Headed Down A Dirt Road

I love dirt roads. 

They so often lead to adventures! 

Tonight after work DJ and I decided to head towards Monte Cristo to let the dogs run wild and free :)

They were pretty happy about it!

We parked in the snowmobile parking lot and headed up a dirt road.

Leonards Penstemon

Mule Ears

Love the color!

Koda had a blast!

Yellow makes me smile....a lot :) 
Summer in Utah doesn't really start for me until I see these beauties blooming in the mountains and along the road.

Utah is SO beautiful.

On the way back down to the valley we stopped so the dogs could get a drink.

I had to snap this picture. Koda loves to have his nose close to the open window! Max, he's just happy. All.The.Time. 

***********
It was a perfect way to end the day. 
I love spending time with my husband and the boys :)

Family Pictures

Sunday night we headed to our local botanical garden and took some family pictures. 

We didn't get there quite as early as I'd hoped. Some of the pictures have that nice evening glow 

while others don't BUT we got pictures and that's what matters in the long run. 

I haven't decided how to crop this one yet.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this picture of us but it's a bit out of focus. I'll have to try and sharpen it up.

Ben's pictures didn't turn out so great so we'll try again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summer is quiet around here. Dani's gone for the week doing a nanny job. Heather is working and going to school full time. After Friday she has 4 weeks off of school! Yeah :) Ben is taking a class at a local tech school to earn 2 credits so he can graduate from high school as a junior next year. He's in school Mon. - Fri., 8am - 3pm for the rest of the summer and is also working a lot of his evenings.

Today I'm puttering around the house. Laundry, watering the grass, getting ready for book club Monday, making dinner menu's for the rest of the week, loving on the animals since I work the next 3 days, contemplating making a rhubarb pie from our own rhubarb I picked a couple of days ago and enjoying the quiet (except the good old 70's/80's country music playing in the background :).

Have a blessed day!

 

Our Trip To Storybook Land

Summertime .......Aberdeen, SD........Storybook Land

We don't get back to Aberdeen, SD in the summer very often but when we do the kids always want to go visit Storybook Land.

It's located at Wylie Park and was inspired by well known nursery rhymes.

There is a miniature train you can ride and a carousel which the girls and I always ride.

Heather, Dani & Ben

Nancy, Vivian, Heather, Dani, Ben, Maggie and Dale ( DJ's brother and sister in law)

follow the yellow brick road

castle with a moat around it

sibling sandwich

Ben, Nancy, Dani, Heather, DJ

I'm not sure Ben ever does things the "normal" way :)

Dani attempting to leap over the candlestick

Ben leaping over the candlestick

Heather...well, she tried :)

Ben peeking out before going down the slide

Dani trying to follow Ben

 team effort

dad to the rescue

love this picture!

imitating the gingerbread man ~ oh, and Ben's trying to eat him

moving as one

the funny thing about this picture is that none of them like 
the movie "The Wizard of Oz"



We always enjoy walking around Storybook Land.  
This was one of the last fun things the kids did together before Dani moves out of state.

Holding on to each memory we build together as a family.
Looking forward to the many memories we will create in the years to come!

Celebrating 50 Years!

In today's world it seems rare that people last in a marriage more than 20 or 30 years.
 We were very happy to help DJ's mom and dad celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary last week in South Dakota!
They are a great example to us all and we love them :)

The kids all got together and bought a picture collage (you'll see below) and a scrapbook celebrating the last 50 years.

Vivian opening the scrapbook. She was happy.

My father in law, Dan, wearing the bow from the package. Looking sharp!

This is the picture collage we had made for them at the frame shop where I work.

Setting up for the reception. Nice face Dani!

The Vetter men ~ DJ, Dave, Dan, Dale & Shorty

That's a great group of guys right there.

Two sweet ladies ~ my sister in law, Nancy, and Vivian.

Mom, Dad & Kids

I love this picture! Vivian, the family matriarch, is organizing everyone for the big family photo.

This is the temporary picture of everyone together. 
Nancy is going to clean it up by getting rid of those big pictures on the wall 
and adding the grandkids that couldn't be there.

It was a busy but good day of celebrating. 

The Open House was from 2-4pm then we went to mass at 5pm.
Dinner was at 6:30pm and people hung around until 10pm or so.

There was a little over a 100 people for the reception and dinner I believe.

DJ and I are getting close to 25 years of marriage.
 Looking forward to celebrating 50! 

Congratulations Dan & Vivian!