shoot quick

We've been here, there and everywhere the last few weeks. Some weeks we can say that we've seen all of our Utah grandchildren.
Just after Christmas we got together for a few days of peace and quiet and good food in Annabella.
Catching 19 grandkids and getting them to pose for a photo is a major challenge - but this time they were all very co-operative
This isn't all pretty and proper like Sarah's kids when they pose or all cute and lined up nicely like Jon's puppies pose - but these are 19 of our grandchildren and they make me smile.

Getting the four Cherry children to pose is quite a feat too. Here's our best effort from our visit at Thanksgiving.
Add these 4 to the other 19 and you have all of the current Lee Family grandchildren. THEY ARE THE GREATEST!

Peaceful, Heavenly, Wet and Fun

You've all been there at least once so you know that a weekend camping at Capitol Reef is something to look forward to and to enjoy.
We were the first campers to arrive so Roland and I set up our tent while the deer grazed? on the fallen pears nearby.
Most people campout by sleeping in tents - but not Jon - he made cozy beds for the kids in the van and set himself a bed outside.
Everyone did a great job with their meal assignments and we had plenty to eat at all times.
The kids loved the zipline, the irrigation ditch, the rocks, the horses, and the pinata.
And I think we all loved the hike to the waterfall. Some were timid about getting wet at first but not for long. I enjoyed seeing the cousins playing together.

Gardens

Early this year we planted in our cute little grow boxes and we were so pleased with our harvest. We had yellow squash, zuccinni, swiss chard and our favorite was the potatoes. Our cucumbers didn't do well and our tomatoes had beautiful plants and not much fruit. Still we were happy with our efforts.
The Eves' planted later in the year and as always have a great garden with quality green beans, peppers and tomatoes, which we are always excited to partake of.

On Labor Day weekend we were at Clear Creek visiting and Jon was cooking up some squash. He hollered to Brianna to run to the garden and get him a few green peppers and some other kind of peppers. I went along to be her helper. Wow! Holy smoke! The garden was huge and there were vegetables ready to pick in every direction. Tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of peppers, corn, and potatoes. But this was only Garden #1 - we hadn't even noticed the other garden.
Jon says "don't come to my garden with out a grocery bag" so I hurried off to find a bag to fill. Jon is showing Jennie a watermelon. The garden had cantaloupe, yellow squash, banana squash, acorn squash and miles of pumpkins.
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Max and Ellie are showing me where to find the cherry tomatoes
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Josh found a pumpkin just the size he is
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Max found a giant pumpkin. Wow! what a pumpkin patch!

Some extra fun activities we enjoyed that weekend - Max and Ellie at the cabin swing - Jason and Josh rowing on the pond

Don't be discouraged all you garden growers - Jon always likes to do things in a BIG way!

Row, row your boat

It is the desire of all our family members, young and old, to get to row in the boats at Uncle Jon's. All except me! Roland talked me into a romantic moment on the pond and I, wanting to be with him, fell for it. The day was beautiful, the company great but the boat was too wiggly for me. Little Josh, Jason and Jennie were there to witness my most ungraceful moment trying to get out of the boat.

We had a great weekend - We all celebrated Hannah's birthday with a yummy cabin breakfast and some delicious banana cake with cream cheese frosting. I believe Emma was invited to accompany Hannah and Uncle Jon on their birthday luncheon in town. Lucky girls!
In the meantime Ellie, Max and Josh came to the cabin with Jennie, Jason, Grandpa and Grandma and we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying a rainy day at the cabin.

Hopefully all our other family members had an enjoyable holiday - wherever they went.

A piece of happiness

Today we had big plans to celebrate our anniversary #40. I told
Roland that when we got married I had no conception of living long enough to be alive or married for 40 years. But time flies when you are having fun and fun we have had.
Today I have been a real party pooper with a fever - couldn't even work up enough get up and go to go out to dinner - Dad is fixing me "Fe Fie Fo Fum" for dinner.
He served it very formally in suit and tie by candlelight.

At noon today we did have a piece of happiness as we went for a ride up Hwy 18,
turned off at Snow Canyon and drove on through. It was beautiful as always and plenty warm. We found a shady spot by the sand wash and Dad talked me into getting out and sitting in the shade. A breeze was blowing and it was cool and lovely.
Watched a little squirrel, two dragonflies and a bird. It was a little piece of heaven and I guess that will be the way we celebrated our 40th anniversary.

Who Knew?

Perhaps some of you will recall the golden colored box cars that were always up at the top of Dad's closet or stored away in his box of special things. Sometimes he'd get them out and just look at them - sometimes he'd let us use them to decorate our house but mostly they were up in the closet.

Well times have changed at the Lee home. Thanks to a train shop in Tehachapi and good old ebay we now have the whole train.

All you young mom's that are experiencing motorcyles, bikes, boats, and all kinds of boy toys. Been there, done that. Now we are moving on to trains.
I know Dad's alltime biggest wish is to have a Sportsmobile or a camper on the back of his truck but that will just have to stay on the list. But trains, I think we can afford the trains.

Jodi, Kyle and family were here last Saturday when the package arrived. Grandpa invited the boys to help him unwrap all the train parts. So with Kade and Kyle laying track, Zach on the switch, Sam jumping all over and Grandpa supervising here is a movie of the fun times we had that afternoon.

Who knew a few trains could make everyone so happy?

We know the way!

Come to find out that Roland does "know the way to San Jose" although it took us two days to drive to San Jose. We made a stop half way and stayed at a Marriott hotel (thanks Kyle). The town happened to be having a Farmers Market that afternoon and we enjoyed shopping for apricots, plums and berries. Driving across the rest of the state we sampled from the fruit stands - strawberries and cherries. So, so far the trip has been very fruitful and we hope it continues to be so.

surprise outing

Wednesday turned out a lot differently than I had planned. First I was doing some laundry for a friend, waiting for Jodi and Kyle to come so I could watch the kids, and tried to finish up my visiting teaching and then I was going to work on some scrapbooks. But then Jodi called and said they wouldn't be coming and Dad said "how about taking our tent to Snow Canyon and camping out?"
So that is what we did. We set up our tent and then went on a fun hike on the Hidden Pinyon trail. We didn't come equipped for meals so we make a quick trip back to town for dinner and then back to our little camp spot. It was a glorious view we woke up to this morning.
Wish you had all been there.

top and bottom - oldest to youngest

We have had a fun filled few weeks. Jana, Phil and family came from Houston and natually so did everyone else. We followed whereever they went. As Jodi said, "its cheaper to drive all over Utah than to fly to Houston".

If the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is correct - and I have thousands of pictures from our adventures these past weeks - I would have a very wordy blog. There were so many darling pictures of all my darling grandchildren that I couldn't decide which ones to post - so I will leave you with this one photo of our oldest, Christian and our youngest, Sarah Joy and you will just have to believe that all of them are as cute as these two.

Max's broken leg

Well, we had quite an adventure today when Jon called to let us know Max had broken his leg in a 4-wheeler accident and they were headed to St. George to the emergency room. When they arrived we gave Max a blessing, and carried him into the ER. Jon had made a nice splint with magazines and gauze that held helped immobilize Max's leg, but he was still in lots of pain. He received wonderful care from lots of nurses, attendants, and doctors and Max was very brave through it all. Tonight they are on their way home and we offer praise to the Lord for his care.


Max is attended by the triage nurse.


Getting settled while we wait for the x-rays.


The tubes and wires make it a little difficult to get comfortable, but Max is a good sport.

Max's x-ray shows a pretty good break where the 4-wheeler ran over his leg. Luckily only one of the bones was broken and there was no other damage to his leg or foot.










Max aint feeling so good.


One of the best orthopedic specialists in the state happened to be on call today so Max got the very best care. His room was filled with helpers while his leg was set and cast.


All's well that ends well. Popsicles and a chocolate shake helped ease the pain, along with brand new Star Wars pajamas, and he was sent home with a neat set of crutches just his size. We're proud of Max for being such a good sport through it all. Here he's showing off the hospital bracelet and the big bruise from the IV.

Grandma's circus

In our travels the last few weeks we have been visited by some cute kids. Jana and family came to find us in our hotel in Dallas. We took a ride on the train at got off at just the right spot - the KrispyKreme donut store. They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious and this cute face behind the donut belongs to Ally.

Trying to entertain guests in the hotel was tricky. I think their favorite was riding on the escalator. But we promised that we could go for a swim in the pool.
The kids jumped right in but Jana and I were very surprised by the cold water when we tried to join them. I think we were a little early for swimming this year.



Between trips we had a fun overnight visit from Max and Brianna and Jon. The weather was lovely - we had a fun time at the Town Square playing in the water. It was really warm enough in St. George even though they left lots of snow at home.

We had an assignment to find new pajamas for Bri and Max. They didn't want to wait for night time to try them on.



We made a quick unexpected bus trip to California with the Art guys. We saw every picture in every art museum. But we did stop for a short visit at the beach. That was the most heavenly part of the whole trip for me.

birthday

This weekend we were in Highland celebrating the birthday of our oldest grandson.
One of his special requests was that we bring his cousin to celebrate with him. That took some doing - but we managed and had a fun time co-ordinating pick up and drop off points. You can see that these fellas enjoy each others company and they can also east a lot of food.

On Sunday we were present to see Christian in action as he went about his Sunday duties one of which was playing the piano for priesthood meeting.

Jim has spent the last two years finishing their basement. Its really nice and almost finished. He has become quite the electrician and even knows what to do with all these wires.

If the sun shines they will come

The past week was lively and full of fun visits from our grandchildren. I believe everyone was happy to see the sun shine and anxious to get out and enjoy. We started off with a visit from the Maestri family. We headed first to Paula's for lunch and then to the Red Hill to hike around.


Since last Monday was also Emma's birthday, we had to stop at 25 North Main to celebrate with a cupcake. YUM!



Wednesday brought the Jon Lee Family and we did all kinds of crazy things. Dressing up in the Dutch clothes made the girls happy.
There isn't a photo but there should have been one of Grandpa and all the Lee kids cuddled up on our bed watching Snow White and 7 Dwarfs. They watched it to the very end - some seeing it for the first time.



Then on Saturday the Simmons clan came to visit. The boys were determined to climb the Red Hill again and find the "Crack" and hike on through.
Jodi and Sarah came to help Grandma set up a bridal shower for cousin Amber.
Every week should be as full of fun as this one was.