Our Oldest Girls!!

I totally LOVE looking through family member's photo albums on FaceBook and when looking through Sandra's, I found these pics. I can't believe these two use to be this young; Ashley and Shayla!!  Now, ONE (Ashley) is waiting to go to college and is just enjoying her freedom from school and the OTHER (Shayla) is already a mommy and is totally LOVING it!!

 Ashley 2 yrs., 8 mo's old  / Shayla just turning 2 yrs.

Shayla - 9 mo's 3 wks. old  /  Ashley - 1 yr., 8 mo's old
(Look at "US" in the background - SO YOUNG!)

 Oh Where, Oh Where, Did The Time Go!!

Mt. Timpanogos!

So, this whole summer my son, Brandon, has been wanting to hike Mt. Timpanogos. A couple of weeks ago his friends decided to go hiking (at night!), but they took a wrong trail and by the time they figured that out they where exhausted and decided to call it quits! They only made it half way.

This morning Brandon decided to go with some other friends and this time they made it all the way to the top. Here are some pics that he took. If I were in better shape I would have LOVED to have tagged along AND if Brandon won't have mind his mom tagging along.

Look at that smile!

I Spy a mountain goat!

What BEAUTY!

New Comers!!

So, I get this text from my niece, Shayla, who is needing a place to stay. Her and her husband, Delfino, were living with Sandra for about 2 years, but left that they needed to move out and TRY to save up some money for an apartment. So, for now, they are living with us. It's been nice having them living with us - we get to see Mason, their son, everyday! LIFE IS GOOD!

So far this is what Mason's been up to (he's such a CUTIE!").

Mason LOVES playing in the water, so here we are with his swimming pool. He had a BLAST!

I so ENJOYED taking Mason to the park. Of all things that he could have enjoyed (swing, slide, etc...) the most - Mason LOVED just crawling in the grass. Go figure!

Introducing . . . . . Our Pets!

So, I think INTRODUCTION'S are in order!  The following are our ADORABLE pets!!

Elliott is the oldest of our dogs. He is 7 years old in human years. Elliott is such a lovable dog. Very patient with younger kids and he can tolerate anything and anyone. He joined our family back in 2004.

Elliott (aka: Elliotto)

Jewels is actually Ashley's dog, but I consider her OUR dog.  What can I say about Jewels.....Jewels is our "ditsy girl" of the family. She also has that "loving" motherly instinct. IF she were to have had pups, she would have been a GREAT mother to them! She is 5 years old and joined our family in 2006.  

Jewels (aka: Ju-Ju-bees)

Stanley is also Ashley's dog, but AGAIN we consider him OUR dog. Stanley is the youngest and he just turned a year old. Stanley was an unexpected dog. Ashley was dog-sitting for a friend back in 2009 who got caught having a puppy in his apartment. As time went by, her friend came to the realization that he couldn't care for a puppy, thus giving Ashley Stanley. Ashley had to do some "fast talking" for her dad to give the "Okay". Stanley is our baby. I have NEVER had a dog that WHIPPERS so much! And he picks on Elliotto ALL THE TIME!

Stanley (Stanley-the-manly OR Stan-binker-is-a-sticker)

Pete is the neighborhood cat who's owner lives next door, BUT Pete seems to always be at our house! He, surprisingly, gets along with all of our dogs. If not, I guess he wouldn't be visiting all the time.

  Pete (aka: Pete-da-pete-pete)

It's GREAT to have pets. They are ALWAYS there for you when you need them. What would the world be like if we had no pets!
 

Shultz Fire

Some of you may have heard about the fires that were going on in Flagstaff, AZ back in June. Well, the Shultz Fire was too close for comfort. My older sister, Jackie, just happens to live in the area where the fire broke out.

In this pic, my sister notices the fire and runs to get a picture of it.

I can't even image what I would have done had I seen THIS just right outside our home! They ended up getting evacuated and couldn't return home for 3 days!

As of now, the fire is no longer burning, BUT residents are now dealing with FLOODING since all the vegetation have been burnt. With it being the monsoon season, Jackie has already experience this.

Getting ready for what ever is heading their way!

 

As you can see, the mud and water came VERY close to their home.

 Pretty much Jackie's garden is washed away.

Here is my niece, Amber, keeping a smile on her face. She is SOOO adorable!

With the monsoon season here I worry about my sister. I hope this is the WORST of the flooding BUT she has told me that they are expecting more rain.  I have been calling her daily and, so far, this is the worst it's been. Let's just hope and pray her ordeal is over!

Our Yard

I don't know why, but this summer (of all summers) WE (Brandon and I) concentrated MORE on our yard.  Maybe because we HAD, for once, the money to spend on the yard or because our yard WAS the WORST looking yard in our neighborhood! In either case, this is the result and I REALLY wished we would have done this MANY, MANY, summers ago!

 Before - Our shrubs were taking over the house!

Brandon trimming the first shrub.

I am so HAPPY with the results.  All our home needed was just a little tender loving care!