My summer was very exciting -- I guess life always is. In July I was able to go to 
Moscow to meet my first grandchild, Adelyn. It was a perfect visit! Adelyn was a little reluctant to come into the world, so I was able to spend some time visiting with Whitney and Brian, Mom and Dad, and Katy and her family, as well as a couple of nephews from the Black family. Once the baby came, I had fun holding and cuddling her during the day, but since she and her mom had to spend a little extra time in the hospital, I spent the evenings with Mom and Dad. :0) Once mom and baby were home, I found that I really DO enjoy cooking meals and keeping a house clean, when those are the only things to be concerned about (No job to go to, no church calling, no running children here and there, etc.). What fun, being a grandma!
Moscow to meet my first grandchild, Adelyn. It was a perfect visit! Adelyn was a little reluctant to come into the world, so I was able to spend some time visiting with Whitney and Brian, Mom and Dad, and Katy and her family, as well as a couple of nephews from the Black family. Once the baby came, I had fun holding and cuddling her during the day, but since she and her mom had to spend a little extra time in the hospital, I spent the evenings with Mom and Dad. :0) Once mom and baby were home, I found that I really DO enjoy cooking meals and keeping a house clean, when those are the only things to be concerned about (No job to go to, no church calling, no running children here and there, etc.). What fun, being a grandma!While I was gone, it seems that our commuter car met a truck, and came out a little the worse for the wear. So after spending a few weeks riding Alex's bike to appointments, and begging rides to get to work, it was definitely time to get another vehicle. Sharon and I spent a lot of time on the internet looking at cars for sale, and finally purchased a Hyundai Elantra. So far, so good, except for the 
crack in the windshield that started a couple of days after we bought it, and the new battery we had to get a week later. It seems that the "new wheels" bug got Nick as well. Someone at his work offered him a truck for $500 -- too good to pass up for a young man who's tired of asking to borrow the car. He's spent lots of time making it look beautiful.
crack in the windshield that started a couple of days after we bought it, and the new battery we had to get a week later. It seems that the "new wheels" bug got Nick as well. Someone at his work offered him a truck for $500 -- too good to pass up for a young man who's tired of asking to borrow the car. He's spent lots of time making it look beautiful.August was full of camps. Early on, we spent a long day driving to pick up Alex from his summer job at a scout camp. Just a few days later, he left with his young men's group to go to Zion National Park. They were planning to hike the Narrows, but ended up going into a slot canyon near the southern entrance of the park, and doing some rappelling. It sounds a little gross to me, but he thought it was great. There was a series of water pools, each lower in elevation than the previous one, as they progressed through the slot canyon. The pools were water from spring runoff, which was pretty stinky and nasty by August, and much of it was waist deep or more. The group would rappell down a "step" into the water, swim to the lip of the pool, and then rappell down the next "step". With the small amount of sunlight that hit the bottom of the slot canyon, the boys were pretty cold, but had fun. Maybe I'm just getting to old to be very adventurous...
August also was the debut for the Relief Society "Sisters' Camp". Some of us (namely me) got tired of sending everyone else in the family off on camps and never getting to go ourselves. We had a group area in a nearby canyon, and had planned a great hike for the next morning. About 20 people attended. Unfortunately, it rained, A LOT! so we ended up cancelling the hike and just heading home in the morning. Fortunately, everyone wants to do it again next year.
Jamie came down the following week and went on the missed hike (Catherine Pass) with me. 
Thanks Jamie! I need as much mountain time as I can get! Our last camp was for the whole family. It was the ward campout at Pineview Reservoir. My sons arranged with some other ward members to have an airsoft "war" there. We arrived and opened up the back of the truck to see their arsenal of guns that are identical in appearance to army issue weapons, but with orange tips. Very soon afterwards, a local sheriff came driving through the campground to have a conversation with Nick, who was dressed in camo and walking down the road carrying one of the guns. Nick explained, and all was well. I guess Nick has had to explain a few times to police officers when neighbors see teens with guns and get concerned. While they went off to shoot at each other, I went and spent my afternoon swimming in the reservoir and playing with the younger kids there. Very relaxing. :0)September brought us back to reality: school and/or work for everyone. For my birthday (or just by coincidence), some serious work commenced in the root cellar, or as Sharon calls it, "the pit of despair". We got footings poured, and a few weeks later, put in our first row of cement block to make the walls. We're now waiting on more materials (from a friend who has some extra) to continue the walls. That may have to wait until spring, judging by our recent weather.
The last activity for my adventurous group of Relief Society sisters was to go rappelling. Some brethern from the ward (including Nick) went and set up a spot up the canyon for us. The rappelling spot was maybe 30 feet high, but that was plenty for those who were trying it for the first time. A couple of these sisters were very determined, and overcame an almost paralyzing fear of heights to do this. They were amazing! The men also set up a climbing area for us, that was closer to 50 or 60 feet. I liked that the best -- the challenge of finding new hand- and footholds and relying on my own strength to get me to the next spot. (Don't worry, Mom, we had safety ropes.) They want to go caving next. Hmmm.
And lastly, I thought I'd mention our experiements in "living off the land". Our front yard has a lot of sumac trees which get clusters of red berries on them every year in late summer. We've talked about doing it many times, but this year we actually tried it. We picked the clusters and soaked them in water for a few hours, which resulted in a beautiful pink "lemonade". It was extremely sour, even more so than lemon juice concentrate. Even after adding a lot of sugar, it was too tart for some. One glass was good, more left us with sour stomachs. I wonder how much vitamin C was in that? Our other experiment involved acorns, which are very large and numerous this year. (A sign of a hard winter, I hear.) We shelled them, boiled them to remove the tannin, and then I roasted them in the oven. Then we ground them up into a powder. I used some as flour in some breadsticks, which was okay, and Nick created a hot drink with it that reminds me of Pero. Not bad, but a whole lot of work. Maybe if we were starving...
I love you all!
Susie :0)
