Donald J. Anderton

Grandpa Anderton passed away October 4, 2011. He was 88 years old. We will sure miss him, but are comforted to know that we can see him again. The service was really nice. Each of his children spoke and all of his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren sang.

Grandpa was a bomber pilot for the AirForce in WWII. The graveside service was incredible, and so patriotic...a gun salute, an a'capella song "Off We Go," and another song "Cool Water" (gpa's favorite) and a cousin had arranged for a fly-by which was timed perfectly. There was a really neat spirit there and it was a great tribute to an amazing man.

I've never witnessed a funeral of a serviceman....the folding/salute of the flag was so precise, then they handed it to Grandma.

All the great-grandkids were able to release a balloon heavenward for Grandpa, it was a neat visual for them. Sadly, our kids were both sick at home with fevers and croupe so my mom came to sit with them so we could attend the funeral.

Grandma Anderton with her children.

Thank you Grandpa for the amazing example you were and the legacy you left behind. We know you are in a much better place now, pain free.

Rocket Launching with Gpa

At a recent family reunion, Gpa Anderton saw a group at the park (not part of our family) launching rockets. He walked over to see their homemade contraption, asked a few questions, and a few weeks later he was helping all the grandkids make their own paper rockets to launch off his newly built gadget! He was just as excited as all the kids were to make them and test it out. I'm not gonna lie, i think the adults were pretty psyched about it too! Those babies can fly!!

Each of the kids picked out their own colors and designs. Emri went with the yellow base, zebra print duct tape, and a pink nose! Very fashionable! Here she is loading her rocket....

Grandpa would pump it up to get the pressure just right and then the kids would push the button for "blast off " and watch the rockets fly to the sky and land in the pasture! See that smile on his face??? Pure joy!READY, SET....GO!!!!This was flight #8 at least.... as you notice Emri and Gpa are looking up, but the only part that shot this time was the nose!....and this is how she reacted! hahaha! They're just made out of paper, so the life span isn't great, but don't worry, by next season I'm sure gpa will have worked all the kinks out and tweaked them enough to last a while (he already was out in the woodshop making wooden noses to test out)!

FYI: taping firecrackers to the rockets provides an extra amount of excitement....as if there wasn't enough already!

Garden Treasures

Brett's parents have a gorgeous garden. It's huge. Brett's dad is actually in this picture...it's like Where's Waldo!

Berries we picked. So bright and beautiful....and delish! The grandkids have a hayday picking buckets full whenever they're here. I had to not let Emri in on the secret too early in the season since she gets a small reaction to berries on the way out (TMI?!) but she LOVES to eat them still!

One morning this summer before the kids were up, Mindy, Ric and I went out to pick raspberries and can I tell you how wonderful it was?! So peaceful, relaxing, (aside from being scared that spiders were crawling all over me) and rejuvenating! I definitely want a huge garden of my own one day to get lost in several times a week! We made delicious freezer jam and this oh so rich and yummy Chocolate Raspberry Tart. I found the recipe on Pinterest.

I reposted it on my friend/food blog. Go HERE to see it :)

Thanks to Ric and Sharon who planted this wonderful garden before we moved in. I feel a little guilty we've reaped so many benefits of their labor enjoying many yummy fresh fruits and veggies since we got here :)

Photoshoot with E--catchlights

In no way do I label myself as a "photographer." I do LOVE taking pictures, and always have. I mostly love the memories that come with looking through old photos. Slowly but surely I promise (Brett) to learn more about my "new" camera that is over a year old :) One day I'll take it off the auto setting and never look back! This day I learned about a technique...not necessarily the camera. Catchlight. It's basically getting your subject to have that twinkle in their eye, because you made them turn their head just so....or you got the light to reflect just right...

Emri happened to be in a "take a picture of me" mood, this day so I did. A. LOT.

 Have I put her in front of the camera too much?! What a poser!!!

 Love this one....so her!

And a few silly self-portraits! Her face cracks me up. And my face....well, it looks tired to me...and wrinkley :(

One day I hope to call myself a "photographer"....even if it's just pics of my family!

Bear River Cabin

In September we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves heading back to the Anderton cabin at Bear River, in the Uintah's, for the first time in 4 years. The scenery was beautiful....the leaves were just beginning to change!

The company was great too! We invited the Obergs to come play.... Hazel and Emri are a month apart in age and got along sooo well! Most of the time not spent outdoors was spent in Hazel's makeshift bed :) for "bathtub parties" as the girls called them!

Jet enjoyed his first sink-bath :)

These two literally became besties! I loved watching them interact! Couldn't they pass as twins?! They even have the same single dimple in their left cheek!

We hiked to Ruth Lake...

...and enjoyed a fun picnic and playing in the water.

Jami, Jet & Crystal

the girls (notice Emri's snug shirt...this was the hike back down...after a water incident)...

...I can assure you that both girls made it TO the lake fully clothed! They both decided to immediately wade in their shoes and levi's before we could stop them, which ended up meaning no pants while playing...

they loved seeing the fish Taylor caught!

Emri was doing a little showing off in the lake and wasn't paying attention to her large rock surroundings....

...which ended up badly for her. SOGGY pull-up, wet shirt and cold skin! (this is just as she tripped and was on her way down)

Well, i didn't think to pack extra clothes for E...just Jet. All I had to cuddle Emri with was my thin nursing cover. Not too warm, but gave just enough comfort!

...then of course, Hazel wanted in on the nakedness...and they enjoyed the rest of their time throwing rocks...

and doing "cheers" with their little bums! haha! I'm not quite sure how they even came up with that! We got a kick out of it though!

Emri had to squeeze into Jet's extra (9mos.) onesie for the hike home! It was skin tight!

We definitely didn't go hungry on this trip! One night for dessert we made banana boats and the newest craze (thanks to Crystal for the idea) "Smore-itos!" They were amazing!

One night we dedicated to dutch oven cooking. Brett made his Mt.Dew chicken/potatoes and Taylor made the best cobbler I've ever tasted in my life: peach/marion berry. Taylor buys these special frozen berries and has them shipped from Oregon if I remember right. He's very serious about his food!!

The girls "made fire" in this cool fort outside the cabin....

...and went on a nature scavenger hunt

One day we took ATV's out for a ride, that turned into a wild adventure!

We were trying to decide which trail to go on. I specifically said to avoid the trail with the sign marked "Danger. Steep terrain" (or something to that effect). So we picked a different one....

and found a YURT along the way (I didn't know what that was until then)!

Jet was a happy camper bundled all up. He slept the majority of the bumpy ride.

Well...we were safe up until the Yurt sighting. Then I saw a sign marked "ridge trail" and told the boys to take that so I could see the scenery. It was definitely beautiful and we were on top of the world. The only problem is....those trails were at some points skinnier than our ATV's... and the ATV's turn like boats... so we ended up having to take the trail to get back down. It was steep, rocky, and adventurous. Not gonna lie, my butt puckered more than once! But we made it. And we came out right at the "danger, steep terrain" sign I wanted to avoid from the get-go! haha! Below is Crystal & Taylor almost to the top....straight down from there on!

On the way back down we stopped at Lily Lake for a picnic lunch,

....some cute pics of the besties

...and more fishing for Taylor. It was so beautiful!!!!

Oh Fall.....I wish you could stay a little longer. I'm not ready for snow!