daffodil lane

"Catching Up" would be an understatement!

How did the entire summer get away from me in the blogging department?

 

Here's a quick run-down catch-up before I get back to my more typical (as in never predictable) blogging schedule. What we've been up to:

• I painted just about everything in sight: walls, furniture, canvases. Turns out I really love painting, so soothing!
• We had an amazing week in Maui, a trip my hard-working husband earned through work. Did I mention amazing? The resort was out of control!
• Mady turned 16. Wow. We're entering the stages of full time junior college, driving, and "friends that are guys". Just friends. :)
• There's been a steady stream of friends and kids in and out. Love that, my kids have some awesome friends!
• A certain girl got her braces off, after 7 years of having them on!
• A flurry of horse camps, racquetball camp, a trip to Texas for me, cousin and Auntie visiting, VBS, etc.!
• I fell in love with a company called Advocare and started a business!
• I am working my way through a "24 Day Challenge" - designed to increase energy (yes please!) and lose weight and/or gain muscle. I am really impressed so far, and am happy to be doing the challenge alongside so many dear friends! (Another challenge is starting up soon if you are interested!)
• I'm busily gathering up my supplies and plans for the new homeschool year. I love homeschooling and the fact our state is still homeschool-friendly, despite changes and cutbacks.

 

 

 
 
 
What have you all been doing?! I've missed the little blogging world!

We're home!

 

Oprah and I vacation at the same spot. We are so ritzy.

I admit. Guilty pleasure, I DVR all the Oprah shows. Because you just never know when it might be a good one, like today, when she highlights her trip to Yosemite. (Today, Friday at 4 if you're local and want to see the great beauty of Yosemite). I cannot wait to relive our summer trip! Here are a few more photos, with one more last post to come later.

 
::the fam, in front a teepee in the old Indian Village, which we loved, after our Native American studies::

 
 
 
 
:: Jenson's favorite experience, panning for gold. He had great ideas for how he'd spend his money after striking it rich. ::

 
 
:: Half Dome views from two locations. We really regretted not hiking it, but given the altitude and heat, I don't think we'd have done very well on this 14 hour extreme hike. I am proud to say that part of my family did make it though and ate lunch on that tiny little ledge that sticks out. (My family that was camping there at the same time we vacationed). ::

 
 
:: We had some time alone while the kids were with the cousins and subsequently lost, to enjoy hiking around the Lower Falls and spend a lot of time at the Village Store payphone. Word of caution, cell phones do not work in Yosemite, make a Plan B if you want to meet up with someone! We learned that the hard way, but it's kind of funny now. It did net us 24 hours with no children to look after, but netted my aunties 24 hours of three extra children to look after... ::

 
 
 
:: A short hike to the swinging bridge. As much as we enjoy hiking, it was brutal! We didn't do well with the combination of altitude and 100 degree temperatures. This water was so nice. We had a ton of other things we wanted to do, but we just sat there with our feet in it. It was one of the most secluded places we visited as well, really nice to feel like we were in really in nature. The park is stunning, but you can easily forget you are in a forest because it is so packed! This little spot, thanks to our lodge concierge, was just perfect. To the family: bears and coyotes were chased here. ;) ::

Yosemite

 
A long overdue post from our summer trip to Yosemite National Park.  I cringe looking through so many blury, poor quality photos, not to mention I got lazy/frustrated with it and just went back into auto mode.  It just inspires me to get that much better before Frank and I head to.... Paris and London this spring! (Yay for Edward Jones sending us on these great trips!) 

On this, our first full day in Yosemite, we got a wake-up call at 5:45am so that Mady and I could make it to a photography class at the Ansel Adams gallery that morning. Ansel Adams shot many of his great landscapes in Yosemite, and this tribute to him is in the middle of the park. The above shot is from that photo walk, of the Merced River, which we later rafted down (my personal favorite part of the trip).

 
 
The guide told us that Sugar Pines smell like vanilla if you smell deep into the grooves of the bark...

 
The three brothers mountain...

 
It is always warm in Yosemite in the summer, but they were having a heat wave while we were there. This day reached 100. As we were walking to the Ahwanee Hotel for lunch, the trail wandered through these boulders, which we renamed the Air Conditioning Rocks. Between those rocks, you could feel the temperature drop significantly. We just stood there in the rock trail awhile until everyone was cooled off enough to keep going.

 

My family, two aunties and uncles, 6 cousins and their boyfriends, were all there camping at the same time. The park is huge, and from our lodge at the south entrance to their campsite at Hodgdin Meadows in the north, it was 2.5 hours driving time. On the first day, we drove up to see them just as they were pulling in. A big family reunion in the middle of a campsite in Yosemite. I loved it! On the way up, we saw this black bear grazing in the meadow. All the cars stopped to look, creating what is called a Bear Jam. I had no idea black bears came in such a variety of colors! A ranger looked at my photos and told us this one was unusually blonde.

 
We just spent most of day one mesmerized by the beauty. In any direction we turned, it was stunningly gorgeous. More to come...

I LOVE my family. So much.

A few photos of our trip to Yosemite, stolen from my auntie's FB page. I have a perfectionist tendency, and have been waiting for that perfect 27 hours of free time to edit all my own images from our Yosemite/Tahoe trip. Sigh. My family - aunties and uncle, 6 cousins and their boyfriends, were camping at Yosemite while we were vacationing there in July.

 
In this shot we were all hiking to Mirror Lake together. There were 18 0f us. It looked like we fell off a tour bus.

 
All the cousins, minus Janessa.

I love, love this family so much. It's hard to believe I've only re-known them for five years. More old family stories here and here.