Hello

                                      Sandhill Cranes

One of our favorite things to do is to drive around in our little valley and find the Sandhill cranes. There are hundreds of Sandhill cranes in our valley, and as it is my favorite bird, it's a treat to have so many living in this area. On this day, we found them in a recently cut cornfield. There were close to a hundred in this one field.

 I wish I had a clever line to begin this post with, however, there isn't any single sentence that can let you know why I've been lackadaisical about posting. 

Other than being busy, living life and days that go by in a blink. 

                                                    Our Mountain 

We have enjoyed going to rides just a mile or so from home to our mountains. We feel so blessed to live in this gorgeous area and have such beauty in our 'own backyard'. For conference in October, we drove up the mountain and listened to The Church of Jesus Christ semi~annual conference session on the mountain while enjoying breathtaking beauty. It was a special day, for certain.

Fresh Eggs

We bought six baby chicks in May and are finally getting fresh eggs again.

It has been a few years since we last had chicken, but we are sure enjoying these fluffy butt girls,, and they are the best bug eaters, and compost turners!

            My latest project..... thrifted buffet, thrifted artwork, thrifted mirror, books, etc.

All summer long, we enjoyed yard sales, going to the thrift stores, etc. 

It's always fun to find a 'treasure' and unique finds. 

Another birthday was celebrated.

Our youngest son and his sweet wife celebrated my birthday with us in October.

 Our sweet daughter in love made me this chocolate cake that was beautiful and tasted amazing. 

She is so talented at baking cakes and decorating cakes. 

She is our designated cake baker!

Going on rides up in our canyons and enjoying this beautiful area that we live in.

We recently bought us a side-by-side UTV, so that we can spend more time going on rides around our valley and in our canyons. It had been a joy to hop into the side by side and go exploring!

                                         Our Sweet Grands

  The last time I posted, I'm not sure that Bela had been born yet.......

She was born on June 2,2020. 

For a little while this past spring, Bela, Liam, and our Daughter in love, lived with us while our son was deployed.

 We got to watch them grow, watch Bela begin to walk and spend amazing and precious time with our Grands. 

We enjoyed having our Daughter in love and Grands with us for a few months. 

Boy, are those little Grands ever-busy bees!! I will tell you that I am glad that our family is raised... as I do not have the energy that is required to chase after little kids all day....lol!

 God in his infinite wisdom gives the children to the young!

            A happy mural painted on an old shed, that is not too far from us.

                                       My hope is to post more often. I have missed you all. 

Heart Smiles :

Being retired!

~ Plucky ~

Do any of you remember our hen, 'Poor Grace'?
For that matter, do any of you remember me??!!
Good gravy, it's been about forever since I last blogged.
There is 'settling in', and there's 'settling in'!
Well, truth be told, we're still settling in... *smile*.

Poor Grace was Plucky! 
She had that ole' wacky beak, and yet she persevered. 
She never gave up, and whats more, she became the most favorite hen of the entire flock... both people and the other hens loved her.

I've been considering ole' Poor Grace and her plucky character.
I need to cultivate a plucky attitude myself, and have resolved to do just that.... beginning right now!

Each one of us can determine to have courage in the face of the difficulties that we are going through.

Looking forward to many more hikes in our canyon.
I just had begun to explore our new canyon and new town, then winter was upon us. 

Oh what joy it will bring to enjoy the creek, the mountains, and the beauty all around. 
Our canyon is just a teeny bit up the road from our new home.

Our new town also has hot springs, and hot pools! They are lovely and the view from the hot pools simply cannot be beat... why, you can see our entire town, and surrounding area from the pools!

Simply the best thing has happened to us... we are expecting our second Grand. 
It's a girl this time, and we could not be more excited to meet her. 
She is scheduled to have her debut the first part of June.

Our sweet Liam will be a big brother, and some day he will teach his little sister how to catch a fish!
I'm missing our Grand!! 
I miss going to church, and especially going to the temple.
I miss all the 'normal' things.
 We all miss 'normal' don't we! 

Here's to my new plucky attitude :
* getting a garden in this summer...yay! 
We moved in last summer too late in the season to grow a garden.
*My sweet husband getting off the doctors list... I hope in May!
(He ended up with a twelve inch blood clot in his leg, just before Thanksgiving, but thankfully he is doing great. Taking his blood thinners and getting back to regular activities.)
*Taking lots of pictures, and showing you all around our new home and town!
* Putting a smile on my face, and happy in my heart, and finding a way to serve others.
 Because I sure can get bummed out, if I let myself!

Attitude of gratitude:
~ Grateful for this day. 
~Grateful for little seeds that are sprouting and hold so much promise for a great garden this year!
~Thankful for my 'consolation' gift from our daughter. The concert that we wanted to go to in Santa Fe was cancelled, and so she bought me the cutest t~shirt and CD from the "The Mavericks" .

~ Our new 'Little Home' ~

Today, I'd like to show you our new 'little home'. 

Not to confused with the trendy 'tiny houses'.

As many of you know, we are gearing up for retirement.

I have to smile because some of my dearest friends have confused our 'retirement' with us slowing down.

Nothing like that will be happening to us.

We have no intention of 'slowing down'.

Simply, we are changing gears. 

Entering a new season of our lives.

Our desire is to take blocks of time throughout the year, plan trips and have adventures in new places, and see new things; learn new things, hike new trails, walk new paths.

Fish new lakes, photograph new landscapes...

 The above picture is when the dealership was putting the new hitch, sway bar, etc. on our Yukon, and leveling the trailer.
This is not our first RV.
We've had several travel trailers in the past, and even a motorhome.
It's been a few years now since we've had a travel trailer though, and boy have things changed... for the better!

 Slide outs are awesome and sure increase the usable interior space. We have two slide outs. 
One is for the dining area, and the other is for the Master Bedroom wardrobe closets.

 Intentionally, we bought a travel trailer for a couple. We certainly didn't need nor want a bunkhouse, as it will be just the two of us traveling together.
We looked for a floor plan that had a separate large Master Bedroom. 
Although we have one large bedroom, the dining table will make into an extra bed, if we take our Grand with us :)

 It even has a heated mattress... what a comfy bonus!!

 Large flat screen, sound bar, blue tooth, and indoor speakers, as well as outdoor speakers, will make things very comfortable and enjoyable when we're on the road.

It's the first RV we've ever had that also has a microwave.. yay!
The bathroom is massive (for an RV) and has a double shower, though I neglected to get a picture of that for this posting.
The trailer has A/C and is WIFI ready and also is wired for solar panels.
It's the fanciest travel trailer that we've ever owned and we are humbled by this blessing and opportunity we have in this season of our lives.
We may end up living in our travel trailer for a bit, as we sell our home, and transition to a new home, so the fact that this travel trailer is very comfortably equipped will make that experience that much nicer and a smoother transition for us.
 Our travel trailer is made by Forest River, and it is a Rockwood Mini Lite model.
I think it's just 25 feet long and weighs under 5 thousand pounds. 
My sweet husband reports that it is very easy to tow.

~ What I'm loving this week....

Beautiful jar of faux lemons on the island, and a vase filled with babies breath.

Ingredients for protein bites: Almond butter, raw honey, organic unsweetened coconut, ground flax, black chia seeds, organic dried cranberries, honey roasted almonds, rolled oatmeal, and mini 'Enjoy Life' brand of mini chocolate chips.

A new apron in a sage and white check.

An enjoyable book series. I've been reading a ton this winter.

A thrifted rocking chair getting a chalk paint makeover.

Our thrifted kitchen table also got a chalk paint makeover. We gifted our rather large kitchen table to our youngest son and his wife. It was a massive table and we simply did not need such a large table anymore. This smaller double drop leaf table we bought at a yard sale a few years ago. It's perfect. I will also be painting the chairs to match the table.

Attitude of gratitude:

Last night, as we were bringing home our new trailer, we got about 40 miles into our 55~60 mile trip home, when we heard a loud 'pop'. 

Fearing something had gone terribly wrong, we pulled over... thankfully there was a spot perfect to pull our Yukon and trailer over and get off the highway. 

The 'dummy' light indicated that our hood was unlatched. Evidently, the hood didn't get shut tight enough,  when the dealership was installing our brake assist, and it was a simple fix to open the hood and slam it shut. 

I feel so grateful that it wasn't anything serious, and that the hood stayed shut and didn't fly open on the highway in a spot where we wouldn't have been able to pull over. 

Prayers are answered!!

We said a prayer before we went to pick up the trailer, and we said a prayer before we left the dealership to travel back home with the trailer. Heavenly Father watches over us and for safe travels I am grateful!!

~ Cowboy~

   Heber Valley Western Music and Cowboy                             Poetry Gathering
 The above picture is by Loren Entz (click on his name for more information)

 Do ya'll like Cowboy Poetry? Or Western music?
Each October in Heber and Midway Utah, there is a gathering of fine talented folks. Folks that can sing, play guitars, mandolins, flutes, and I even know of a gent that plays an old saw!

 Last night was the kickoff for this event, and my sweet hubby and I attended the 'Cowboy Kickoff Dinner Show.
It's an event that we look forward to attending every Fall. It's a wonderful night of great music, laughter and delicious chuckwagon food.

 We enjoy tapping our toes and singing along to good old fashioned music.
We sure do enjoy this kind of entertainment.

We laughed along with folks as Cowboy Poets tell their tales of life on the ranch. 

There's a heap of talent and enjoyable events to attend, so if you live in Utah, near Heber and Midway, click on the link to find out more about the event and happenings at this years meet~up. Heber Valley Cowboy Poetry

Attitude of Gratitude:
~Thankful for a wonderful husband and I'm so grateful that he's my very best friend. We enjoy each others company and we had a wonderful Date Night!