Kay's 80th Birthday Celebration

Grandma Kay turned 80 years old on the 11th of October and the family gathered for a bday celebration at the Dude Ranch Cafe on the 9th.  There were 21 people that were able to attend.  A few live too far away to make the trip, but the dinner was enjoyed by those who could be there.  Thank you, Pam, for putting it all together.  It's very nice to not have to worry about cooking and cleaning.  Took a few pictures and just glad to have the opportunity to have parents for such a big part of our lives.  Some families are not so blessed as we have been.

Yellowstone Trip

October 2nd and 3rd found us among a few vacation stragglers at Yellowstone.  Bradey and Kenzie were along for the ride, and a lot of riding it was.  Bradey has been there and done that once before when Kai took us there a couple of years ago but Kenzie had never been there before.  We stopped at a lot of little pull-offs and did see Old Faithful spout off.  We were a little disappointed in the lack of wildlife, however.  But it was a good trip and time spent together.  We spent one night at West Yellowstone and the kids enjoyed the pool and they ate free at the restaurant as we were staying at the Holiday Inn.  We enjoyed a few hours at the bear and wolf exhibit there in West and most of the other time was inside the Park and in the car.  It was fun and I know the kids will remember it.  That's what it's all about, right??  Memories.  Oh, was in the line at the bathroom at Old Faithful and right in front of me was Patti's Stake RS President that I met earlier this year.  What a small world.

Kenzie in a pose at a stinky pot.

Train car tour inside of restaurant at West Yellowstone

Kids inside a wolf den.

Elk crossing the river just inside entrance.

Loving to swim at motel

Enjoying the waterfall and stretching our legs

Posing with hungry bear in West Yellowstone

Old Faithful

Yellowstone Lake

Painted Buff

Not interested in us, is he?

St. Anthony pic op while filling up with gas

SPUDS

And lots of them!!!  Tea, Bradey, Kenzie, and I went to the cannery in Preston today and canned 111 cans of potatoes.  It took two hours and we could have been there longer, but we gave the last two sacks of potatoes away!  They will taste so yummy this winter.  It was really a nice way to spend a Saturday.  Brad was hunting.  Imagine that.  The kids came home with me so Brad could take Bradey hunting and on the way we saw a whole flock of pheasants (the season opened today) in a field near the road.  Bradey really wanted me to stop, but I didn't.  I'm quite sure he could have done the ol' flock shoot and got a bird of some sort but I was an old stick in the mud.  Oh, well.  We got home in time for him to go with Grandpa.  It has been a good day.

A Day Away

I had a most amazing and relaxing day yesterday, October 13th.  I drove to Idaho Falls and met Judy Warrick and Trinity Bugger for a great lunch (thanks, again, Judy).  It was so nice to visit with two of my very dear friends and see so many people that I know.  It felt like I have never left.  Relationships are what this life is all about and I must say that I have some great ones with many of those I used to work with.  And what a beautiful day to travel.  Warm and sunny.  I could see the Tetons from the freeway near Idaho Falls and had a real yearning to just drive that direction.  I can feel another road trip coming on which never disappoints Brad.  He loves to travel.  Well, just had to post my yesterday.  It was so great.  I just love those two.  BYW, I did take my camera, but then forgot to take a picture.  That is so not like me

ABBA MANIA!!!

Teauna and I got tickets to the ABBA Mania show in Pocatello on the 16th of September.  We pretty much made a day of it when all was said and done.  We ate at Chili's (thank you Tea!!) and did a bunch of window shopping (thank you BB&B).  Gotta love that store.  So much stuff.  But the most fun and highlight of the night was the extremely fun concert itself.  The group did an amazing job and we just had so much fun.  We were in the third row from the stage and got to watch as the girls really played up the men in the audience.  It was great!!  Wonderful Mom and Daughter party.  And, of course, the next day I just had to pop in my dvd of Mama Mia and live the night all over again!!  What a great, feel good movie.

Tea looking good while getting her massage at BB&B

Kathy looking way too relaxed while getting her massage at BB&B

Excellent Mom and Daughter photo at ABBA MANIA

Periodic Spring

Earlier this year, Brad and I took a one day road trip to Wyoming and it ended up being a very, very long day.  Our route was altered due to a snow avalanche and it made the trip about 6 hrs longer than necessary.  So we decided to go back on August 29th to see where the avalanche had been and see just how many miles it would have been.  We had lunch in Afton and then went to the tourist attraction, Periodic Spring.  Yep, I made the trek.  Not quick, but steady and it was worth the walk.  Kind of neat to see such a strong stream of water slow to nothing and then start up again.  And, the mileage.  Well, we found the avalanche spot and it was about 28 miles in from the main road.  That's how close we were when we had to turn back and go all the way to LaBarge and back around.  It was a nice trip this time around.  We were home much earlier.  And Afton is a very pretty place.

Grandkids, Sun, and Fun

8/20/2010:  The summer flew by and soon the kids would start school.  We hadn't taken the opportunity to do anything at all so we decided to take full advantage of the carnival, fair, and swimming pool.  Brenna, Cole, Bradey, and Kenz and I headed down to the carnival a little too early.  We were ready to party but the carnies were not, so we went to plan b and went swimming first instead.  Teauna came along and we had a great couple of hours in the pool and almost had it all to ourselves.  We followed this with each making their own little individual pizzas and playing for just a little bit and then we tried the carnival once again.  We had a blast and I must say the gentleman in charge of the tilt a wheel was great.  The first time he let me ride with the kids for free and the second time Brad rode for free.  I thought that was very nice.  The kids shared shaved ice, we walked through the fair and headed home.  It was a very fun day and a good way to end the summer.  Should have done it a couple of times, though, instead of just once.

Oneida Narrows

On July 31st we loaded up the tubes and headed to Oneida Narrows to float down the river.  Brad and Bradey used the fishing float tubes with the paddles and the rest of us used the regular round tubes.  Tea, Kenz and I tied ours together so we wouldn't get spread too far apart.  We had a little picnic before taking off down the river and then off we went.  The picture is us all loaded up at the end of the trip to head back to the picnic site, pack up our stuff and head home.  Sported a great sunburn for a few days.  Duh!!!  Good grief, Kathy.  Remember the sunblock; let's see, sun and water; what on earth were you thinking????

All done floating....

Relay for Life

July 16th was a great day!! Another year older, and I can still walk as a survivor in the Relay for Life. Teauna and the kids joined us and we even won a beautiful flower plant (T took it home so I wouldn't kill it). Brad also walked as a survivor as this year he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Did you know that 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer with many more going undiagnosed due to old age or other ailments??? So scarey, but when caught early (like Brad's) and treated agressively (like Brad will do) the success rate is awesome. So, I really didn't walk alone. We stayed for the lighting ceremony and, other than being hot, it was a great evening. Thanks, Trinity, for getting us involved in this great cause!! We just love you bunches.

Summer Creature Encounters

We had some interesting "creature encounters" this summer of 2010. The cutest little backyard visitors made a run up our very small cherry tree when Brad startled them as he went outside to feed Sammy (the pig). I'm thinking these three little racoons were without a Mom and doing their best to survive. I would think that eating (and pooping) all those cherries could be hard on a young little belly!! We only found them here this one time, although the evidence says they had been here on several occasions prior to the tree climb.

I love hummingbirds!! This picture, however, is not a hummingbird, but a big orange "wanna-be". We found it quite amusing to watch it balance at an odd angle to drink from the feeder. What a little thief!! But cute, none-the-less. We do love the birds. We feed them all winter long so it is no wonder this one came back for whatever it could find after we put their feed away for the summer.

Starting Once Again

Okay, so here I go once again, hoping to stick with a blog a little better. Got a little more interested after learning that it can be printed so it doesn't seem to be such a waste of time to log all the happenings and upload the pics. Brad and I actually live a pretty quiet and simple life and what may seem out of the ordinary to me is probably every day simplistic to others. Hmmmm. Well, this is just a little "hello" msg and I have some entries to make of our latest happenings. So I will go grab the camera, listen to the thunder (and hope it doesn't take down the power), and take a few minutes to do some catch-up.