenix.  I must admit that I am a little sleep deprived, tired, dirty and extremely appreciative to my daughter and daughter in law for all that they are doing to keep our little grand darlings happy and healthy and in good working order.
They are both amazing Mom's and I'm blessed to be able to help.  But, I see the wisdom in having "young" women having babies and not those who are over....the hill so to speak!

I remember hearing Julie Beck at Women's Conference tell us how she had five of her grandchildren for a spell and had to pray for help and asked for a rememberance of her mothering skills.  I haven't had to do that .... yet!  But, I'm grateful for the advice and have tucked that into my little mind! (just in case!)

A few cute things about Reese....she will bring your shoe's to you and place them right by your feet.  Not that she is hinting at anything but it is super cute when she does that.

Whenever she see's a bird she calls out to them, "B"....very impressive that she knows the letter of what bird starts with!

It took her about three hours to figure out that Mom was not meeting us anytime soon.  All of the sudden she asked, "Where's Mom?", or "Where's Mommy?, or "Where's Momma?"  (just case I didn't know who she was asking about, I guess!)

She is a very messy eater...but, she cleans up beautifully!! (Jamie is a much more chill Mom than her Mommy was...hat's off to her!)

Reese is so loving and today after she woke up from her nap she leaned over and kissed me right on the smacker! I love this little one!

She has the cutest laugh and amazing smile....

Reesa makes dozen's of Midwestern students happy each day as we are walking around campus she waves and says "HI" to everyone!  It always put's a smile on their faces.  What a stress reliever to have a little child say Hi! when you are in the middle of finals. 
It is a good reminder that a smile and a friendly hello can help all of us have a good day!