Savoring September

September has to be one of my most favorite months of the year. The weather is delightful--not too hot, not too cold; the leaves are just beginning to change; peaches, nectarines and raspberries are plentiful from my garden; and school starts. We have tried to squeeze in the last little bit of summer from these early September days.

Earlier this summer all our kids kept telling Mark, "You should get a boat...we'd have so much fun...etc." Once Mark got permission from the CEO around our house (that would be moi) he earnestly began to search for a used one. Naturally, if you look hard enough, you'll find one. So in late August he bought a 21'. Now Mark has a new toy to play with. :) We took it out one afternoon, letting the young guys try out the tube.

Over Labor Day weekend Mark, Jord and I went on a hike to one of the mountain tops in the area. It was the perfect day--clear skies, in the 80s. We hiked 2.5 mi. up to the top. Jord is such a trooper going hiking with 2 old people.
We got a great view of the valley...

and the ski resort, where we parked our car.

Then 2.5 miles back down. Wow, we did 5 miles in 2-1/2 hours. Of course, it's much faster coming down. I love hiking.
Here's a few pictures I never got posted from one of our camping trips during the summer. We had a 3 day outing over the 24th of July. I stayed at the camp and relaxed while the others went to the lake to go fishing. Adam
Jordan
Becki

Ben

Adam & Jordan

What a great way to end the day!

More of the wedding...

When I get a bit of spare time I work up some of the photos. You might, however, see some repeats, so I apologize.

The happy couple...

Mr. & Mrs. Bennett Honstein

Becki and Ben had an absolutely beautiful wedding day. It was perfect in every way. All the pictures are pretty self explanitory so I won't bore you with written commentary.

Some Summer, July

The 4th of July was absolutely beautiful--high 70s, clear skies. We

decided to hike a bit in the mountains. We even took the dogs.
Along one of the trails we've hiked frequently this summer is the "water hole." (At least that's what we call it.)

The water from the stream is super cold, so therefore, very refreshing--for both man and beast.

Our family had a BBQ at Jason & Tammy's. We brought our kayaks and along with theirs, we all got a chance to get out on the lake. Here's Pate, Dan, Jordan, London, Grafton, Shane, and Tammy in the kayak.

Mr. Outdoors!

Yordie Yames.

Beck and Ben.

I had to take this picture of Katana sitting so well in her orange life jacket.

We have a poplar tree in the back yard that has been naughty. It's been reproducing babies and they have been sprouting throughout the back yard and into the neighbor's yard. When it was decided that it had to go, Dan jumped at the chance to take it down. We had a tree-chopping activity the other night with everyone having an important part in the process.

Adam's was pulling on the top to pull it over.

Even tho' it looks like Aaron is doing a rope trick he actually helped pull the tree down as well.

Becki began as the belay person (I don't know if that's correct spelling.)

Here's Dan making his way up, up, up...

He's making the cut...

And here it goes!

Ah yes, Dan is mighty proud of his handiwork.