High School Class reunion

Then?????!!!!!!!........1967/1968

My Junior year picture

Varcel, Senior year picture 1968.....so young, so in love, (so thin).

Now......

The girls went golfing, along with all the guys! Tawnya, Margie, Connie and Nancy. We had so much fun! The weather was fabulous and the company was even better.

I felt no pressure, as I hadn't golfed in years, and I just let go of my hang-ups and had fun. (Even when an old boy friend was in the foursome behind us.... I didn't care!) Growing up is so much fun. No inhibition!

So enjoy everyday.... enjoy your experiences, your family, your days will quickly go by, and then you will celebrate YOUR 40th High School Reunion!

Tawnya Webb, Bill Prater, Marsha Marley, Jennifer Young. The 3 of us girls were in Honeybees Drill Team together. Those are the sweetest memories! Bill, Marsha and I lived in Ucon, Idaho. We were in the same ward, same schools growing up....until graduation. We would get off the bus and stop at the little market on the highway. We would buy a RC Cola and pour a package of peanuts into the bottle of pop. (I could only do it about 2 times a month because we were poor).

Oh, I loved high school!! I would go back! And still do everything the same, because I have made the smartest move, and married a wonderful man! I met my husband on the only blind date I have ever been on, and "he had me at hello"! I love you Varce.

Idaho Aug. 12, 2008

Check out http://www.mooseyoninn.com/ for a wonderful place to have a vacation. That is where I spent a few days last week. My brother Jeff and his wife Lois own it. It is just a "small" little cabin that is a dream come true for those who are lucky enough to stay there!! And this week mom and dad shared in that dream with us.

Varce and I picked our bedroom from the six that are offered. We opened our window and could hear all the night sounds. Coyote, the water, birds.... all night long. It was fabulous. And to make our sleeping hours more special was the knowledge that the bed we slept on was built by my brother. He has furished all of the rooms with his talent! You have to see it to believe it!

Lois and I got up early on Wednesday, about 5:45 a.m. and went out on the dock to watch the sunrise over the lake. I took over 200 photos in 30 minutes... and I can not possible share what it was like in person. Photos don't do it justice. You have to be there and listen to the sounds of the lapping water on the rocks at your feet. To hear the call of the birds in the tall pine trees as they are waking and taking flight and gathering food. To breathe the clean air, with the humidity, and see the fog roll across the top of the water. The sky changing colors every 1/2 second. Each moment more wonderful than the last. To feel the presence of Heavenly Father saying goodmorning to the world.

I could see a flock of geese taking flight over the water, but still low in the fog. I listened to them honking to one another as they flew by.

The view from the deck, just off the family room is breath taking. If you are lucky and very quiet a deer or elk will wander through the yard.

When Jeff and Lois were building their "cabin" we wanted to do something special for them. They are so willing to share all they have with us, and we wanted them to know how much we love and appreciate them. So Varce, with his talent, carved this sign for them. He drew the letters and the moose and started removing the wood that didn't belong there. Jeff finished the sign by putting the finish on it. Then he found the perfect wood to display the sign on. Jeff wandered through the forest and found this tree, and brought it home for the sign. It is in the front of their "cabin". Varce is very proud of this, and it is nice to know how much it is appreciated by someone who also loves to work with wood.

While we were there we road the 4 wheelers around Silver Hawk and saw many splendid cabins. The forest is healthy and alive with wildlife. We saw black fox with silver tips on their tails, and a deer. There are not adequate words to explain the beauty of this land. I am grateful to enjoy it with those I love.

On our drive home mom, dad, Varce and I stopped at Warm River and fed the fish.... something I did with my family and grandparents when I was a little girl. It was just as much fun throwing fish food and popcorn to the fish now as it was then.

I am just a girl in an old body after all!

Very Berry August

For many years our family has spent a week or two on the rim and been able to pick the wild berries. Some years, when the rain is sparse we don't have many to pick. Other years when the weather has been good we pick, and pick, and pick. One year, while camping, I had Tyia bring me some pectin, sugar, and pint bottles, and Varce, Ty and I bottled 48 pints of jam. This year happened to be a good year. But we didn't pick like we usually would. We only walked to the bushes, and didn't drive. But each day we got enough berries, in just a few minutes, to make raspberry cobbler for dessert, and some for our cereal in the morning. And I ended up with enough to freeze 10 quarts to bring home to do something fun with at a later date. I know we all ate more than we brought home. Even the dogs would pick the berries off the bushes and eat them. Zoey would spit them out, but Ivy and Ozkar loved them.

I have kept a journal of our times in our RV's for many years. I have memories of Varce shooing away a bear, loosing our dog Bisquit, the children finding a scorpion in the sleeping bags, watching movies, and reading to the children when they were very little. Now they all read, and love to read. We all take a book with us, and we have read and shared many books and stories. I have recorded what we ate, what time I went to bed and when I got up. Many little details of the kids as they were growing. When Kattie ate 4 tacos for the first time. When Oliver built a "fort" using his scouting skills. When Nikki got her first tent for 8th grade graduation, and when Ty would take her good friend Cheryl with us and they brushed their teeth with a cup of water. Oh, the good old days...... I can't help but laugh when I think of the kids.

I just spent 11 wonderful days on the rim. Some of the time I had company, and other times I was alone, well, with a dog as a warning device. The flowers are in bloom, and the afternoon rains are watering the berries. Varce and I took 3 walks a day, and had so much fun. We camp near this meadow, which is very private. I asked him if we could take a quilt down there and....... He is a little too shy. Darn it!!! And I am shameful.

The temps are so much cooler there, and I actually had to sleep with a blanket on, a thin one, but still, it was more than a sheet. I collected rain water in a bucket. That is what the dogs drank while there. I crocheted some baby blankets, and around some receiving blankets and burp clothes. I made several books..... I always enjoy that, however I have to haul so much stuff up with me, I have to sneak it so Varce doesn't know how much extra weight he is pulling. And of course I have my ipod in my ear most of the day. I am listening to a series of books "Outlander" by Diana Gabeldon. If you have ever read them, then you know why I thought we should take a quilt to the meadow.... they are great reads. There are 5 books in the series, and they are big books, so hence, the ipod, so I can be doing other things.

This wonderful man, who I have spent the last 39 1/2 years married to, actually relaxed as well. He did some carving, and reading, and took a nap every day. His idea of rest was cooking! So I let him rest all he wanted to. I made biscuits from scratch (sourdough biscuits) and he baked them in the dutch oven. That meant lighting briquettes and tending the dutch oven. He loved it, so then he did the best chicken dish I have ever eaten. And he did a potato dish with all sorts of veggies in it, all of it was in the dutch ovens. It was so good!!! He also cooked most of the breakfasts, and occasionally cleaned up after himself and did the dishes! That is the best man I know!

Kattie and Nikki and her family joined us for a few days. It is so fun to be together. We played games, and laughed so hard. Sometimes I wonder if our family is normal..... I hope other families have as much fun as we do! We picked wild berries, and made cobbler two nights. And we picked enough to bring home 10 quarts of frozen berries to use later. We played badminton and laughed so hard at each other. All I can say it we can't play, and we can't keep score. But we sure have a wonderful time together. The cheering sections is as much fun as the players!

But not all things have a happy ending. In spite of the setting sun, no dinner and getting back into the heat we didn't let "the little things" become big things.... as everything worked out okay. Thanks my dear family.... I love you so very much. Hope your memories are as sweet as mine.