A Belated Birthday

My sister, Quinta's birthday is July 3rd. We had planned a gathering in Southern Utah for her birthday the end of June. Before the day arrived, Quinta fell and broke her hip.

We - minus Corrin and Janice - gathered at the Coral Desert Rehabilitation Center the first part of August and had Quinta'a 79th birthday celebration.



Garth, Fred, Quinta, LuDeen, Marsha and Eric.














My two wonderful sisters - Quinta and LuDeen.















Janice (that's me) Quinta and LuDeen.











LuDeen makes the best rhubarb/strawberry pies and she had one in honor of Quinta's birthday.
















Eric provided beautiful sing-along accompaniment and we all enjoyed singing - something that Quinta really loves.







My sisters and brothers -
Back: Marsha and Eric Nielson, Fred Lundin and Garth
Front: Janice, LuDeen & Quinta



















This is a dress I made for Quinta, at her request, from a shawl one of her grandchildren brought to her from India. It took a bit of figuring but Quinta had drawn out how she thought it would work out and I sewed it up for her. Before her eyesight left her, she was a wonderful seamstress and made many beautiful things herself.

Patriotism and Birthdays

July 3rd brought the three families here in Utah and Shanda and her children to our place for festivities.

Addie and Talia are enjoying ice cream cones in the Wisteria arbor










Not only is the arbor fun to sit in, it is fun to climb on and Talia has it all figured out.

















A visit from Shanda wouldn't feel right without a few projects. With her help, we made this little Sunday suit for Milo's upcoming one year birthday.
















Another gift for Milo for his birthday was to be a bag full of "snow balls" made of fleece and stuffed with soft fiber fill. How many balls do you think we made????







On July 3rd we gathered in our back yard for food, fun and games.


We got a lovely pavilion to help provide shade for a large group of people.








But some chose other places to sit, as well. Deren is enjoying the Wisteria arbor, Liz is near by and the boys are eating on a lawn quilt.









Here are Kasen, Addie and Marenda enjoying their food.











Shanda, Preston, Milo and Talia are enjoying their food.





















Milo decides to get into the little wading pool by himself.
















Milo is 11 months old and thinks he is as big as anyone.



















Shanda provided fun and games for the children.
Drake and Marcus are having water balloons tossed at them and they catch them in their over sized pants.







You'd be surprised how fast the water balloons disappeared when they started stamping on them.











Mitchell, Caleb, Marcus, Drake, Kasen, Addie & Talia.










Marenda and Sam and Liz and Deren.












Trina and Guy with others in the background.













A water fight began that ended up getting Shanda and Preston in the middle of it.









Shanda and Talia are wet!





















Happy Birthday Shanda! She needs help from Talia to blow out the candles on her cake.








No 4th of July celebration is complete without sparklers. Here Talia is having a great time with hers.





















For breakfast on the 4th of July I made waffles and we put ice cream on them then used mashed strawberries & blueberry pie filling to make flags.









Talia is enjoying her breakfast.















July 15, we had a birthday gathering for Liz. Drake and Marcus have been swimming.

A "Pleasant" Hike

During the summer Marenda lined up weekly activities for those of us in the area. On this day - June 23, 2009 - we hiked to a waterfall up Pleasant Grove Canyon.
Addie and Mitchell are ready to go









Liz is helping Addie along a "scary" part of the trail.













Mitchell and I are having a little "rest". I might explain that Trina was in the early stage of pregnancy so I tried to help her out as much as possible.















Sheridan and Mitchell are exploring a little cave.



















The Waterfall - at last! It was a beautiful spot to sit and contemplate the beauties of nature.




Trina's and her boys.














Liz and Drake


















Sheridan, Addie, Mitchell and Trina are resting in the shade.







Trina, Mitchell, Caleb, Marcus, Drake and Sheridan enjoy the rushing water under the bridge.

Hardings and Hansens go to Colorado Springs

In June, we started the summer off with a trip to Colorado Springs to spend a week with Shanda and Preston and their two sweet kidos.

This came about because Guy and Sheridan were at a week-long camp and Trina and the other 3 boys - Marcus, Caleb and Mitchell felt this would be a good time for them to take a little trip. Since we didn't want Trina traveling that far alone, we went along and Garth drove.






Mitchell and Caleb are "enjoying" the trip.


















One of our regular stops between Springville, Utah and Colorado Springs, Colorado is at Fruita where they have a great visitors' center. The suspended helicopter is across the parking lot.

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We arrived at Shanda's place and were delighted that Gavin would be there for the week. He and Marcus had a great time together and were good to allow Caleb to play with them.






Here Preston and Caleb were partners on the "Connect the Bones" game (I'm not sure that is what it is called but the cards would tell them what they had to "connect" and the winner stayed connected to his or her partner without falling down.
















Mitchell is intrigued with Talia'a wooden horse.
















Two sisters love one another - Shanda & Trina.












Milo, Talia and Mitchell take a ride in Talia's "car" with Garth's and Shanda's help.

















Like many before her, Talia succumbs to the urge to try to fit into "Papa's" Size 13 boots.



















Garth is showing off the "learning Tower" he built for Shanda's children.















Alas, all good times must come to an end and it is time for us to head back to Utah.

Top: Janice (that's me) Trina, Preston with Talia and Shanda with Milo.
Front" Marcus, Caleb, Mitchell and Gavin







Here is a view of Preston and Shanda's house in Colorado Springs, Colorado