Roosevelt Lake

I have many wonderful memories of my childhood. Many of these memories were made at Roosevelt Lake. We'd go there every Spring Break. We'd camp, we'd fish, we'd play in the lake, drink soda, eat fish...MMM, what wonderful memories! We love to keep building those memories with the nieces and nephews too. So this year, since I was close, I took time to fly down to Arizona to spend some of Spring Break at the Lake!

 The kids flew kites!

Triesun loves to have pictures taken, and he's super cute!

 I love this photo of my beloved father. Nothing like being relaxed and at the lake!

Papa let all the kids play with waterdogs that the camp nearby gave to him. Of course it was at lunch time and they got perilously close to me and my lunch...ICK! I hate slimy things!

 Kaely was having a ball with hers! The poor tortured creatures!

 Papa and I fishing...brings back a LOT of memories! :-)

 Getting ready to head out for some boating fun with Cousin Jolynn's family!

 Chilling around the campfire...wonderful stories and time spent a night around the campfire!

 Nothing beats the beauty of an Arizona sunset.

 Papa getting ready to head out fishing. Many a bright and early morning I'd see this sight as I was the only one willing to get up that early to go fishing!

 But it paid off! Look at this beautiful black crappie that I caught! :-D This is one happy girl!!!

The grandkids love to hold up the fish for photos. I think it's SO cute!
I'm grateful that I was able to go down and spend this time with Bridgette's, Rudger's family and my beloved parents. I hope there are many, many, many more times like this developing such wonderful memories.

Sickness

Being sick is not fun for anyone, but poor Adaline caught RSV. So for the last week, I've been helping Ruth with watching Cordelia while she took Adaline to the doctor and the hospitial.
It started out on Tuesday, when Ruth, Kelsie and I were together making strawberry jelly. Adaline was sick, and you could tell that she was not feeling well. She'd laid down to take a nap, and when she got up, her breathing was really labored. I told Ruth it that her breathing was too labored and that she should take Adaline to the doctor. I patted Adaline's back to try and break up some of the congestion because Ruth or Kelsie didn't have sinus/congestion medicine.
Ruth was able to get her into the doctor that evening but Adaline was breathing a lot better. Well, as life goes, she woke up in the middle of night having a very difficult time breathing, so they rushed her to the emergency room. When I woke up, I had two missed calls, so Cory brought Cordelia to me to watch while they were at the breathing unit at the hospital.
Adaline was diagnosed with RSV and Ruth and Cory have been watching to make sure that they keep her breathing under control, and watching Cordelia for any signs. Hopefully Cordelia will avoid getting sick and the ten days will pass quickly and Adaline will be better again.
I'm just grateful that I was nearby to help out.

Mountain and clouds

 So I live at the bottom of one of the mountains here in Provo.  There are some days that the clouds hug the mountains and I think it looks so cool.  One day, I actually had my good camera with me and got to stop and take these photos.

 I never thought I'd be living in snow again, but since I do, I'm grateful for such beautiful scenery.

Schnepf Farm's Peach Blossom Festival

After the Gilbert Temple Open House mom and dad stayed the night with me in the Valley.  That Saturday we drove out to Schnepf Farm and went to their Peach Blossoms' Festival.  I love Schnepf Farms.  I think it's so wonderful what they've been able to do.  They have old buildings and it is almost like being in the past.

  I love this photo of mom and dad kissing in front of an old fashion lamppost.

 The peach blossoms were beautiful!  I love close-ups of flowers.

 Here I am with mom and dad in front of the peach blossoms.

 This was a lovely arbor that I thought had beautiful lines and designs.

 My good friend Mindy came with us and here we are in front of the beautiful blossoms.

Another cute photo of my parents kissing.

Gilbert Temple Open House

I was blessed to get to go to the Valley when Bridgette's family went to see the Gilbert Temple Open house.  I love how much the temple is important to them as a family and how they make the effort to go and see our Heavenly Father's house.  They are building a special affinity to the temple and it will be a great blessing in their lives.  The above photo is us waiting in line to go inside to see the video.

 The Blake Family outside the Gilbert Temple.

I love to take photos and think that I take some good pictures.

 I love what good examples my parents are and how much they love the gospel and the temple.

 I love how beautiful the landscaping is around the temple and took this wonderful shot.

 Here is a great shot of Brynna.  She was really excited to get to see the temple.

 Doesn't Brindy look so beautiful in this picture?

I thought that this shot of my beautiful mom looking at my dad was priceless.  I love them so much and am so grateful for their example.

 Brecken, who doesn't quite understand just yet, but he will.

I love this photo of all the kids with the temple in the background.  I am so grateful that I got to spend this time with them.  Memories that we made are priceless and I'm so grateful for their love and example.  Family is precious and I'm grateful to have such a wonderful family.

Crafts...

So living overseas, I haven't been able to craft as much as I used to.  Ruth and I went to a store called Crafty Woodcuts, and I just love the things that they create!  The last time we went, I got three hearts and made a cute decoration that I can actually keep up all year long.

 

This is now on my piano, and I love how they turned out!

 To get a 5% discount, I liked them on Facebook, and was notified that their Valentine's crafts were 25% off!  I was super excited because I LOVED the "I heart U" and was hoping they'd still have one.

They did!  And I bought one, and made the above.  I loved how they had theirs decorated, but I found the paper that is covering the heart at Joann's and the ribbon at Walmart.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE how this one turned out!  Even better than their display and it looks great on my dresser next to my black and white photo of the Mesa, Arizona Temple.  This will also be keep up all year long.

So for St. Patrick's Day, they had this shamrock.  I love the way that it turned out.  It will make such a cute decoration on my piano for St. Patrick's Day.

I have to be careful, because I can imagine wanting lots of these cute decorations throughout the year.  But I love the way they add a little bit of the "holidays" to my home.

Starting to come together

I've been working to get my house together and I've got some photos up on the walls and I like the way things are starting to look...what do you think?