Treasure hunting........GPS style

Cache means to hide or a hiding place. Put that together with a GPS and you have the wonderful adventure known as geocaching.

Geocaching is basically where a container ( geocache ) is hidden by someone and then they record that online with GPS coordinates so other people can go hunt the "treasure" down! It is done all around the world. It's a great way to get outdoors and get some exercise too.
If this interests you then www.geocaching.com is where you will find all the information you need to get started!
Inside most geocaches is a little notebook and pen or pencil so you can record that you were there. You don't take the cache....you leave it so others can find it too. Each geocache has a different title. We found one that had yellow in the title and all the little treasures in that cache were yellow.

The pictures below are from earlier this summer when DJ and I went geocaching with our friend Doug up around Snowbasin ( about 20 minutes from our house ).

I never get tired of this scenery!

I love the Wasatch Mountains

This cache was hanging on the fence

Skull.......possibly moose as it was a very large skull

More bones.......

Doug & DJ hunting with their gps's

Such a pretty flower! Star something or the other....?

It was a little muddy that day.....not bad

Cache treasures

He kind of blends in but there's a duck in the middle of the picture

You find all kinds of things in a cache!

DJ opening a cache

Our dog, Koda, loves to get out and explore!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Enjoying God's Beautiful Creation in Northern Utah!

We started the summer off with hiking several trails in our area. I'm sharing two of those hikes with you today :) Lucky you!

In May Weber Pathways ( an organization that creates, maintains and leads organized hikes here in Weber County ) did a wildflower hike every Wednesday morning for a couple of hours. It was so neat to get out and learn to identify different wildflowers here in Northern Utah. The last hike we did as a group was up at Causey Dam. Our guide said it's the only place in Northern Utah that she's found the wild clematis.

Causey Dam - parking area at the north arm - BEAUTIFUL!

A peaceful pond at the start of the trail

This tree caught my eye - so neat how it's growing out of the bank

North arm of Causey Dam- looking from the trail

Wild Clematis - I'm disappointed I didn't get a better picture

Causey Dam area looking towards Ogden ( on the other side of the snow covered Wasatch Mtns. )

Memorial Day we hiked the Indian Creek Trail with our neighbors and some of their extended family that live in the area. We had a great time.....well, that is besides me feeling like I was going to have 10 heart attacks along the way!!! What a climb. It took us 4 hours. I considered giving up more than once but I'm to stubborn!
I'm so glad we went as it was a beautiful hike. It gave us a whole different perspective of Ogden Canyon. If you love the great outdoors Utah is a wonderful place to live!  We love it :)
There was a small building at the top that was part of the old saw mill and the view from there was awesome.

This is an old kiln used by the Indians a long time ago.....it sits in the parking lot for Indian Creek Trail

Indian Creek Trail

Heather & DJ on the trail

Looking out at Ogden's 12th St. - this view is SO worth the climb!!

If you're ever in our area stop by and we'll go hiking :) Or sit and chat over a cup of coffee.

Til then :)

Memories To Hold Onto

To blog or not to blog......that has been the question I've asked myself this past year since moving back from Italy. It was fun sharing our adventures and life in Italy with family and friends.

I wasn't sure which direction I wanted this blog to go after Italy so it's just kinda sat here. I have now decided to let our life continue to dictate my blog posts. We don't have family close by and we have friends all around the world so this is a great way for me to share our life with them and anyone else who wants to join us on this journey!! Welcome! :)

Summer is quickly fading away! School starts in less than a month. I thought I'd take the next few days and recap our summer memories so far.

May was a busy and exciting month.

DJ FINALLY got a job here and was able to come home from Italy after almost a year of job hunting! The Lord is faithful ALWAYS! His timing quite often doesn't fit our "plans"......and I'm so glad! There would be no growth without struggles. I have to be honest though as Spring rolled around we were both feeling very discouraged. It's not always easy to endure with a smile in your heart is it?

May also brought a huge milestone in our family life! Heather graduated from high school!!

I am so proud to be her mom :) She brings such a goofy, bubbly joy to our home. She is an encourager and has a servants heart. At almost 18 years old she still crawls in bed with us and chatters a mile a minute about things going on in her life. I love it!!!!

She was able to get certified as a CNA the last semester of high school. She is going to college this fall and wants to be an RN. The college is less than 5 minutes from the house :) She hasn't been able to get a CNA job yet so she is back cleaning condos which pays really well and they'll work with her school schedule.

She just bought a car and got a great deal so she won't have payments for very long.....she named her car Roxy! :) Such a girl!!

We are excited to watch her life as she follows her dreams and pursues God's plans for her :)

Heather & Hannah getting ready for Open House

Heather's graduation cake

Heather's Open House

Heather w/ Grandma & Grandpa Vetter

Heather w/ Grandma & Grandpa Alexander

Heather & Danielle

Me & my beautiful Hoff :)

Heather & the men in her life.......DJ & Ben

Heather getting her diploma!!

Heather & friends after graduation

Heather & Grandma Grace ( our awesome 95 yr. old neighbor! )

Til next time.............

An added note :)

I realized I didn't mention that I'm going to patch the foundation and paint it the same tan as the house.

I didn't want you to lose sleeping thinking about how our ugly blue foundation doesn't match the house!! Ha :)

A little more exterior

Well, the new siding is mostly on now. Tomorrow they will put new windows in the girls' room upstairs and put siding around that small part then it's done. Well, their part anyway :) I need to caulk all the nail holes in the window trim and touch up paint. Then take a deep breathe and paint the front door cranberry red. Is that crazy? I know it will look good so I just need to do it!!

In a week or two the workers will be back to redo the front porch. I need to get that UGLY blue carpet ripped off.....Yeah!

I will put before ( when the house was blue and pitiful :) and after pictures up when it's all done in a couple weeks.

Have a beautiful day:)

New Exterior....gone with the blue!

It's been a long time since I blogged but I wanted to show pictures of our new exterior :) Well, in the process!

It's just about 8 years since we bought our home and the old blue vinyl and I have never become friends :) Oh happy day that we can finally kick it to the curb!!

We chose a warm tan color for the new siding with white trim boards around the windows and doors. I think I'm going to paint the front door a deeper cranberry color. Then we'll have a rustic brown mailbox, house numbers and exterior light.

The blue carpet on the front steps is getting ripped off and the wrought iron pillars are getting wrapped in wood and then there will be new wooden handrails on both sides of the porch. The pillars and rails will be white.

I think the finished product will portray some nice curb appeal!!

Will add more pictures as things progress..................

A Heart Heavy For The People Of Haiti

I can't even begin to imagine what the people in Haiti are going through right now. It's hard to relate to what kind of chaotic nightmare they are experiencing.

My heart hurts for them and I just want to scoop up all those precious children and bring them in out of the storm they are in right now. My heart aches for the moms and dads who are desperately looking for their children.

I'm beyond grateful to have a Father in Heaven who hears our collective prayers for Haiti. He alone is worthy of all praise even when life is falling down all around us. He is our Hope!

There are so many ways to help Haiti. I wanted to share with you two organizations I feel strongly about and trust in case you're looking for ways to contribute.

1. Compassion International - www.compassion.com
You can sponsor children all over the world. It's $38.00 a month for one child. This provides them with food, clean water, medical and schooling. They also hear the wonderful news that Jesus loves them!

2. Samaritans Purse - www.samaritanspurse.org
This is run by Franklin Graham ( Billy Grahams son). They go all over the world and provide temporary shelter, food, water, etc in times of crisis. They also share with people what they need the most....that there is Hope found only in Christ.

Both of these organizations have great websites where you can learn more about them and what they are doing in Haiti. You can donate money on both websites for the Haiti people.

I hope today we all take many moments to mentally list all we have to be grateful for. Do you have clean water, a warm bed at night, enough food, do you know where your loved ones are? If so then you are truly blessed .