I hate it when that happens

I suppose I should have taken my gut feeling/ premonition sense of something brooding a little more seriously...at this point I'm not even sure what I thought was going to happen...whatever it was has been replaced by the whirlwind that has been wrecking havoc with our lives!

CHANGE is in the wind:
Youngest child to college-with a job...oops-the employer forgot  $$$
Continent jumping
A sold house became 'unsold'
An old job got replaced with a new one-necessitating an out of state move
Taking a semester break to get solidly 'back in the saddle' is now a rodeo
Car buying in three days
Parenting a parent-like giving birth to a child you didn't know you were going to have
New job possibilities
Less than a month ago
I couldn't see what was coming-but knew that something was...I hate it when that happens.

Count your many blessings
Name them one by one
and it will surprise you what the Lord has done
Count your many blessings
Every doubt will fly
and you will be singing as the days go by
                                                               (Hymns pg. 241)
.....
I'm not there yet
but Thanks for the reminder

Change is in the Wind

It feels like the weather is changing...hmmm What's new about that?
No it really feels like the season is changing. Flocks of birds line the overhead wires and tops of trees, leaves seem to be showing up on the lawn (which is still crispy) and the temperature has dropped (a little).

Life is changing...hmmm What's new aboout that?
I think it really is..a life season is changing and I need to think about what that means.  Some of the signs are there and if I choose not to notice them someone always seems to point one out.
If rain falls I go inside or stand with the door open and watch.  I can't change it. I just feel what it's doing and wait to see the result. 
No harm in that.

Tomorrow the sun will shine and I will see that too. And drink in the warmth if I can, if I'm ready.
I'm watching.
Hmmm What's new about that?

90 degrees seems alot cooler than it used to!

It is still too hot to spend much time outside. (As in more time than it takes to go from one air conditioned building to the next)  The temperature has dropped into the 90's with heat indeces hovering around 100. I am grateful that it is cooler less hot!
It would be nice to go fishing...in Alaska!

I promised some more photos of the mountains and am hoping that they will bring at least a mental breath of cool air with them. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

The first herd of elk we saw must have had at least 100 in it. It was near the summit in Rocky Mountain National Park. As we came out of the park there were other herds but not nearly so large-the elk were bigger but the numbers fewer!

These quilts were on display at the Art Museum on campus at BYU.

I didn't know we weren't suppose to take pictures-I even looked for some notification...so until I used a flash which had the unexpected result of producing an usher/security guard-I snapped a few. There were other quilts that were more notable in the display but I thought I was going to get a photo of all of them and wasn't really paying attention to the order I took the photos.

As you can see in this 'detail' photo, the applique and dimension to the quilt is from men's ties! It was quite clever.

'My, how you've grown since we were last at the condo' :)

A familiar phrase around there but this is just a little trick photography.

These aren't-he really is doing pull ups on the loft floor!

Down to the valley floor from the condo was sort of a temperature shock but as we climbed up into the Uintah's we all gave a collective sigh of relief...except Dad-he complained that we were freezing his ears off when we rolled down the windows!

This wasn't the lowest the temperature got on the way to the cabin but Mr. College Freshman chided me for taken pictures of the temperature :)

Who cares?-it's digital!

The week at the cabin begins!

From Sweatshirts to Sweat box

It was true...I couldn't take any more stuff with me...and somehow I guess we couldn't bring home any less! We dropped off stuff for one college student, picked up the stuff from another (there was a little bit of exchange there-but not much) one bike off the roof, another back on. We had to add in camping gear and food so we bought moving boxes to conserve space...who knew how much that would help! The amount of stuff we could pack in, I mean...not the amount of visibility! 

We spent the first week getting the car repaired :) doing things on campus and then spent a couple of days at the condo with my dad and family. It was hectic but enjoyable. 
We had a wonderful time at the cabin! It was great to have temperatures that barely made it into the '80's during the day and stayed below 60 at night.  Compare that to the heat wave at home and we were doubly blessed! The day we left for the cabin the temperature was close to 90 degrees in the valley but as we got to the higher altitudes the temperature kept dropping....we passed patches of snow along the sides of the road.

We celebrated a birthday,

 cleared land,

 played games,

 got dirty,

 went fishing,

 hiked,

went to the shooting range,

 got dirty,

 painted rocks,

 ate,
 played in the fire,

 took pictures,

 got sunburned (and dirty)...

 the guys made a screen door to help keep bugs out of the cabin


We did indeed have more craft materials than could be used in a week!

More than enough to get dirty :)



We roasted hot dogs,

we played pioneer games,

 we read the scriptures and prayed together.

We talked, we laughed and sometmes even cried a little.

We watched a slideshow of 'the good ole' days'  (that weren't really) and reminisced about who did what when...and tried to figure out who in the heck some of the people were in those slides!

4GB of photos later I have lots to choose from...

"Oh, ye mountains high,
where the clear blue sky
arches over the vales of the free.
Where the pure breezes blow
and the clear streamlets flow,
How I've longed to your bosom to flee!"
Hymnal page 34-'O Ye Mountains High'

(especially when it feels like 120 degrees here at home)

It did sort of feel like Zion...I can't think of much better than to be in a beautiful place surrounded by family!

I'll post more pictures as I sort through the virtual stack!

I can't take any more!

I mean it...there will not be room in our car for any of the college stuff we are hauling if I try to squeeze in one more game/activity/craft! 
I now have an entire bin full of craft stuff to bring along with a box of projects! If the kids do all of these things they will never see the light of day! :) I am not plannng on bringing a lot of it home!
I hope it is as fun to make the things as it has been thinking about them!  :)