This little fashionista....

........fash·ion·is·ta

ˌfaSHəˈnēstə/

noun

informal

1. 1.

   a designer of haute couture.
2. 2.

   a devoted follower of fashion......
3. 
   
4. .... is having a birthday today but she's been dressed and ready for her party all week!!!!

Lauri has told me how she has to pick out her own clothes but until I took her to Tar...zjay myself, I didn't really believe it. We got in the shoe section and I pulled out all the pretty ones (they had to have some bling and shine) and she wanted them all until she came to these. We tried them on her, she immediately began trying to tear off the tag...then we headed to the dresses and she darted right to the rack with this lovely number and pulled it off the hanger as she was tugging at her shirt to get it off. She couldn't get it on fast enough....but the tag had to come off. She tugged at it and proceeded to get dressed. We finally put it over her clothes and that's the way it stayed all the rest of the day. I think the little skirt she had on underneath gave it enough more poof that she felt just beautiful....and oh, my, isn't she a beauty. Upper left: just admiring her lovely glass slippers. She's feisty...and only wants what she wants so you might as well just live with it but she does love lovliness so it's o.k. She's never going to be a slouch; always ready for whatever handsome prince might come along (or a party).

Oh, so cute....got to spend some time with them last week.....but today's Molly's day so...Good Golly Miss Molly Moo.....hope it's a happy day for you. Happy Birthday, Molly's 2. 

*******************************

Last Saturday, Randy and I were invited to a wedding of one of his employees, a fine young man named Ben who married Angie....it was at the Second Slovik Baptist Church in North Highlands about a 45 min. drive from where we live so we left an hour early....at 12:00 for a 1:00 wedding. It started late, about 1:30 but we drove into our parking lot at 7:00 that night....yep, we partied all day long. 

The wedding ceremony itself was about and hour and a half and for all those hours, not one word of English was spoken....just Russian. Randy had an interpreter but I just sat and soaked it all in and loved every minute of it and couldn't help but calculate the cost of ALL the beautiful flowers. I've never seen so many at one wedding in my life. She is such a beautiful girl....I think she should be in the movies but she's marrying Ben....and he is a fine fellow. We were seated with the family and by the end of the day we felt like "family". 

******************************

Then I headed out on Monday, with my book on tape and a ten hour drive and got to Bountiful in time to spend a few hours with Traci's family. Always delightful and insightful, lots of stories and lots of tricks to show me. I especially loved listening to Traci and Scott play their duet.....so proud of their musical accomplishments, especially Traci's after all these years.

...then on to Lauri's where I spent the night. Louis is changing on a daily basis. Couldn't believe how big he had gotten. We took Molly shopping and to lunch for her birthday then headed on down the road. Traci decided to come in the night as she had made dentist appointments so she and kids spent a couple of days and got their dental work done. It's been quite a busy week and we knew the rains were coming....but Saturday morning, I was awakened with a light in my bedroom window which is on the West of the house so I knew there must be an incredible sunrise...and as mentioned in a previous post, I haven't seen many of them in my lifetime so I jumped up and luckily, my camera was on the cupboard. This truly was amazing.....

Then I walked around to the front and went outside and saw this....

I'm just sayin'.....a mighty fine way to start a wonderful day. Spencer and Shana wanted to go to Drew's game in Vegas so asked me to keep the "younguns".....so we had quite a day of it....

Upper right....caught a 3D movie because I wanted to. I just love 3D anything 'cause the movie was kinda stupid "The Box Trolls" but I'll pretty much watch anything in 3D....then we went Geocaching because I wanted to. These two boys were really quite the good sports to accommodate me for the day. We checked out 5 and were able to locate 3 of them. Pretty fun and they were just in the middle of town and one of them took us up to Brook's Pond where I used to hang out as a kid on the red hill. The city has made a nice little park of it. I love discovering new places around town. Then on to Women's Conference with Mandy and Maycee. We had tried to make it a tradition for all the girls to go together like last year but everyone was pretty busy but so glad they got me there.....

It's not over yet, folks. As I was winding down the day, I headed across town and remembered there was a big music thingy at the town square with a bunch of people playing that I really liked. I stopped in and Sam Payne had just finished but Peter Breinholt had just started. I wandered up close and found a couple of my good friends in the booth selling CDs and taking donations so I joined them for the night. It was so awesome to meet Peter (we are on a first name basis now) up close and personal and he was so kind to hang around and get some pics with us (bad photography but something to remember the evening by).

The band at the bottom right is "We Are The Strike" and they were soooooo good. Loved listening to them for about an hour. This was a fund raiser for United Way and these guys were so great to donate their time. The rains kept the crowds away but I'm here to tell you, what a great evening of entertainment. I was in H.E.A.V.E.N.

I forgot to mention that I also got to go to Tuacahn (aw, I love that place) with Joyce and see "Joseph" and loved, loved, loved it.

That's Joseph and the narrator photo bombing Joyce. Always fun to be with my sis. So now, I'm getting things moved back into my house and settling in a bit getting ready for Randy to come tomorrow and we will just continue to have good times. In between all the fun, I get to see my mom and help her out a bit. I need to do a blog on her one of these days....she's amazing as she ages and fights a lot of health issues....and she does it mostly with a smile. The weeks and months are passing me by so quickly and I get behind on my blog but I just have to remember why I blog.....

Working on Volume VI....."....a bit of a chronicle of where we've been and what we've been doing. It's all about family, friends and remembering the good times. That's pretty much why I blog". Thanks for tuning in.

My #6...

....and adorable he truly is, has a birthday today....

Happy Birthday today, McKay. As I go back through my pictures I really don't have many of him but I have a thousand baseball pics. I've loved watching him play this past season....and watch him come to love the game and get better at it.

He looks so cute in that uniform and it's been fun having an M. Wells and an S. Wells on the team. He and Seth are on the same team so when I would cheer him on it was...."come on M. Wells. You can do it." These little ones are just growing up too quickly but it's surely been fun watching the action. Hope it's a good one today, McKay. See you soon.....save me a date.

************************

Just for the record, I've been able to accomplish a few things lately.....

I wanted to do a bit of baking to share with some of my friends....but in California, that takes up about an hour and a half of delivery time but it was worth it. Speaking of smells, I'm lovin' my gardenia bush that is flowering right now....and been doing a bit of knitting....but sometimes I just do nothing...... 

President David O. McKay emphasized the importance of meditation when he said..."it is an essential feature of worship in the lives of Latter-day Saints." In all our "busy ness" I do hope we all take time to get things into perspective once in a while. My late husband called it "mountain time" and he made sure he always had plenty of that. 

My #13..

.....is having a birthday today and I know she's excited. Here's the loot I sent her until we can go shopping together.

This little one has grown up over night it seems. She's sweet, she's sassy, she's cute as a button and she's smart beyond her years. I got to spend some time with her in Hawaii this past summer and it was so fun to see her loving the water and doing it all, from parasailing to cliff  jumping. She's such a little beach girl and when it got time to go to Lake Powell, she was finally old enough to join in.....

...and join in she did. This is one of my favorite pictures. (Click on it to enlarge it and see that look on her face. Frankly, I think I was more scared than her).

She and Miller were quite the duo and so fun to watch. I'm sure Matty is having a great day. She's been looking forward to her birthday for quite a while now. She's an amazing kid, creative and adventurous.  Have a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY today Matty Cakes. I'm missing you but will see you soon. We'll go shopping.

My #16.....

...is two today and the only way I could be happier about that is to be with him and watch him blow out those two candles. Happy Birthday to Harry.

I got to spend some quality time with this little guy this past year and when I see these pictures, I just want to reach out and hug him because he's the most "huggable" little kid and cuddles so tight. He looks like such an innocent but he quietly likes to taunt Jake and Max....but for some reason, he flashes that big smile and ya just can't hold it against him. I love to watch him run...he just kind of "bobbles" along and he's got three big brothers to teach him stuff.....um, sometimes good but sometimes not so good but Harry is Harry...he's his own little person and what a cutie he is. Can't wait to see him next week and get one of those hugs. Happy Birthday, Harry. I know you'll have good one.

Happy Campers...

.....yep, we were this past couple of days and I called Mason in Pine Valley just to say hi and because I had a little cell service on the lake and he said..."you're camping?.....in a tent?....." and the shock in his voice is because he knows I'm a hotel kind of girl and with my first two camping adventures when Randy and I first got married (the skunk and meat bees) well....I'm usually not really a happy camper but we had a wonderful two days at Ice House Reservoir.

He found himself with a couple of days with no work so called and asked if I wanted to go camping and mind you, I had just seen a bear in Tahoe....in a neighborhood so why wouldn't he be in a populated camp ground, right....well, I tried to sound excited because we really haven't been camping this year so off we went. A neighbor of mine proudly said she had seen a bear at Ice House earlier this summer but her very words were...."if you don't leave any food out, they won't bother you" and that gave me no comfort but I was a good sport and off we went. We got a lovely camp site overlooking the lake (that was a plus), we kept it simple so there wouldn't be any food out for the bears (that was also a plus and I personally saw to it that all the uneaten food was taken to the van before we went to bed) and it was just plain beautiful weather and not many people so it was great.

He fished while I knitted....I've gotten good at multi-tasking. I was even chewing gum so that's three things I was doing. If I would have had a book on tape, that would have been four. We had the lake to ourselves for the two days we were there and even though it looks hot, it was very mild and enjoyable.

Just a few shots to show the low water level and the beauty of the day. Bottom right is the view from my cot....and I could see the stars as I went to bed and the sunrise as I woke up....here's what I saw this morning.

This is the view from my sleeping bag this morning....and yes, I do sleep with the camera by my bed just in case we see a bear. I wouldn't want to miss getting a picture of him...so I got out of bed and went down to the beach and got this picture.....

...and just between you and me, this is probably the first sunrise I've ever seen in my whole life let alone take a picture of it because I'm just really not a morning kind of girl either but I'm glad I was in attendance at this one and I might just be for making sure I catch more of these in the future.

Randy brought along his diving equipment and got in a short dive. Bottom right, he's showing off his catch...(some goggles, and a couple of other gadgets of some sort).That's probably his last....says he's getting too old to lug that heavy tank. I just think his wet suit was squeezing him to death....says it was like trying to put 10 pounds of groceries into a 5 pound bag. It was pretty fun to watch him dive though....and just for the record, we stayed two nights. That's a real camping trip for me...haven't done that since my good old 4-H camping days. It was lots of fun (lots of work but it was worth it). Oh, and Randy admitted that he thought he heard a bear last night but didn't want to bother me about it.

**********************

It's prime time at Apple Hill so we stopped for some goodies on the way. This place had tons of little roadside stands. This time we stopped at #38. Good stuff, famous for those apple donuts and caramel apples. We passed on the pie and there was an apricot/apple pie that sounded good but we kept it light this time. Good stuff.

A couple of things from the home front this week. Maycee took Drew and a few friends to breakfast for his birthday (with Mandy's help). Looks fun and I love to see these cousins having fun together..

...and I love to see these little ones love the things that I send them. Molly's got a birthday coming up so I got them a little package off and these are the pj's I found for them. They are so adorable and so are the pajamas.

Let the good times roll.....but I hope we remember in all that we do, to keep the faith. I read this yesterday as I was preparing my lesson for Sunday which just happens to be "Bringing up Children in Light and Truth".....I read a quote from Neal A. Maxwell. He said...."All the easy things that the Church has had to do have been done. From now on, it's high adventure, and followership is going to be tested in some interesting ways."  Yep, our little ones have exciting times ahead....high adventure on many levels. I pray for them every day.

Nine Eleven....

....thirteen years ago today I think we all know where we were and what we were doing as it was a tragic day in history; but for me, I had just lost my husband a few weeks earlier, everything in my house seemed to be breaking down, I was outside as my new air conditioning system was being installed when the world seemed to stand still as news of those tragic events unfolded....but after the initial shock and I had a new AC unit, I was on the road to Salt Lake with grateful anticipation of the arrival of my #3 grandson, Andrew Scott Wells. These thirteen years later, he has turned into a wonderful young priesthood holder who excels in whatever he sets out to do.

From skim boarding in Pine Valley, to capturing Napoleon to the T, to his chosen sport of soccer, Drew is truly an amazing young man. He turns 13 years old tomorrow. In honor of his birthday, I want to do a little #throwbackthursday with these pictures of the good times we had in Kentucky.I spent nine years getting out there several times a year to see these little kiddies whose dad's were in school.

I used to take them for a sleepover at a hotel at least one night when I would visit.  Great memories and so sad they can't stay little forever. Those really were the good ol' days.

The gaming three amigos....rockin' their Dixie State apparel. Happy Birthday, Drewby.....I know it will be a good one for you 'cause I know you know how to party so party hardy Drew and I'll see you soon.

*****************

As we think about this day 13 years ago, I hope we all know and appreciate the price of freedom. It can get messy....but we are a blessed people. Just got done reading this book......and I know even more God's hand in the establishment of this nation and our freedoms. May our prayers today be more fervent for our leaders and may we pledge our allegiance always and forever to this great land.

“Freedom is not free! The Almighty offers these gifts contingent upon our willingness to turn to Him as a nation. It is a covenant relationship. That covenant is in force today, and the rules still apply.” 
― Timothy Ballard, The Lincoln Hypothesis.

Spontaneity is my middle name....

......and it has worked well for me in this marriage as Randy never knows when he's going to get his jobs done earlier than expected but Thursday he did. He called at 3:30 and said...."hey, let me run this by you. I've just finished painting this house and she wants us to run up to her cabin tonight and do a bid on it....she says we can stay overnight....can you be ready in, like, say, 30 min.?" Gulp....yep, I can do that. We pulled out of here at 4:30....more like 40 min. to get ready but headed up toward Murphys, California to a place called Arnold. I didn't take a picture of the place but here's the sunset that greeted me as I got out of the car upon our arrival.....

A nice evening and good nights sleep then we were off to explore the area....first taking in the Big Trees State Park.....and oh, were they big trees.

We went on one of the mile hikes and couldn't get enough of this....so amazing.

This was one of my favorites. Enjoying the roots of this fallen giant....

The cut tree in the background serves as a stage....it's huge.

After seeing trees that reach way up into the sky, we decided to venture way down into the ground...

Mercer Caverns (Click HERE to learn more). There were several choices on the map but after our lunch at  "Grounds", a restaurant recommended by a local, this was the closest. Others offered rapelling (might have been nice when I learned how many stairs we would have to climb) but we chose proximity instead of comfort as it was 16 stories worth of stairs....and when you go down, you have to come back up.....gulp again....but I figured I might as well give it a try and see if all my swimming and working my legs has paid off. Also, I'm a bit claustrophobic (inherited) and wasn't sure about this whole adventure but I headed on down to this wonderland of stalagtites and stalagmites and a really funny tour guide that made the educational aspect of it so fun...and I did make it back up quite easily with the two hand rails provided...doing most of the work with my kayaking arm muscles. I loved it so much. I'm going to put a few more of these caverns on my bucket list, including Lehman Caves that we pass every time we take Highway 50. This is gold country and there are a lot of mines but these caverns were discovered and this particular one has been kept in pristine condition and still takes thousands through every year. Click HERE for it's history. So very interesting. Discovered in 1885. But time to head home....

At one point we had to wait for the turkeys to cross the road. I had to grab my camera from the back seat so by the time I got these, they were already across. We were out of cell range so it's always good to get back and check up on the kids. They are doing good things. Laynee is winning races.....

..and being interviewed by reporters. This is what was in The Spectrum:

               "The girls' side of the race wasn't as close, but no less exciting. Panguitch's Whittni Orton took a sizeable lead out of the gate and held it through most of the course before Desert Hills' Laynee Wells overtook her and held on for a close win.It came down to the final mile when Wells finally got the chance to make her move."I knew I could just slowly catch up," Wells said of her strategy in trying to erase Orton's 50-yard advantage. "I started out with my group and slowly worked my way in front."Wells and Snow Canyon's Teisha Truman passed Orton and finished a second apart".

*****************

Spencer won the lottery...the Subway lottery that is. He drew out so invited a bunch of his buddies and they took last Monday off work.....some first timers and some not but it's always nice when they get out of there safely. I've lived my whole life with this Subway thing so you'd think I'd get used to it and it was just a day or two later that the huge storm hit...anyway, I love that they do it and I love that they get through with it, if that makes motherly sense.

He also took the fam and headed up to Kanaraville Falls.....I liked this pic so wanted to post it.

Kyle took his two boys with the deacons from his ward and hiked to the top of Pine Valley Mountain. I love it when these little ones get these adventures.....so fun.

I know Mason's family is busy as well but don't get many pictures from them. Maycee got two parts in the Nutcracker this year so that will keep her busy and I'm sure Miller and McKay are playing multiple sports. Mandy, maybe you could message me a few more pics of the fam...I miss you all so very much.

********************

Lauri is enjoying her move to Pleasant Grove and is settling into apartment life again. She recently re-united with two of her missionary companions and their families and it has been fun to follow them through the years as they all served missions in the Tucson Arizona Mission, then came home to pursue their educations and find their eternal companions and then produce these munchkins....

I've loved sharing Lauri's experiences with these awesome girls. Becca and Elizabeth have been part of my life too. (Click HERE for more on Lauri's blog).

Just today I was able to talk to a tearful daughter of mine as this little one was lost for almost an hour......a very frantic one at that.

They were at a soccer game and Jake went over to find relief at a splash pad and didn't return. He had gotten a little mixed up as to where his family was but he was very smart....and did what he had been taught. He was at a different park and just sat still until he was found. My heart is full as I post this as I'm so grateful for my family. I'm grateful for prayer and the faith that our prayers will be answered and then for the gratitude of a young mom who will pour her heart out to Heavenly Father at the temple in gratitude for this miraculous outcome that could have turned out so differently. I feel I need to testify of the power of prayer and express my gratitude for the goodness of people that will pitch in and help a frantic family find their little boy. It may sound over-dramatic but I am a mother....the minutes are like years when your child is missing. I will fall on my knees as well in gratitude and add this experience to my book of "tender mercies" that we've all experienced and we all know from whence they come. May we all hug those little ones a little tighter tonight and take the message of "Stranger Danger" a little more seriously and teach them what they need to do in these situations.

"The other day...I met a bear..

....a great big bear....a way up there." My family is singing along with this right now but we really did meet a bear while riding our bikes this past week-end in Lake Tahoe. We were on the right side of the street and the busy Labor Day traffic was literally stopped as we rode up to a crowd of people and wondered what they were looking at. Yep, a bear, up in an apple tree, eating as fast as he could not even bothered by his audience of at least 50.....and he was behind a fence but in a neighborhood and just eating away...

I held onto the bikes as Randy dodged the traffic (which was mostly stopped) and got some pictures. I thought it was most exciting as I've never seen a real bear...well, the ones in the zoo are real but this one was not in a zoo so it was more real to me. We were out and about on Friday night and the sun was going down and we had just had a bite to eat and were heading back to the room but decided to stop by the beach for a bit before heading in when all of a sudden, the sky started to turn orange....

We started trying to take a selfie but a guy walked by and offered to snap this picture....thinking at this time the sky was beautiful but as we headed on down to the beach, the show began.....

One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen was on the beach of Majorca, Spain and I didn't have a camera that evening....but this has got to be right up there as one of the most spectacular of all time. The crowds were oohing and awing for at least 20 minutes as the sun gradually set into the lake and we were all left in unbelief at the beauty of what we had just witnessed. The guy at the gate who has been guarding the beach for many, many, years said this was in his top 3 of the most beautiful he had ever seen. This one was taken with Randy's phone.

We spent Saturday biking and sitting on the beach....Randy snokeling, me just relaxing and watching the waves. It was a bit too windy for me to kayak but we enjoyed the beauty of the waves and the peaceful feeling of the water. We biked around a neighborhood by our hotel and found a church, so Sunday morning, we attended the South Lake Tahoe Ward and Randy found a few people he knew from previous wards that he had lived in. The Fox's, the Spanglers and a couple from Cedar City introduced themselves and I talked to them after church. He is legal council for SUU and for Dixie so we had a nice chat then the Spanglers invited us to their home for dinner. They have a delightful little historic home in the pines.

Kathy is a florist and very creative. I enjoyed her various creations in her yard and in her home.

I especially liked this "pot man".....so innovative. She scoffed when I mentioned it should be on Pinterest. Glad there are others that don't get into that. 

I also loved the Blue Jays that swarmed the yard but came to find out they don't think they are so great. They are bit of a nuisance but she scattered her sunflower seeds so the birds would come so I could get some pictures.

I captured a couple of other critters as well....

.....and it made for a very enjoyable evening which ended with the fireworks display that we viewed from the lake shore, a short stroll from their home. All in all, a very enjoyable Sabbath day, making new friends and renewing old acquaintances. Yesterday I planted a few new flowers that will hopefully make it into the Fall season and set out a little water to hopefully attract some birds. I do love this time of year as the weather is cooling off, and even though I don't have kids in my home, school has started and everyone seems to be back in a groove (and I have the pool to myself in the daytime) and it just feels good to sit and knit or read (or both with a good book on tape). 

From me to you.......