Raindrops on roses...

Today was a crazy, rainy day.  It started in the middle of the night, and went all morning, then took a break in the early afternoon, and full out poured in the evening, and has been raining tonight!!  

So, the roses on the rockwall definitely have raindrops on them, but these roses were picked the other day, and have been making the table a little prettier ever since.  

The three in front have my vote for the favorite roses in the rose garden. From left to right - Double Delight, Sunset Celebration* and Diana, Princess of Wales.  They are all lovely colors and have just the right rose scent.  A little musky, not the heavy old-fashioned fragrance, really pleasing to take a whiff of.

Rose season is drawing to a close, especially if we keep getting as much rain as we have lately.  I'm so glad to have this last little bit of summer sitting on my counter.

*Here is a little back story on the Sunset Celebration rosebush.  It sits right at the edge of the rock wall, just in front of a very pushy lilac.  (The lilac is beautiful and fragrant in the spring, but the rest of the summer, I could do without it!  Just a sidenote.)  Anyway, the SC rose wasn't doing very well for several consecutive summers, and one day I decided to really chop back the lilac.  Well, as a result, the rose began getting consistent sunlight and began to thrive.  I liken that to the "Son" in our lives and if we will let His light into our lives, we too can thrive.  Just a little Gospel thought for you.

Another Garden Post

Yesterday when I went out to pick the garden, I realized that I had some beautiful flowers going in my yard.  Not the fact that I didn't realize this until now, gives away my lack of involvement in the flower department this year, but despite my neglect, there are a few pretty ones to share.

We tried some pots in the shade and this dragonwing begonia really stands out.  Much better than the other begonia behind it, the alyssum that didn't make it through the summer and the coleus which you can see if you peer at the left side of the pot intently.

This is my miracle sunflower.  When I was weeding the garden earlier in the summer, I accidentally pulled out the young plant.  I quickly replanted it, but it wilted as a newly yanked out plant would.  But wonder of wonders...it survived.  Although it is small and bloomed later than the few other sunflowers in the garden, I enjoy it everytime I get out there to pick the garden.

Same plant, just a close up.  I love how the sun lights up the petals.

Orange zinnias and purple osteospernum.  What a happy combo.  The zinnias are volunteer from last year, and the osteospernum is an annual I stuck in the ground in the early summer.  I love the way they look together.

A close up of an aster that isn't the prettiest one in the patch, surrounded by weeds.  Beautiful or not, it is supplying pollan and nectar for this bee.  The circle of life...we are all connected to each other...any other Disney song you would like to insert that applies.  :)

Fall is my favorite for many reasons, and it just occured to me that one big reason may be that the temperature is more conducive to actually spending time outdoors, and giving me a chance to enjoy our yard.

We're ba-ack

Fun in the summer sun!!!


Well, the blog has been on a well-deserved vacation for a few months, but now its time to get back to work!

School's out, summer's half over, and its flying by. In a nutshell, we've worked hard, and played a little. To say its been hot would be an understatement.
Joey, Jared, Katie and Trevor on an expedition!


Trev finished his baseball season at the end of June. He had a great time, and made it at least to first the majority of his at bats. He also liked playing in the infield and catcher.














The garden is growing, and the next blog will be a little tour of the garden, but today, here is my best garden success for the year so far.

When my girls were little, one of our favorite books was called Miss Rumphius. It is the story of a woman who has traveled far and wide and finally settled down when she got old. She wanted to contribute to the world so she decided to fill the countryside around her with lupines. It is a story about the importance of giving of yourself to help make others lives better.

In the spirit of Miss Rumphius, I have tried several times to plant my own lupines. She had the gift to start them from seed, but I have tried to plant already grown plants. Several have died before they even had a chance, but one has lasted a few years now. It was small to start with, and still is pretty puny, but after about 3 summers, it finally bloomed. It was just as pretty as I
hoped it would be and although it only blooms once a season, has earned a place in the flower bed. What a beautiful flower!!!



Tour de France fever struck Trevor this year, and inspired his choice of birthday cake decorations. He had a little mini party at the river with his birthday buddy, Reid Folsom (who has about 35 years on him) and then finally had the family celebration on Sunday. Who wouldn't love a kid who looks like such a goofy with his new swim goggles on? Seems like it would be pretty uncomfortable to me!!! By the way, he has wayyyyy to many girlfriends if you know what I mean!! What a cute 9 year old!!!

Road Trip 2008

Well, we knew it was coming. It hung over some of us all summer; couldn't get here fast enough for some others - the end of summer. New school supplies, a few new clothes, a new fuel pump for the suburban (that was a surprise!), and most importantly of all, a new college freshman. (note the blue words in honor of BYU!!! ;-)

We took Chelsie down to BYU last week. We had a plan, knew which day we were leaving, got the laundry done, Chelsie was packed - we were close to being ready - when, SURPRISE, the suburban broke down. Wouldn't turn over, wouldn't budge. A bad fuel pump was to blame, and after a rush repair job, we finally got on the road Thursday afternoon about 4:00. Only about 8 hours later than we hoped.

We were anxious to get to Utah, because Brandon and Ashley (with her cute little baby bump) were there. We couldn't wait to see them. Luckily, we got there safely about 2:45 am. and the next day, the party began. We hung out at Pineview Reservoir with Ashley, Brandon and his family, the Cleggs. (I'm pretty sure the Rietz contingency was boring because we were all tired, sorry Cleggs.)

We managed to sneak in a quick visit to Grandma Hughes. She about had heart failure when she saw 10 of us lined up at her door. But after she recovered from the shock, she really enjoyed our visit, even though it was shorter than we planned. Her smile was from ear to ear.

The rest of the day, we hung out at BYU - spending money at the Bookstore, eating creamery ice cream, and walking around campus a bit. Kristin learned what I mean when I say BYU is the best place to play the license plate game, we even saw Hawaii!!! Very exciting for some of us!


After a few days at Clegg's, we drove south and spent the next two nights with Joni and Jim. Joni hosted a nice Sunday dinner and the Schreiners and Kuntz's were there. Kalli showed up for a bit, and it was nice to spend time eating and chatting with everyone. Uncle Jim took Trev fishing Monday morning. What a guy!

Monday was D-day. We checked Chelsie into David John Hall at BYU. John took the rest of the kids to a few BYU sights, and I helped Chelsie unpack, get a little settled and make a list of all the things we forgot, or didn't know she needed.

Sadly for John and I, when we're in Utah, we can't avoid shopping, so that took up most of the rest of Monday. A happy thing about Utah is that Olive Garden is close to BYU, so we met Joni and Jim, and about made ourselves sick on yummy salad, bread sticks and pasta. Jim was the only one who managed to get a refill on his pasta, the rest of us were too stuffed.

Then, the inevitable came, we had to leave Chelsie in her dorm, and head up the road. I was not ready to leave her, but really, when would I be ready. She was the only one on the floor, and I was worried she would be lonely. Little did we know, Spencer Clegg, Ashley's bro-in-law, was also in Provo, called her, and they hung out a little. Thanks Spencer. Hopefully she was able to climb into her bed without hurting herself. She wanted a little storage space under her bed, but didn't expect a bed so tall she needed a step-ladder to get into it!!!

Cleggs hosted us one more night which cut a little time off our trip, and after a little sleep, made an early morning departure. We plugged along all day, and made it safely home.

Kristin knew before we left that she had Mrs. Kinzer and Trev found out he had Mrs. Feeney. We made it home in time to get to the open house on Tuesday. Good thing because the next day was...

The first day of school! Everyone seemed to get out the door with no problem, but silly us, forgot to bring umbrellas. We can't remember the last time it rained on the first day of school, and it didn't just rain, IT POURED, just about the time Kristin and Trev had to be there, so all 3 of us got a little wet.

Amber was happy to be with her 8th grade friends. Alli was VERY happy to be able to drive herself to LHS by herself, and Michele wasn't quite sure what to do with herself at first, but we all will adjust just fine, no doubt.

Travel logs aren't much fun, and as I read this, I realize that is exactly what I have just written, so to end I'll give you just a few of our favorite highlights to maybe take the edge off the boringness.

- Ashley and Chelsie watching me try sushi. Now I can cross that off my list
- Singing to our favorite Disney songs in the car (I look once more - just around the river bend...there goes the baker with his tray like always...you've got a friend in me...lavender blue, dilly dilly. Just to name a few)
- Seeing the baby bump and feel him kick
- Olive garden bread sticks
- BYU football QUEST T-shirts. Only $5.00 at the bookstore
- Playing the license plate game at BYU
- BYU creamery ice cream
- Seeing Chelsie's reaction to all the couples holding hands on campus (She was not ready for that.)
- Being able to spend time with the aforementioned friends and family
- Pulling into our driveway Tuesday afternoon

A few other bits non-trip related. (Note the color change)

Trevor got to attend his first pack meeting last week. He received his Bobcat badge and is already working on his Wolf. Keep up that enthusiasm, Trev. All the way to Eagle Scout!!!

Also, here is a picture of our house, complete with exterior paint, gutters and downspouts. As you can see, the yard is next on the list. Not sure if it will ever be the same.

I leave you with a sunflower from our garden. A sweet reminder of summer's end, and fall close on it's heels.