Camping

I have always loved to camp. I love sleeping in a tent, although I will admit that now I insist on an air mattress. I love cooking on an open fire or the camping stove, but especially a dutch oven. I love the donuts we make for breakfast. I love the time away from the crazy world; no TV, phone, or traffic. I love the time around the campfire, looking up at the stars and listening to the fire crackle. I love spending time with family and friends in the out-of-doors.

I came across this picture and it reminded me that my first camping experience was with Grandma Busby. We were on our way up to Salmon, Idaho to visit Grandpa and his carnival. We only had one night of camping and it rained on us, but it must have hit a nerve, because I've always loved it since.

Summer 1961---Grandma cooking with Mel and me watching

Ode to Summer

Well, it's over!!! Summer, I mean. This has been a wonderful, relaxing summer and I hated to see it come to an end. But end it did. I had school meetings last Tuesday and Wednesday and my new class of 5th graders showed up on Thursday. Oh boy! This may be a very long year. Usually the first few days, the kids are on their best behavior, trying to impress their new teacher. Not this group. We weren't in the classroom for 5 minutes before I hear a kid say, "I can't sit by him!" with the response of, "Oh no, not her!" I was really happy for Friday to roll around. As I said, this may be a very long year. I really miss summer.

Luke's Big Day

Last Wednesday was a very big day for Luke; his 5th birthday and his first day of kindergarten. I flew up to Utah to join in on the festivities. What fun. We took pictures and then the entire family walked him to school. He was so excited to finally go to school.

Luke's 1st day of school

August 2009

Todd's first day of school

September 1981

Boston

This past week, I took a quick trip to Boston. I had never been there and it's full of American history, so I decided it would be worth the trip. I arrived Tuesday night and only had time to walk around Boston Common before I went to bed. Wednesday, I walked the Freedom Trail. It's a walking path that connects 14 Revolutionary War sites including Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and the site of the Boston Massacre. I took a guided tour for the first part, and was on my own for the rest. It's amazing to think that so many important events happened in a 3 mile stretch. It was very hot and humid, but really interesting. Somehow, when you are there and see the area, history comes to life.

I loved the metro system, being able to go all over town without a car, even to and from the air port.

Thursday morning found me at the Boston temple. It is really a beautiful temple with very friendly and helpful workers. After I checked out of the hotel, I had a picnic lunch in the public gardens and caught the metro back to the airport. It was a really fast trip, but I loved every minute of it.

Kindergarten

The first day of school for my kids was always hard for me. It meant the end of a fun summer, spending lots of time together. But it also brought on a case of the guilts. (I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, however, life didn't cooperate.) On the first day of any given year, the kids would get ready in their new clothes and pose for the annual first day of school pictures. I love looking back at those pictures and see the happy, excited smiles.
When the first day of kindergarten came for Tayson, I wanted to be there. I missed so much of his life being so far away; birthdays, school programs, ball games. This was one thing I could attend. It was so much fun to share in the excitement of that day. Since then, I have decided that this was going to be a "grandma thing", being there for the first day of kindergarten.
Monday was Carson's turn. He was so excited, he could hardly eat breakfast. As we dropped him off, he waved good bye, blew kisses, and went into the classroom with a big smile on his face. What was really cute was that at the end of the morning, when we picked him up, he said, "That was so much fun, can I come back tomorrow?" If he only knew!

Why Blog?

I thought about blogging a while ago. It looked like fun and a good way to share your thoughts and life's activities with others. But what would I write? All I would need to say was, "See Amy's and Kathy's blogs." It seemed that a good deal of my life was taken up with them and their lives.
However, after seeing the published books of their blogs, I realized that this is a great way to journal. I'll admit that I have not been very good at writing in my journal, and this looks like a lot more fun, so why not. Besides that, even though a lot of my life parallels my kids, I certainly have a different perspective. So here goes, my attempt to keep my family and friends informed and a written record for my posterity.

Good bye to Summer

Amy's last day of summer vacation was Tuesday and she wanted to spend it at the beach. This made me smile because I remember all of the times Amy, Todd, and I spent our last day of vacation there. It usually was Labor Day, and we usually wondered if it would be too crowed. But, we always managed to find a spot and spent our last few hours of freedom relaxing in the sun and surf. How I love the beach