We didn't let the rain didn't stop us!

(Yosemite Part 1)

"Life isn't about waiting
for the storm to pass...
it's learning to DANCE in the rain"!

(This is one of my favorite all time quotes...
I am SO glad I finally had the perfect photos to use with this quote)

Tracy and Kimmie...
at the base of Vernal Fall
Yosemite 2009

WOW! As I think about the 3 amazing days we spent on our trip in Yosemite and I have over 1,000 photos from our trip, I am overwhelmed as to how to post and share our wonderful trip memories to do them justice.
So, I think I am going to break up our trip into 3 or 4 different posts.

As it has RAINED almost every day for the past 3 weeks, I decided I would celebrate the rain we have been getting and share
Tracy's and my hike up to Nevada Fall in the rain!

And then over the next month
I will do 1 post a week to show and capture the rest of our trip

(WARNING...
Photo Overload...Very Detailed Post Showing Awesome Hike)

So, Tracy primed us that on our trip
to Yosemite we would be seeing the famous "El Capitan", "Half Dome", "Water Falls" and Sequoia trees. In our minds, we thought that we would be seeing these sites and our main purpose for the trip was "Surprising" Tracy's brother for his 30th birthday and spending time with family and camping a bit. So, needless to say I came dressed to CAMP and be comfy and do some site-seeing.
***************
Since, cotton is the WORST thing to wear in the rain and all I had were blue jeans, I bought myself a pair of hiking pants at one of the Mountaineering Stores in Curry Village so I could be comfortable on our hike and even though it was pouring rain, we weren't going to let RAIN stop us from enjoying our afternoon!!

Tracy and I learned two very important lessons on this hike...
First: don't let the rain stop you
and second don't give up when you feel like stopping and you can't go one more step, because you are usually just a little ways away from seeing something FAR more Amazing and Spectacular than what you are seeing at the moment!!

I have to give my Saucony sneakers credit...Not too shabby.
Had I known that we would be doing some hiking
I would have brought my Garmont Hiking Shoes
for the trip.

Tracy and I
were feeling SO excited
that we were on an adventure together with no kids.
This is us on the shuttle, heading
to "Happy Isles" hiking trail-head.

Tracy and I at the bridge
where you can first see Vernal Fall.
As you can see it's absolutely gorgeous!

A very sweet lady
noticed us taking photos of each other
and asked if she could take our photo together..
her words when she handed us our camera:
"Perfect photo for
this years Christmas card".

This is what Vernal Falls
looked like the day before when we hiked up to this point with our kids and Tracy's family. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the Falls were absolutely amazing to see!
BTW...Vernal Fall is 317 feet from the Brink to the bottom

By this point of the hike
the rain was coming down quite a bit
and Tracy and I were the
ONLY ones hiking UP the trail.
We past MANY people trying to hike out of there as fast as they could.

As you can tell we are
SOAKED from the "Mist" of the Water Fall as well as the rain.
They don't call it the "Mist Trail" for nothing.

WOO HOO,
we made it to the top of Vernal Fall
1.5 miles of climbing up hill in a record time of 40 minutes.

It is amazing to get to the top
of the Falls and to have such an outstanding view!
These photos are the river that feeds the Falls and the brink of the Falls.

The gorgeous river at the top
of the mountain we just climbed!

Tracy and I in front of the "Emerald Pool"!
It looks like an island and beach!

Our first glimpse of "Liberty Cap'"!

More hiking and a closer view of Liberty Cap
and our first view of Nevada Fall.

The gorgeous rugged high country
and Merced River.

More spectacular scenery!

Some really interesting textures
and sites we enjoyed in the woods.

This was a really unique spot...
there were trees all lined up on both sides
making a pathway to walk through between them.

The side view of Nevada Fall

The trail system was amazing
and all of the stairs and rock walls
that were built were unbelievable!!

Some great photos of the Falls
and more great scenery.

A nice guy saw Tracy and I taking photos
and offered to take our photo together.

The last REALLY steep climb of the trail
before we made it to the top...up, Up and UP some more!
(actually at this point I almost gave up and quit and said "we had gone far enough"...my blood sugar was low, I was grumpy and I was out of energy).

Since I get really low blood sugar when I hike,
I have to constantly be eating.
COMBOS crackers and FIG NEWTONS
gave me the energy to make it to the top.

YEA...we are finally at the top
(with a 2,000 foot elevation gain since we hiked from the bottom)
where we can see the most awesome view
of the valley, river, falls and
and another great view of Liberty Cap.

I loved this spot...
the mossy trees and the way they have grown
made a perfect photo-op to take a photo of Tracy.

The river that feeds Nevada Fall.

This is a pretty ominous photo...
Tracy took a photo of me with his "iPhone" taking photos of the next series of photos.
It was amazing!
(one wrong move and
that would be the end of Kimmie...
good thing I took it very slow and very careful and wasn't in a hurry at all).

NEVADA FALL....
is a 594 foot drop!!
...from the BRINK down to the ground!
At the top of Nevada Fall,
there were no handrailings
like there were at the top of Vernal Fall!!

The gorgeous country
we enjoyed at the top of Nevada Fall
before we started heading out!

Our hike back down...
the sun is finally starting to come out down in the valley!
(Too bad so many people called it quits so early in the afternoon because they missed out on an amazing thing. But, it meant we got to enjoy it all to ourselves, along with a handful of other people who braved the trail and weather as well).

More interesting textures and things
we saw along the way.

One last photo
before we hiked out as fast as we could...
at this point it was starting to get dark.

The stairs we hiked down from Vernal Fall.

We made it back down to the main spot
of Vernal Fall
and as you can see we were finally DRY!

YEA!
We made it back to the car
(after missing the shuttle by 10 minutes it meant we got to enjoy another 1 mile walk along the road enjoying the night air together
until we finally made it to Curry Village where our car was parked).

LUCKILY, the Pizza Shop was still open
and being famished we very much enjoyed a large pizza!!
All I can say is...what an amazing and awesome day!

Yes, life is truly an amazing Journey
and sometimes we miss seeing the most amazing things
because we gave up just a little ways from the top of the mountain!

I Loved every moment of our hike,
with it's breathtaking scenery,
and I'm so grateful we kept on hiking
until we made it to the top!!
(rain, the wrong shoes & clothes, low blood sugar and all)
"It's All Good"!!

Sunshine for the Soul...Sunday!

"Every sunset brings the promise
of a new dawn"!

(click on the photo)
Yosemite 2009

I LOVE sunsets and sunrises!
One of the highlights of my day is to be able to see and experience the beautiful colors of the horizon with my sweetheart Tracy!

We were sad when we took this photo because it was going to be our last night in Yosemite. We were driving through the forest and came upon this little clearing where we could see the sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous!

We stopped for a brief moment to enjoy it
before it quickly set and then darkness set in.

Yes, it's sad when each day comes to an end,
but it is such a great feeling to know
each sunset brings a 'new dawn'
and that we will be able to see and experience many more wonderful things tomorrow!

--Cherish Yesterday,
--live and enjoy Today
--and look forward with anticipation
to Tomorrow!

The Trip of a LifeTime!

The past week has been a wonderful one...
we took a road trip to Yosemite and all I can say is:

WOW

WOW
WOW!!

There was stunning beauty and
spectacular scenery everywhere you looked!

We saw FAMILY!!

Breathtaking scenery!

The famous..."El Capitan"!

Gorgeous blue sky and foliage!

Amazing Water Falls!!

Stunning Flowers!

GIANT Sequoias!

Awesome lakes and mountains!

SO, needless to say,
we got home Tuesday night (June 9th) at 11:45 pm...
I had to get up at 5:30 am this morning (June 10th) so I could leave for work at 6:30 am
and SO, there is unpacking that needs to be done,
laundry to do,
a yard that needs tended to from being gone for a week
and that means there is not much time right now for Blogging for a few days.
However, I will be back in the "Blogging mode"
about our trip sometime next week as soon as we are "caught" up on life!

All I can say is:
It was amazing,
I miss Yosemite and
I can't wait to go back there!

Sunshine for the Soul...Sunday!

"Each moment of the year has its own beauty...
a picture which was never before
and shall never be seen again".

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

(click on the photo)
Leigh Lake 2007

I LOVE this photo!
Initially, when you look at it, you don't see the pine tree on the right that is overhanging the water, but then you look at the reflection in the water and you see it perfectly!
Isn't that how life is...
when we truly take time to pause and take in the moment we see things we didn't realize were there.

Life sometimes gets so busy that it is easy to overlook the beauty that surrounds us and I know that I have said to myself on many an occasion..."that will still be there tomorrow and I can enjoy it then".
The older I get the more I take time to "pause" for a moment and savor the beauty that surrounds me, because things are ever changing and like this quote says...
"each moment is a picture that was never before and shall never be seen again"

I am SO grateful to have a sweetheart that makes sure we take time everyday to "savor the moment".
It is the highlight of my day to be outside with my sweetie, walking hand in hand in this beautiful area that we live and enjoying what each season and time of the day has to offer!
Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can ENJOY today!!

Summertime brings LOTS of GREEN!

Oh the yummy things that summertime brings to our house...
LOTS of
Green Smoothies
and LOTS of yummy
Green Salads in many varieties!!

First off, I LOVE our Vita Mix...
it was quite an investment initially, but it has been worth EVERY penny.
You see since Tracy and I were first married we have always enjoyed making LOTS of fruit/yogurt smoothies and in 19 years of marriage we have gone through blender after blender and eventually we came to call our fruit drinks "Roughies", because they were pretty chunky and definitely NOT smooth!
(I even invested in a "Kitchen-Aid blender" which wasn't cheap, because I loved my Kitchen-Aid mixer so much, but even this great blender couldn't make very good smoothies).
The past 5 years of having our Vita Mix have been awesome!

(BTW...If you ever go to Jamba Juice and get smoothies, they use the Vita Mix blenders to make their smoothies--the power of a Vita Mix makes all the difference!).

Anyway, not to ramble on about that, but we are LOVING summertime because summertime means SMOOTHIES!!


We had a lady tell us about a Refreshing Summertime Drink a few years ago and it is made with Green Grapes, Celery, Lemon, Ice and Honey.

(I know what you are saying...that sounds like the most odd arrangement of ingredients for a smoothie...how could that taste good.)

We tried it and we LOVED it and so we go through
pounds and pounds of green grapes and celery,
many lemons and honey
this time of year to make this particular smoothie...
it is our Favorite!
(We have had a Green Smoothie every day for the past week and a half. My kids are thrilled everyday when we make these up!)

GREEN Smoothies!
1 large bunch of green grapes (pulled off the stems)
1 large stalk of celery
1/2 inch slice of lemon (including the skin)
1 heaping Tbsp of honey
2 cups of ice
Put all ingredients in Vita Mix and turn to high for 30-40 seconds until all blended and smooth. Enjoy!!

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Here is another summertime favorite...
Broccoli Salad!
Since I try to be a "health conscious" mom I have taken the original recipe and cut down the bacon by half to save on fat/calories and it still tastes just as great!

This is a yummy thing to throw in your cooler to take on a summer picnic, OR, it is delicious by itself...add some homemade rolls and you have a complete meal!

Broccoli Salad
½ pkg. of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
2 large bunches of broccoli
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 cups grapes cut in half

Cook and crumble bacon.
Chop broccoli into small pieces.
Add bacon, chopped onion and grapes.

(Sauce)
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sugar
3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
Pour Sauce over salad and mix. Best if refrigerated overnight!

Enjoy!

Helpful Tip for Pineapple!

Yummy, Sweet, Juicy Pineapple...

I LOVE Spring and Summer because of all of the yummy FRESH fruit that is available to us. Right now there are great prices going on with Pineapples.
$2.88 per Pineapple.

There is nothing yummier than fresh pineapple, however,
I used to not buy fresh Pineapples very often
because I didn't think our little family of four
could eat it before it went bad...
that is until I figured out to
FREEZE it to enjoy in smoothies later
all through the summer!

And so, every spring/summer I buy quite a few pineapples,
Cut off the outer skin
Cut it into slices
and then Cut each slice into small chunks.
I then
put it into "snack size" bags
to pull out to add YUMMY flavor to summertime smoothies!!
**************
(Pineapple is my favorite addition to all of our smoothies!)

BTW...the "middle" part of the pineapple (the core) that most people throw away is not bad for you...it is just more tough and not that pleasant to eat, but it is great cut up and added in with the pineapple to the smoothies, so the only thing that goes to waste is the outer skin, however; our chickens enjoy this...so nothing goes to waste!

Looking forward to
MANY fresh fruit and yogurt smoothies this summer!

School Ends...Summer Begins!

"It's summertime,
summertime,

sum-sum-summertime..."

Get out your sandals and flip-flops...
School is officially out...Summer vacation has begun
and boy have we had an enjoyable week at our house!

(this is a favorite photo of mine...
it is Tracy's and my feet in our Chaco Sandals...we took this photo because our feet were VERY dirty after a LONG summer trip, but that is another post altogether).

(Our "Prairie Fire Crab Apple" Trees)
Some more gorgeous photos of the last of our blossoming trees! It was wonderful while it lasted, but the last of the blossoms are falling off and we have to wait another year to experience that again!

(Our "Madonna" Crab Tree)

We have had "Humming-bird moths"
flying all around enjoying the nectar of our flowers!

Bleeding hearts...
one of my favorite plants in our yard!

Jade at his last track meet...
Here are his stats for the last track meet of the season...
this was a Conference that included 5 local schools (in fact, one run they had 67 runners and they had to split them up into 3 heats because they kept on having kids get trampled)
1600 Meter Run---7:46
800 Meter Run---3:40
He did AWESOME and he improved his time every race! I am SO proud of him for having so much dedication and determination! I was quite "hoarse" through the track season as I was YELLING and cheering Jade on the whole time...Jade is usually one of the last runners to cross the finish line and I am always amazed as he has more people cheering for him than most of the winners! It touches my heart as a mom to have such a support system for Jade. It has brought tears to my eyes on many an occasion!

TRADITION!!
We made caramel apples
for the kids teachers to give them on the last day of school! It is something we have done every year since the kids have been going to school.
(We also got to enjoy some caramel apples ourselves as a treat for working hard in our yard and garden)

This is what they looked like all wrapped up!

May 29th, 2009...
my handsome boys on the last day of school!!
I LOVED being able to send my kids off to school on the last day and helping with Ethan's Field Day and after school got out I took them to lunch at "Craigo's" Pizza.
It was a wonderful day and I definitely treasured it!
The last day of school is definitely a bitter-sweet thing for me and I get "teary-eyed" because it is hard to say good-bye to the teachers and friends of my kids!

YEA!! We got our garden all planted!!
We have added on to our garden this year. It used to just be the 3 raised beds in front, but we are in the process of putting landscape timbers s around the large section and this is where we plant a variety of different kinds of Squash, Red Potatoes, Beets, Carrots, Corn, Beans and Tomatoes. The "horizontal" raised bed is where our Strawberries are and my the two vertical raised beds are where I plant Spinach, Swiss Chard, Salad Greens, Radishes, and more Beets and Carrots.
Crossing our fingers that the garden grows well this year!!

BTW...our back yard is definitely a WORK in Progress as you can tell. LOTS of work to be done to get it landscaped and looking nice!

YES, anyone who LOVES "Idaho Spud" candy bars
enjoys this time of the year VERY well, because they go on sale for .25 each and we always buy a case of 120 of them to enjoy all through the year!! (except, with the economy they were .28 this year instead of the usual .25--but that is still a great price!).
BTW...if you don't think you like Idaho Spud bars you really need to give them a second try...
Tracy and I fell in love with these a few years ago...the consistency of the center filling with the dark chocolate and coconut makes them a very yummy treat! I can't imagine anyone not liking them.
As Dr. Seuss says...
"Try them you will like them you see"!

Summer is my FAVORITE time of the year because I get to spend every afternoon with my kids and ALL DAY most Wednesdays with them.

My summers are for teaching my kids to work and doing lots of fun things with them! I treasure this time of the year and I am looking forward to
LOTS of "Porch time"...
Talking and Drinking Lemonade and Smoothies,
MANY bike rides,
LOTS of
camping and hiking
Our YEARLY backpacking trips
and MANY
picnics at the park
and also
enjoying time on the lawn/trampoline looking at the stars and moon!!

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Just as my blossoming trees only come around once a year so does all of the summer time I get with my kids only come around once a year.

Savoring every moment of it!!

Sunshine for the Soul...Sunday!

"How easy and simple it is to live enjoyably when the simple, interminable blue of the sky, with its long wisps of white clouds, become a pleasant thing to behold, a thing of beauty that thrills you every time you care to look skyward."

Grand Teton National Park 2006
(click on the photo)

I have always LOVED the sky and the clouds!
In fact, on many a "love note" that Tracy has written me he has commented that his wife is always saying "Look at how gorgeous the sky looks"!

As we are hiking I like to snap photos of the ever changing clouds with the blue sky shining through. I find as much beauty and uniqueness with the sky and clouds as I do looking at trees, flowers and landscape!!

Yes, everytime I look "skyward" it is truly a pleasant and beautiful sight to behold!
I have been looking skyward
very much this week as I have been out enjoying more blossoming trees in my yard and the gorgeous sky and clouds that seem to appear throughout the day!
*************
Every season AND every day
of our lives there is truly something beautiful to see and enjoy...if only we take the TIME to notice it!!

Blossoms, Bees and Snow!

What an absolutely GORGEOUS week we have had!
The bees have been enjoying all of the blossoms on our trees!
(Especially our "Spring Snow" Crab Tree by our front porch)

Since this only happens once a year and only lasts for about 5 days, I have been savoring the beauty of my yard with my family after work/school each day and so my house is a mess and I haven’t been on the computer at all.

The gorgeous fragrant smells going on in my yard are something I wish I could capture in a bottle.
There is nothing that smells better than blossoming trees!

First we got blossoms

Then we got bees

Our tree has been covered by 100's of BEES that the tree has been literally alive with BEES and all you can hear is "buzzing"! It is amazing that you can stand in the middle of the blossoms with BEES buzzing all around and not get stung!

Then sadly, the blossoms started falling and it snowed!

So, this is where I have been this past week....on my porch, OR, working in my yard, OR, playing with my kids outside enjoying the "Magic" that is going on right now because we won't get to enjoy it again until next year!!

(the blossoming stages
of our favorite tree!)

WOW!! It amazes me every time this tree blooms that the blossoms are SO fragrant and look like REAL flowers!
More gorgeous blossoms!!
And even more blossoms!
The view from my porch!

The view when I open my front door!
(my Ethan, running up the driveway after school)
The last 2 days before the blossoms began falling!

The view from the end of our path!

Our tree in full bloom!!
(Love that bright blue sky!)

SO, if I don't do much posting this week it is because I am enjoying other "magic" that is going on in my yard right now AND it's the last week of school for my kids and so I am enjoying spending time doing activities with them!!
Be back shortly!
Have a Beautiful, Happy Day!!

Sunshine for the Soul...Sunday!

"Nature is the art of God"!

Ralph Waldo Emerson

(click on the photo...it's gorgeous)

This is actually 2 different photos from 2 different hiking trips we have taken in Grand Teton National Park. I LOVE the "winding" trails, wild flowers, blue sky, clouds, mountains, big rocks and the "crooked" trees! Every bit of it is truly Heavenly and very much a sight to behold.
YES, Nature truly is the art of God!
It's amazing to head to the mountains to see the beauty that is there that wasn't "landscaped" by man...it is just how it grows all on it's own!
Try as I might to replicate something like that in my own yard, I can never even come close to making that kind of beauty!

Very soon our backpacking days will be here again and I can't wait until we are on one of those trails, taking in that gorgeous beauty;
"The art of God" once again!!