A fond farewell to Dan & Jill!!!

Last night a neighborhood farewell was held for my brother Dan & his wife Jill. They are leaving their beloved and beautiful home to move to Salt Lake City. Dan has been without steady work for quite some time now and has found a great job with excellent insurance in Salt Lake. Two of his married kids Tricia and Andrew with their families, have moved into Dan's home so that Jill is able to go up with Dan. They will be living in Natalie's basement.

Budd Scow, Barry, Kenzie, Ross, & Kate

Dan's the Man!

Dan is always the kidder. He posed special for this picture. Now isn't this typical Dan?

Brekken, Dan, Samantha, Gwen Wadsworth, & Jill.

My camera didn't take good pictures, I think it's time for a new one. Since I only got a few I wanted to post them anyway. Jill I apolgize for the closed eye shot. The food was delicious as always and fun was had by one and all. My sadness for their leaving was only trumped by my sadness that mom and dad were excluded from the fun. It hurts my heart. Dan & Jill you will be missed more than you can ever imagine. We all wish you the best of luck and happiness for now and in the years to come.

The world is a better and happier place because of people like Dan and Jill. Bon Voyage you two and come home soon!

Terry Sullivan, Budd Scow, Dan, Tammi & Tracy Cox

Girls' Week in Colorado

We had so much fun going to the Hammond candy factory. We had a little tour of how they make candy and then on to the treats. Afterwards we treated ourselves to lunch at a local mexican dive that was recommended to us. No kidding, the burritos were at least a foot long! Whew glad we didn't order them. It was a yummy place to eat for sure!

Two Sisters Having Fun

Inside the candy store, a kids' dream place for sure. We picked up treats for the grandkids and for ourselves. Not too much at $22 a pound!!

Rocky Maountain National Park

Spending time with Ann is the highlight of my life. We talk about anything and everything under the sun. And yes here we are under the sun, way up in Rocky Mountain National Park!

The queen of the skies, Ann Beradall Anderson, with the call letters honoring our grandfather William Deveninsh on the tail of her plane. A dream that was dreamt and realized. I am so very proud of her!Way to go!

A woman and her wings!

Jillyn Wells

Jillyn graciously opened her cabin to host the summer office party for her son Mason's staff and families. What a great place to escape the heat of St. George and get together for some great food and fun. She has a beautiful cabin in a wonderful setting on Pine Valley Mountain. We have enjoyed spending many memorable hours in her cabin. Jillyn thanks for the great memories...hopefully many more to come. You rock girlfriend!

A day on Pine Valley, 2011 Hurricane Dental Group office party

Party was hosted by the doc himself, Mason Wells.

The day was made so much fun by all the kids that came. We had quite a group and it was fun to watch them all interact with each other and have so much fun!

All the Hurricane Dental Group kids

Red Rover Red Rover send Quincy right over!

Red Rover, Red Rover send Bernie right over.

The kids had so much fun playing all the games and eating the delicious food. Hey on this day we were all kids!

Lining up to play kick ball, "Choose me first"!

The food and the company were so great. Mason grilled some out of this world Sirloin Tri Tips, wow I am a fan for sure. Everyone else brought pot luck and it was all so yummy I had to try it all!

The day included a friendly game of get this..."Corn Hole" yep that's the name. It is fun for all.

Good or bad?!

I have to ask myself, is it good or is it bad? The motto for my yard is pretty much this...if you can't eat it or it doesn't produce, it needs to go. I don't have time to waste on non producer's! Well I am holding the neighbors grapevine. It has come over my fence, up my pear tree, down the other side and now is going down my clothesline, all in a matter of a couple weeks. It has taken over the pear tree, and now is moving in on my space for hanging out my clothes. Well I guess you know what I am going to do after work tonight, yep...I'm getting out the pruning shears and the vine has to go! No it doesn't produce and after all it isn't even mine! It is pretty though :)

Harvest Time Again!

 We get up so darn early at our house because of Len's work schedule. This morning I have already watered the whole garden, pruned back all the grapevines (and fed them to the neighbors goat's), made 14 pints of fresh salsa (from my garden!), and made 6 half pints of raspberry jam! Whew and it's only 7:30am.  Here are my prize salsa bottles.

 Proudly displaying my raspberry jam. I made waffles for myself and put the jam on them, oh boy was that great! I love the harvest season. Everything fresh is so great for our health. We frequently have fajita's with our own bell peppers, onions and tomatoes!

Caught picking peppers! I have tons of them and they are so good. I have jalepeno's, bells, anaheim chilis, and a yellow one I didn't even know I planted. When you buy from Ballards you never know what you are going to get, like a treasure hunt. I have pink tomatoes this year and they were labled as Roma's which I normally plant for my salsa. Not keen on pink tomatoes either they don't make pretty salsa either!

I did a Primary Auxiliary training the other night and the theme of course was Gardens. I compared growing a garden to growing children. The first important step to a great garden is the soil. It has to be prepared well before planting begins. You need to put good things in the soil ( composte) same with children, we fill them with faith, love, scriptures, testimony, wonder and joy. We turn the soil over and over, children get squeezed over and over with love, the time to prepare the soil or the child is while they are young, not when the plant is grown. Then we protect them just like putting cages on tomoatoes to keep them from bending under the weight of the fruit or the wind. Just like putting strings on beans to guide them up and show them the way to the sun, same with children we guide them, give them direction and support so they can grow toward the "Son". Then we harvest, the fresh veggies and fruit, so good. The same with children we watch as they are baptized, go on missions, get married in the temple and have a righteous family. The harvest is the best but we need to be vigilant on the steps to reaching the harvest. Remember that children are like gardens, they come to us with so much potential (like a seed) it is up to us to ensure they become the miracle (the plant that bears great fruit).