Christmas Village 2018

Zac made an awesome DC Temple!

Next to Zac's creations 

was the Lincoln Memorial 

that Chris made.

Awesome job, Chris!

Then continuing to the right was Hunter's pentagon

with an abominable in the middle.

Hunter was on a snow monster kick

this year. 

If you look close you'll 

see a few of them scattered around

the DC village. 

Our Emily was next with a

vintage village home.

Love your sprinkle siding, sis!

Paul, with the help of both Emilys,

made Arlington National Cemetery.

Love it, Paul!

He also made a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

(It's the little green structure between Sarah's White House 

and Emily Bo's Smithsonian 

just right of the top center.)

Layton, Utah now has it's own replica

Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall thanks in part to our

family friend Coach Dooley who told us there's 

an app called "The Wall"

where you can enter a deceased serviceman or woman's name 

and see where their name is engraved on the wall. 

In the picture above, right of the green "Wall" 

is Emily Bo's Smithsonian. We loved

her domed ceiling and 

arched entry!

The tallest entry ways were on Sarah's White House

and she totally rocked it!!!

She even made both the North and South entries

which are quite different. 

You probably already knew that

but I sure didn't. 

I also don't know how Alex does it

but every year he gets 

twice the number of features

built as the rest of us! 

This year was no exception with his 

Capital Building

and his Washington Monument. 

Sarah and Darren's little ones decorated houses too.

Such precious little people!

Rascal loved that they brought Frankie!
This pic was taken in between all the fun.

Frankie looks like she's thinking, come on pal, 

let's play some more. 

It was a blast watching those cute dogs together. =D

Thanks everyone 

for helping us!

<3

Maple Grove Hot Springs in the fall...

A bunch of us got away a few weeks ago 

on Friday night and Saturday

to Maple Grove Hot Springs

along the shore of Oneida Reservoir

 in southern Idaho.

Autumn's colors were breathtaking! 

The campsites were complete with picnic tables

and a resident flock of turkeys 

that wandered and clucked. 

This is one of Scott and April's favorite places. 

They found it when looking up all the different hot springs in Idaho. 

A few years ago, 

when Zac was on his mission, 

they invited our family to meet them there 

and we had such a great time together!

First Visit to Maple Grove

And then THIS happened!!!

Paul was one seriously hurting man! 

It's been 4 years since that experience 

and Paul said he was up for going to Maple Grave again 

but would opt out of the hot springs soak this time 

(the wound care Dr. 

suspected he had a break in his skin 

and some bacteria from the hot pots 

wreaked havoc on him.) 

Yes, you noticed that?
Paul affectionately refers to Maple Grove 

as "Maple Grave". 

He sat in a comfy camp chair on the edge of the pool

while the rest of us soaked in the hot springs,

sharing stories and looking 

 at constellations.

We brought kayaks to enjoy the reservoir.

Friday night's sunset was one for the ages. 

Thanks, Paul, for the beautiful picture below!

Saturday more of us went kayaking. 

We all loved having Anna

join us for our get-away.

My favorite spot 

was where the hot springs run-off 

entered the reservoir 

Rascal is not a fan of getting splashed, however,  

so this was NOT his favorite spot. 

Sorry pup. 

Thanks, everyone for the fun time! 

I've thought of our little get-away 

a dozen times since then. 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

-L.M. Montgomery

Such a treat, a "Springtime" treat!

The twigs have a cousin named Spring.

Yes, she's as bright and happy as her name.

Zac told me tonight that next to us,

Spring wrote him the most letters on his mission.

She's thoughtful beyond her years and is such a blessing in our lives.

Yesterday I got the mail and found an envelope from Spring

for Emily!

It was hard to wait for our girlie to get home from work 

so she could open it!

This is what she found inside...

A "congratulations graduate" card

and a portrait of our Emma!

Spring so nailed it! 

How does she do that?!

Spring wears many hats and one of them is

creator of the cutest stick figure doodles.

She even sells them on Etsy. 

Springtimedoodles

We love to read her blog too!

Springtimetreats

Thank you dear Spring 

for sharing your adorable creations with us 

through the years.

They are treasures and we love them so much!

Though as much as we love them, 

we love you more!

xoxo

Maui #5 Watchman on The Needle...

Iao Needle is a State Monument 

and they've done a great job telling the history of the place.

Placards all about the war on the islands 

and what a strategic asset Iao Valley was

line the path up to the viewpoint.

From this landmark, The Needle, 

you can see anyone coming from the ocean.

They did see them coming 

and they saved the day. 

Pretty neat place. 

=D

Maui #4 Sooo fishy!

Snorkeling was the main activity planned for the trip to Maui
and it was even better than I'd dreamed.


(photo credit unknown) 

We headed out to Molokini Crater on this boat early one morning.





I didn't have an underwater camera 

but did try to use Scott's camera once. 

(photo credit unknown)

It was way more difficult than it looked

to catch great underwater pictures 

(photo credit unknown)

cause all those fish are on the move 

AND the current has 

YOU on the move. 

There's a LOT of moving going on!

(photo credit unknown)

That all means that none of the fish pictures 

in this post are mine.

(photo credit unknown)

Hats off to great underwater photographers 

and thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures.

(photo credit unknown)

We snorkeled every chance we got, 

well, not here

but lots of other places!

(photo credit unknown)

We floated along the reefs for hours 

(photo credit unknown)

looking at the incredible 

shapes and colors of fish.

The yellow striped goatfish

were always swimming in schools.

(photo credit unknown)

I was too busy looking down

so I didn't notice these for a long time. 

Then I caught a flash of light out the corner of my mask

and noticed needle fish on the surface 

swimming beside us.

(photo credit unknown)

We saw some turtles in the water too.

(photo credit unknown)

It was so much fun to swim along and watch all the critters,

that is all except for the guy I saw that looked like this. 

(photo credit unknown)

He swam up and out of some coral 

right in front of me 

and opened his mouth wide!

(photo credit unknown)

I could see past his sharp pointy teeth 

and clear down his throat!

(photo credit unknown)

Didn't know it was possible to scream underwater

but it is! 

I screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed, 

arms, hands and fingers spread wide

until he retreated back into his coral!

Poor Scott was wanting to get a picture 

but that bright yellow moray eel 

wasn't coming out again!

I learned later 

that they don't open their mouth 

because they're looking to take a big bite out of you. 

They don't have gill covers 

so they open and close their mouth 

to BREATHE. 

Sorry, pal.
;)

Such a beautiful

underwater world!!

(photo credit unknown)