A Little Picnic

When I was a young girl whenever we would travel my mom would point to various places along the way and say "That would be a good place for a little picnic". Or she would say, "let's go on a little picnic". So on Saturday when my husband said lets go to Saguaro Lake at dusk I immediately thought, "we could have a little picnic". I am my mother's daughter.

I was asked recently if my husband was romantic and I told them that he was very romantic and what fun it was for me. I thought of this exchange when Saturday came along.

Saturday for Richard and I started with attending the viewing for a friend's father. Then on to lunch at one of our favorite local places...Rosa's. Richard wanted to continue our "date" (the boys were both out of town) and so we attended an afternoon movie "Nights in Rodanthe". (good chick flick) After the movie Richard still wanted to continue the date so....he wanted us to drive to the lake. A storm was moving in and lightning was flashing all over and the desert and mountains were beyond description. Such a beautiful evening. After getting to the lake as we went to a ramada for our dinner we had a skunk run across our path just a few feet ahead of us. Luckily we didn't startle the skunk and no one got sprayed. It was a lovely day and a great way to begin celebrating our 3 year anniversary of when we began dating. Time has gone by so fast.


Here is Red Mountain in all of it's glory. These pictures will give the Idaho kids a little piece of home.This rainbow was so vibrant. There actually were two rainbows but we couldn't get the shot. I love the saguaro and rainbow contrast.

An Arizona sunset...is there anything prettier?

This little valley below the cliffs is behind the dam and SRP has their workers living there. It is a beautiful valley and I would love to find a way down to the river here.

Baking a cake for the "Queen"

Lindy and I sent Dustin and Abish off on another date and we thought we would make Abish a birthday cake. Lindy asked if we were going to make mama a princess cake like she had for her birthday. I told her no....that mama was a queen and so we had to make her a queen cake. Here is Lindy in her new apron we picked up in Mexico and finally delivered. She is ready to bake!Here we are mixing it up and having a fun time.

No baking session would be complete if we couldn't lick the spoon!

Lindy wanted so much for us to hide when Abish and Dustin came home so we could have a suprise party. The problem was that when they returned I was busy changing diapers and the phone kept ringing and we didn't hear them arrive. We did improvise when Lindy hid in the living room and was able to suprise Abish when she entered the room. Here we are trying to get the candles all set up.

Lindy loved the look of the finished cake...and so did Abish. Make a wish Mom.

A cake fit for a queen. Here Abish and Lindy blow out the candles.

It was so fun to spend time with the kids before returning home to my sweetie. Thanks for everything kids, love you all.

Abish's 30th Birthday

A real treat of my trip to Boise was the fact that Abish turned 30 while I was there. We started her birthday morning by sleeping in and then to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The food was great and the kids enjoyed the pancakes tremendously. Then we went to one of the many parks in town. This one was down by the river and there are many parks that connect with each other with walking and biking paths. Here is a picture of a little bit of fall!!!!! I absolutely love fall and fall colors and the trees were just starting to turn. It was lovely.This set up really didn't work out but it was worth a try.

This is a shot while standing on the bridge looking down the river.

Abish and Bianca

These next two pictures were taken after a couple of joggers went by and Lindy decided to do her "exercising". She ran to the end of the bridge and back. Notice she is wearing her slippers and the purple shades!

A family shot. The kids often go to the park and this is a typical stance for them. Lindy was hiding and Bianca loves to ride in the stoller and take walks.

Lindy and Dad checking out the ducks in the pond.

Bianca entertaining herself in the stroller.

I wanted a shot of Lindy with these flowers and just by chance got a picture of her putting her glasses on the flowers. Maybe she thought it was a little too bright for them?

Bianca In The Morning

Look at this bedhead! What a hoot and that furrowed brow is hilarious.Best buds, Dad and Bianca.

Lindy and Bianca

On Monday I left Twin Falls behind and traveled to visit Dustin, Abish, Lindy and Bianca in Boise. I encouraged Dustin and Abish to have a date; a rare commodity for them. I wasn't totally altruistic about the gesture because....I got to spend time with the girls. Bianca is a totally different little girl since the last time that I saw her. Here she is enthralled with my tennis shoes. No need for fancy toys to entertain her.

Lindy has grown so much and is so smart. We had fun watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon (the really old ones) DVD and had fun having dinner, talking and hanging out. She is so mature.

Sisterly love....or mauling?

Bianca's curly hair is such a huge change from Lindy's straight hair. Abish says Bianca's hair has a life of it's own.

Bianca looks so much like Dustin. What a cutie.

Random pictures from Dana's

Here are a few random pictures from my trip to Dana's.
Here is sweet Ry.Dana eating smores at the Garden Cafe. (It was the coolest idea for a dessert, you toast your marshmallow right at the table!)

Michael at lunch.

A few years ago I made this tent for the kids. They still love it and we pulled it out for Ry and Anna. They wanted to watch a movie in it so they got their pillows and blankets and had a great time.

Anna and the favorite man in her life....Dad!

The new arrangement in Dana's hutch.

Carter and I sharing a fun moment. He is the best and is reading chapter books in his first month of 1st grade. Way to go Carty!

Annie with a fruit snack stuck in her teeth!

More smores at lunch.

Curtains for Anna Banana

This is another blog of the trip to Idaho. (Still much more to come)
Anna has had a blanket over her window to darken her room for a long...long time. So....new curtains were in order. Dana chose this fun pink and green stripe and we got busy. They turned out darling and the room is considerably darker with the special darkening fabric on the back. Now Annie will be sleeping a little later in the morning. Yea!

Happy Birthday Carter "7"

Dana made this cute birthday banner. This side is for boys and the reverse for girls. This is just one of the many projects we wrapped up while I was there.

Carter Michael turned 7 while I was visiting and after 2 full days of painting we wrapped it up and Dana pulled together a party for the birthday boy. Here he is after the party playing with his big gift...a leapster 2.

Carter wanted a BYU football birthday party. He invited a few BOYS, (his first all boy party) and they had football games, cake and fun. Dana put together this fun cake.

Here was his table showing his gifts, cake and game prizes. Very colorful.

Present time. Notice the BYU football field rug that Michael brings down from the playroom every gameday.