Sledding on Boulder

Nice jumpsuit.

Mae slept almost the whole time!

We took the kids up on Boulder Mountain one afternoon for a little sledding. We only had a few good working sleds so everyone had to take turns. But Kam kept the jump nice and groomed while the kids did their tricks. It was a beautiful, sunny day---perfect for the occasion. 

Ranch Christmas

Mae hiding in the favorite hiding cabinet...

The cousin gift exchange.

I am so bad at taking pictures-----meaning no skills AND not actually getting around to take them. So this is all  I've got for Christmas this year. 

But it was a great time. The only ones missing were Derik, April and family. April was just wrapping up her last round of chemo so she wasn't up to traveling this holiday. 

There was quite a bit of snow in Grover which made it picture perfect. I didn't feel like I watched enough Christmas movies, ate enough treats or took enough naps. Oh well. There's always next year. And, by next Christmas, Montana will already be home! Weird!

First and last

How sad that this past weekend was my first trip to the ranch all summer! And probably my last-----that's if you don't count winter visits. We DID have an unusual summer but one trip only???!! 

Saturday's weather was perfect for about half of the day. Then the winds picked up and it cooled down considerably. But I was able to get some reading done out on the deck and look out over the freshly mowed fields. 

Thanksgiving 2012

Grandma loves her kitchen helpers.

Unfortunately there are only 2 pictures from our Thanksgiving festivities at the ranch this year. We had a good time though. Darin and Peter and family were missing but that was it. 

The stomach flu came through and hit Grace, April, Ford, Emmy and Montana. It hit Indy and Emerson after we left. Luckily it was pretty quick----about 24 hours. But it's still not fun to be sick especially at the ranch. 

The food tasted unusually good to me this year. Not sure why.... Still thinking about that yam soufflé and pretzel salad.

July 4th weekend in Grover-Day 3

The Grover float

Crew & Kai with their loot.

The pie-eating contest

Barbecue at the barn

Getting a well-deserved wash after the fun weekend.


The 4th of July parade in Torrey was actually on Saturday, July 7. Go figure. Anyway, I mentioned hating parades in an earlier post. I guess I will have to make an exception. I LOVED the Torrey parade. Not too hot, not too long and not very many people.....compared to Provo anyway. And the parade entrants throw candy! Score! This year they even gave out miniature apple pies from the little store in Capitol Reef. Perry, Emerson and some more girl cousins were  princesses on our family float and Penn and Indy skateboarded behind.

The pie-eating contest took place in the park after the parade. I don't think I've ever actually seen one of those before. Cafe Diablo makes the pies every year. I have yet to eat at that place! I've only heard good things. Soon....

Later that evening we headed to the barn for a barbecue and hanging out with the Dietlein clan. Tons of good food and good conversation followed by fireworks. Even though we missed Coronado we couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July! We sure love to go to the ranch and hang out with family.

July 4th weekend in Grover-Day 2

Fish Creek Lake

Marnie, Montana, Emerson, Savy, Perry, Lauren, Jasmine

crossing the creek....

Overlooking the valley into Grover. What a view!

Day 2 at the ranch took us on a girls-only (well, mostly. Kurt came with us!) ride up on Boulder Mountain to Fish Creek Lake. It was about a 9 mile ride almost to the very top of the mountain. We crossed a couple streams, saw some cows, passed a couple lakes and got eaten alive by the mosquitoes. Lots of girl time!

July 4th weekend in Grover-Day 1

There was actually a double rainbow but we didn't quite catch it!

Hunt Cabin

Factory Butte

Em getting in some drive time.

The young ones.


The day after July 4th we headed to Grover for the weekend. Our little Tahoe was maxed-out pulling the HUGE trailer with both Razors inside. There were a few hills where I wondered if we would even make it......but we did and I'm so glad we did! We had such a fun time.

As we pulled off Highway 12 onto the dirt road into to the ranch, Kam,  Katherine (and kids), Rick, Rachel and kids were all headed out to Cainville to do a ride. We threw our stuff into the house and immediately got back into the car  to follow them.

40 minutes later we pulled off to the Factory Butte ride. The boys were thrilled to get their own machine! Em got to practice driving.  There was lots of dust and hills and speed, a little historic cabin, a little rain and even a few rainbows at the end of our journey.  And a good time was had by all!

Brian Grandkids

Sherry wanted a picture of her with all the grandkids to send as a New Year's card. It was quite a challenge to get all those kids (23 of them...)to smile or at least look the same way at the same time. It's quite a herd I'd say!

Day 17 of Gratitude-Memories

Since the actual day of Thanksgiving is a week away I thought I would look back at our first year of Thanksgiving at the ranch (2009). It was also our first time using the new ranch house. Crazy how fast time flies. These boys look so much older now.

That's quite a memory! I'm sure this will be a good blackmail picture when Noah is a teenager!

And, of course, this was our last Thanksgiving with Pat. He sure loved that ranch house. I'm so thankful for all the wonderful memories we have had and continue to make in Grover.

Day 10 of Gratitude-Nature

Mt. Timpanogos

I think it's pretty easy to have gratitude for nature when you live in Utah! There is such diversity here.

Capitol Reef

Hawaiian rainbow

Is the color on these flowers not amazing!!

More Capitol Reef

Capistrano Beach

Scene from the ranch

The little visitor who was passing through......

Christmas Day

After our Christmas morning at home and a quick trip to Grandma & Grandpa England's to open some presents, we loaded up and headed down to the ranch. Sherry waited for us to get there to open her presents.

She was pretty excited about her new iPad. She said, "Now you kids can't buy me anything else until I die! I priced those and know how much they cost!"

Then the tears started to flow when she opened the book that Darin and Christy put together for her. It was a book of all the notes and comments from the blog about Pat. There were also pictures and lots of fun memories from the week of Pat's funeral. It is an awesome book and something the whole family is going to love to have.

Of course the day wouldn't have been complete without a fabulous Christmas dinner of prime rib, potatoes and Darin's out-of-this-world rolls to finish out the day. The kids were thrilled to hang out with the Nielson cousins if only for a day and a half.

And a trip to the ranch is also never complete without a puzzle! Thanks to Emerson for helping me finish it up---all in one day.