Rejuvination

It seems that lately I've had a bit more free time.....(could it be I got released from my Relief Society calling?)

It has been a time for me to take a deep breath and relax a bit. I have really been enjoying working on genealogy again. I think that the new family search is going to be amazing. Greg's sister let me log in on her account until our stake gets authorized to use it. I even went to the genealogy library for a class. I hope to take many more there. They have a very nice computer lab for their classes. Working on the genealogy is something that has been eating away at me lately. We recently had a lesson on it in Relief Society. One of our ladies is a missionary at the Family History center and she said that only 2% of the members actually work on their family history. When I heard that I knew that I had better do my part to bring that number up!!

I also am enjoying teaching primary. I can't believe how in depth the lessons are for 9 year olds. I have to study hard to prepare. This week the lesson is on Baptisms for the Dead. They are learning what vicarious and proxy mean.....I don't think I knew that when I was 9!! They are also learning that the baptismal fonts in the temples are in the basement to symbolize being buried. I was worried about not learning as much being in Primary, but preparing these lessons are going to teach me so much. There are many scriptures for me to study each week in preparation.

Greg and I have been talking about getting new bikes for a while. On Labor Day we took the plunge. I got one of those retro type bikes that allow you to sit more upright. I think I will love it. I have been out on it every day this week.

Today we took them over to Grand Teton National Park to try them out on the new bike trail that was opened there this year. The path is about 8 miles long....from Moose to Jenny Lake. It is very nice and we had a blast. I didn't know if I could make it for 16 miles...but I did!!

Here are a few photos showing the trail. Grand Teton National Park is my favorite place. Greg and I have had so many wonderful days together there. How blessed we are that we can go there for day trips. We love the outdoors but camping and sitting around a campground just isn't what we enjoy. We like to be active and enjoy really beautiful places, so this works out just perfectly for us. I think we have been there so many times that our car could go there on autopilot. The new bike trail will certainly be an activity that we will do again. If anyone is interested, if you ride your bike from the visitor's center, they are not charging admission to bicyclists going past the entrance gate. So, you can bicycle in for free right now. I guess it's only temporary, though, so you might want to call the park and check should you decide to try it.

A Great Day

The recovery from my surgery is going great. On Saturday I felt well enough to hike. We got up at 3:30 a.m. and drove to Teton Park to catch the 7:00 a.m. hikers shuttle across Jenny Lake.

When we got to the Jenny Lake parking lot and started to walk to the shuttle, Melissa saw something moving in the water a hundred yards or so to our left. She wasn't sure what it was, but the telltale hump told me immediately what it was.....a GRIZZLY BEAR!! Happily that was the only bear that we saw that day. He was headed in the opposite direction from us and only caused us a few seconds of excitement.

Cascade Canyon is a gorgeous area. The first 1.2 miles is pretty steep, but after that it is a mild incline with about an 1,100 foot overall elevation gain to the fork in the trail that we hiked to.

Here we are at Hidden Falls which is near the beginning of the hike.



You go up a steep area to end up above Hidden Falls. Then you come out into this beautiful U-Shaped valley with steep peaks rising up about a mile on either side of you. It is glorious. Cascade Creek flows all along the hike with intermittent ponds formed by the creek along the way. This is our third trip into the canyon and we've seen moose in the ponds each time.

Here are a few scenes from along the trail.

There are deep dark forested areas that are very peaceful and beautiful.



The ponds are gorgeous with clear water and pretty reflections.


The boulder fields are very dramatic and beautiful as well with lots of green colored moss growing on the rocks.


4.5 miles from where we started you come to a fork in the trail. How I wish I were young and in good shape so I could go further. Maybe someday I'll be able to make it to Lake Solitude. I hear that it is gorgeous. But, it may take an overnight backpacking trip for me to be able to make it that far and back.




Instead we decided to enjoy our lunch on a rock overlooking a beautiful cascading waterfall. I wish I could put the sound of the water here for you to enjoy.....


After lunch we turned around to go the 4.5 miles back to the west boat ramp. I sure am glad they have the ferry to cut 2 miles off the hike each way.




On our way back a little chipmunk found some of the trail mix that Melissa accidently dropped. Obviously, he is very used to humans.



On the way home we discovered a very dangerous thing.....the location of the Hagan Daz ice cream store in Jackson Hole.

If you ever want to take this hike....give us a call....we would love to be tour guides for a day!!

Fun Summer Times

Summer always goes by too fast. We try to cram a lot of activity into those three months. Last Saturday was no exception. The girls were running in the Mesa Falls race. It is always so much fun to go and watch them run. This year the four oldest grandkids were old enough to realize what their moms were doing. They had fun cheering for them. They also had fun checking out caterpillars on the road.






Big Judds for lunch was a big hit.


After lunch, Greg and I took off for Virginia City. We hadn't been there for years and I wanted to see what it is like now. It's really a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time in Virginia City before we went to Nevada City (1.5 miles away). I wish we would have gone to Nevada City sooner because there is a living history museum there but it was closing soon and we didn't have time to visit it. I definitely want to go back. You should go on the weekends because that is when they have different things going on in the living history museum as well as the steam locomotive running between Virginia City and Nevada City.

Here are a few photos from the outing so you can see if you might be interested in going there. There are several restaurants and a nightly melodrama. We had taken a picnic and didn't have time to stay for the melodrama. I bet it is fun.

More Redfish Memories

The girls did such a great job telling their favorite Redfish Memories. Here are some that I can think of.

1. Having the twins ride their tricycles over to our camp site every morning to say hello.
2. Playing in the sand with Jade.
3. Taking Jaden to the store so he could buy a present for all the little kids. We had fun picking out a toy for each of them.
4. Watching Jaycie look at everyone's faces. She would just stare at the face of each person who held her.
5. Having a nice Sunday evening visit with Jenn and Mike outside their trailer.
6. Watching Harlee and Jaden dance at the Lodge concert.
7. Watching the bright pink sunset on Sunday night.
8. Watching all my sons-in-law being fantastic fathers.
9. Getting to know Lindsie and Chennelle better. What fun they were to have at camp.
10. Of course, the one foot standing competition was hilarious. It was fun seeing all the different techniques and the competitive spirit of all the contestants even though it was such a silly thing to be good at.
11. It was fun playing "Go Fish" with the grandkids.
12. Having popcorn from the Curtises new popcorn popper.
13. Seeing Jaden's face when he got to have a tour of the Sheriff's boat.
14. Getting all of Harlee's loves and hugs and listening to her sing. Even though she had a rough time sleeping at night, she was so pleasant and fun during the day.
15. Having Greg be so kind about doing things for me so I could follow the doctor's orders.
16. Walking along the creek with Greg and Zoey in the morning.
17. Watching Madagasgar with Harlee and Jaden.
18. I could go on and on........

Good News

I saw the doctor today and he said that my surgery is healing up perfectly. My nose still has a lot of swelling which is causing my headaches, but the doctor thinks that they will be going away soon.

I am so glad that the surgery is behind me even if it did mean that I couldn't do a lot of the things that I normally like to do at Redfish. Even with the restrictions, I had a great time.

I was able to do some reading there of some wonderful books. They are the Refiner's Fire series by Lynn Austin. I would recommend them for anyone who loves historical fiction. They are some of the best Civil War books I've read. The author does a great job of developing her characters. Phoebe (the tall, homely woman who joined the northern army as a male soldier) might just be my favorite character ever in a novel.




I also had a great time watching the kids play. Boy did they ever love that cold water!! They reminded me of Melissa, who used to play in the lake until her lips were completely blue.

As always, the company was the best and the food was great. The weather cooperated fairly well except for a couple of days that were a little hot. No one was hurt and nothing broke down, so all in all, it was a great year at the lake!!

I needed a smile today

This gave it to me...... This couple is gaining Internet stardom with their wedding processional. You've probably already seen it, but if you haven't, enjoy!!

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Unusual Summer

This has not been one of my best summers. In May I started getting dizzy. Some days it was worse than others. It's a helpless feeling when you are dizzy. I could tell that the problem was in my ears and sinuses. I called the ear, nose, and throat specialist that I had seen in the past and got an appointment, but it was two months before I could get in.

I went to my general doctor and he ordered a CT scan of my sinuses so I would be prepared when I saw the ENT. I got a call from the ENT office. The doctor needed a longer appointment to discuss the CT scan with me. I knew that must mean trouble....

I finally was able to see the doctor on July 9. I did have multiple physiological problems that needed to be fixed....deviated septum, extra sinus, and extra air pocket. There were many areas of my head that were inflammed.

So last Friday, I had the surgery. It hasn't been that bad....it's not fun, but not horrible either. I am just so grateful for all the love, support, and help that has been given to me. I've had wonderful meals prepared, beautiful flowers and plants broght to me, many visits and phone calls, and the sacrament was brought to me at home yesterday. Greg and Melissa have been wonderful to make sure that everything is taken care of.

Now I am just waiting for things to heal. Thursday I see the doctor and hope to get the splints out of my nose. They've been the worst part. I wonder if I will be able to smell things once this heals..... After 30 years of not being able to smell anything, it would be crazy to have that sense back again. At least now I know why I haven't been able to smell. The doctor didn't want to do too much work around the area that controls smell because it is a more risky place to make changes. I'm glad he was conservative in his approach. So I'll just have to wait and see.

This isn't exactly how I planned to spend my summer, but hopefully fall will be great!!

I just want all of you to know how much I love you. I hope that this surgery does the trick and I have more energy and strength to serve each of you.