Alturas Lake

Alturas Lake was just up the dirt road from our cabins. It was beautiful--and very crowded. I wore my USU tshirt to the beach. It always brings out the most interesting people. This time a guy asked me if I went there and then proceeded to tell me that his good friend went to USU and that he had been to Logan many times. It's amazing how many people have a connection to Logan or USU!

Lily had a blast. She loved the water but more importantly loved putting sand in her mouth. Dan made a sand castle, I took a nap on the beach...all was right with the world. It was a great time!

Lily The Star

Everyone was very excited to see us--not us as much as Lily--at the Southwick reunion. This would be the first time in a few years that we were all together. I couldn't believe how much the nieces and nephews had grown!!

Saturday Wanless presented his annual family history play. This time Lily was one of the stars. She played the baby Wanlass whose parents couldn't afford to take care of him so he was passed on to another couple who couldn't afford to take care of him, either. Eventually he was left at an orphanage. You can see more about the story here: http://jameswanlassmystery.blogspot.com/

At first Lily was pretty upset that her first parents--Dan and I--put her down but then she realized she was the center of the show and started smiling. It was a hoot. By the end of the performance she was pretty tired and quickly fell asleep.

Summer Vacation--Idaho

We were SO excited to head home to ID and UT. We drove all night so that we could get there by Friday morning and go to the Rexburg Temple open house with Dan's family. It was only supposed to take us 9 hours to get to Rexburg but every time we stopped for gas Lily woke up so we had to get her out of her chair and play with her for a bit.

At one stop I got her out of her chair and was playing with her. I started singing "Called to Serve". A lady in the car next to us got out of her car and asked if we were Mormon. Turns out she is as well as the 2 gas station workers--her hubby & daughter. It was pretty fun to talk to a Mormon family in the bad part of Reno at 10pm at night. Mormons are everywhere!

We got to Bill's house just as everyone was leaving to go to the open house. I threw on a skirt as I was in my workout outfit and we headed there. It was a neat experience to have most of his family there. The guides took our family on our own little tour. It is a gorgeous temple!

Our Yard

This bench is going to go back in the little alcove that you see in the picture. Eventually all the paint will be gone. There will be a vine or plant going up the fence. I got this bench at our friend's neighbor's home. The neighbor had been arrested for running a drug house. Anyways, the real estate agent was at the house one night when we were at our friend's house. I had wanted to take the bench but had been afraid that I would get arrested for stealing. I was very happy when the real estate agent let me have the bench!!

Eventually this little bench will be sanded down and painted the same color as our druggie bench.

This has been our pride and joy this summer. We planted cantelope and watermelon and they actually grew! We only got one watermelon but many cantelope. We can't wait to plant more there next year. We also planted tomatoes and had to have the neighbors help us eat them because there were so many! I also should've taken a picture of our lemon tree. It is steadily growing and we are hoping to have lemons next summer.

We are having a blast with our yard! Right now it is all dead because we have so much quack grass. We have tons of ideas, though! It is exciting to be able to do whatever we want.

Proposition 8

Dan, Lily and I went around a neighborhood in Rancho Cordova talking to people about Prop 8 and finding out how they were planning to vote. It was very interesting. Dan talked to a lady who was formally a lesbian but had "corrected her ways" and been "healed by God". She is pro Prop 8 and wanted to do anything she could to help get it passed.

I talked with a gentleman who felt that it wasn't anybody's business who got married to whom. He was voting no on the Proposition. It was very interesting to talk to all the people and get their perspective.

For more information on Prop 8: http://www.protectmarriage.com/

Eating

Lily's favorite foods are rice krispies, corn chex, and avocados.