Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?????

Our boys went on a pioneer trek after we got home from vacation. It was a real adventure! This was Jon's 2nd trek, Josh's first. They pushed handcarts up on the Old Barlow Trail on Mt. Hood. They pushed and pulled for 3 days and though the Stake isn't saying exactly how long it was, we heard it was about 35 miles, which averages out to about 12 miles per day. They crossed 3 bodies of water,and you guessed it....getting very wet in the process, but as Josh tells it, they dried off quickly in the heat. Each night they would gather around the campfire and have a program, one night staying awake for hours watching electrical storms off in the distance. It was a great experience for them. A little background....on Richards side he had family in the ill fated Willie Handcart company (Cunninghams) and my side we had family that was in the rescue party (Dalton's). So this experience was brought close to home for them. They were VERY dirty when they got home!!!
Some boys have been having a grand time swimming this summer. Here, Josh and Clint enjoy floating in our backyard pool.
Now, some people have very boring summers and tend to get into mischief when left on their own. Monday morning in the wee hours (1:30AM), I heard a huge crash against our bedroom window as I lay finishing up the latest Harry Potter adventure. I jumped out of bed (Richard was oblivious as he lay there snoring), threw open the window and yelled at the culprits. Yes, they egged our house as well as left this lovely suprise for us. We got up and washed down the the bedroom windows (where the eggs were) and then spent 30 minutes talking to a neighbor out front who had heard the crash and went chasing down the kids....though he didn't catch them. I finally got to sleep around 3 AM!!! These were not Jons friends, but some neighbor boys who have nothing better to do than bug us!So, now you know what some people do in the summertime......STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING SUMMERTIME ADVENTURES!!!

30th Annual July Picnic

Each year for the past 30 years we have had a July picnic on our Dad's side of the family. I don't have any factual trivia, but through the years it has been held at various places and sometimes not in July. The crowd fluctuates....this year Richard counted 27. It started out on the Oregon coast and is now held at Lewisville park in Battleground Washington. For many years we all wore matching t shirts (there are still a few floating around)...there were matching hats and for quite a while we've worn buttons....each year new ones are designed. Last year we had crotched frogs made special by David. Our logo is a frog.....he's mutated through the years as well. This year the buttons were really awesome. There were 3 different ones, each with a different background picture of the park, with a cute frog in the middle.
Each year we also take a family picture. Someone usually stands out to snap the photo, we usually switch off so that everyone gets in the picture at some point.
Everyone brings their own plates and things and we all bring different food to share. There are lots of desserts and we have a program of sorts. Here Grandpa and Aunt Sue visit.

The Egan Boys and Girls.....

I would like to say the Egan men are lined up from youngest to oldest, but in this pic I had them line up from shortest to tallest. Except for Joshua (give him a few years), Richards boys are all taller than he is. Jon has a few inches on Jeramy, but Jeramy's truck (behind them) is bigger than Jons!! (hee hee)
And yes, the Egan girls made a trip to the grocery store. I had to experience pushing the shopping cart into the apartment and unloading the groceries in the kitchen.Well, that's it for our vacation.............till next time!!!

Our Day Hike in Utah

I promise I'm getting at the end of our vacation. (yawn yawn...) Logan wanted to show us this beautiful place up in the mountains where there was a waterfall. It was a short hike (about 30 minutes), albeit straight up!
Here's a picture of the view taken from part way up. It was quite breathtaking....don't you think?? There is some green in Utah even though it gets really hot.
I figured I would make it up, but was a bit terrified of getting back down again, but I made it just fine. Of course I kept my eyes and ears open for rattlesnakes, and cougars. Logan showed us the spot where he ran into a cougar one time.

Boating on the 4th of July.....

Brent and Shannon (Logan's parents) took us boating on the Yuba Reservoir. For this homebody family, it was a real treat!!
Shannon thought Jon looked a little bored, so Brent gunned the engine and took him on a wild ride. I was hanging on getting the ride of my life too!
Josh couldn't quite muster the courage to ride the tube (or whatever it's called), but Jenny got him to jump off the boat with her into the middle of the reservoir.Here, Jenny and Logan take a ride together.

You Know You're in Utah When........

We began our vacation by driving to Boise Idaho for a few days. We spent one day at a water park, keeping cool and enjoying the sun. On Tuesday morning we left for Utah to visit with Christophers kids in West Jordan. Like a dork we totally didn't get any pictures of the kids, except this one of Josh blowing bubbles for our grandaughter Serenity. What kind of grandparents don't get pictures of thier grandkids! I guess I'll claim memory loss on that one. We had a nice time with them, although much too short, as we were headed to Gunnison for that evenings activities that Logan and Jennifer had planned for us. The Gunnison Valley puts on a wonderful community July 4th celebration. To kick it off there is a big dinner in the park (Jenny and Logan treated us to dinner) along with a good old fashioned auction with quilts galore, as well as lots of other things. To end the evening there was a big fireworks display that we watched from Logans parents yard. There was even a youth dance at the park after the fireworks.I tried to bid on a leaf blower (Josh was begging me to bid).....and we thought we had won the bidding, but it turned out someone behind us was also bidding and they got it instead. But it was fun. Next time we go for the 4th, I'm going to plan on taking enough money to buy one of those beautiful quilts!
Okay, now in case you're wondering why I titled this the way I did here is our funny story.
Instead of redneck jokes, we decided we're going to begin our own collection of mormon idioms. We had to stop at a little store in Nephi Utah and on the mens bathroom wall instead of the regular graffiti, written on the stall door it said: "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceassingly" and another wrote "AMEN".
Then, before the auction in Gunnison, they honored 3 people from the community for their service. In telling about one of the men, they told about what a good home teacher he was. WHERE ELSE but Utah would you hear someone being honored in a community setting for (in part) being a good home teacher!!!
Stay tuned for more on our vacation.............

Summer Vacation

We took our vacation to Utah to spend the 4th of July with Jenny and Logan. I was going to blog everything and so I started kind of backwards....but it just takes too long to blog on my computer. So, things are not necesarily in order.

Majestic Temples

We've been to many of the Temples in Utah throughout the years and this trip wasn't any different. This first Temple is The Manti Temple. This is Jenny and Logans Temple. It's 15 minutes from their house. It is so beautiful sitting up on the hill. It is the 3rd Temple built in Utah. It's building took 11 years. The Mormon Miracle Pageant which takes place each June, now attracts 130,000 people a year and began in 1967.The Provo Temple took 3 1/2 years to build and was finished in 1972. Jon asked to go to the MTC which is next to the temple. Kristie and Barth probably attended this temple many times as newlyweds!
Joshua asked if we were going to Temple Square (it wasn't planned) so we quickly planned a trip there. We were last there 3 1/2 years ago when we went to General Conference. Temple Square is a most beautiful and serene place. Salt Lake was the 4th Temple in Utah to be built. It took 40 years to finish and is just so magnificient!! One could spend 2 full days at Temple Square and not take in everything. We met an elderly sister volunteer outside in the 100 degree heat willing to share Temple stories with us. One of which is that before they placed the Angel Moroni on the top capstone (look how far up it is)... people were allowed to climb up the scaffolding that led to the top, to touch it.

Back in the Beautiful Northwest.......

As we drove into the Columbia River Gorge we were in awe (as usual) of the beauty of the trees, mountains and river. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, about 35 miles from home.