Stained fingers bring joy!

Where have I been you might ask?
It's been one crazy, hectic, but enjoyable month, FULL of lots of family fun!!  

While working my daily job from 7-12 on  Monday-Friday and dealing with normal everyday life, I have had to squeeze into my life, planning a 50th wedding anniversary party, going to Cross-Country meets and other school activities, dealing with an abundance of produce, dealing with church callings and also having family from out of town and having events going on every evening with them as we try to experience the most fun that we can before they leave to head back to their home in Tennessee  
AND the weather has been amazing and so many an afternoon and evening has been spent outside enjoying the last of our wonderful, perfect and warm summer weather.

Thus, is the reason for my lack of posting and as I sit and type and wonder where to begin with posting again,  I am doing what I always do when confronted with a dilemma, 

just START at the easiest place there is and move forward...

So,  

I share with you, two wonderful moments that stained my fingers 

 and filled my life with such JOY and wonderful memories! 

Last week of summer vacation FUN!  
The kids and I tie-dyed shirts for us the last few days before school started and we had a ball…AND better than ever, they turned out awesome… 
so awesome in fact,
that the kids decided they wanted to wear them on the first day of school.
I had the tune “Feelin' Groovy” going through my head all day long.

We headed out on an afternoon adventure to Jenny Lake and Jackson Hole, Wyoming with some of Tracy's family and I made us all wear our matching tie-dye shirts...
LOVE this photo of us standing in front of the Tetons on the Wyoming Side of the mountains.

We were swimming in projects to be done with putting together things for a 50th wedding anniversary for Tracy’s parents,  LOTS of home improvement projects to get done before company came from out of town, but, believe it or not, 

"The mountains were calling me 

to come and pick their bounty" 

I would so much rather be out in mountains 

enjoying this time that only comes around once a year, 

picking berries, relaxing on a hillside 

enjoying great, stimulating conversation with my family and  

filling our buckets with handfuls of "purple gold". 

Projects can be done anytime of the year, but picking Huckleberries only has a small window of time...so we enjoyed two wonderful days! 

wow, Wow, WOW, 

is all I can say, the bushes were SO loaded with berries and the berries were as big as blueberries and some as big as cranberries...my hands couldn't pick them fast enough.

Truly an amazing huckleberry picking year!

 Adventure on Day One

YES, if you want to have buckets of huckleberries to enjoy, you encounter these friendly little guys, around many a bush. I was AMAZED at how many cat face spiders and webs we came across!

Adventure on day two!

We enjoyed huckleberry pancakes for dinner
and made Apple Huckleberry Pie with homemade ice cream for dessert the next night.
After sorting berries, spreading them on cookie sheets lined in wax paper, putting them in the freezer and freezing them and then bagging them,
we ended up with 51 cups of huckleberries (just a little over 3 gallons)

 Happiness is...being a little "wild, crazy and bold" from time to time
Happiness is...being spontaneous and enjoying whatever the moment has to offer.

Happiness is...enjoying the gorgeous beauty of the mountains with my hubby and kids.

Happiness is...enjoying muffins, pancakes, pie and smoothies, using berries that were picked by the hands of my family!

 I learn on a weekly basis, that you have to get your hands a little dirty from time to time to truly enjoy and experience life at its fullest!

  Happiness is...my wonderful, happy life!