April Through October

Summer Fun - Yuba

Gee, where to start when it has been six months again. Guess this will be another "six months in 60 seconds." Summer flew by like it always does. We went to our yearly campout up at the ranch in June. We went up a day earlier than everyone else, and it was a good thing that we did, because we had to go back down to SLC to get an axle for our boat trailer that had frozen up. We had "almost" the whole Davis family there.

In July we went to Yuba Reservoir for a few days. The weather was great, the water was pretty calm, the food was good, and of course, the company was fabulous!

We enjoyed family picnics in Utah and Wyoming, and celebrated the Fourth of July at Cory and Jeri's and then we all went to the fireworks at Riverton City. We took Brock, Parker and Ike to Pioneer Village, and celebrated the 24th of July at C.J. and Jennilyn's with barbecued ribs and fireworks.

We Got a beautiful new grandson, Mason Louis Klinesmith

Mel and I celebrated Anniversary #5 at Martin's Cove and Rock Hollow. It was an amazing trip and I believe that every member of the church should visit there and feel the wonderful spirit.

We enjoyed a summer of family parties, fishing, boating and an autumn of little league football; and I'll close with a few pictures of this years Halloween Party!

Hey, did you hear that both Alyssa and Alayna are expecting?

Witch's Challenge

Since it has been several months again since I’ve blogged; and since most of my closest blogger buddies haven’t blogged much lately either, I have come up with an excellent idea. I challenge each of you to a “BLOG-OFF”. Here’s the deal, everyone needs to update their blog within the next seven days. Those that do it get heavenly rewards. Those who fail to blog disappoint the rest of us because we don’t get to see what’s going on in their life. Fair enough? So ready, set, BLOG!

Moab Spring 2011

If you have never been to Moab, you have no idea what you have been missing! Red rocks, blue skies and views that go on forever! We had a fabulous time in Moab this spring with lots of good friends and great family. Randy and Alyssa joined us from Alaska; but some of our other family members were not able to make it. Those of us that are not fortunate enough to have our own jeeps rented them for a few days. There were 13 vehicles in our personal caravan on two full days of rough riding, bone crunching. trail-riding adventure.

"Rough and Ready" and her sister "Reckless" performed like the champs which they are....no broken axles or other breakdowns on the trip. It was a great vacation and a wonderful way to kick off the summer!

Moab is an adventure all in its self...

but we're looking forward to lots more adventures throughout the summer! Stay tuned. . .

Happy Birthday Month Mel

Anyone who knows much about Mel, knows that birthday's are no big deal to him!

"It's just another day," is his personal catch phrase. Well, since I personally believe that birthday's are lots of fun, and not, just another day, I decided to announce by blog that he is about to have another birthday. Tomorrow is March 1. It's the beginning of his "BIRTHDAY MONTH!" I'm starting in early wishing him a very happy birthday, and a fabulous year.

Happy Birthday, Mel

It has been a long time since I blogged. It was August, in fact. I can't think of too many really news worthy things that have happened since then. September was a blur. October also flew by. The highlight, of course, was our annual Halloween party, which is always a blast. This year it was at Jason's and Alaynas.

We always have our party outside, so we never know what the weather will be like; but so far, it hasn't been too bad.

And then we had November! It was an awesome month. On the 4th I flew to Kodiak, Alaska to be with Alyssa and Randy when they had baby #2.....Kaci Anne Martin. She is beautiful and I had a real hard time putting her and A.J. down when it was time to board the plane.

I had a wonderful time with them. We saw all of the sites of Kodiak. It is a beautiful place, with truly amazing scenery. While I was gone, Mel tore out of bathtub and tile and put in a whirlpool tub....can I say heaven!

December is always a great month. We had the annual Bingo party with the Davis' and that night went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert with David Archuletta. We spent Christmas Eve at Mel's mom's house in Evanston and enjoyed watching the grandkids perform the Nativity while Mel read from the New Testament at Bryan and Carol's.

The next morning we visited all of the kids and got to see their gifts.

On Christmas night we had dinner at our house with the other half of our kids. We played games, ate lots of food, and opened gifts. It was a great evening and we all had a lot of fun.

The downside of Christmas, this year, was the return of Mel's headaches. He suffers from "Cluster Headaches." If you don't know what they are, take a few minutes and google them. They are the headaches from #$%&#. Just watching him have them is painful for me. Having to actually suffer with, and endure the intense pain, himself, is incomprehensible. They are nicknamed "Suicide Headaches." I'll leave it to you to figure out why.
We, like all of you, are looking forward to an exciting new year. Mel is still looking for work, so if you can help or have any ideas, please let us know.

Summer in 60 Seconds

I last left off blogging at the 4th of July. It’s taken me weeks to get over my waterskiing injury, but I’m almost there! Since Independence Day, summer has flown by quickly.

We had a great family campout up in the Uintas. It was perfect weather, wonderful company, great food, and we had the pleasure of lots of mosquitos. Most all of our 11 kids were able to be there. Missing were our Alaskans, Alyssa and Randy. Also missing were Alayna and Jason who were vacationing in Florida, and Cory and Jeri. They missed out because Jeri thought that having surgery on her ankle would be a lot more fun than camping. #1Trent and family joined us, and Pat’s brother and nephew. We all had a great time fishing, visiting, and communing with nature.
The 24th of July was fantastic! We got to attend the 3rd annual Pioneer Day party at C.J’s and Jennilyns. We barbecued, visited and had the best home fireworks extravaganza, ever! We really lit up the night.












On the last day of July Mel and I hosted a dutch oven party in our back yard for about 28 friends from the ward. We cooked a couple of pots of barbecued pork and two pots of sour cream cheese potatoes. Our guests brought the rest of our meal. It was great. We visited, played a game and waited for the next patch of rain to hit. Thank heavens for Easy-up awnings!

Well August is ½ over now but we have lots of other things planned….stay tuned!

I love this time of year. I love how cute our little Hobbit House looks in the summer. The junk trees, that I curse, that surround our property and cover our yard with seed pods in the spring and leaves in the fall are beautiful at this time of year. Wow! Summer is really going by quickly this year. I guess because April and May was so cold and wet this year.

The kids treated me to a great birthday party up at the Spruces. We cooked hotdogs over the fire and Jennilyn made an amazing cake with fondant icing. It was a great afternoon.

We also had a picnic in our back yard for our kids and grandkids (at least all of those that could come.) We enjoy getting all of our kids together, and are looking forward to our family camping trip later this month.












We enjoyed our annual weekend with the family at the ranch, which is located between Evanston and the Uintas. Thanks, Emily, for being in charge this year. We had a great time.

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We enjoyed watching softball, attending the parade, having a barbeque at Cory and Jeri's with great friends and family; and of course enjoying all of the fireworks. We even had a sleep-over at Cory and Jeri's.

I really love the 4th of July and the 24th of July holidays. I think that Jeri put it best when she said that the 4th of July is great. It's not a lot of work. You don't have to decorate or shop to get ready for it. You just get to sit back and have fun with the people you love.

On Monday, Mel and I took the Shake, Rattle and Troll down to Utah Lake for a spin. It was a beautiful day with calm, gorgeous water. The temptation to ski (without a spotter) was too great for me. I got into the water, climbed into my skis, and.....

....sufficient to say that I've missed the last two days of work, and tomorrow is still questionable. ) Ah, the joys of growing old!