Utah part I

 Zoe ready to rock it at the airport.  This is about 5:30am. 

 Denver.  After changing clothes and doing a bit of hair, we are ready to fly to SLC.

 So happy to be exploring the toy room at Grandma and Grandpa's.  They have to go check out what has changed, and what new or different toys there are.

 A man who sat one row behind us on our flight handed me this note with $20.  I love kind people!  Made me want to do this for others.  Basically, it made my year. 

 Sitting at the bar.

 Maya reacquainted with her horses:  Moon and Ranger.  every morning she would go out and talk to the horses and feed them.  

 Lincoln logs.  Why we don't have a set, I don't know.  But this stayed out the whole time we were in Utah.

 Had to go see Douglas the dinosaur at the gas station.  And of course snag an ice cream.

 Working hard on her ice cream.

 Her favorite spot.

 Wide open spaces of Newton. 

 Getting ready to go on the boat at Cutler Dam.

 She was only a fan of the boat if she was on someone's lap.

 

Brynn + Sophie on the boat. 

Mountains + Water= my favorite.

 Couldn't get enough of the sky.

 Zoe + Grandma.

 Grandpa giving her a pep talk while I was skiing with Sarah.

 The moon was out. Amazing.

 Sisters skiing!  And how!

 Cozy movie time.

 Had to have a picture by the zinnias.  My most favorite flower.

 Swimming with cousins.

 Cannot get enough of these views and the moon!

 Mini hiking adventure in Logan.

 She heard a loud motorcycle, turned and waved.

 Barefoot cruisers. Maya and Sam.

 Ryen-the happiest little lady on the planet and Mand.

 View of the Wellsville's from Paradise.

Hamid, who owns Logan's Heroes.  My favorite place to eat in Logan. Love this guy.

Ahem...I am attempting to catch up from summer.  Oh sheesh.  And I have to go in chronological order or it will drive me crazy.  So alas, here we go.  

The girls and I flew to Utah for two weeks in August.  The girls were amazing on the flight.  I was sweating bullets, but they were so good.  I really was so proud of them.  

I love summertime in Cache Valley.  I love the summer nights especially-sprinklers, running ditches and crickets are my favorite sounds.  We skied one night at Cutler Dam thanks to my sister Sarah and her husband Alan.  We went to Logan's Heroes, played at parks, and went swimming at the Brigham pool-our favorite.  

I ran into a couple from Sun City Arizona whom I had met 12 years earlier when I was working for the Summer Citizen program at Utah State. When I left Utah State summer program I had been married only a year.  It was a great reunion.  

The girls partied with Grandpa doing the usual: Tom's service, Douglas the dinosaur, feeding the ducks, and riding Moon the horse.  Oh, and of course motorcycle rides.  

More pics to come.  Slowly but surely I will update this blog! Ha!

A birthday for the littlest Lady

 

Here is the littlest Lady on her big day. 

She is sitting at a little table that our friend Claudia sat at when she was 1.  

She even let me put a huge headband in her hair-and didn't rip it out! A miracle! 

We celebrated with a pool party at Steve and Peggy's with grilled fish that  Evan, Don and the girls caught.  It was a fabulous night.  

I remembered her birth: how I thought it was never going to end, but having this easy, happy, content baby at the end.  

She truly is such a joy to have around.  

Love her.   

The time has come........

Hey hey everyone! 

We are going private. 

Not sure how many readers there are out there-but I would love to keep you updated.  You know, like 5 posts a year! Ha! Going to go private by Friday.  

Send me your email to keep updated. 

Thanks for reading!

Lexington

 Maya and her fish she caught.  She was so happy to catch the fish, but not as happy to pose with it!

 Brynn and Maya looking through the door at Chipper the dog.  Poor Chipper received way too much attention by those two.  He is such a sweet, kind dog.  Zoe, however did not like him, and steered clear of him the days we were in Lexington. 

 A good friend of mine-Jorge Piercy.  I helped him find some shoes that fit when I worked at Walkabout  and we became friends.  He has extremely small feet, and is from Columbia originally.  Such a great man.

 House Mountain on the right.  The sky and mountains were incredible the days we spent in Lexington. 

 Maya, Brynn and Don Ellis.  This dear man is responsible for teaching Evan how to fly fish.  Don learned how to fish in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  Evan and I met Don and his lovely wife Claudia at the Christmas parade in Lexington in 2005. They are wonderful people.  He and Evan took Maya and Brynn fishing one afternoon.  They had a fabulous time and brought home trout to eat-it was delicious. 

 Brynn holding the fish-she wanted to remind me that she wasn't scared to hold the fish.

 Maya holding her fish.  She was hesitant, but then she did it!

 Izzy on her b-ba-birthday! 

 Zoe at the Riethmiller's home.  It's out in the country and has the best views.  We celebrated Izzy's birthday out there.

 In the pool at Riethmiller's.  And with this picture that I think it's time to grow the hair out.  :)

 Evan with his favorite Professor, Brian Murchison.  An amazing guy. 

 The Virginia country-Possum Hollow Road.  Yes, that's really the name of the road.  :)

 The ladies at Riethmiller's swimming. 

 Looking for snails in the grass with our good friend Russ.  He lives in an old schoolhouse out in the country and we spent many nights at his place that included bonfires and banjos.  Good memories!

 Evan with the girls on VMI grounds. 

 Don, Izzy and me on Izzy's birthday.  She celebrated with carrot cake star cupcakes.  Claudia and I were able to go antiquing one day while we were there, and found some little tin stars for baking. 

 Zoe + Dad.

 The sky on the night of Izzy's Birthday.  Happy Birthday, Izzy! 

 Evan's mentor Sally Wiant-an amazing lady.  Evan worked for her and she has become a dear friend.

 Somehow, this is the only picture I have of Claudia!  Here she is with the girls.  She has an incredible way with kids-bonding with each of them.  She knows just what they like, how to keep them entertained and was so kind to entertain us for five days.  Thank you Don and Claudia!

Steve and Peggy Riethmiller-another lovely couple.  Had such a fun time catching up with them.  Thank you for letting us swim and use your house for Izzy's party! 

For our vacation this year we decided to return to Lexington Virginia.  We spent three glorious years there from 2005-2008.  I couldn't believe that it had been five years since being there.  We stayed with our dear friends the Ellis'. 

Driving in from the West through West Virginia my heart leapt a bit.  We drove that road quite a bit during law school.  It made me so happy to be driving back to Virginia.  I have really missed that place.  Ah, the mountains!  The greenness!  The rolling hills!  Lexington, the tiny town tucked in the Blue Ridge mountains.  We absolutely loved our time in Lexington.  We added Maya to our family there, grew as a couple and made really dear friends.  

 

Don and Claudia live in a house that dates back to just after the civil war.  It is amazing.  Claudia is a master gardener and her yard is blooming with lots of flowers and greenery.  We tried some delicious shrimp from the coast, and ate many dinners outside.  The girls loved Chipper the dog, and kept asking me when we were getting a dog.  

 

I was able to see the old store where I worked called Walkabout.  It was great to be back and see my old boss Kirk.  I met up with my coworker Buddy who has the energy of a teenager and we listenened to some local Lexington music.  

 

And we celebrated Izzy's birthday-which deserves some pictures of it's own.  It was a great trip.  I was reminded of all the fun memories in that little town.  And someday I would love to live there again.  

 

Thanks to all the lovely Lexington folks:  the Ellis', the Riethmiller's, Jorge, Sally, Kirk and Tina, Russ and Buddy-what a great trip!  Until next time.