llama?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??????????

Yesterday the song "Sweet Home Alabama" came on. Jackie said, "Are they saying 'Sweet hold my LLAMA????" Don't know if I'll ever hear that song the same way again. Rats, 'cause I LIKED that song, too!!!

There's a feeling in the air...

...and that feeling is Fall! This is my favorite time of the year. Don't know if it's any one thing in particular, maybe a combination of many things. It's the crispness of the air, the play of light and shadows that changes with this season, the amazing colors, the anticipation for the coming seasons, or the last "hurrah" before the long cold of winter. Whatever it is, I LOVE Fall!!!



This weekend we took another trip up American Fork Canyon. This time it was to see the beautiful Fall colors. We weren't disappointed, to say the least. It was breath-taking. There were beautiful reds and aspen-gold, all in contrast with the deep green of the evergreens. WOW!

Kevin took this picture...it reminds me of the Robert Frost poem about the road in the woods. It's one of my favorite poems.


We took some fun family pictures, too. Amanda and Jackie each had a turn taking pictures of Mom and Dad. Too funny.

How Jackie got this one to come out clearly when she was gagging and saying "EEEYYYEEEW-GROSS!!" is beyond me! haha

Amanda took the camera and got this picture alright, in spite of the on-running commentary from her silly sister.


Needless to say, we had fun and the girls were typically silly. At least they didn't fall into the stream.




This outing definitely made us appreciate the beauty of this wonderful world Heavenly Father has created for us. Awe-inspired is a great description of how we felt.

Back in time...

...we went...to the days of yester-year and the Constitutional Convention....
Where white-wigged delegates debated and voted on the issues that were incorporated into the first laws of our great nation.



Finally debate ceased, agreement was reached and the noble delegates arose, one at a time, to sign the final document which became the Constitution of these United States of America.


...LET FREEDOM RING....!!!

Introducing...

*************************************************************************************

...Mr. and Mrs. Shane Eckerman!!!

We just returned from a trip to Prescott Valley where we celebrated the marriage of Kevin's niece, Chelsea Webster to Shane Eckerman. It was a wonderful weekend for all of us, and great to be back among family and friends whom we miss so much.

The festivities included a pre-wedding Hoe-Down at Shane's parents' house. Everyone got into the spirit of the party by dressing up in their best western-attire.



Since the wedding-rehearsal was right before the Hoe-Down, everyone went western to the rehearsal, too.

Here's Steve practicing walking Chelsea down the aisle...



...and Shane and Chelsea practice leading the wedding party out of the gazebo...



The wedding and reception were much more formal, very classy and elegant. Not the least elegant, were the parents of the bride. Debbie and Steve certainly clean-up nicely, don't they?

Amanda and Jackie looked beautiful as well...

The Father-Daughter dance was to Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World", and brought everyone to tears...


Jackie and Kevin danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland, and gave me a heart-wrenching preview of things to come...


Shane and Chelsea...we wish you joy and love as you enter this "wonderful world" of marriage as partners and friends. God bless you both! We love you!

Things that make your skin crawl...

Just when I thought we (out here, west of the Rockies) had a monopoly on BIG creepy spiders...



My sister and her husband, who live in Ohio, discovered THIS living in their flower garden. I did a google search for "yellow and black spiders" and discovered its scientific name is: Argiope aurantia Lucas Its body alone is at least an inch long!!!!!



I'll just call it a big-ugly-icky-yellow-spider, and hope that it stays EAST of the Rocky Mountains... Thank-you VERY much!