*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, I ran this morning.  I am sure that gets SO boring to read every. single. day.  But I figure one day when I look back on this, I will hopefully be inspired and not bored by it.   When I got home, I played with Carson.  McKay did as well.  Sky and Sarah took him to see Cars 3.  I went visiting teaching.

 

Dave made a yummy pork chop bake with Brussel sprouts.  Then for FHE we went and got slushies/ice-cream at Sonic.  It was so fun to have a little one again.  And tasty too!

Mr. Cat is amazingly very tolerant of Carson and lets him pet him and even carry him a few times.    

dear tuesday, I ran out west this morning and made the mistake of taking a dirt trail. I was in fear the whole time that I would see a snake and so I was already keyed up. When I was about half way into the trail, sure enough, I saw a H U G E snake barely off the trail.  I freaked!  It gave me the Heebie Jeebies!  I decided I needed to document it even though I was screaming the entire time I was taking the photo.  That sucker was about five feet long and that's only what I could tell because half his tail was in the bushes!  

The rest of the trail I was on high alert!  (1st pix ↓).  I was talking VERY loud to scare any away that might be near.  It didn't work because I ended up seeing ANOTHER one!  Same kind of snake though not as huge as the first one.  I lost it by then and could NOT stop to take a picture.  I was freaking out even worse!  I could not get off that trail fast enough!  What a relief when I finally did! 

I'm with Indiana Jones!  WHY did it have to be SNAKES?!  

I HATE SNAKES!  It's gonna be a while before I can run trails again!

On my way home, I got pulled over for speeding.  He said he was going to be nice because I had such a good record and only write it for five over even though he claims it was for like 15. Hmmm...  I was at a dead stop right before he got me and so I'm not sure HOW I could be going that much over.  I wish I would have pled my case and told him that I just got the Heebie Jeebies scared out of me and couldn't get home fast enough.  DANG!  There goes 120 smackaroos down the drain!

The day just kept getting better.  When I was getting out of the shower I noticed I was not alone!  This ↑ creepy thing took a shower with me! Eeeeek!  I also HATE SPIDERS! I don't like spiders and snakes!  Anyone remember that song?  (You're old if you do!) 

When I got home Carson and I fed Trixie.  Then we went to the Children's Summer Movie.  It was the Secret Life of Pets.  It was actually really cute.  I can't believe it's been so long since I was taking my boys to those.  Seems like yesterday.  We did take advantage of the photo opp SHARK!   

 It was one hot day!  We went outside and sat on the swing and ate Popsicles.  I then washed the car.  Man, that was a pain. It's worth it to spend $8 to have it done!  LOL I even found a bit of time to practice my harp.  When Dave got home we headed to Logan to the mission home for a dinner with the other region Stake Presidents.  The home was incredible as was the yard.  It started to storm.  The wind was blowing everything everywhere and it rained a bit.  Then it calmed down just in time for dinner to start. 

 The food was absolutely amazing and it was THEE best steak I have EVER had in my life!  Everything was so good!  Elder Craig C. Christensen then spoke to us.  He did a great job and I learned a lot. He told us Pres. Monson no longer attends the meetings but the First Presidency meets with him at his apartment twice a week. 

 We were offered a tour of the AMAZING mission home!  It was just gorgeous!  A family that was called on a mission loaned it out while they are gone.  Just to show you how elegantly it was decorated, there was a single decorative bowl in it that cost $1500.  And a missionary Lladro.  Loved it.  It was such a fun night.  One of the perks of this calling. Wish we got to do this more often!

Sarah took this.  I loved it!  Look at that Sky!

dear wednesday, I made it 6.5 miles today. I got some more pix of the track.  It is toast.   I am missing it for my speedwork. I may drive to BRHS just so I can run on a track!

I went to my harp lesson in the afternoon at 2:15.  I did some shopping at Costco, Sams, and TJ Maxx.  Sky took Sarah, Carson and McKay to Seven Peaks today.  They had a great time it sounds like. 

Carson's Panda backpack.  He loves to give me flowers from my flower pot on the back porch.  I found one in the arms of the little statue (Tyson) holding one.  He loves to play the piano when I practice the harp.

dear thursday, I only got in four miles this morning because I had a long list of things to get done before we head to the cabin this afternoon.  I ended up missing my Women's Forum meeting.  Oh well.  I had to pack and a million other things and just ran out of time.  

Cute story: I had a hard time getting Mr. Cat to come in.  I called and called him to no avail.  Carson was helping me.  Finally, I was starting to panic thinking he would be left outside for four days without food (the raccoons would eat it) and I told Carson we needed to ask Heavenly Father to help us.  He said, "Yeah!" We folded our arms and I started to pray that he would come home soon and immediately he bolted out of the wood pile and as fast as lightning ran across where we were.  We both stopped and looked at each other and started to laugh!  I told him that was the fastest I have ever had a prayer answered!  I told him we needed to thank Heavenly Father for answering our prayer and so we said another quick prayer and then tried to capture Mr. Cat to get him inside. He is easily bribed with the word "treat".  Carson ran in and started to VERY enthusiastically tell everyone the story.  He said, "We were "prayer-ing" and then Mr. Cat jumped out and ran so fast in the bushes!"  It was cute.  Prayer-ing is a new word.  Love it.  I was so grateful we got him in.  Whew!  

We loaded up and headed to the cabin.  We stopped at Arbies in Tremonton and then didn't stop until we got there.  We stopped at the cabin and unloaded our stuff and then jumped back in the car to head to Jackson Hole.  We were hoping we would get to Bar J before 6:15 because Scott (one of the Wranglers) reserved a table for us. They always give us the front table on the side when we call. They also always pay for our dinners. They really treat us so nice.  Dave took some med samples for them which is only a drop in the bucket.  

I spy the TETONS!

I took Carson to see the Indian statues on the trail behind and I got McKay and Bryce to join us.  We got some fun pix! 

 The look on this kid's face cracks me up!

 He loves the boys and they love him.

   

The food was fabulous as always!  The Wranglers all serve it and are always so kind to our family.

The show was amazing!  It was Sarah's first time and she enjoyed it.  How can you not?  They are talented, hilarious, and more entertaining than most shows you would pay an arm and a leg for.  

I'm glad I wore my Boston shirt.  I knew if I did that someone there would have ran it or knew someone that had.  It's always a conversation starter.  And sure enough, I had one man come up to me and told me he ran it last year and two other times.  It's always an instant bond.  Another lady was smiling at me clear across the room  and I'm sure it's because she was a Boston-runner as well. 

dear friday, I slept so good last night!  Must be the cabin air!  I headed down the Grey's River Road for my run.  I am always a little leery running it because I know there are bears, moose, and who knows what else?  But I did stop to take a lot of pix of the gorgeous wildflowers.  

 Views from my run!  The Grey's River looks like chocolate this year!  

I am feeling real bad we are missing Taylor's good bud Travis' reception tonight. He's like a son to me. All those boys are.  I sent him a text and told him why we wouldn't be there. We had a good breakfast then went on the other side of the Palisade's Lake and floated the Snake River. It was much too high and fast to float on the Wyoming side... at least with a little one.  

We had a good time. The guys fished but caught nothing.  We stopped off the side and had our picnic lunch.  Carson fell back over the boat head first while we were stopped.  Poor kid. He was fine but it scared him.  

Great day on the water

The waterfall above is called Fall Creek Falls.  It is seriously one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen!  Oh my gosh!  The pix do NOT do it justice at all. My camera and the sun couldn't capture the true glory of this sight!  The green vines hanging down through the cascading water make it unreal!  I tried to find some pix on the internet (below) to show the real beauty, but even these don't do it justice. 

Internet photos

I think it was the combination of the high water this year and the amount of water rushing down.  Just spectacular!

We went back to the cabin and made Hobo dinners.  We cooked them in the oven though because the mosquitoes were so bad outside and the guys had to find firewood for the fire so we just stayed in.  It was okay.  They were really good.  We had a hot Dutch Apple pie ala-mode as well.  We watched a movie together.  Some war one, but it was good.  Life's simple pleasures.  The kind that you don't take the time to do when at home. I love being at the cabin because life slows down.

dear saturday, I got up early and headed on my run.  There was a triathlon going on for Alpine's Mountain Man Days. I ran past them on the run part. Then I ran to the city center park because I was meeting everyone there for breakfast. It was free. Pretty tasty too.  

We came home and I showered and made us a lunch to take fishing at Murphy's Lake. We saw a huge moose on the way and a bald eagle or two on the lake. It is a beautiful lake. 

Moose in all pix as well as inside the white circle.

Bald eagle

Bryce took this photo.

The water is so clear and you can see the fish swimming up to bite your worm.  The fish are pretty small though.  Carson did however catch one (or reel one in Dave that caught). 

Even though they threw it back, it ended up being a pretty pricey fish because we got ticketed for not having licenses.  Dave bought licenses yesterday but we were in Idaho then and since we had planned on going to Teton Village today and not fish, he didn't get any.  The fish cop was nice in only giving us two tickets.  He also gave us two warnings.  The tickets however, are $220 each!  Ouch!  I'm sure we won't let that happen again!  When I think what I could do with that money!  UGH!  

My fave picture even though it's his fake smile.  He's so innocent and sweet!

Stunning views!

#boymom  Just missing Taylor and Tyson.  My shirt says BoyMom OutNumbered

We pulled over by the bridge to eat our lunch.  It was seriously hot and so we didn't stay long.  We did go up and check out Lunch Counter and let Sarah see it.  It was HUGE!  It scared me to death. I was so glad none of the guys wanted to float it this year.  We saw only three commercial boats out. Usually you see a ton.  We did see two boys on tubes go down it. Now that is insane!  Only one tipped over, but he seemed fine.  

Lunch Counter - Empty inner-tube after tuber went over - McKay climbing huge retaining wall on a dare from Bryce - (Boys!) 

We painted rocks for the Brigham Rocks group.  Carson made a rainbow and fish and I made a horse and shark.  FUN FUN!

We cooked brats over the fire.  We also had Smores.  It was fun and the mosquitoes weren't as bad.  I love sitting around the campfire.  Everyone was tired and so we didn't stay up and watch a movie or play games. :(

dear sunday, we drove to the Etna Ward for church.  Dave, McKay and I stayed for the whole block.  We don't usually do that but it is always interesting. I really am glad we did because I learned something in a different way that I will always remember. The RS lesson was on the Holy Ghost and one of the sisters commented how if we ever feel alone, we shouldn't because the Holy Ghost is our companion and always with us.  He kept saying that He is a person.  A man.  An actual person and not just some figure or small little thing in our head. He is a real person and can be with us all the time if we live right.  So when we are feeling alone if we remember we are really NEVER alone because we have been given that gift of a companion at all times. Of course, I have known that since Primary, but sometimes when someone else words things a bit different, your mind takes on a totally different perspective.  It was a comfort.  The teacher also talked about how we don't need to be perfect to have Him with us.  She then talked about how a lot of times we don't pray for things we want to pray for because we feel so unworthy.  She said that Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to pray NO matter what we have done and that He will listen and answer our prayers not based only on our worthiness but more often based upon our asking.  Another thing I have known forever but liked hearing it put a bit differently.  I love attending other wards.  We met 106 year old man in that ward who is as spry as spring chicken.

Oooo....we be stylin'

We came home and made a yummy chicken (more like Thanksgiving) dinner.  One thing we don't do on vacation is starve!   We kind of hung out and then cleaned the cabin and then hung out some more.  Then we packed up, cleaned some more and headed home. We took the long way so McKay could see the new Star Valley Temple. FUN TRIP!

dear random, I screenshot some Facetime pix with Taylor this week.  He is letting his facial hair grow out I fear.  But, he looks good with or without it.   

I'm missing this boy!

hahahaha

Oh. My. Gosh.  Only 300 days until I live my dream again!  So. Exciting!

dear quotes,  

“Truthfully, my mistakes don't seem to have mattered very much. They were dumb, not evil, and dumb is part of every life.”