Our First Visit to Stratford Ranch

Our dear friends recently acquired a 156 acre ranch in Cache Valley in Avon, Utah.  The ranch is named Stratford because it's in Avon, and Stratford-upon-Avon is the birth place of William Shakespeare.  And this friend loves her some Shakespeare.  Besides having the cleverest name, I dare say I have never seen any place so pleasantly situated.  We went up to spend the day yesterday and it was absolutely perfect-- so beautiful, so relaxing, and so nice to get away after being shut-in for a while.

Soon after we arrived, Bethany and Elinor took off to scale a steep grassy/rocky hillside.  Greta took off after them.  I ran back to the house to grab my phone so could take pictures.  By the time I got back, Greta was halfway up and yelling for help because it was so steep.  See the little black dot?  That's Greta.

I hurried up to meet her.  Right about then I heard the boys calling a greeting from the other side of the valley.  Can you see them?  They are super small.

Here I was, thinking this was high enough.  It had been steep so far, but it got even steeper in the next part.  I didn't not want to slip and find myself, or even worse, Greta in an out-of-control free roll down the mountain.  But Greta-- the tough little hiker she is-- wanted to go all the way up.  So I disregarded the judgement of my 42 year old self who has never broken any bones, and went with the that of the three year old.  Wise, no?

 So further up we went and found these beautiful, happy flowers.

Thanks to Elinor who came part way down to help us the rest of the way up-- WE MADE IT!  We were rather proud of ourselves. 

Gorgeous surroundings.  Why does Greta look depressed in this picture? 

I took this picture on the way down.  That's a pretty good scale for a three year old!

Abe took this picture from the bottom of Elinor, Greta and I descending. 

Meanwhile, the boys found the first of FOUR snakes they found and caught throughout the day.  JOY! This yellow-bellied racer was quite a find. 

Next up, this good sized bull snake.  

The kids were pretty excited about this find.

So yeah.  Sorry to disturb you.  In other fun news, both Peter and George got bitten by the yellow-bellied racer.  Don't be alarmed-- they aren't venemous and they were surface wounds. 

Peter and George also both got bitten by garter snakes they found.  This is like a badge of honor among our children.  Peter said, "I can handle it!  If I can handle getting shots, I can handle getting bit!"  He did get shots the day before, so he knew what he was talking about.

In this picture, the snake is actually in the act of biting George!

I dare say George was pleased.

We brought up a lovely picnic lunch.

The weather was ideal-- it could not have been better.

We walked down to the river and the lower pasture to visit the cows.  They were friendly. lovely cows.  If I was a cow I would want to live there.

 Abe and his Foxy Ladies.

We all went on a hike together.

The moms were bringing up the rear.  It's not that we couldn't go faster, it's just that it was quieter for chatting at the back.

The whole gang!  Greta was pretty tired after her morning hike, so Abe was nice to put her in the pack.

The dads and boys and Greta went back after the more level part, and the girls went onward and upward!

I'm so grateful for Andrea.

I'm so grateful for my girls.

Thankful for this time of lots of togetherness.

We had lots of time to just sit around and relax as well.

We played our new favorite game-- Camel Up.

Lots of time to swing.

Swinging in the hammock.

Getting ready for the cookout for dinner.

It tastes so good to eat food cooked outside.

I even got a moment to rest in the hammock alone.  

So many thanks to Andrea and James for letting us invite ourselves up:)  We can't wait to go back!

Sorry, Not Sorry

Dear friends dropped off supplies for s'mores.  I wasn't at home when the drop off occurred, but all four of the younger kids found me when I got home and were anxious to tell me.  It really made their night.

The next evening we roasted hot dogs...

... immediately followed by s'mores.  It's the simple things.  And I'm sure I've said it before, but in my opinion, the backyard cookout give us the biggest bang for the buck.  That is to say, it is a very enjoyable and relaxing activity for very little money or effort.  

Bethany recently played a violin concert on the front patio of an assisted living home for the aging mother of family in our ward.  A few extended family members were there for the "party" as well.  I went along to be her assistant.  The birthday girl really seemed to appreciate the music and it was special and surreal to be there-- everyone in masks and keeping their distance.

In this picture Bethany was playing happy birthday and everyone was singing.

We've had a pair of ducks hanging out in our yard for a while and it's been quite exciting for the little kids. There have been a few questions to answer.   No, we aren't going to trap them.  No, aren't going to keep them.  No, they can't come inside the house.  No, they don't want to be held.

Now, this picture is somewhat controversial.  They are not wearing masks.  They are not social distancing.  This group, plus a few more not pictured, went camping last weekend.  Our family had been trying pretty hard to keep isolated.  You may judge, and we may deserve it, but I'll tell you something-- young adults are different birds than nine year old boys.  I can enforce things with the youngers that I can't with the olders.   The young adults, as it turns out, are their own persons.  So anyway, we're not much good at social distancing anymore.  I could go on to explain all the reasons why, but I'd rather not on this blog.  

Abe and I wear our masks when we go out to the grocery store to help "protect" others (or so the experts tell us these days), but we're happy to see things opening back up.

  Bethany loved being together with her favorite neighborhood childhood friends.

They've grown into such lovely young ladies.

So much for social distancing.

Since the social distance barrier had been broken between the families, we just invited the whole Johansen family over for Sunday dinner and games.  We did it and I'm not sorry.

Clark has his apartment down in Provo, but he works here in Riverton-- so that's a rather long commute.  Sometimes he'll just crash at our house (much to everyone's delight).  This was one morning when the college kids (Clark and Bethany) stayed up late and just slept where they landed.

This may be my favorite picture of the week.  I don't think it needs much explanation.  She's fabulous.

We've been noticing lately that Cannon is a dancer even when he doesn't mean to be.  This is how he stood when asked to say a meal prayer recently.

The sisters spent an evening at a hammock park recently.  Doesn't that sound so relaxing.  I think I need more hammocking in my life.  

Faith figured out how to hang her hammock in the backyard.  It's where she likes to do her school work. 

In other Covid 19 updates:

-- The boys Ballet West Academy classes will remain online for the rest of the academic year.  That was disappointing, but at least they can still do some classes and we don't have to drive anywhere.  Which is nice.

--I started teaching piano lessons in person this past week and that has been really, really good.

-- My allergies are OUT OF CONTROL this year.  Not good.  By my calculations, I have three more weeks until my 3 month allergy season is over.  I want to like spring... I really do, but allergies make it hard. 

Skipping Rocks

Sunday afternoon we went for a walk along the Jordan River Parkway.  The weather was warm and beautiful.

No scooters, no bikes.  Just walking and talking. 

At one point, a big yellow-bellied racer was spotted and they attempted a capture.

They were unsuccessful, but it was an exciting moment.  I love how Abe is all in to help the kids.

A little ways off the trail we had relatively easy access to the Jordan River.  Elinor was the first to make the leap.

We all headed down  and had this little spot all to ourselves.  The children humored me with an obligatory picture, and then we had such a fun time skipping rocks and playing. 

Abe teaching Faith to skip rocks.

My favorite picture of the day.

There are some moments that are so magical that you couldn't have planned or paid for it to be any better.  It was perfect. The weather, the company, the spontaneous activity.  It was a very good day.

April 27, 2020

Saturday was online tournament day for these four.  The ladies were doing a speech and debate tournament and the boys were doing a Heroscape tournament.  Elinor was very pleased to win 2nd place in the student congress and Clark was happy to win 3rd place in his tournament.  So, not the most exciting thing to be on the computer all day, but I suppose the results made it worth it. 

The best parts of the week were enjoying the great outdoors together.  We still bring this back pack along for Greta for when she gets tired, but she is way tougher and has more endurance than I would have thought.

This is a favorite hike for us because it's fun, it's got a good destination, and it's very accessible.

There aren't very many activities that everyone is happy to participate in together.  Hiking fits the bill.

Awww... yeah.

The blue skies, the mountains...so beautiful.

This bridge is so freaky to me.

Bethany really channeled her inner-80's girl with experimental big hair:)