A great trip!

I just got back from my trip to Idaho and it was absolutely wonderful! Kendra and Nathan were sealed in the Idaho Falls temple and then later in the day we got to see Kendra's baby! The Ultrasound told us that it is a GIRL! She is due in October. Dustin came along on the trip and keep us all entertained!

Would you believe we even got a nice family photo!

Then we went to the zoo! There were many animals at the zoo...

Not sure what this is???? Maybe Dustin...

This is a large scary wild chicken that we saw at the zoo.

Kendra had him eating out of the palm of her hand.

Here is another picture we took in front of Kendra and Nathans lovely fence that they are building around their yard.

Kennady was absolutely adorable!

and Kevin and I...

Flowers!

I had my 27th wedding anniversary in April to the man that I love very much. He was so sweet and sent me the most wonderful flowers!He got them at "Petals" in Branson and Jason designed them. Jason is an artist! Jason also did Kortney's wedding bouquet. Here is a really old picture Kortney's flowers...I am sure Dustin will appreciate me sharing this old picture! But seriously, if you ever want a beautiful artistic flower arrangement, get Jason at Petals! Now here is a picture of my sweetheart! He was going to go play catch with Dustin. He took all the precautions and wanted to be on even terms... Yes, that is a post-it note over his eye, held in place with a rubber band. I think it cut off the circulation in his brain! My guys are pretty goofy!

Now on to my "garden"! I planted Bell Peppers. Kortney has an awesome recipe that calls for peppers that I love to make. She should post the recipe on her blog.

Here is another picture of my AWESOME bridge that Dustin built! And if you look closely you can see the steps for the trampoline that he built as well. I love my yard!

The next several pictures are of my flowers! Just because I think they are so pretty and they make me happy!

Could you tell that the hanging basket is not real flowers? I cant reach up there and keep a plant properly watered and my hanging plants never did well in this one spot, so I got fake flowers. The rest of these flowers are real and smell wonderful! I Love the smell of Petunias!

My front yard. Peonies! This is the first year my Peonies have bloomed!

The Irises didn't bloom as well this year, but I love the ones that did. There is a story behind my Irises. Once upon a time, before I had a real job and my little children were in school, My friend Jane and I would go out to play while the kids were in school. We had lots of adventures! One of which was the Iris hunt. She and I took my van and a shovel and drove all over the countryside looking for Irises blooming in the ditches and along the road. When we would find some not in someones yard, we would pull over and dig them up and throw them in the van and drive off. We had a fun day and came home with lots of varied Irises and divided them up and planted them in our yards. They still bloom every spring and I think of Jane every time I look at my Irises.

She and I also spent alot of time going to nurseries and looking at the flowers. We once bought Rose bushes together and planted them in our yards. Here is my roses from that adventure!And last but not least, a couple of weeks ago I bought a new rose bush and it is blooming!

Happy Spring!!!

April in the Qzarks!

It is so lovely in the Ozarks in the Spring! I took my camera out and couldn't resist taking pictures. I don't have a lot of dialog to go with most of this post. It is meant to be looked at and enjoyed! I actually used my sunglasses in front of the camera lens to get the effect on these pictures.
I thought it was interesting and fun to mess around to see what effects I would get. The Red bud trees are spectacular this year!

My cat really has been enjoying the lovely weather!

It is almost canoeing time! The water is still a bit on the cold side!

My flowers are starting to bloom in the flowerbed!

This is part of our yard. When it rains we actually have a creek running through our yard.

Good thing Dustin built me a wonderful bridge.

Now we will talk about Easter. Easter Sunday was lovely. We listened to Conference in the morning at home in our PJ's and had a nice Breakfast (and got to sleep in!) Then we went over to My nieces house for lunch and Easter egg hiding.

Dustin really likes to hunt for eggs. Jovie hates it when big Dustin finds her egg!

She is so cute! She only wanted the eggs with candy in them. Not too excited about the hard boiled ones.
AND..... It was Dustin's REAL birthday! (if you are his friend on facebook, you will know what I am talking about) He turned 20. He baked himself a lovely cake!

Nice weekend!

Saturday morning Ava got baptised! Dustin had the opportunity to Baptise her. It was a very special day! The weather is finally turning much nicer and we spent the remainder of the day basking in the sunshine napping on the trampoline in the yard. I didn't really accomplish much, but felt well rested and happy! We have a new addition in our neighborhood!

We have been watching King Kong move into the neighborhood! It appears that he has taken permanent residency!

This view is a little unsettling in your rear view mirror when we drive home!

I love living in Branson!!

Ski Day!

Or should I say Night Ski? We went up to Hidden Valley! http://www.hiddenvalleyski.com/ It is near St. Louis and the skiing is great (for Missouri) Donna, Evan, Avery, Dustin and I went. Here is me...

I never am in very many pictures because I am usually the one holding the camera. So while I was waiting for every one to ski down to me so I could get some action shots, I took one of myself.

Donna and I sure Love to ski!! We are on pretty equal skiing level, as far as skill level goes. We have been skiing since we were about 10 years old. I asked for an action shot- and this is what I got. (Avery did actually fall!)

Needless to say- Good Time had by all! (and no one got seriously injured!!)

Living in Branson!

This post is going to be on what it is like to live in Branson! How Many people do you know that can always know when it is noon because they hear the fog horn from the Titanic blasting?? Every day at noon!This is a block from my house. It makes it easy to give directions to my house... Go to the Titanic, turn left, go past the Mt. Rushmore with John,Elvis,Marilyn and Charlie...Turn Right past the haunted house...Speaking of Elvis and John, here is a funny story- One day Mica and I are in the car going somewhere and we get stuck in horrible Branson traffic. As we are sitting for like the third green light at an intersection that is blocked by cars - Mica points out to me that the maroon old van that is trying to make a left and doing the main blocking for our lane has some interesting poeple! What do you know, there is John Wayne in the Drivers seat and his passenger is Elvis Presley! Only in Branson. Now we know where famous people go when they die! But to top that off.. One day I am at work registering students and in walks Dolly Parton to enroll her daughter. I take it all in stride (after all I do live in Branson) and enroll her daughter. Now after awhile, I can't help but point out the obvious. I asked her if she realized that she resembles Dolly Parton. She laughed and said, "and my Husband is ELVIS!" the really funny thing is that this is a true story.... Ok- we have alot of impersonators in town. But it is a hoot to run into them in full costume. Now on to more pictures.

Kevin and I decided to not take down the tree this year. For the month of February it is a Valentines day tree. I will see how long this will last. My cats LOVE the idea! Now back to my neighborhood. So I am driving home and come around the corner a block away and here is what I see!

Have you figured out what it is??

Peices of King Kong! A giant King Kong will be joining Elvis, Marilyn, John and Charley soon!
Right across the street from the Titanic!! ( I love the snow plow truck to the rescue in this picture!)

We did have a snow storm.. And Great snowball fight the next day. Here is what things looked like after the fight! Dustin, Kevin and I had a blast!

This is the main hwy 76 on the day of the storm. It was wonderful! Can you tell that I love snow!