Scenes from Wheeler Farm

Family Reunion

Our second annual get together at Thel and Marshall's ranch near McGaffy was a great opportunity to see dad, siblings, and several members of the new generation. Some stayed in the bunk-house - (Jack is standing in the door of the bunkhouse) and the rest of us pitched tents in the adjacent meadow.
Activities included board games (with competitive singles scrabble and team (dui) scrabble as the number one sport. I believe that the top winners were Liz, Chris, and Derrick.
Deb's daughter, Shannon, quickly formed an alliance with the horses. That was great until Shannon left and the little one year old filly (Sassy) spent the next 24 hours looking for her. She tried to come into the bunk house, stopped cars to look in the window, tried to taste anything on the picnic tables, and was a general nuisance. Everyone but Shannon's parents, seemed to agree that Sassy should have gone back to Tucson with her new found friend.
Since Jake, Em, and I were the last to arrive we stayed an extra day and then took a leisure drive home. We stopped the the Four Corners Monument and took the drive through the reservation up to Blanding. It took a little longer to get home but allowed us to see some pretty country.

Cousin Fun

We had a fun few days with all of the grandkids here. Chris and family came over for: 1) the blessing of Hunter; 2) the family reunion this week-end; and 3) a family photo shoot.
We shared a number of meals together, the girls had a sleepover at Grandma's, lots of time was spent in the back yard (Kate and Grant were the only photos I got, and we all attended Hunter's blessing and a meal at Jenn's house.
Last night we all got cleaned up and had a photographer follow us through Wheeler farm - stopping occasionally to pose for a photo. We are anxious to see the photos and see if we are at all photogenic as a group. We will share the photos when we get them.

The greatest gift

The primary president asked the question: "What is the greatest gift Heavenly Father has given us?" Several hands went up - "home," "cars," "clothes," "church," "flowers,"... Finally, the president repeated the question: "What is the GREATEST gift Heavenly Father has given us?" A little 3-year-old stretched up her arm and shouted, "Grandma!" Carol Searle, Deseret News, July 24, 2008.

The Good Ol' Summertime!

BLT's for dinner, zucchini bread in the oven, watermelon, corn on the cob, picnics in the canyon - these are a few of my favorite things about summer.

The grand kids love to play in the water at Grandma's house. The other day we all looked out the window just in time to see one of them turn the hose fully on a sibling. The looks on the two faces were priceless. That's when we should have had a camera in hand. (Good thing Grandma keeps extra clothes on hand.)

I hope summer hasn't lost it's magic for you.

Mom feeds me well!

Can this possibly be the same little guy that weighed in at 6 lbs. 11 oz. just one month ago? Hunter is a month old and seems to be wanting to catch up to big brother Grant. I don't know what he weighs today but by two weeks of age he had already jumped to 8 lbs. 4 oz. Way to grow Hunter!

Happy 18th Birthday , Jacob!

We are jumping the gun a little as Jacob's birthday is still 4 days away (July 30th) but as usual, Jacob won't be here on his birthday. He will be going on a 5-6 day backpacking trip with the scouts. I am sure that he has spent the majority of his birthdays somewhere other than home. Tomorrow will be the family Sunday dinner and Jacob's birthday celebration
Jenn has become our family cake maker. This is the cake she decorated for Jake. It is yellow and black - Cottonwood High School's colors with a Lacrosse theme and Jake's jersey number.