How quickly time flies!!!

I know it has been a long time since I posted but here goes. A lot has been happening. First of all, Gary and I went to Durango and rode the Silverton Train from Durango to Silverton (a life long wish of Gary's), and it was wonderful. If you want to see some beautiful country and have a really enjoyable day, just go ride this train. I would go again in a minute it was fantastic. We were gone for like five days and we came home through Kanab so that we could go to four corners, which was closed for remodeling, and then we went to pipe springs, which was closed when we got there, but all in all it was a wonderful little trip.

Gary has not been going to ranch at all this summer and it has been nice. I enjoy getting to spend time with him. I think he even likes not having to be tied down to the ranch. He is contemplating a back surgery but putting it off because he is fearful it will make him worse instead of better. The other day we were getting ready to camping up to Elkhorn for a week and so I decided to make cinnamon rolls. I needed more flour so I went to the trailer to get some and I slipped and fell out of the trailer. I could see I was going to land on my head, so I put out my arm to break the fall and the cement did not give, but my arm did. It just flopped. I was sure it was broken. I hollered for Gary (who was still in bed and dreaming that he could hear me hollering for him). He finally decided it wasn't a dream and so he came out to help me. It took quite a while and a blessing and a lot of prayer to get me into the car because I was in shock and couldn't move. Angela came over and helped Gary get me in the car by using the computer chair. Away we went to St. George. They gave me some nice morphine so that they could xray my arm. It wasn't broke but my whole elbow was dislocated. I have an awesome picture. So they gave me some more GOOD medicine and yanked it back into place I could hear it pop, but felt no pain. They put me in a splint and sling and told my to keep it on for 4 weeks and to go ahead and go camping but not do anything. The splint lasted about 4 days and then I had to take it off. It is still sore but I am getting back the use of my arm a little at a time. Jenna Walch cut my hair off because I couldn't do anything with it because my arm won't cooperate. We had a fun camping trip although I didn't get to leave camp much. I am sure that Angela and Leslie and Tonia will blog about the trip so I am not going to elaborate.

Well, I have to go and get ready for church. I hope everyone is having a great summer. It is almost over for us. Three more weeks and we are back to school. Bye for now.

My Favorite Things

Throughout my married life (34 years), I have acquired a lot of THINGS. Here are a few pictures of my favorites:

Big Red $$,$$$

The Camp Trailer $$$$

Truck and Car $$,$$$

Washer and Dryer (with handcrafted pedestal!) $$$$

And my Most FAVORITE of ALL. . . . .

My husband - Gary Lee. (the builder of my handcrafted pedestal!)

PRICELESS!!

Finally! it is time to party!

Wow, this past school year flew by. We have already been on our first camping trip. I didn't take any pictures but Angela did so I am sure she will post a few. We went up on Caliente summit and campled out at the trail head for the uhv trails. It's a good thing we camped there because there was a bathroom. We did take our trailer, but, we had a few problems. The sink tap broke so Gary went to Caliente and bought a new one. He came back and we both had to work at getting it to go on, finally we had success. We turned on the pump and yeah the faucet worked, but I could hear some water running somewhere so I went into the bathroom and water was spraying out of the back of the toilet onto the wall. We immediately turned off the pump and yes, another trip to caliente. They didn't have the part to fix the toilet there so we bought some waterproof putty. We got back to camp and Gary proceeded to knead the putty and then applied it. We let it sit for 1/2 hour and then turned on the pump. It seemed to be holding but we didn't want to press our luck so we did not use the bathroom. I know now why I really like having a self contained camp trailer. I do not like getting up at 2 in the morning and trudging to the potty. Anyway, Sunday morning rolls along and Ang and Aaron and boys came up to join us. They put up their tent and we proceeded to camp. We went riding on the four wheelers and the Honda big red side by side (it is really fun, by the way) There are fantastic trails all over up there. We were later just hanging out when Ang noticed that the carpet was very wet by our bed. We know that the dogs can't pee that much so we determined it was coming from somewhere else, Guess what? The toilet job did not hold well so we made sure we never left the pump on so that it reduced any pressure on the leak. All in all we had fun. We are in the process of getting the toilet fixed, the part is on the way. We will be back in business in no time and ready to head out for another adventure. I have been busy pulling weeds this week. I was going to pay a kid to come and pull them and then I decided I would just pay myself. I have decided I am very generous. Anyway I still have more to go but I have a good start on them. Gary says that he is cutting back on hours at the ranch (I will believe it when I see it) He has been training a new hire on how to use the equipment and to irrigate. I would rather he would just quit altogether but it is in his blood so he will still go up there some. Well, I am sure I am going to take a nap soon (involuntary of course because I took hayfever meds) so that is all I have to write about for now.

Now, don't fall off your chair!! Yes I am posting a blog for the first time in a long, long, time. I have a few minutes to myself so I decided to use it this way. I have been to Pioche this morning for jury duty, so I am not in school today. I can't believe that this school year is about over. We really are just waiting for the fat lady to sing. I have been testing every student in the school for their MAPS tests. None of the other teachers really want to do it, so I get to. As most of you know we have had an up and down year this year. We got the girls last May, and really wanted to have them be ours. We tried to give them what they needed for a year (mostly in the form of a normal family life), but they needed more than that. They really needed some serious counseling, which is not available where we live, so I took them and escorted them back to CO a couple of weeks ago. I have talked to Emma and she is doing well, They are getting lined out with the counseling they need and hopefully they will get the proper help. They have many issues that we do not have the skills to address. We are really looking forward to a lot of camping this year. I would go for the summer, but I don't think that is possible. We are looking at another surgery for Gary, as if he hasn't been through enough of them in the past couple of years. We go to the spine surgeon tomorrow to hopefully get things scheduled so that he can have some relief from his tremendous pain. He has had a clean bill of health so far from the heart doctor and from the cancer doctor. He has to go back to them both for checks about every 6 months to make sure nothing has returned. On a lighter note, (not really, because she is huge), we have had a new puppy at our house since December. She is Gracie and she is a Purebred Golden Retriever who is huge but thinks she is a little lap dog because thats what our other dogs are. If you sit on the couch she jumps right up and tries to take her place just like a lap dog would do only she takes up the whole couch. We love her death. She loves to eat pillows, garden hoses, firewood, and anything else she can get in her mouth. We also bought a new toy for camping. We bought a Honda Big Red side by side. Gary has wanted one for a few years and I kept discouraging it, but finally I gave in. I love it!!! It is so much fun to load all the grandkids and dogs into the back and head out for a little ride. We kept the 4 wheelers because we like to go on trails that the big red is too big for. We are literally going to have a train to go camping. We will have the truck, camptrailer, and flatbed trailer all hooked together, cause we can't leave the toys home. Well, that is essentially it in a nutshell except for the fact that I HATE THE WIND!!! I wish it would quit blowing already!!!. One more thing, Angela and I attended the temple in LV last Saturday and it was the most interesting session I have ever done. We got there and in our seat to hit the 7 a.m. session and noticed that there were a lot of hispanics among us and you guessed it we were in the spanish speaking session. We stayed with it and had to wear headsets so that we could understand what was being said. It was great. Now we know that 7 a.m. every Sat. morning in LV at the temple is spanish speaking. It was a great experience.