Tyson Football

Today's game was not the success they hoped for, but doesn't Tyson look good. He played his heart out and is disappointed the team lost - but next week is another game, and another chance for a win. Cheer up Tyson!

Utah Trip: Final

Manti - the temple we were sealed in.

We enjoyed a peaceful morning in the temple before the final push to get home.

One of my favorite parts of any temple grounds is the landscaping. The flowers are so bright and cheerful, yet still reverent in a way.

The majestic wind turbines outside Sweetwater were a strong reminder that we were in Texas again and almost home.

When we got home there was a strong, bright rainbow right over the house. What a great welcome home!! I guess that our home is the pot of gold.

We left early in the morning on Tuesday and headed to Manti. 30 years ago we were sealed for time and all eternity in that temple and we wanted to visit it again on this trip. The weather was cold! and the drive really beautiful. We got to the temple and drove up the narrow drive - and wondered how we were going to park the RV with car in tow. The grounds people there were so nice. They drove up, showed us where we could turn around, showed us where we could park, and then even brought orange cones to put in front of the RV so no one would park too close and box us in. We enjoyed a session in the temple, and lunch in the lunch room there, and then headed for Texas.

We drove straight through with just a stop every now and then for a short nap for Driver Danny. I finally drove for an hour or so once we reached Texas. Danny even slept without waking up every other second to worry about my driving. It was nice to be home again after so many days on the road. As we neared Austin we talked about the next trip we want to take - to a giant dairy farm somewhere. We want to "kidnap" our grandkids and take them to see thousands and thousands of cows in one place. But that's for later. Right now we're still resting.

Utah Trip: Family and red leaves

Bridal Veil Falls - Provo Canyon

Fall Colors in Vivian Park

Tomatoes growing along mom's driveway - they taste as good as they look!!

Grandma with on of the twins

Me and Danny with the twins. I can't tell them apart but one is Jerico and the other is Kyro.

Scott sharing his trout stories with Danny. Great colors in Scott's fish.

Scott and Danny

Grandma, Scott and Dane - three generations!

Monday morning Danny and I drove up the canyon. He wanted to look at property in Vivian Park we could "dream" about owning some day: nope. Too fancy and too expensive but the scenery was amazing.

We got to visit with Scott and Dane in the evening. Missed the rest of the family - except Dane was nice enough to go downstairs and bring the twins up to visit. They're so little, still, but very alert even after being woke up so rudely.

Utah Trip: Provo

The fish from the lake was amazing. We ate the good parts and left the heads.

Add to the fish, roast beef, hot rolls, salad, veggies, mom's squash cassarole, and a home made pies - thanks to grandma - and we were in food heaven.

I had no idea Emmy could sing like that!!! She did a few numbers from "Hairspray". She recently played the lead role in the play on stage.

It was fun just watching the performers, and watching those who were also watching. Like Mike and Bryan. Bryan's dogs also watched with us.

Julianna and Dianna sang and also played piano duets

Danny sang Desperado - I loved it. But then I always love hearing him sing.

In Provo, I sort of invited myself to Mike's for dinner. He tried to tell me how to cook the fish myself, but then gave in and cooked it for me. He's such a good brother - and a great cook. I need to find out how he does rolls. It's the same recipe I use but his rise more.

After Dinner we enjoyed music. Lots of music. I could have stayed there all night. Julianna performed some music she has written. That girl needs to publish. Diana and Julianna did a piano duet or two and the "girls" same together. I could have stayed there listening all night. The last song was one everyone did - - Even Mike and I sang. It was a request: Love is Spoken Here. Danny's favorite. It was beautiful

Utah Trip: Football

BYU Football Stadium on campus

Poor BYU guy - I guess the score was just too much for him to face: Boy did they lose bad to Florida. It was their first loss in their home stadium in a long time

But - you can't keep them down for long.

The next day this guy was up and ready for the next game.

Go Cougars!!

The final night at Fish Lake we listened to three football games on XM stereo. It was a very sad night for football. We listened to Utah, BYU, and Texas/Texas Tech. BYU really lost bad. Texas beat Tech - good news for some of the family but sad for Danny. I can't remember the score for the Utah game but the Utes were losing when Robert had to head home. Watching old time movies was more entertaining - and the good guys always won!!

Red Rocks and Moab

Southern Utah is one of my favorite places on earth. It's the first place I remember well and I loved it even when I was young. We used to climb the red rock mountains and see if we could reach the top - but when you get to the top there is always another mountain to climb. This was a little confusing to me as a small child but I just saw it as a challenge. I will always love driving through this area.

Fish Lake Pt. 2

It was a successful day - fishing wise. Robert holds the catch from the boat he shared with Dad and Becky.

One of the good parts about not catching any fish is that you don't have to clean them!! It was much more fun watching other's cleaning the guts out. Although, again, I thought of my grandkids and how much they would enjoy this part.

Besides, I knew that everyone would share the fish. And eating them is more fun that catching or cleaning them.

When Mike's boat got to the lake it wouldn't start. After a little work the men folk gave up - we used the trolling motor to go out a little way and bait fish - with no luck. Dad mentioned that when Mike got there the next morning it would probably take him 2 min. to fix the boat. Yup. Mike got it running right away. The family divided that day - Danny, Mike, Brandon, Brandon's girlfriend, and Julianna went out in Mike's boat. Grandpa, Becky and Robert rented a boat.

Terri (me) and Dianna spent a nice morning on shore catching up on what's happening in the family. At the end of the day both boats came in with fish. I think Brandon caught the smallest- and probably a big one as well. Becky caught the biggest in the boat she was in.

After cleaning the fish (ugh) and packing up, everyone but us headed back north so they'd be on time to church, and not traveling on Sunday.

We stayed the night and headed back Sunday morning, stopping off in Nephi for sacrament meeting. Danny and I kinda laughed when the ward we were visiting announced their upcoming chili cook-off for Halloween. I wonder if most wards do that.

After church we stopped for our second non-RV meal. The Diner was fun and the food yummy. Then we headed for Provo.

Utah Trip: Fish Lake

The first sign that we're getting close to Fish Lake is the yellow of the Quakies. I love seeing their little leaves dance in the wind. It's like a magic show - especially when the wind catches the leaves and blows them up into the air to hover above the trees

Then Fish Lake appears. It's BIG and beautiful and cold. The mist rising from the water in the morning was really lovely. I had a fishing license that day, but would rather take pictures. Danny, Dad, Becky and I spent a few hours on the lake in a rented boat. Robert was due to be there around noon with Mike's boat but we didn't want to wait. Didn't catch anything that morning but really enjoyed the time.

Dad and Becky getting the poles ready with trolling gear. Later we did some bait fishing.

Danny got to "drive" the boat and fish at the same time. I sat in the back.

One problem with bait fishing is getting out past the moss. It grows close to the surface of the lake in parts. Once we reach open water the moss gives way to blue/green depts - Grandpa says it's 100 feet down in some places.

Fish Lake is a tradition in my family. I went there with my grandfather when I was little - and the family has been going there ever since. Dad and Becky sent invitations before they got off their mission, to meet at Fish Lake and we were very happy to attend. Wednesday evening there were just the four of us, Danny and I and Grandpa and Becky. We visited a little and then called it a day.

On Thursday, Robert was due around noon with Mike's boat. We rented a small boat and spent a few hours on the lake in the morning. So quiet and peaceful! We heard and saw a lot of fish jumping but didn't catch anything that morning. In the afternoon we went into town so Danny could find TAB and check messages on his phone. There was NO service of any kind in the mountains. Danny thought it would be restful to be out of touch for 4 days - but he couldn't stand it for long. After that first trip down the mountain he did fine. And it was good we went: we "found" Robert along side the road. He was pulling Mike's boat up and blew a head gasket on his truck. We followed him back downhill to town where he left his truck and the boat. He and Grandpa went after the boat the next morning.

The night we ate pork roast and yummy veggies at Grandpa's RV. Then we visited around a fire until the stars came out. I think we were all ready to sleep once the sun went down.

Utah Trip part 2

Danny enjoying the cool air in an RV park in New Mexico - it was just too nice to read inside.

About to get on board the Narrow Gauge Train in Durango

Watching the beautiful scenery outside the window.

Sometimes it was straight down - a looonnnngggg way - to a river or lake. Sometimes it was almost flush with rocks going

a long way up. Either way, it was amazing.

If you lean out the window - you can see the engine of the train up ahead.

After the Tech Game we headed off to New Mexico and then Colorado. Danny has always wanted to ride the narrow gauge railroad. We got there - got checked into a RV park with full hook-ups: Yipeee!! Water, power, and I could wash clothes!! Not to mention a dump tank to flush out the "brown and black" water from the RV. The ride was nice - long but nice. Next time we'll take the train one way and the bus back. It takes less than an hour by bus. Once in Silverton we ate - then back on the train. The entire town of Silverton shuts down once the train leaves to go back to Durango. We thought of Dillon - he would have loved to ride the train. We made plans to do that in the future - maybe next summer?

Utah Trip

Our recent trip to Utah came in stages. Started with Football - we left on Thursday, after some trouble getting the car on the tow trailer - then taking my car off after figuring out it's not front wheel drive - then borrowing Charlie's car - then messing the front end up on the tow trailer - then listening to Greg explain how we need 12/2's for ramps to raise the front of the car up enough to get it on the trailer. AND we stopped off at a bedding store and bought a memory foam mattress to replace the sleep number one that was messed up. So our 7am projected leaving time turned into about 4pm. But we did finally get out of town. Stayed the first night at a truck stop outside Sweetwater and got up early the next day and drove to Lubbock. We parked with the other "tailgaters" in the Texas Tech parking area - free!! - and stayed Friday night there. Saturday evening was a great game. Danny's friends joined us in the RV for a visit and then off to BBQ before the game. Tech beat Rice - always nice to be on the winning team. We stayed parked Saturday night and headed out Sunday for Colorado.

It's Calf Season

Daddy regaining his energy. Now that his offspring has started to arrive, it won't be long before he has to "preform" again so we'll have more next year. It's work, but someone has to do it.
These little guys just THINK they are big enough to eat with the cows. Mainly they're just hanging out with their mamas.Brand new and still wet - this is the 9th little one this season. Almost half of the "girls" have delivered.
It's always fun to visit the ranch when it's calf season. Driving around finding the newest little additions is exciting. Keeping count can be frustrating as they do tend to move around a lot when you're tying to count! Right now we have 4 calves from last year - around 700 pounds each - that we're planning to take to the butcher and sell the beef. Yummmm! Grass fed beef with no fillers or additives or hormones. It will be the first time we've tasted our own "crop".

Danny is still wanting to add more land. Unfortunately the neighbors don't want to sell. Maybe some day. I can see Danny being a full time cow rancher. He fits in with those guys in the feed store, and equipment yards, etc. And going to the auction is fun. It's a laid back way of life - time spent on the tractor and hauling feed out of the barn to the feed corral. Then the rest of the day is free for movies and golf. Yea, I can see Danny loving that. Not sure I'd love it. Maybe if I get a horse.....

Summer Fun

KK Chillin in the pool
Dani kicking around
Papa in church - KK konked out at the start of Sunday School
The boys playing video games - KK's control doesn't work, but he doesn't know that. He thinks he's winning
Anderson in his church clothes. I got lots of compliments on my babies.

I wanted to add a few pictures of the grandkids enjoying summer - for all of those out there that don't get to see how much they've grown. It's rained the last two days - thankfully!! - and it looks like the swimming season is winding down, but then this IS Texas and it could go back to being in the 100's next week, so you never know. I love the days when the kids come to swim and bring the little ones. It makes me feel complete. I wish the Yonkers could be here as well.....