Green with envy!

I know you'll all be green with envy when I tell you that I'm not doing any housework or cooking or yard work next week at all! I'm spending the week camping with 28 of my most favorite teenage girls....ages 11 - 17! They are so enthusiastic & full of fun & easy to get along with & obedient, I can hardly wait. We have 7 girls that have never been to Girl's Camp before so that will make it extra exciting! The adult leaders are also some of my favorite people to hang out with so Girl's Camp is going to be WOW.....our theme this year is Women of Worth!

Here we are at last year's camp! Now seriously don't you wish you were going too?

Unwelcome guest!

Look who I caught helping himself to my bird seed! I guess cute little squirrels deserve to eat too!! So I suppose he is now an 'invited guest'. I just hope he won't eat me out of house & home! Actually I hope he won't eat all the birds out of house and home! To those of you who think of squirrels as rats with bushy tails, my apologies.

Goodbye Jeep! Hello Jetta!

The old jeep has served its purpose by pulling our boat (until it was relieved of that duty by my new car) and reliably getting both John and Scott to Eagle High, to soccer games & practices, on dates & to work. It has even done more than its fair share of forbidden 'off roading'. Did they really think we'd believe that going at a normal speed through a puddle on a paved road would get mud & water on the top of the car?

After 160,000 it is finally ready to retire! The driver door won't latch and the repair would be 1/2 of what the car is worth so yesterday it was time to say a 'tearful' goodbye.

And a smiling hello to our new Jetta!

Oh the places we'll go.......

George & I can still stay up late!

George and I didn't get home until 3:30 this morning! No we weren't bar hopping or at the emergency room! George, Scott and I went to see "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" at 12:05 a.m. Scott said that George and I were the oldest people there! I thought it was really fun to see all the people in costume. Maybe next time we'll dress up. Those of you who know the men in my life can guess how likely that will be!

This wasn't my favorite of the Harry Potter movies but I did enjoy it. Scott thought it was too slow and spent too much time on the relationships and romances. That didn't bother me. In fact I quite enjoy that part! Definitely worth seeing! It made me want to read the last book again!

Happy Birthday Mary!!!

Things I bet you didn't know about Mary:

* In high school she switched from playing the flute to playing the trombone.

* She is a high scoring soccer player and a great soccer coach.

* She was crowned the "Queen" at a Stake Dance in Barcelona.

* Mary once famously announced to her incredulous brothers that "I like it when soccer games end in a tie, then no one has to feel bad." (Her brothers don't agree).

* Again, in Spain she taught our ward youth how to line dance to "Achy Breaky Heart".

* Mary said her first word at 9 months and it was the word, "pretty".

* On her first birthday she took her first steps from me to my mother. I couldn't have scripted it better.

* She just started taking piano lessons again. Way to go Mary!

* She has been serving in Primary (our church's organization for children) for the last 8 1/2 years and she still enjoys it!!!

* During her junior & senior years in Barcelona she endured much teasing and tormenting and questioning because she didn't drink or smoke. She was a great example of "standing as a witness of God" and being "steadfast and immovable."

* She thoroughly enjoyed serving as Ward Activities Committee Chairman. A party planner extraordinaire!

* Mary still calls her youngest brother "Shortie" even though he is about 9 inches taller than she is.

* She makes wonderful pies and rolls.

* On a school trip to Cairo, Egypt she was with a group of local teenagers & was in a car wreck. Her chaperone was horrified!

* Mary was and still is a much sought after babysitter!

* Her little niece likes Mary almost as much as she likes her Mom & Dad!

* Mary & Mark got married on her Lewis Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary!

Mary has always been easy to love and fun to have around. I couldn't ask for a better daughter and friend. We love you Mary!

Happy Birthday Mary!

July 16

Happy Birthday Mark!

I decided to follow the lead of some of my blogging buddies and do an honorary post on each family member's birthday. Our son in law Mark gets to be my first attempt.

Things I love about Mark:

* Mark collects antique guns.

* Mark is super handy around the house. He has finished their basement and updated their kitchen. And it all looks professionally done.

* Mark loves to read & he reads classics and biographies and good literature.

* Mark has a great love of and knowledge of history, especially Civil War history.

* He flies a Confederate flag!! (Smart boy....his mother in law is from Arkansas!!!)

* Mark loves antiques.

* Not only does he love them, he refinishes them and makes 'junk' into beautiful pieces of furniture!

* Mark has an extraordinary record collection.

* Mark loves Transformers!

* Although he doesn't have a love of travel, he doesn't mind if we take our daughter away from him for a trip every now and then!

* Mark is a great Webelo Scout leader. The parents & boys want him to stay in that calling forever because he makes it FUN. Rockets are a particular favorite!

* Mark is a hard worker who is dedicated to his job.

* He introduced Mary to target shooting which has become their new family hobby.

* Most important of all, Mark loves our daughter, married her in the temple for time & eternity, and takes good care of her.

Happy Birthday Mark!!!!!

July 14

Sold!

On Friday I sold my mother's house & somehow that just feels wrong. I can't imagine her not being there. I can't imagine not walking through her door to smell that uniquely comforting, sweet smell that all my children associate with Grandma....a smell of wood smoke and rose potpourri. I picture myself on each of my visits bringing my suitcase into the bedroom and putting my clothes away while she sits on the bed and catches me up on all the news. I miss her. Now a young couple call her house their 'first home' and that does feel right. Life goes on!

People who read my blog know that my mother died in March. What you may not know is that my Aunt Mary died last October. She was my Dad's sister but had been my mother's friend even before my parents got married. They tell me that they had been close friends for 67 years! For the last 30 years since my Daddy died they had been practically inseparable. They shopped together, went out to eat together & saw each other numerous times a day. If you saw one of them anywhere, chances are you saw the other!

At my Aunt Mary's funeral someone, who didn't know my exact connection to my aunt, casually remarked to me that they didn't think 'Bessie Montgomery' (my mother) would last 6 months without Mary. I didn't have any idea that they'd be right! My mother told me that the last 5 months without Mary had been the hardest and loneliest in her life. Thinking of them together now in heaven makes me smile!

Aunt Mary's house recently sold also. I hope the new owners of both of these houses realize that they are being watched over from above by two women who are particular about their houses and especially their yards! I hope the lawns are mowed regularly and the leaves raked promptly and weeds pulled just as they sprout.

I know that Moma & Aunt Mary will rejoice in the 'rightness' of their homes now becoming someone else's home. They would wish the new families all the joy that they have had (for the past 25 years in my mother's case and 39 years in Aunt Mary's) in these homes. Remembering that joy brings me peace!

Fourth of July

What's more American than baseball & fireworks on the 4th of July?

An afternoon at Black Canyon

Having Johnny home from Salt Lake for a week has been so fun! Yesterday we went to Black Canyon with the boat. George gave the boys an exciting ride in the tube.

I like their intent, tooth prominent, expressions. They look quite a bit alike.!

Three of my handsome boys! I guess I should call them men. When we were hiking last weekend I asked some people we met on the trail if they had seen our two 'boys' hiking with a black dog. They looked kind of confused until I said, "Well not really boys, young men". Then they remembered them. To me they'll always be my boys!

Since Johnny tells me that my blog has a bird theme, here is one of the Clark's Grebes whose diving antics we enjoyed watching all afternoon.

Success, finally!

Budding wildlife photographer, Johnny finally got a picture of our elusive hummingbird. Isn't he (or she) so cute? Anyone know what kind of hummingbird this is?