Scenes from July 2016

These first photos document the fun we had 

at our July 4th celebration in the back yard.

Leia and Bethany are both horse girls.

Gabe, Katie, and Hans

America's birthday cake!

Gabe and Katie

     Leia                                                                   Bethany and Hans

Richard and Joyce Johnson joined us for the barbecue.

Boyd Jolley and his grandchildren joined us, too. (Carson and Taylor) 

Carson loved the pony.

                    The fresh peas were on!                     It was plenty warm to play in the pool.

We had our own firework show as a finale'.

Jake sent this pocket sized fishing pole to Darrel for Father's Day.  

He was tickled by it. Jake had ordered it from the ship while deployed.

                                                  Darrel trying out his new fishing pole

Darrel and I made a small concrete pour on our own during July.

 

We poured the retaining wall needed to close in 

the south side of the barn to protect his new boat. 

                                         We hiked to the Levan Cave for a FHE this month.
                                        The wild bunch was the Carter and Shepherd boys.
 

Gary and Stephanie Woods must have hiked up for FHE earlier. 

SJ, Bethany and Wil and Darrel inside the cave.

Beth and Baby Wil

We saw this little snake on our hike down.

We drove up to the hieroglyphics in the Canyon so Bethany could see them.

Andrea's mission President was released this  month and 

Darrel and I attended their mission report in Morgan, Utah.

President Porter

 

A sister missionary, Sister Porter and President Porter.

Our first year with the sparrow hawk family.

One of the babies learning to fly.

A larger hawk was a threat to all the birds in the yard.

We spent one day at the Shuler Reunion in 

Payson Canyon near Blackhawk Campground.

Darrel and I rode up on Jake's motorcycle.  I chose to ride down with Bethany in the Van. 

 

Wil loved the black dirt!

So did Sarah-Jane.

Visiting was the best part of the day.

Bethany, Sarah and her dog Mags.

  

              Darrel and Landon                     SJ, Bethany & Hans walking around the reservoir.

It was a very HOT day in July for the
 Girls' Activity Day water party.

Girls included: Abby, Trista, Makia and Cousin, 

Macey, Olivia Danika, Hannah and Lilly.

Tyler and Katie went on an anniversary retreat,

so we got the kids for a few days.

Bethany took SJ, Luke and Leia to Alice in

Wonderland at the Hale Theater.

 

It just happened that the July 24th celebration 

was during the time we had the kids.

The Levan Primary parade

Fun at the park in Levan.

                                                                                                 Fishing at the park.

                                                           Easil and Eliza

THE LIFE FLIGHT HELICOPTER LANDED AT THE PARK

 

We enjoyed having Luke, Leia, and Gabe. The time went too fast.

Ty and Katie returned on July 24th.

Uncle Richard passed away in July.  His 

funeral and burial were in Huntsville, Utah.

              The flowers Mary did from our family.

                                                                   His grandsons and son-in-laws were the Pall Bearers.

            Mandy, Alyssa and Kieth                                          Aunt Cary and family

                                                                                  Kent, Rebecca and Kate

Aunt Cary and kids

The Davis Grandchildren

                      Ann, Beth and Nancy     

LEVAN HOMESTEAD NEWS:  July 2016 Edition

We have had a hot and very dry July.  Our power bill was $260! That comes from trying to keep the lawns and gardens alive and trying to keep the house cool.   We started the month our by saying good-by to the Mitchells and closing the chapter on our amazing adventures with them.  We also said good-by to our kestrel family as the babies left the nest. Of course we had our usual July events.  Our July 4^th celebration was pretty low-keel. It was mostly the flag raising and a back-yard barbeque with family and a few close friends.   We went to the Ute stampede rodeo with Bethany and kids and then went back the next evening to work. We sold over 5200 burgers that night!  We enjoyed the home town 24^th celebrations on the 23^rd.  We had Ty and Katie’s kids that day.  Actually we had them for three days while Ty and Katie had a short 5 year anniversary get-a-way.  We had fun every day and we were all pretty exhausted when they had to go home. J  I sang in a quarter in Church for the 24^th.  We sang “Come, Come Ye Saints.”  I was definitely the weak link in the group, so it sounded pretty good. (Richard Anderson, Marg Dalton, Andrew Robinson and me. )  The annual Shuler reunion was this month.  Dad and I rode to the top of Payson Canyon on Jake’s Big bike one day for a visit.  For some reason, people seemed to be really surprised by that. J  Some things must be done in the name of maintaining your “muchness.”

We enjoyed some not so traditional things in July, too.   I went out to lunch with Linda Suazo and again with my Sister Mary, for her birthday.  The time with Mary was extra sweet this year.  We also hiked to Levan cave with SJ, Wil and Bethany. We have so many memories associated with that hike that it is always fun to revisit.  I will never forget Karrie finding someone’s stash of beer cooling in the little stream there and quickly dumping every can in the name of a Laurel Project.  I picture that every time I go there.  Dad and I took Ruth Crook with us to the Hale Theater.  We saw Peter Pan and in the process learned that Ruth’s non-member sister lives in the ward boundaries where Andrea is serving.  How cool is that?  Perhaps we could all pray some seeds can be planted there.

We had some other exciting things associated with Andrea’s mission.  Dad and I attended her mission president and mission mom’s mission report in Morgan.  Wow!  President and Sister Porter are not your average members, and they both loved Andrea and praised the kind of missionary she is. We also good word of her release as well as her flight plans.  The first word was she would return on Aug. 31^st.  As we supposed---that turned out to be a mistake so plan on August 19, 2016 at 10:15 at the SL airport!  Her mission report will be Oct. 23^rd.  Dad, Beth and I were able to attend Payson temple and do the last two sealings that Andrea sent us from her mission.  Those names have provided some sweet experiences for us.

We had a couple of first this month.  Dad and I poured a retaining wall for the wall to enclose his boat.  That was our first pour with just the two of us.  We are a pretty good team!  We went to our first commissioner hearing with Bethany.  The last minute prep was a bit consuming and frustrating, but we somehow met all the deadlines and accusations adequately.  Aunt Kathleen and girls kept Beth’s kids.  That meant so much to me.  We felt like we won some and lost some, but even the losses could be turned for Beth’s good in the long run.  That is our hope and our faith.  Thanks to all who joined us in our special family fast.  Wil’s first weekend with his dad didn’t go any better than we imagined.  He was sick for nearly a week after his return, but he is doing great now. I also had Bethany with me for the first time at the annual bus training.  She has worked hard and is finally a full-fledged driver.  It was fun to have her there.  She also started cleaning district vehicles this month.  It pays well, but it is hard work!  Who knew the district had 18 vehicles other than buses? That battles still continues every morning (but Sunday) at 6:00 a.m.  We hope the end is in sight!

We had four funerals this month: Bob Sherwood, Tom Aagard,  Uncle Richard and Tina Ballow.  We learned that Sister Hurst and Sandra Mangelson each have cancer this month, too. We are so blessed to have a gospel perspective during tough times.  Being a family of faith makes all the difference.  We love you all!

Sister Kenison: See andreaapril.blogspot.com