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.

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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.