Day #4 Yosemite

We gathered together at Ashley's to head up into the mountains and get started on our awesome adventure. She fed us a lovely breakfast and we were ready to go much to Rees' disappointment I might add. Rob teased him and said he could come too and he was pushing his way into his van in no time only to be drug out and made to stay home. Poor little guy. God got even with Rob though pretty quick! We were about an hour into our drive when it was time to get climbing up...that's when it hit. Car trouble. Their van kept over heating. We pulled over lots

And lots

And tried fixing things...

And we thought we had it fixed kinda so we pressed on. We had a fabulous lunch just outside the park and 5 hours later we were at Yosemite. Poor Beth & Rob they were getting stressed and wanted us to just leave them. NO WAY. It was a vacation not a race so we were good to hang around and make sure they made it. They limped through the rest of the day so it worked out. The vistas were gorgeous. You can see from this picture the amazing climb to get up there that we went through. That's Nevada in the background:

The scenery was so amazing. Because there was such a big snow pack this year the waterfalls were running every where. We loved it.

I had a heart attack watching Hayden go over to the edge to get pictures. This photo is for moms everywhere who have kids who think it is no big deal to go right to the very edge...
He stood out on this little rock and come to find out the drop off was only about 20 feet but from where I was cowering it looks like a mile down. Of course I was sure the momentum would make it impossible to stop at the next ledge once he fell over.

This is the edge looking down. The picture does NOT do it justice of course. It makes me look like a freak. Moms know I was right!

This little alpine lake was the first of many that day. We just loved it.

Loved this alpine meadow. There was running and standing water everywhere from all the snow this year. Californians everywhere also!! I masterfully cut them out of the photos.

A quick stop to let the van cool down and grab a pic. Awesome.

Another great view point.

This amazing picture was just one of many gorgeous spots along the way. Loved loved loved the waterfalls!

Here we are trekking back to get a picture of a waterfall in Yosemite Valley.

This is Bridal Veil falls. It was a short 1/2 mile hike. It was so misty from the falls I was afraid to take the camera out in case it got ruined. Come to find out this was only the beginning of wet!

Below the falls and down the river a bit.

Nobody better notice that I picked this day to not wear makeup. What was I thinking. It could have been our family picture for the year!!

I loved this view of half dome. By now it was getting to be early evening so the light was amazing.

So this had to be our favorite spot of the day. This is upper and lower Yosemite Falls. It was absolutely gorgeous. I have about a million pics of this from many angles. We couldn't get enough. There was a lovely hike up to the bottom. The water was every where not just misty on this one. I wish I was brave enough to do the hike up to the top of the falls some day. Not sure I have what it takes to do it though.


This was the lovely view of the Yosemite Valley on the way out. It looks just like a postcard. There was still lots of winding narrow roads to go to get to Madera and our hotel for the night. We left the park pretty late but we are glad we stayed. It was incredible. Lots of crowds especially in Yosemite Valley itself but I can see why!! We pulled into our hotel about midnight just about a half hour before Beth & Rob. What a fun day and we look forward to doing it all again someday soon, hopefully.

Our Vacay Day #1,2 and 3

We had a really tough time picking a good time to go on our vacation this year. With every one's schedules we couldn't accommodate everyone so took Hayden and went since this is his last before his mission. Mendis & Delmar had business meetings up at Lake Tahoe so that's what got this party started. Wednesday Delmar and Joan and Mendis and I loaded up at the crack of dawn and headed up there. We drove to Tonopah and stopped for there for lunch. Ashley asked if she could bring Rees over to Subway where we were for a quick visit and we were only too happy to oblige! We got a few hugs in and we were off again. It made for a long day driving up but we enjoy driving even through the middle of Nevada believe it or not. We stayed at North Tahoe at the NorthStar I think it was called. The rooms weren't anything to write home about but the village right there was great. We found a little gelato shop that first night and that was sooo good.
The next day the men had meetings and I had the best day ever. IT's like it was a reward for something. We had a delightful breakfast before Mendis had meetings. I had a warm homemade peach scone and fruit salad. To die for. Then I watched tv in my room, played around on Mendis' computer, read my book, did sudoku puzzles and ate a divine death by chocolate cupcake. Seriously fabulous. All this while looking out my window at pine trees swaying in the breeze!! We had a BBQ that might that was delicious with the whole group.
The next morning Joan and I got up early and drove around the entire lake. I don't know that I hae ever been around the whole thing at least not that I remember.
It was a lovely drive and Joan and I had lots of time to visit all the way around. I haven't had much of a chance to talk with her so it was a good catchup. At about noon the guys were done so we took a quick gondola ride up to the top of the mountain and headed out. We drove back down through Tonopah but this time they dropped us off at Ashley & Benjy's to spend the night.
Hayden and Cymoni and Devony drove up from home and were already there when we got there. We had a great dinner and spent the night playing games. Fun Fun start to the vacation!

My BDay

So yeah I just had a Birthday. The big milestone Birthday at that. You know I have spent enough time mourning my youth over the last few years that it just wasn't that bad. Turning 40 was hideous but this one was not too bad. Mendis must have made the difference for me. He went to great lengths to make this a good one. He does such a good job it's hard to top each year but he does it. I got to get away this year which I love. Anytime I get out of here in the summer is a good time!
So we have been trying to get up to Rexburg for a year to visit Jeff and we finally did it. I got off work at 7pm on Wed so at 7:20 we pulled out. We drove to Pleasant Grove and threw Christina into the car and kept going to SLC. By the time we pulled into the hotel it was 2am which helps explain why I left the credit card at the front desk. We slept through breakfast but hit the Gateway Shopping center for lunch and shopping. I got to pick out anything I wanted for my present but Mendis said it couldn't be clothes or something like that that wouldn't last so I could keep it to remember my birthday so guess where I headed...yup the jewelry store. But you know faced with unlimited choices I had no clue what I wanted. The jeweler suggested a Pandora charm bracelet and I loved it. It is the coolest thing because you can put any charms on it you want so I decided to get one for each of my kids and us that describes us the best. I got the gold heart for Mendis. I got the teapot for Ashley because she loves all things Victorian and having tea (hot choc). Christina chose the apple since she is a teacher. I ordered a kangaroo for Jeff. I ordered a football helmet for Hayden and I ordered a cute piece of luggage complete with travel stickers that represents me. I can't wait until all the charms get here!! There are some cool spacers and a safety chain in there too so it is so fun.

Anyway after we spent money we didn't have we hit the road for Rexburg. We got there just in time to meet Jeff and Rachel at Outback for dinner. Rachel you say?? Yes, Jeff has a girl friend so we got to meet her. She is quite wonderful. She is confident and well on her way. She loves history so Mendis loves her. She lived in Thailand for 11 years so has gotten to see alot of the world. And she' s a very nice girl and we enjoyed meeting her. Besides if she likes Jeff how bad can she be right! After dinner we walked all through campus. Loved the gardens of course:Since I am sure there are one or two of you who haven't facebook stalked Jeff and Rachel yet I threw this picture in that I stole from FB so you can see them. I know that inquiring minds want to know:

So on this garden tour we saw this amazing "shoe garden" that was so unique I threw it in. Pretty fun huh:

We walked the whole campus and even went up to the Temple where we got a kick out of all the couples together in every corner! We just plowed right on through:

Friday after Jeff finished classes we had lunch then went to the Bodies exhibit at the Idaho Falls Museum. We have always wanted to see it and it didn't disappoint. We had a little time to kill so we drove out to see the famous dunes where all the college kids hang out...After we picked up Tori (my niece)we had dinner. Then we went to Walmart to buy some cards and we brought them back to the motel and played cards for a few hours. Here we are showing how relaxed we are between hands...

Well we drove all the way home on Saturday because Hayden had his Patriarchal blessing and Mendis had meetings.It was a great trip! See birthdays can be fun after all.

GiRL's CaMP

This year the ward's got to do their own girl's camp which I just love. It is an opportunity do do something a little different and you get your girl's all to yourself!! This year we went to Bryce Canyon. We stayed in the Ruby Inn Campground in the Tepee's. That is a fun adventure because you are surrounded by the public and at their mercy. People apparently don't follow the old campground etiquette rules so much any more. Generators and music at night etc. Oh well no big deal.

Mendis went with me and we headed up Friday morning since I had a Credit Union Meeting Thursday night. We got there just in time for the hike. Thank goodness since I would have been so bummed to have missed that. We got to hike the Rim Trail at Bryce which was just gorgeous. Of course watching the girls at the edge about killed me but no one fell over I am pleased to report. Not for lack of trying though...

We had a nice devotional after dinner and our annual testimony meeting which is always the highlight of the whole camp. Each evening Jeff Jensen favored the girls with a poem he created just for them detailing the events of the day. He dressed up in a wild outfit and made everyone laugh and then he would deliver a treat of some kind. Here he is delivering the goodies for s'mores before the awesome poetry!

While Mendis and I weren't there for very long we were sure glad we could make it for part anyway. It was so nice to spend some time with the girls away from the distractions of the world and have some fun together.

Pre-Grad Drama

SO Hayden went to his last night of Mutual just the night before graduation. The priest quorum played some tennis then they moved on to basketball. They had finished up 2 games but they decided they didn't want to leave it at a tie so they played one more game...
During the game Hayden went up for a shot (he made it by the way) and when he came down he heard a big crack and twisted his ankle. He was terrified he broke his ankle. Jonathon brought him home and I threw some ice on it. He wanted a blessing right away so I grabbed Mendis from the back yard. Thank goodness for the priesthood. His YM leader came by just at the right time to see how he was and helped give him a blessing.
The next day, June 9, Hayden went to his last day of school on crutches. He refused to stay home. Well at least he told me he used the crutches but I have my suspicions. I got him a Dr appointment for that afternoon. I was supposed to go to jury duty that day but blew it off to take Hayden to the Dr instead. We thought we better take him to the foot & ankle Dr just to be safe. The swelling had gone down alot but he had a couple of xrays and it was decided he had a high ankle sprain. Whew!
They gave him a super wazoo brace and he could walk on it again without hardly a limp. They gave him some pain pills and 6 weeks of physical therapy and sent him on his way. So luckily he was able to "Walk" for graduation that night and was fine for the back east trip too a couple of days later. Crazy kid scaring us all like that. If it wasn't for that football scholarship we probably would have thrown some ice on it and told him to suck it up being the kind hearted folks we are are huh Jeff.

My Little Helper!

Here we are getting ready for the big dinner the night of graduation. It wasn't too bad to get prepared because everyone was bringing salads to eat also. (The salads by the way were the best) I roasted up 5 roasts and I was going to roast some red potatoes. My plans got a bit of a kink in them when Hayden hurt his ankle but that's a whole other post. Any how here I am getting ready for dinner with my little helper.
This reminds me of the days of Jeff helping me in the kitchen. It didn't matter what I was making Jeff was right there to help. I would be at the counter and I would hear the scrape of the chair being drug over beside me. Sometimes I would try and sneak into the kitchen so quietly and barely make a sound but soon after I would hear the chair being drug over (some days it was like nails on a chalk board) ... he always caught me. It's just that I was always in a hurry and helpers slow you down and are always on the messy side. Well I survived my little helpers through all those years and now they like to cook. We would always call Jeff...chef Jeff as a matter of fact. Just when I thought the kitchen was mine. I have a whole new crop of helpers now. Rees was shocked when I told him he could help! HE washed all the potatoes for me then got the boot from mom when he was finished and started to play in the water making "soup". Just like the good old days. Well not quite....I have a little more patience and time so it's fun times!

Hayden's Graduation

Graduation was quite different this year. First our baby was graduating. Second he wanted to stay in High School forever. Third it was outside.

We had anticipated this day for awhile so we were ready for the big day. Hayden and his friends not so much. So when it was Hayden's turn to march in he looked a little like he was going out to meet the firing squad. Not excited to be done at all. Most of the guys were as somber as he was too. They have had such a fun time and good high school experience they knew it would never be the same for them. The graduation ceremony was awesome. One of the best ever. This was the first one to be outside. I had dreaded that part because it was the 9th of June. The weather was pretty perfect though. The sun was going down and there was not a smidge of the typical wind storm. I love that they put the graduates on the scoreboard all night. Awesome touch!Marching in...

Most of the speeches were fabulous. Very memorable. It all took an hour but it seemed to go quickly. At one point they recognized the Empowered Graduates but you couldn't see Hayden standing up in the dark to well. He got lots of scholarships to help. He, as you all know, got the Dixie State College football scholarship. But he also got the OPD Scholarship which was a nice surprise. He also got a Booster Scholarship and a Red Cross Blood Drive Scholarship to share with 1 other student. He has worked very hard during high school to keep his grades up while managing to play 3 sports all 4 years of high school. We are so proud of him. He's also a nice guy which I think is the best part. He's a great leader and a good friend to many.

After the ceremony they had the mix and mingle in the center of the field which was so cool. Everyone could be together if they wanted and not stuck around in small groups

We were so happy Christina could be here as well as Ashley and Benjy which were a last minute addition to the party!!

Here's one of my favorite pics of us with the aunts and uncles from the Cooper side. They are always so supportive and we love to be together.

There are a million pics of Hayden with his friends of course. I like this one in particular. It started out with just a couple of the kids then one of their friends would walk by and they would jump in. Pretty soon the group turned into a mob clinging together. These kids have been such good friends to each other for so long they had a hard time leaving and going to their party. I' am sure they had to turn out the lights on them and make them leave!!
After graduation we started a new family tradition. After Ryan's graduation a couple of weeks ago Stacey and Terri made delicious milkshakes for everyone. They were kind enough to bring down the milkshake maker and do it for us all too!! We think it should be done now after every single graduation...lucky Stacey & Terri.
Thanks to everyone who could make it to Hayden's Graduation. It was a fun night for the whole family. Thanks especially to his friends and their parents for feeding him for years and giving him a great place to crash. Many many thanks to the great staff at Moapa Valley High School. I guess we are done with high School!