Our Family Campout

Recently, we decided to do something that we haven't done in a long time. We decided to go camping! We went to Black Hawk Campground up Payson Canyon in Utah.

We reserved a campground in an equestrian campground.

What a beautiful place to ride horses.

We arrived on August 8, 2011.

The first thing we did when we arrived was set up camp.

We bought new cots and mattress pads. We were grateful for comfortable beds and we were grateful that we stayed warm.

We set up the porta privy,

our living room where we played games,

and our kitchen.

We were very crowded with two cars full of stuff, but when you consider that we brought up a whole house with a living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, it's easy to understand why we were so crowded.

We dutch oven cooked and also cooked on our propane stove.

From the beginning of thinking about going on this trip, we were kind of worried about bears. There have been several bear sightings and some bear attacks just this summer. The first night we were there, Heidi was awakened by an animal right outside the tent by her head. It made a kind of snorting, exhaling noise and then we heard it walking around on the sticks all around our tent. We could tell it was a large animal but we weren't sure what it was. It's a little hard to get back to sleep when you are afraid of what's out there. Well the next day, we were driving to Payson Lakes and about 2 1/2 miles from our camp we see a bear walking across the road. It stopped in this open field and then ran up into the trees. It's hard to see, but there is a black speck right in the middle of this picture and that is the bear.

After that exciting event, we got to Payson Lakes. It was an absolutely beautiful day.

There were lots of people canoeing, boating, and fishing.

We sat there thoroughly enjoying the beautiful scenery and the cool weather.

Here is one view of the mountain.

The last day, we packed up our tent and then drove the Nebo Loop to see a place called Devil's Kitchen. After we got to the place we had to hike up a trail and all of a sudden,

you see this beautiful sight! From the road no one would guess these gorgeous red formations were there because from the road you can't see anything but green.

This is a view of Mt. Nebo.

Mt. Nebo is the tallest mountain peak in the Wasatch Mountains (12,000 feet). It was breathtaking. As all fun things must come to an end, we will never forget this fun experience.

Friends Are Golden

About a month ago one of my dear long time friends asked me if we were going to get together again, as we have in the past, to have our "Laurel Reunion". The last three years we've gotten together but with a plan several months in advance. I started thinking and wondering if we could pull this now annual event, together in a short time. I called everyone on the phone and finally we had a date picked out. This particular group of women are my dear friends from elementary through high school and even to young marrieds. After graduation, we parted ways for several years while we were busy having and raising our families. After 15 years without seeing much of each other, I organized a reunion. We all met and it was so fun to catch up on each other's lives. After about another 20 years, I was able to get us together again. It was such a delightful experience for us all that we decided to do it again the next year. Our mother's were a little envious and wanted to be together with us and each other so last year we invited our mothers and also our dear sweet Laurel advisor, Sister Marva Davis. We had a great time but due to many different circumstances they didn't join us again this year.

Coleen Page hosted the event again at her house. We all brought food and had a delicious lunch of taco salad with all the trimmings and a couple of delicious desserts.

After we ate we went to Coleen's daughters home who lives close by and met some of her family. Coleen has a 14 year old grandson who is a very accomplished pianist. He showed us his remarkable talent and then he accompanied us while we sang some hymns. We used to get together and sing as girls and it was fun to try it again. We're sorry that 3 of our group couldn't attend today. We missed them and wish they could have joined us but we are now making this an annual event. It was suggested that next year we have a retreat some place away so we could just visit to our hearts content. We visit for hours but it just isn't enough time to catch up on all the events in our lives. The greatest part of having great friends is that even though you may part for years, when we get together, it's as if we were never apart. I love you all, my dear friends! Thanks for being such wonderful examples of faithful women and for remaining my friend.
In this picture from left to right are Linda (Worthen) Jolley, Debbie (Stubler) Oldson, myself, Connie (Ferguson) McDuffie, Coleen (Thistle) Page, and Gaynell (Larsen) Lippman. Jennifer, Dia, and Terry Ann, we missed you.

More About Finished Renovation

Well, I went to school yesterday and snapped some more recent shots of our school. They have accomplished an amazing amount of work in the last couple of weeks. I had my doubts as to whether we would be in our rooms or teaching under a tree somewhere, but I now have renewed hope. This is our cafeteria. The floor is all laid, but covered with plastic to protect it. It's finished being painted. The carpet still needs to be laid, but it's looking very close.

This is our front office. They are saying the office will be ready to move in by Aug. 17th.

This is the entrance to the new office.

Voila! My classroom is very close to being done. Notice that the ceiling is finished. It's been painted.

I have a new sink and a drinking fountain with tile on the wall and linoleum on the floor in front of the sink. All that's left if carpet, baseboards, and some minor things.

Our new bathroom

This is our library which was actually finished in June, but is now full of everyone's stuff.

Our new computer room was also finished in June but full of technology stuff.

This is another teacher's classroom which was finished in June as well. We're very excited to have this all happen but as you can see, even when they are through, we have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time. I personally packed 100 boxes of my own stuff. Why in the world would any one teacher need that much stuff? Maybe my purging will take place in my classroom instead of my house.

Our School Remodel

Our school has been waiting patiently for several years for an update. We've literally been walking on old, disgusting carpet for years. We've desperately needed new air conditioners which are constantly breaking, clocks, which don't work and haven't for a few years now, an intercom system which is broken and only works some of the time, run down everything, etc., etc., etc. Well, we finally got our wish but as a result, all of us had to pack up every single item in our rooms this past June. In January of this year they started with Phase I. About 8 classrooms moved out at that time but I luckily wasn't one of them. They finished that phase just when school got out and they said they were going to try and do the majority of the rest of the school this summer. Well as you can see, they came in with a fury and completely tore everything apart. This top picture was my classroom. This is how it looked about 2 weeks ago. Do you think it looks like we'll be having school in a couple of weeks?

This is the kitchen

the girls bathroom in the first and second grade wing,

the principal's office,

part of the teachers lounge, and...

the finished grids in my new room. Even though it doesn't look very finished, there has been a whole lot of work done above the grids. They've done all new lighting, new duct work for the new air conditioners, and a whole lot more. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates.

Work on the Home Front

As always, I have plans to accomplish 100 times more than I actually do during the summer. I had planned on going through every drawer and every cupboard, plus a giant mess of a storage room and then also paint, etc. Well, I'm sad to say that the summer is almost over and I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I had hoped, but I did do something more important than all of that and that is to spend time with family and build memories. However, I have done a few things around here even if it wasn't exactly what I had planned. I bottled pickled beets and also beef and pork.

I've planted and weeded as always.

My yard is so colorful right now even though we have desert landscaping and lots of rocks.

We still have lots of beautiful flowers.

I get lots of compliments how pretty our front yard is.

We also tore up our summer garden except for some melons and just this week I've planted my fall garden. I planted green beans, beets, and squash. Soon to come will be broccoli and cabbage. So, I have accomplished a few things I guess.