Okay, it's been a year......

Well, it has been about a year since my last post, but, hey! At least I'm posting now!

Alot has happened in the past year! I have two more grandchildren, my oldest grandchild turned 9, Mike was put in the Bishopric, I had my knee replaced (AGAIN!), and we took several trips. Life goes on.

We were able to take a trip this spring to go out and visit our children in the south. I wish we could get them to move out here closer to us! We were able to participate in the blessing of new granddaughter, Joey!

In this picture are (L to R front row) Leila, Shelby, Claire, Cameron, Sawyer, Taylor, Cole, and Olivia. In the back row we have Mike, me, Jared, Adrienne, Brian, Brianne, Roy and Lilly, Jordan and Laurel, Jeremy, Aidan and Joey. (I don't know where Andrew wandered off to!)

We then drove up to Corinth, MS to see Sean, Brooke, Mattie, and Timmons. Mattie just got braces and proudly smiled to show them off!

Last November we went to Beaumont, Texas to help with the kids while our daughter, Jordan, had her 4th baby, Laurel. Laurel ended up in the NICU, and I ended up the next night in the ER with a bad back! What a help I am in a crisis! This is Laurel now, so you can see she is fine!

Since we got back from our trips this spring we have been busy getting our garden going. Things are starting to bloom and grow! We spend a LOT of time weeding and watering. Hopefully, we will get more out of our garden this year than last year!

This is the rock wall in the front yard that Mike built. And here is our feeble attempt at a vegetable garden. It is so windy here that it dries out the garden really fast. However, I've been babying the herbs on my patio and they are doing great!

Nolan finally finished his 4 years of active duty with the Marine Corps. He stayed with us for about a month before moving out to Louisiana, which he considers "home".

We are also anxiously awaiting the return of Ryan's family. Sandra and the children have been in Chihuahua, Mexico, since last December waiting to hear from the embassy to get her Visa renewed. Hopefully, they will get to come back at the end of July.

And finally, our youngest son Colin has had an interesting year down in Chile on his mission. In the early spring they had the earthquake that really shook things up! Luckily Colin was not hurt, and got the chance to help alot of people through acts of service. His testimony has really grown and he has been a wonderful example to us all.

Summer Time!

I love summer! The other day after I had been planting and weeding I was tired, so I just layed down on the lawn and stared up at the beautiful sky and clouds - just like I used to do when I was a little girl! It was so pleasant.

We went to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. This time we went to the big island and I think it has become my favorite island of all! There was a lot to see and do. Of course, my favorite thing to do is get in the water and just float and daydream! I have a new favorite beach - Hapuna Beach. Just Beautiful!! Mike and I found a cave that we had to swim out to. The water was crystal clear, the perfect temperature, and just the right amount of wave action.

We took a plane ride around the island and my favorite part was flying over where the lava flows into the water. We got down pretty low!

Big thanks to Mom and Dad McGrath for sharing these trips with us! They are fun to travel with. Mom and I laughed so hard in the car one day when I was reading an ad for "Donkey Balls". (Chocolate coated macadamia nuts!) We were like a couple of school girls!

I love being by the water and having perfect weather, but the grocery prices are horrendous!

The little dot you see on the water at the horizon line is the cruise ship that had just left port. I think Mike is a pretty good photographer, don't you?

When we got home we found that our garden was really taking off. It's hard to grow stuff here (unlike Hawaii!). You really have to baby stuff, because it's so dry and windy. But we enjoy getting outside and taking care of our yard. Our tomatoes are coming along this year (if we can get the birds to leave them alone!) and I finally have a rose garden! Oh, and this was in our garden the day after we got home from Hawaii! I think it's called a glossy snake. After Mike took this picture, it crawled up into the rock wall and we aren't quite sure where it is now.....

I guess that's okay, though, because it can eat the voles and field mice that come around.

I thought maybe I should say a little about Colin. He has been out on his mission to Chile for about 5 months now. We are so proud of him and the decisions he has been making in his life. He is such a happy, friendly young man, and I know that he will make a lot of friends down there.

My first attempt at posting a picture. What a great house we used to live in! Oh, well, I love Utah, too! I will try to post a picture from the past every few days.