Thursday, September 24, 2009

Hot Air Balloon Supplement


One of the perks involved in living close to grandkids is that we have the privilege of helping out from time to time. Since Cameron couldn't go on the hot air balloon ride, Grandma and Grandpa went along to watch and tend.

The day was absolutely gorgeous. The owner of the balloon company was such a colorful character, and we knew it from the moment he emerged from his house--very mellow and relaxed. He put everyone to work getting the balloon ready.

Russ let me drive the fancy BMW convertible the half block to the launching site--once I got it out of 3rd gear, it was great... Thank goodness the convertible was still there when we returned--I'd left the keys in the ignition.

Cameron thinks he's cool in sunglasses--and he would be right!

Fern taking it all in--that balloon is huge!!


How many people does it take to get a hot air balloon launched? --if Russ would only help a little...



The balloon against the sun rising over the mountains was awesome.

Yep, landed right in a cul de sac (see Carrie's blog for details).

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Jackson Hole & Funny Kids

We haven't been to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and surrounding area for a long time. This really is some of our favorite scenery in the world, and with a promising weather forecast, we headed up to Rexburg. We left early Saturday morning with Darren and boys (Susan was hiking Table Rock with her ward--a feat in itself!). Everything was even more beautiful than we had remembered!

The Tetons from the Idaho side.

Through the trees at the String Lake picnic area.
Looking across Jenny Lake--fantastic! If we had a high-powered telescope, we could probably see Susan hiking Table Rock which is barely visible in the far distance.

This has got to be quietest these boys were all day! (Jacob, Ethan, Kevin) This was just before they caught an unsuspecting frog which really livened things up!
Looking back as we left--just can't get enough of those Tetons!

On to more crazy stuff--we stopped in Victor, Idaho, for a Huckleberry milkshake and discovered this posterboard as we left the drugstore--Carl as a fisherman. At first glance it looks almost like Darren!
Couldn't resist putting in this little guy--he loves glasses, and it took some coaxing to get them away from him.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Fruits of Our Labor

Being retired certainly doesn't mean sitting around. It's been great to be able to work together on projects that work seemed to get in the way of in the past.

Carrie's former co-worker and neighbor gave her peaches from her tree, and we didn't let one peach go to waste. Canned peaches, frozen peach jam, and peach leather were produced in record time. We have a new dehydrator that has been in constant use this summer--we've dried cherries, green peppers, bananas, apricots, and even tomatoes. Also strawberry and apricot leather. Yep, we're feeling frugal!




Family Treasure

Family photos are always a challenge--getting everyone happy at the same time, let alone getting everyone together. Since we were all gathered for our Island Park reunion, we took advantage of the rare occasion of having us all here.

This photo of the nine grandkids is classic. This happy group of seven boys and two girls is truly a keeper! (Not sure how long it will be current.....)
Updated family wall collection