Allie May is 4 years old!

Can you say " I am a happy girl?' Grandma and Granpa lovin' our number 6
Note the hair. It was amazing!


Allie May is beautiful! And here...she knows it!

This is by far one of my most favorite pictures of Allie. Can't you just feel her sweetness? I can, and wish I could see her more often. Maybe now that they are moving to the Western side of the U.S. we can make that happen!

It was Thanksgiving Day in 2005 when the cutest little girl arrived. She was surprising with her full head of dark hair!! It was fun to watch that grow out and see her blond roots...now she has the prettiest strawberry blond hair!

AllieMay, Grandpa and Grandma J really love you...and traditions says we get to take you to Disneyland now that you are 4...so hurry and come to California!!

Our # 5 turns 5 today!!

5 years ago today, this little angel joined our family. Since she has lived near us all of her life, we have had so many fun times together:
We have gone to her dance recitals, soccer games, Grandparents Day at kindergarten, Primary Programs and fun places like Disneyland, Sea World and Leg land.

Her laugh, smile and bubbly giggle has brightened many of our days!

She is a charmer, a gret big sister, a wonderful daughter and baker!

She is ALWAYS happy when she is swinging!

We love you Taylor Marie and are looking forward to many more adventures with you!

Mt. Baden-Powell & John Muir... 2 of my favorites

The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. John Muir

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir

Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you. John Muir

Picture #1, 11-11-'09 The trail up Mt. Baden-Powell, 9399'. Trailhead 6593'. Elevation gain 2806' in 4 miles. I was pretty proud of myself for making it up in 2 hours. I left at 7:00 and arrived at the top at 9:00. I was walking around enjoying the view when Jeff Enriquez zipps by me and touches the monument and checkes his watch... 1 hour and 40 minutes he says. Yeah, big deal. He's younger than me, skinny, and a fireman... he's supposed to be in shape.

#2 The view NE towards Victorville and a bit of the trail showing.

#3 Looking east at Mt. Baldy. I've been up there. You ever been up Baldy, Jeff? Hah! Probably take you 4 hours to get up that one! (Took me 2 days!)

#4 Looking SW... That's Catalina Island off in the distance there. Trust me.

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail." John of the Mountains

Jer of the Mountains

First Campout

Canoeing, scouts. 'nuf said.

2 year old little boys

My sister just sent me some pictures of my Mom and Dad. Some I hadn't seen before, like this one of Grandpa with Tyler at about 2 years old taking nap. Now, this is dangerous to say, because little girls are so cute and I don't want anyone getting jealous! But there is something very tender about a little boy when they finally slow down enough to cuddle. You can also see Dad's golden ring in this picture.



We were "evacuated" from Wrightwood for a couple of days while we waited for the firefighters to save our town and went to stay at Tyler & Tanya's house. We are so thankful that they live close enough to see often. But now we are home and miss them and their kids. We got lots of cuddles while we were there.

Here is a pic of my little boy with his little boy.

Life doesn't get any better than this.

Several Thoughts... try to follow along.

We were able to go watch Taylor play soccer on Saturday. I don't know how many times she actually kicked the ball, but she was definately the cutest player on the field!

Then we were able to treat the kids to a trip to Sea World.

(We all had free tickets! haha!)

This one has WAY too much energy!


Grandma J let them bury her feet. Wild and crazy grandma!

Watching the pet show.

****

Now, here are where my thoughts are going...

The reason we were able to do all these fun things with our awesome family, is because I didn't go on a planned backpacking trip.
Why not, you say?

I had planned a three day 45 mile trip thru the High Sierras culminating on the last day summiting Mt. Whitney.
But everyone else had to cancel. My friend from back East was busy with business. And my son Tyler, had just been called a 1st Counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency and decided it was more important to stay and get sustained and set apart and get to work in his new calling.

I feel some concern for my son.

He has had some very tough business decisions to make lately, and not everyone he is associated with agrees with everything he has had to do. There has been a lot of talk going around and some of it is hurtful. But I think he is doing pretty well. It's going to be a long haul, but he knows that and is trying to do the right things. I am especially impressed at his resolve to not talk ill of any others that may have been involved. So in a time when getting away for a few days may have been enjoyable, he decided to stay and attend Church.

It brings to mind a scripture that many quote as their favorite:

1 Nephi 3:7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
I believe this scripture typifies Tylers obedience (or at least his efforts!)
However, the following scripture is actually the one that is one of my favorites:

1 Nephi 3:8 And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord.
So when Tyler told me why he decided not to go, I felt nothing less than exceeding gladness that he wanted to stay and serve the Lord.

And so I say to my son, as Lehi said to his:

1 Nephi 3:6 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmered.
Well, that and "we'll do the trip next year!"

Pop

Mammoth

Road Trip!
We had fun on Labor Day in Mammoth.

Diane said she'd be willing to camp in a tent, but we couldn't find a camp site to reserve so we had to settle for a condo. Not too disappointing to Di, since when we travel I like to help cook (and even clean up!)

But I was craving some outside activity so we headed right out to see the sights.

The lakes are beautiful even if there were tons of people around. I actually like a little more solitude, but Di is not a backpacker. Knowing we were going to be "in town" but also knowing we were going to a place called "Mammoth Lakes" I took the canoe along just to make sure we didn't spend all our time shopping!

I wanted to put in and paddle around every lake, but we were limited on time so we just picked a couple. This is Silver Lake on the June Lake Loop.

We paddled across the lake and found the inlet stream. Very scenic and very few people. We paddled up here enjoying the quiet, peaceful scenery. We followed the bends as the channel narrowed and it was actually pretty fun to paddle in... until we decided to go swimming. If you have ever been canoeing, you know that "swimming" is what happens when "somebody" paddles a little too close to the bushes and "somebody else" leans over to try to avoid being scratched by them.

This is the last picture the camera took after our adventure. Luckily, there were some rocks nearby that we could swim to. And from where "somebody" got to go swimming two more times, once to retrieve the paddles, and again to retrieve "somebody else's" glasses from the bottom of the 7 foot deep stream...

We hadn't planned on this adventure so it seriously cut into our shopping time. Bummer, huh? We did take a little hike down to Devil's Postpile but the camera was still suffering so we didn't get any pics.

All in all, a very successful trip. A little relaxation, a little outside activity, and all with the one I love the most.

Life is good.

Jer

P.S. This water is NOT as warm as Hawaii.