Gran Comes To Town!

Picking up where I left off with the summer family visits . . . Mom came out for a week in July!  We had a wonderful time together.  It was her first trip to Pinedale, and it was fun to share our life here with her.  The week included lots of play, a little cultural enlightenment, some work, and just hanging at home.  Thanks for coming out, Mom!! We cherish the memories we made with you.

At the beach

Fremont Lake and the Winds

Emma

At Home

"Cheeeeeeeeeese toast"

Stories with Gran

 Happy Hour at Lakeside

checking out the boats

Shakespeare in the Park

Dinner with the Irrgangs

picking plums

all the great kids -- Isaac, Charlie, Jack

Big Sandy Hike

We went for a great hike in the southern Winds.  It is an area I had not yet explored and loved checking it out.  The hike was gorgeous.  We had perfect weather and enjoyed meandering along the creek, soaking up mountain views, fishing, and even going for a little dip.  We managed to spend the whole day out on the trail and yet only covered a few miles.  It was a nice kind of hiking!

pronghorn antelope spotted on the way to the trailhead

Duhgus loves it when Gran visits

our little climber

Isaac's little hiking legs were on fire! Steady and determined, he hiked at least two miles on his own feet that day.  We were so proud.

the bend where we hung out for a long lunch, rock-throwing, and fishing

two of my very favorite people

16-week baby bump starting to emerge

back on the trail after lunch

didn't hike for long before stopping again, this time for a little swim

and more fishing

all tuckered out

Working at Home
Mom loves to work outside.  In fact, she's unstoppable.  She worked with us and also without us when we weren't even home.  Somehow she just finds projects and tasks to do.  It's pretty inspiring, really. She was a huge help in getting our yard whipped into a little better shape and getting our wood shed project started. Thank you, thank you, Mother!!

first post of the wood shed going into place

fourth and final post going in

she was borderline giddy to be armed with a weed-eater

Without a "before" picture, it's hard to appreciate, but Mom improved the look and feel of our yard immensely.  She weeded the entire fence line around the house, trimmed shrubs and bushes, and tended to dead plants and flowers, to name a few things.

some of Mom's handy work--a clean fence line and tidy shrubs

and she didn't stop there

still going

what is she doing now??? seriously, unstoppable.

sadly, time to bid Gran farewell at the airport

Here are a couple of videos from Gran's time with us.  The first one shows just how excited Isaac was about hiking that day.  He had something so important to tell all of us, he could barely walk and talk fast enough.  And it went on for a long time.  The second video is just goofing off at home.

Big Sandy Hike from Julie Anderson on Vimeo.

Run Jump from Julie Anderson on Vimeo.

Thanks so much for visiting, Mom.  We sure did love our time with you and can't wait for the next trip!!!