A little kitchen redo

I decided I was tired of my dining area in the kitchen but I didn't want to spend very much for a new look.

Yay for spray paint.  I painted the table and chairs "heirloom white" and the bench turquiose.

I bought a cute, colorful rug and some red chairpads.

I love the light, airy feel of the sheer curtains.

Ashley got me hooked on mod podge.

I pulled this little bookcase, that used to be Grandma Niederhauser's, out of my bedroom and spray painted it.  It fit perfectly in the kitchen.

I threw in a little turquoise and red in this cabinet to tie it all in.

It was a very inexpensive little redo.  And I love the light feel it has brought in. 

OCD

Disorder, illnes, call it what you will.  We can't seem to stop ourselves from going to Washington Lake.  We went there again this weekend.  Another 26 hour "sprint" up in the Uintas.  It's about a 90 min drive from Dave's work.  Minutes after arriving, we have our canoe in the water and just look:

Even Alex's cheap-o point and shoot camera is able to capture some of the beauty.  (We are stil debating about what camera to buy for ourselves so we keep "borrowing" his)

We had the lake to ourselves that afternoon and evening.

We paddled over to Tail Lake, which is connected by a narrow passage to Washington Lake.  It is our secret fishing spot. 

As we paddled back to camp we passed the island in the middle of the lake where our boys used to like to pee.  Up on top of one of the trees there was a huge bird that we thought was maybe a bald eagle.  But as we got closer we saw it was an osprey.  Many times we have seen these amazing birds "bomb dive" into the lake and come up with a fish. 

We had a quick dinner in the trailer.  One of our camping favorites - pasta with sun dried tomatoes, pinenuts and parmesan.  Mmmm.

Dave wanted to go for a little bike ride that evening.  But if I get my heart rate up too much in the evening I can't sleep. 

So while he went on a little ride, I took some pictures of our surrounding campsite.  Wildflowers were in full bloom.

Our campsite was right by the lake.

The next morning we went on a bike ride over to Haystack Lake.  We had to hike the last mile because it was too rocky on the trail.

Several years ago we heard a woodpecker and followed the sound to this tree.  So we always have to find the same tree every time we come to this lake.  Yep, there it is!

We wanted to hike to the top of Bald Mountain, but you have to drive over to the trailhead and we couldn't get our truck started.  So we canoed for awhile, and tried it again.  We still couldn't get it started.  But after several prayers, it started up.  Thank you, Heavenly Father.  I'm not sure what we would have done.

We were able to drive home Saturday in time to get a few things done before bedtime.  I'm so glad we were able to go one more time to our favorite place in the mountains.

Washington Lake 2011

My favorite place in the Uinta's, hands down, is Washington Lake.  Alex hadn't been there since before his mission, nearly three years ago.  So we took a "very quick trip" there - we're talking 26 hours total time spent there.  We did basically two things: fish in the canoe and hike.  We had forgotten to bring a camera so these were all taken with Alex's cell phone.

We hiked about 6 1/2 miles round trip.  We hiked up to Long Lake and Island Lake.

After the hike, we canoed and fished a bit more.  I caught 5 fish, Alex caught 6 and Dave reeled in 7.  We kept only the one that had swallowed the hook.  The rest are back in the lake for someone else to catch.

Uh hum, and not to brag or anything, but my fish was the biggest. hee hee :)

One thing our family is pretty good at is cramming a lot of activity into a very short amount of time.  Our vacations are not for the faint of heart.  And, very seldom are they relaxing.  But they sure are a lot of fun!

50 + 1 = me!

My adorable parents had my whole family over for dinner last Sunday to celebrate my 51st birthday.

Later, my siblings all came over to celebrate Hannah and Jessica's birthdays, too.

The birthday girls:

Jack helped me blow out my candles. 

I have to say - thanks mom, for giving birth to me way back in 1960.  I have had a great life! 

Little Cuties

Ashley took these photos for me.  Wow I love my grandkids!  These pictures really capture their personalities, for the most part.  Although Logan is a much happier kid than these portray.