Brad and Deborah

Fun in the snow

2011-11-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

We had no choice but to enjoy the snowfall we got this week. We brought out the snowmobile and played on the trampoline with our unexpected guests (Steve, Sophie and Ella). I also enlisted their help to prepare for our Thanksgiving feast.

Orlando

2011-10-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Brad and I got to spend a few days in Orlando last week. We had a great time. Some of the highlights were:

Going on a "swamp tour" on an air boat. We saw beautiful scenery, lots of birds and some alligators.

Going to Cocoa Beach, (the beach and the city) where the famous Ron Jon's Surf Shop is and then traveling south on the eastern peninsula of Florida almost to Miami.

Going to Animal Kingdom and EPCOT at Disney World.

Attending a session at the beautiful Orlando Temple.

Harvest Time

2011-10-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

I love fall and harvest time!

Despite the lack of time to spend in the garden this summer we still got a bounteous harvest. Here is some of the yummy food we will be feasting on this winter:

Beautiful light colored applesauce made from the transparent apples.

Relish made from cucumbers, peppers and onions.

Dill pickles with fresh dill from Brad's herb garden.

Lots of cucumbers this year.

Beautiful red tomatoes that I turned into catsup, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, and diced tomatoes.

Peaches from Utah and Pears from Boise area

Bell peppers and "hot" peppers

Beautiful and tasty apples.

A Summer Full of Family and Fun

2011-10-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

We had a summer packed with activities and fun. Here are a few pictures that were taken:

We hiked Fossill Butte with Justin's family.

The Scott reunion

Swimming with Jana's kids

New baby Mary at the hospital meeting her siblings.

Swimming at Lava Hot Springs with Kambri and the Reed family at their reunion.

Picture taking at the park with Jana's family

The birth of baby Anna and visiting Kirsten.

Playing with Cohen

Taking care of little Anna

Playing with Jonas

Playing with Mary

Duck Duck Goose on the trampoline

Swimming with Kambri and Cohen

Going fishing with Ella and Sophie.

The Sun'll come out TOMORROW!

2011-06-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Pocatello Community Theater performed ANNIE last week. I got to go with Kambri, Kiera and Krystle and then again with Sophi, Ella, and David. I absolutely loved it.

How Does the Garden Grow?

2011-05-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

I love Spring! I think I love Spring the most because I can grow things; yummy things and beautiful things.I am always amazed at the miracle of each little seed that I put in the dirt. They just need a little moisture and warmth and they grow into a glorious plant; something that we can feast our eyes or our tummies on! Even though we have had a cold wet Spring with temperatures between 30 - 50 degrees we have a few things growing. Following is a report of what is growing and pictures of the new green house we got up this weekend.

Tomatoes, peppers and basil among other treats growing in the greenhouse:

The herb garden is growing up nicely with the oregano, chives, mint and horse radish trying to take over all the space:

The hydropronic strawberries are doing well

I was afraid that my "prized" bamboos had died from our harsh winter this year, but as you can see there are some little sprouts shooting up out of the ground!

Apple blossoms

Pie cherry blossoms

Raspberries

The lilacs are almost to burst into their aromatic greatness

Peas, not tall enough to attach to the fence yet

Blossoms on the strawberries:

The rhubarb plant is a giant rhubarb bush, as tall as the fence

Little green shoots in the Aspargus patch

Corn, about an inch tall, just barely peeking up out of the cold ground:

The giant pumpkin plants that are trying to stay warm in the wall-of-water:

The plum tree is loaded with blossoms

Flowering cherry bush

Bleeding hearts that have grown to a 4 feet tall bush.

Beautiful Spring Tulips

The bleeding heart- up close.

Boise Visit

2011-05-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Brad and I enjoyed a weekend in Boise. Brad attended a meeting on Friday and we spent the rest of our time playing with Kambri and Cohen, going to Isabelle, Payton, and Dillon's soccer games and to Isabelle's dance recital.

A Tribute to the Mothers in My Life

2011-05-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

I have been been so blessed to have great mothers in my life:
My dear sweet mother who has been such a support and example to me.
My grandmother Schwendiman who spent her 100 plus years taking care of her family.
The mothers of my grandchildren who are doing such a great job in taking care of them and allowing me to be a part of their lives.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter weekend. I am so grateful for our Savior and the sacrifice he made for us. Celebrating Easter helps me remember to live in a way my Heavenly Father would want me to live and to remember what Jesus Christ did for the world—and for me.

Kiera and Brian's family, Kirsten and Brandon's family and Justin and Becca's family celebrated with us. The weather was nice and sunny with a high of about 55 degrees.We played in the yard, colored eggs, went to an Easter Egg hunt, visited Bear World, and of course the annual Scott Family Easter Picnic. Here are some highlights:

Antique Chair

2011-04-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

I have been storing my grandfather Scott's old chair for about 30 years. It was left in his house after he died and I kind of acquired it. It was being held together with wire and the padding was straw. I left the straw and added some more padding and fixed and painted before I reupholstered it. I think it makes a nice addition to our home and I will think of my sweet grandpa Scott every time I look at it.

General Conference Weekend

2011-04-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

I love General Conference! The music and spoken word are so inspiring. I look forward to being able to watch and read the individual talks again, one at a time, so I can digest them more fully.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

Henry B. Eyring: "The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love."

Boyd K. Packer: "Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil."

Jana and Steve's family joined us for the weekend. We did some of my favorite activities (dancing/marching with ribbons, motor cyle rides to see the baby animals, tea party) Here are some pictures of them:

Payton's Birthday

2011-03-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

Payton celebrated his 5th birthday at our house this week!

We had a great time.

Both sides of his families were there to wish him a Happy Birthday!

A tribute to my Irish ancestors on this St. Patrick’s Day!

2011-03-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

My great-great-great-Grandfather and Grandmother, Jacob and Sarah Warnock Scott, lived in Ireland. No explanation of why they left Ireland was documented, but we do know that life was not easy there. The winters were wet and cold and their summers were cool too. If the temperature reached into the 70’s they thought it was a “heat wave.” They were members of the Presbyterian Church, whose members were being persecuted. It is also believed that they were among the original Celtic families that were stripped of their land by the English Crown. These families were then made to work for the new owners. Many Irish people migrated to Canada and the United States during this time. It is interesting to know that in 1819, when the Scott’s left that there were 8 million people living in Ireland. There are currently 5 million people residing in Ireland. The devastating potato blight that killed 2 million of them by starvation happened in 1845, twenty-six years after their migration.

They moved their family of seven children to Canada, (two children were born there) where they lived for 18 years. This is where they were taught by LDS missionaries and joined the church. They moved from Canada to Far West , and eventually to Nauvoo. Jacob and Sarah are buried in the Nauvoo cemetery. Their son, John, who is my great-great Grandfather, became very close to Joseph Smith and was an his assistant and body guard. John and his family ended up in Salt Lake City, migrating there with the Saints.

I am so grateful for my ancestors, for the sacrifices they made and for their faithfulness in the church.

John Scott and his wife Elizabeth Meneary (who was also born in Ireland)

Sophia's Baptism

2011-03-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

We got to attend Sophia's baptism last Saturday. It was a wonderful and beautiful event.

New Bamboo wood floor

2011-03-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

My love of bamboo has spread to the kitchen and dining room.

Jared's trip to Hawaii

2011-03-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Brought him more than just great surfing, shopping, and fun in the sun!

Christmas Photos...Finally

2011-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

We were so lucky to be able to spend Christmas morning with two families this year: Jason and Pam's and Kiera and Brian's. "Grand kids make life GRAND."

Fun in the Snow

2011-01-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

Snowmobiling, making snowmen, sledding , snowball fights and eating snowcones.

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

The snow and frost has been especially beautiful this week!

Our Visit to Hawaii

2010-11-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

Brad took a beautiful picture of the sunset at Sunset Beach.

Ocean waves

John and I walking on the beach looking for treasures.

The sun rising over the Pacific.

John outside of the Kahuku Grill where he works as a cook and a busboy,

Having a beach picnic of fresh shrimp and rice.

The native performers at the Polynesian Culture Center.

John's mode of transportation while in Hawaii.

A munk seal catching some sun.

Brad concentrating hard while catching the wave.

Julie snorkeling

Beautiful sea urchins that we tried to avoid getting too close to.

Proof that you can try new things even when you are over 50.

Deb snorkeling.

One of many of the fish we saw up close.

Enjoying a yummy snow cone after a day at the beach. (We ate snow that day and shoveled snow the next)

Brad, Deb, John, Julie and Zach in front of the Laie Temple after the rededication.

Julie and Zach and Deb snorkeling.

Zach's prized catch: a unicorn fish.

Thanksgiving dinner at Julie and Zach's patio.

A statue at the PCC

Loading up Julie and Zach's Land Rover after surfing.

John after surfing.

Zach, Julie and John

It was so good to see Julie, Zach and John in Hawaii. We loved spending time with them and experiencing how they live in "paradise."
They put their studies and work at a minimum and really showed us a good time:
Snorkeling at Shark's cove where we saw hundreds of fish, all different kinds and colors and shapes. Also a Munk Seal was lying lazily on the beach. There were sea urchins everywhere amongst the reefs. We also went to another beach where they went spear fishing while they were snorkeling. Zach speared a unicorn fish and they cooked it up for dinner after we left.
Turtle spotting. We saw them in the water several times but Brad got to see one up close and swam with it. He got a great picture of it.
Surfing at Castle Beach, where the beginners learn, and believe me Brad and I are definitely beginners. It was great fun to catch a wave even though I stayed down on my belly. Brad at least got up on his knees. I now see why they love surfing so much. We also got to watch part of an International Surf competition on the North Shore. Those guys are amazing!
Cliff jumping. Everyone but me took the plunge off the rock cliff into the ocean.
The Polynesian Culture Center. Julie and Zach live right across the street from it and walk through it to go to classes. We visited the villages and went to the night performance.
Eating... fresh shrimp from the shrimp farms, breakfast at the Hukilau cafe where 50 First Dates was filmed, Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, potatoes (brought from home), and gravy, blue Hawaiian sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie. and the famous snow cones up on the North Shore.
Laie Temple Cultural Celebration and rededication. We timed our trip really well to be able to witness this special event. The Laie Temple and grounds are so beautiful. John lives right next to it.
Beauty. There is a unique beauty in Oahu. The plants and trees are so lush and green. There are flowers everywhere, in the trees, in the bushes, on the plants. They fall off those and then the roads and sidewalks are lined with them too. The air often smells like flowers. I especially loved the Banyon Trees and the bamboo. The sunrises and sunsets are so beautiful when witnessed at the ocean, we could hardly take it all in.

It was hard to leave the tropical paradise of Hawaii but mostly it was hard to leave the kids there so far away from home.

This is what we came home to...a record breaking storm that closed schools, the university, the mall, the temple. We had to dig our car out of the snow drift to get home.

WINTER in Rexburg!

2010-11-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Record breaking snow for November: 6.5 inches of snow. The all-time daily record for November is 6 inches, set on November 26, 1975.

Grandkid's Halloween Costumes

2010-11-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to see the grandkid's Halloween pictures all on one page. (I am missing Jason's kids but hope to get them soon.)

Photos

2010-10-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

We finally got Lorna's Wedding photos. Brad has posted them on our Photoshop site. View them and others by going to: www.reedfmly.photoshop.com

Las Vegas Weekend

2010-10-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Brad had a class in Las Vegas this week. We got to go a few days early and spend the weekend with Kirsten, Brandon and Jonas. Brandon competed in a triathalon on Saturday and did a great job. He beat his previous time by about 15 minutes.

We then went to the Hoover Dam and drove and walked across the newly opened bridge that was built up from the bridge so the traffic now doesn't have to cross the dam. Pictures just can't do justice to the size of this bridge! It is 900 feet high, and 1900 feet long and 88 feet wide! We got an amazing view of the Hoover Dam from the bridge.

Jonas loves to slide and climb.

Kirsten, Jonas, Brad and I went for a brisk walk at the Wetlands Park for some exersize. They had some fun things for Jonas to climb on.

Here is a picture of Sunrise Mountain that is prominently seen in Las Vegas. The temple is built at the foot of the mountain. Brad got an awesome shot of it as the sun was setting.

Pressing Apples

2010-10-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

You may remember that I got Brad a apple press kit for his birthday (instead of an Apple I-pad that he wanted). Grandpa Reed has been building the apple press this summer and just got it completed. We tried it out this week. First we picked the apples from his trees and ground them with a special grinder that we bought and then pressed them. The juice is delicious!
We got 3 gallons out of a bushel of apples.

Kemmerer, Wyoming

2010-10-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Brad, Jared and I enjoyed a trip to Justin and Becca's home in Kemmerer, Wyoming this weekend. The fall colors were beautiful especially along the Palisade Reservoir.

Jana's family made the 2 hour trip from South Jordan to join us. The cousin's had a great time playing together. They did a Halloween craft and played at the park in town. We also went shopping at the very first JC Penney store ever.

I should of got more pictures of Justin and Becca's new home. It is beautiful and roomy. They have done a lot of work on it, taking off wall paper, painting, new windows, and putting in new flooring etc.

By the looks of their storage basement they have also been very busy preserving food for the winter. We loved spending time with Justin's family and Jana's family too.

Harvest Time

2010-10-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Even though our Rexburg growing season was much shorter than normal, we still enjoyed a bounteous harvest. Tomatoes, beets, beans, cabbage, carrots, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberries, strawberries, apples etc. are all harvested and either frozen, bottled, dried or stored for our enjoyment.

The Rexburg Temple

2010-10-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful opportunity I have to play the organ in the Rexburg Temple. It is my turn every Tuesday evening for one hour. That hour is like Heaven to me, playing beautiful hymns in the House of the Lord.

(Brad took this picture on a beautiful stormy evening)

Arg! Home Repairs

2010-10-15T09:56:00.001-07:00

This has definitely been our month of home repairs. First we discovered that the frig was leaking when the ceiling in the family room was dripping on Krystle. We had to replace the water hose to the ice and water.

Next, I thought it would be an easy fix to repair the toilet downstairs. I was just going to replace the shims that I put under it a few years ago to help make it level since the cement floor isn't level. Not a simple fix. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong! The inside of the toilet had to be replaced, the seat was broken, the bracket was rusted and broken, the tank leaked, the bolts were rusted so we couldn't get them out....After several trips to the plumbing supply store and many nights working on it, I ended up breaking the whole toilet and had to buy a new one which I installed carefully with shims to make it level!

Next, the kitchen sink was clogged. We used the "snake" several times down about 20 feet and Liquid Plumber to no avail. In the meantime, the bracket that hooked to the drain was corroded and had to be replaced. I finally called the plumber who said, "If the snake didn't work for you, we can't fix it either." I had to call Roto Rooter, who came in with their BIG snake. They had to go down 45 feet and cleared the clog and charged $125 to do it! It works now and I am grateful for indoor plumbing that works!

October 2010 Conference

2010-10-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

I loved conference this October. I spend my Sunday's listening to the talks over and over again. What inspiring and timely instruction for the turbulent world that we live in.

My favorite talk was President Monson's on Gratitute:

"A grateful heart . . . comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. My sincere, heartfelt prayer is that we may in our individual lives reflect that marvelous virtue of gratitude. May it permeate our very souls, now and evermore."

This talk was very strong and to the point. When I listened to it the first time I thought, "there is no question what virtue our prophet is advising us to work on." When I read the talk again I counted...he used the words grateful and gratitude 37 times!

We will not soon forget President Packer's talk and his story about the elementary student who thought they could just vote to decide if a kitten was a girl or a boy.

Another favorite:

President Uchtdorf - "We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman."

Jana's family

2010-10-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Jana's family joined us for conference weekend. Here is a family picture of them that we took: Ella, Steve, Brigham, Sophia, David, and little Josette. Also a picture of Josette who is so cute she could seriously be on ads for baby products.

McCall Idaho

2010-10-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

We took a weekend break on Labor day and spent it with Jason and Pam and family. We stayed at their beautiful cabin in McCall. We enjoyed the Payette Lake while boating and jet skiing and just playing in the white sand.

We also spend Sunday after church walking along the shore in McCall.

It was exciting to see a deer come within feet of the big picture window of the cabin.

Last is a picture of the handsome family, Jason, Pam, Dillon, Payton, and Isabelle.

Trinidad California

2010-10-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this picture that Brad took in Trinidad. It is where we stayed in northern California, which is a sleepy little coastal town with fishing boats galore and a really good seafood restaurant

Redwood Forest

2010-10-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Redwood Forests have become one of my favorite places to visit in the whole world! They were spectacular in their size and beauty. One author describes the place as "Hush Lush." I felt the same way as we walked many trails through these giants. The large trees and thick undergrowth filtered out any outside noise. It was like we were in a whole different and sacred world. These trees are called ancient giants because some of them are over 1600 years old and many are over 370 feet tall. That is two feet taller than Niagara Falls and the same as a 30 story building. Many trees were over 17 feet in diameter, 52 feet in circumference and weigh well over 1,000,000 pounds. Of course, I couldn't leave until we found the tree that we could drive through.

I now can see why Jason spent most of is P-days while on his mission in that area "visiting the giants."

Sacramento Reception

2010-10-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Sacramento California on September 18 to attend Lorna and Ben's reception in his home town. It was a great party featuring a feast of Chinese food and entertainment from a string quartet. The reception was very well attended. The couple and their parents all wore traditional Chinese clothing. We haven't received the pictures from the photographer yet, but we will be sure to share them when we do.

Lorna and Ben's Wedding

2010-10-14T13:51:00.001-07:00

Lorna and Ben Bryce were married in the Rexburg Temple on August 28. It was a wonderful ceremony. A brunch was hosted by Ben's parents after the ceremony and the reception was held in our back yard that evening. The rain stopped just in the nick of time for us to set up. It was a beautiful evening. We had teal and yellow pom poms and Chinese lanterns hanging from wires overhead and nice table centerpieces that the girls made to add to the decor. We served home made cupcakes and vegetables/fruits and popsicles (Lorna's favorite). Lorna will post the pictures on her face book as soon as we get them. You can also keep up with Lorna and Ben on their blog: http://thelivesoflornaandbenjaminbryce.blogspot.com/

New Teeter Totter

2010-10-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition to our playground equipment in the backyard...it is a teeter totter!

Brad and I made it from a kit and it has had plenty of usage already this summer. It is very heavy duty as you can see here...me, Madeline, Charlotte, Cohen and Kambri on one side and Justin and Abigail on the other! (those are Brad's shoes as he is lying on the grass to take the picture)

Visiting John in Wyoming

2010-10-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

John worked at the Absaroka Mountain Lodge for 4 months this summer. It was located 12 miles east of the northeast entrance of Yellowstone Park. The closest town was Cody, Wyoming, 40 miles away. He stayed there for the summer and worked at cleaning cabins, serving at the restaurant, tending the fire at the nightly campfires, cooked meals on the trail rides and helped some with the horses.
Brad and I spent a weekend there in July. The lodge and rustic cabins were nestled in a beautiful canyon with sharp, rocky mountain peaks all around in interesting shapes.
Yes, I did ride a horse…first time in about 30 years. And YES, I was scared to death on the entire trail ride. I much prefer a ride with two wheels and one that I have control of.
We had a great time, did some fishing, played miniature golf, went to Cody and toured the Buffalo Bill Museum which was amazing and huge especially for a small western town like Cody. We also attended the famous Cody Rodeo which runs nightly for 90 consecutive nights every summer!

Julie's Wedding

2010-10-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Julie and Zach were married on June 29 at a beautiful ceremony in the Salt Lake City Temple. A Wedding Celebration was held in our backyard, the night before where we ate crab, shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob, and red potatoes. (Thanks to Brad's amazing cooking) We listened to jazz music and visited with dear family and friends who came to celebrate with us. The decor was unique with colorful fabrics, India wedding tents, pillows, rugs and low-style seating with trays of hors d'oeuvres consisting of bagettes, cheese, and grapes scattered throughout. The highlight of the evening was the release of hundreds of butterflies provided by Zach's mother who raises them. You can see lots of pictures of the event by going to Julie's face book page. You can also keep track of them as they live and go to school in Laie Hawaii by going to their blog page: http://animateappetites.blogspot.com/

Update

2009-08-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to post in here over the past couple of weeks or more. We have been busy. Two weeks ago we went to Glacier National Park and to Canada to the Hawke Family Reunion in Jaffray, BC. This past week we were hosting a wonderful couple from Germany. They left at 1:30 this morning and I am finally getting a chance to write in here. We had a good time up in the Park and Canada. There were a lot of things that we did. The dance festival went very well and we all had a good time. Lorna was a dance teacher for the German team to help them learn the opener and closer. The team was from northern Germany close to the Baltic Sea.

I am doing something different for the pictures. I have a web site where I can post pictures now and I am setting up albums to post the different pictures from our trips and events. Keep checking back for additional pictures and new albums. I am trying to put the best of the best pictures in those albums. I am starting out with pictures of the grandchildren. I am trying to get pictures from all of them but I am trying to add the best and right now. It is not even between the grandkids as you can see, so don't be hurt or upset if your child doesn't have as many as others. It is a work in progress and I will be continually adding and deleting pictures as I go through the over 20,000 pictures we have in our photoshop. I will also be adding albums for events such as the dance festival, the trip to Glacier, Canada, New York and so forth. So keep on watching as I try to put the very best of our pictures on the web site. If you want to critique the pictures let me know for better or worse. I want feedback.

I will try to keep you up to date in the blog but will probably not post any more pictures.

In case you were wondering I had a really good day in a water park taking pictures of David Dalby. I thought they turned out pretty good. That is why there are so many of him in there right now.

The link is in the blog but in case you want it it is - reedfmly.photoshop.com.

The Deck is Finally Finished

2009-07-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

We finally finished the railing on the deck making it officially complete. There may be a couple of things that need to be done with it but we will see. We also put on a storm door on our bedroom so we can have it open in the evenings. It think it will also add some light. Deborah (aka the Energizer Bunny) helped with most of the work in between all of her other yard projects during the day. Next on our list is to build a patio with pavers out in that corner. After that I want to plant a herb garden there and make it look nice.

The other night we had some really pretty colors in the sky so I took some pictures. I have include a few of my picture here. I hope everyone is doing well. I still need to get Washington DC picture in here. When I have a free night I will do that. I also need to get some pictures of our newly rearranged basement with the new furniture and television. It looks pretty nice now.

New York, New York - 3

2009-06-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Continued from below.

New York, New York - 2

2009-06-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is continued from below.

New York, New York

2009-06-28T21:26:00.001-07:00

New York, New York the city so nice they named it twice as David Letterman says. Here are a few pictures of New York. They will follow after my narative. I had nearly 1,000 pictures of New York before I started to weed them out and I still have too many. I do not have everything we visited but this is what we did. Thursay we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. Friday we went to the Statue of Libert, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Grand Central Station, Museum of Modern Art, Rockefellar Center, Times Square and Wicked. Saturday Staten Island Ferry, Empire State Building, Yankees and Mets game, China Town, Little Italy and Times Square at Midnight. Sunday we went to the American Museum of Natural History, Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Temple in Manhatten. We also saw a lot in between. My next blog will hopefully cover Washington DC. Enjoy.

Home at Last

2009-06-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

Deborah figures it has been about six weeks since we had a week-end to ourselves. We took advantage of it and worked on the deck. Deborah and Lorna helped (probably did most of the work) and by about 9:30 pm we got most of the deck done. We just have the railing to do then we have it done. It is nice to go out our bedroom door now.

We also made a few changes in our home. We added a love seat to our bedroom. I am not sure how long it will last. We also sold the couch down stairs and bought a new leather couch to take its place. We also took my chair down stairs to be with the couch.

I am still working on the pictures of New York and Washington DC.

Reed Family Reunion

2009-06-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend of June 5-7 we had a Reed Family reunion up in Island Park at Deborah's parents cabin. Although it rained most of the time we all had a good time. Nearly everyone was there, we missed Krystle, Connie and Ryan.

Friday evening we went for a walk and took the go-cart, scooter and motorcycles. It was about the only time we had no rain and everyone had a good time.

Saturday it rained on and off all day long. In the morning we had a cross-word puzzle contest, females against males. I am not sure who won that one. Later in the morning a group of us went into West Yellowstone - some opted to go into the Park, while the boys stayed back and swam. Later in the afternoon several of us canoed down the river from Big Springs to Macks Inn. It rained off and on the whole trip and rained constantly the last 20-30 minute. Needless to say we got pretty drenched during that canoe ride.

Sunday morning we woke up to snow - snow in June. Some went to church and everyone left for home that day. It was a good time together and we all enjoyed it.

We also had Kirsten and Jonas stay with us for a week which was fun for all.

Next post will be from our trip to New York City and Washington DC. I know some of youn want to see picture but it will be hard to go through over 1,000 pictures to get down to just a few. I hope to get that done in the next few days.

Salt Lake City

2009-05-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

On Memorial weekend Sunday afternoon Deborah and I went to Salt Lake City to visit Sophia, Ella, David and Brigham - and Jana and Steve too. On Monday we went to the "This is the Place" monument state park. It is fixed up with old buildings from throughout Utah.

There was a petting zoo and the kids got to ride horses.

We also toured one of Brigham Young's homes.

I had to stay and do a peer review on Tuesday and Wednesday. Deborah stayed until Tuesday and took the shuttle home.

On Saturday we stayed home and did not have any visitors for the first time in a while. I went and helped the Chamber move for a couple of hours and Deborah did her magic around the yard. After I got back I, with a lot of help from Deborah formed and poured the concrete for the stair landing of the deck. I also got one of the railing posts bolted into place.

Family in Malad

2009-05-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend holiday I went with my Father down to Malad to visit the cemetaries around and decorate graves.

We went to St. John's, Malad and Cherry Creek Cemetaries. My Grandmother and Great Grandparents are buried in Malad.

I have a few snap shots of my mother's family.

After decorating graves we had dinner at the Dude Ranch then came home. Deborah went to Henry's Lake to fish with her parents while I was in Malad. She said she caught a bunch of big fish but there are no pictures of the fish to prove her fish stories.

Kemmerer and Progress

2009-05-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

We haven't been to visit Abbigail, Madaline and Charlotte since last October so this week we decided to make a trip to Kemmerer, Wyoming. We headed out Friday afternoon for Kemmerer and got there about 7 oclock. That evening we walked down town and had dinner at Bootleggers. It was a nice evening.

On Saturday we went to Diamondville for a "yard sale" at the park there where there were lots and lots of playground equipment where the kids played and I took pictures.

After that we went to lunch and then Madaline and Charlotte took naps while Justin, Deborah, Abbigail and I went to a pond and fished. I didn't do much fishing, rather I took a lot of pictures. They caught som fish and we came home.

About 5 oclock pm we headed home.

On Sunday evening we went to Lorna's graduations. It was nice.

Monday was nice warm weather so after work Deborah made progress with her garden and I made some progress with Deborah's help with the deck.

Grandkids and Boise

2009-05-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I had meetings in Boise so we took off on Thursday for Boise. Grandpa Reed got to go with us to visit Darla and Travis.

I wasn't feeling well at first so Deborah drove. Toward the end I was feeling a little better so I took some pictures on our way over.

The first night we stayed with Kambri, Kiera and Brian. Friday morning on my way to my meetings I took Kambri and Deborah to spend the day with Pam, Isabelle and Payton.

All they did was play all day. The went to the park and had lunch. They then went home and watched a movie.

Later that evening I went to the new Star Trek movie with Nathan, Kiera and Brian. Deborah took Kambri and went to Dillon's Soccor game. We stayed the second night at Jason and Pams.

Saturdy morning I went to JB's to have breakfast with Darla, Travis and family. Kambri was there and was the center of attraction.

We left at about noon to head back to help Lorna and John get ready for the dance. (At least Deborah did.)

It was a fun weekend.

Grafting and a Couple of Holes

2009-05-03T11:19:00.001-07:00

It is Sunday after Stake Conference which was really good. I decided to update our blog again. No, I am not going bore you with this daily but I want to get in the habit of keeping it up.

For months Deborah has been studying about grafting limbs into other trees. She has been doing this since last fall. We have this crabapple tree in our back yard. It is a beautiful tree in the fall as you can see by the picture but the apples taste terrible. She has always loved the strawberry crabapples that have grown on her mother's tree when she was growing up. Deborah decided that she would graft some twigs from that crabapple to our crabapple tree. Kind of like the story in Jacob of the Book of Mormon.

Saturday, Deborah decided that that was the day to do this. We started out by going to Deborah's parents where Deborah started cutting off new starts from the branches of the strawberry crab.

We then took the branches home and Deborah went to work on our crabapple tree. She started the major surgery by cutting off the limbs of the tree where we were grafting the new twigs to.

She then cut a slit in the end of the stub and inserted two of the twigs into the slit and then covered it with a tree paste that is supposed to help in the healing.

You can see the progress in the pictures and the final is the after shot of our now new strawberry crabapple tree. Compare it with the initial picture and there is a big change.

I wasn't near as industrious as Deborah. I did get the ledger board for our deck attached to the house and the two holes dug for the foundations of the posts to our deck. Friday I unloaded the wood for the deck out of the pickup and stacked in back to where the deck will be. Remember the deck is only 6'x6' so it is not very large. We are going to have some pavers by the deck to be a patio in our herb garden.

Home without grandchildren

2009-05-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

We are now going on two weekends without grandchildren. I think Deborah is going through withdrawals. We will get a big fix next weekend when we go to Boise and get to visit both the Stites and the Hawkes with lots of grand children to visit.

Deborah has been busy working in the yard. She really loves keeping things nice.

I have a new project. (I do better with projects than just "yard work".) I am building a new deck with Deborah's help. She is the master carpenter of the family. I have included a before picture and hope to show our progress as it goes along. I am hoping that it is not an all summer project and that it gets completed in a couple of weeks. It is only a little deck of 6'X6'. I am also planning on putting in an herb garden to go along with Deborah's hydrophonic strawberries. Deborah put in another 4 towers this spring. This is the before picture.

I also spent a little time photographing Deborah's flowers in the front of the house. She does a really good job with those flowers.

Kirsten, Brandon and Jonas

2009-05-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Right after Kambri left we got to have Jonas over. He came the Monday after Easter and stayed through the following Monday. He had to bring his parents, Kirsten and Brandon, something about being too young to fly alone on the plane. They came before we went to Arizona and left after we came back.

Jonas is in his tie.

Grandma and Jonas. It was fun and now we are without grandchildren again. We still have children with Lorna, John and Jared living with us, but they are not as fun as grandchildren.

R & R in Arizona

2009-05-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

On April 15th I got to accompany Deborah to Mesa, Arizona, where she had training. This time I got to relax and play all day while Deborah went to class. I tried out some place to eat that were shown on the Food Networks Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins. I tried a Mexican place near where our motel was and then the next day I tried a really good German place across Phoenix in Glendale.

One night we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix which was really interesting.

There was artwork.

There were butterflies.

There were Cacti of course.

And Flowers.

We did a session in the Mesa Temple on Friday.

Saturday we headed north and visited Sedona

and Montizuma's Castle.
It was relaxing and enjoyable at least for me. I think Deborah enjoyed it too.

Scott Family Easter Party

2009-05-01T19:25:00.000-07:00

Kambri, Kiera and Brian went home in the morning of Easter. We were still not done having fun. After church we went to Annis to the Scott Family Easter Party.

There we had dinner and the famous Easter Egg Hunt that Grandma Scott puts together every Easter. We looked for the eggs that eventually led us to the ultimate prize of pop and chips.

We had to look low.

And we had to look high. Everyone had fun.

We finished up with bean bag baseball and everyone visited and enjoyed each others company.

It is about time

2009-05-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted in about a year and a half. I guess it is about time to post again. I am going to attempt this in multiple post.

First we has the enjoyment to have Kiera and Brian visit us on easter weekend. Of course they brought Kambri who is the highlight of the visit.

We took Kambri on the Rexburt Easter egg hunt.

We also played with puppets with Kambri. She is a lot of fun.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-30T09:21:00.000-08:00

We LOVED having everyone home for Thanksgiving. Here is the family picture we had taken while we were altogether.

This Weekend

2007-10-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a couple of events happen. 1. Jana, Steve, Sophia, Ella and David came to visit and 2. Deborah's parents reported on thier mission in church on Sunday and we had the Scott Family Reunion at Doug's place.
It was a good weekend. We had fun, especially Deborah with the grandkids. Ella is really attached to her Grandma. We played on the swings and slide. We then took them to the petting zoo where they got to see the animals. It was fun. David especially enjoyed feeding the goats.

Elder and Sister Scott gave a great report on their mission in Sacrament meeting in Annis. The dinner after was also great. We got to see a video on Cove Fort. It was really interesting. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Castle Day

2007-10-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

Now to continue with our travels in Europe with the Luthys.

Saturday Morning, July 28th we got up early and said our good byes to Munich and headed south. We let "Nancy" direct us on our way and even though we got there we took some interesting roads on the way. We got in the "back" country and saw some beautiful Bavarian farms. We were heading to the Bavarian Alps to see the two castles Neu Schwanstein and Hohen Schwangau. Both castle's of "Mad" King Ludwig's era.

Our first tour was Hohen Schwangau which started at 11:00 am. Though not as spectacular as Neu Schwanstein it was beautiful and interesting just the same. King Ludwig grew up in this castle - so it was lived in. From the windows of the Castle you can see New Schwanstein perched up on the hill above.

After our tour we headed over to Neu Schwanstein. The tour there was to start at 1:00 pm. It was interesting to go through. This is my third time to tour the castles and Deborah's second. The castle was only about a third of the way completed when King Ludwig mysteriously died and the construction halted immediately. There were some interesting rooms in the castle. One was made up to look like a cave. King Ludwig was a great follower of Richard Wagner and much of what he had followed the opera's of Wagner. We unfortunately could not take any pictures inside the Castle because they want us to buy their books and pictures. You had to go through the gift store on the way out. It is interesting that Disney used this castle as a model for his Magic Kingdom and now this Castle is using Disneyland as a model for selling its wares.

After touring the Castles we hiked over to Mary's Bridge to see spectacular view of Neu Schwanstein from a short distance. The bridge crosses a very high gap. The views from the bridge were very beautiful. After the bridge we hiked back to our van and had dinner.

We then headed out to Salzburg, Austria via the southern Bavarian Alps. Our first stop was the Wiess Church. It is a Catholic pilgrimage church that was built in the middle of a meadow in the middle of no where because someone found a woodcarving statute of Christ and there were tears running down his face. It was deemed a miracle and the church was built in its honor. It is very beautiful and very baroque. The outside is plain with cows grazing in the pasture around it, but once you walk inside it is almost another world.

After visiting the church we headed through the back roads to Salzburg. There were some very beautiful sights to see and it took most of the rest of the day to get there. We arrived later in the evening and checked into our Pension. The rooms were beautiful and we had dinner at the restaurant, which was our best meal yet. After dinner we drove around Salzburg and got back after dark at about 11:00 pm.

Kambri and Julie time

2007-10-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

We will continue on our travelouge later today but I wanted to post some photos of Kambri because Kiera can't. (She can't find the charger for her camera.)

This past week we went up to Post Falls to see the Madison Girls Soccer team play at state. The weather was cold and windy but the girls played valiantly against some very good teams. They first drew the top team from the Boise area, Eagle. These girls were all pretty good, so good that many of the players of the Eagle team already have scholarships to some very good college girl soccer schools. They were defeated but at times they showed that they could play with them. The next day they played Sandpoint which also has a reputation for being a good soccer school. Sandpoint was the number one seed from Northern Idaho. They were also defeated there and they played against a 40 mph wind in the first half and the wind died down in the second half. Julie played well as the captain of the team and she did it with her injury to her foot and her knee has never been 100% since her operation. I believe that if the team had been full of Julie's it would have been able to do very well against those two teams and played them straight up and could have beat them.

On Thursday afternoon Brad went to Boise because he had a meeting there on Friday. Because of that he was able to bring Kiera and Kambri home with him. Kambri is crawling, walking furniture and does a lot of talking. We don't understand what she says yet but she sure can say it. We had a good time on Friday and Saturday, just being with them. All of the Reed kids came over and we were able to visit. We celebrated Nathan's up coming birthday with a pizza dinner Saturday evening and had pumpkin pie for the cake. Everyone had a good time and Kambri was the center of attention most of the time. She only cried when Kiera went to the store and left Kambri with her Grandpa. I guess he still has to learn how to be a better Grandpa.

Kambri and Kiera left for home Sunday morning on the shuttle. The house is a lot less interesting without them there.

Munich

2007-10-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

More from our travels. We stayed two nights in Munich and it was a very enjoyable time. After visiting Schloss Nymphenburg, a palace outside of Munich, we headed down town to our hotel in the middle of Munich. We were only about a block and a half from the "fussganger zone" the pedestrian walk way in the center of Munich. Thanks to "Nancy" our GPS we got right to our hotel without any problems. It even got all of the one way streets correct. The streets were so narrow that when we stopped in a parking spot by our hotel a truck wanted to get by us and he couldn't because our passenger side mirrow was in the way. So he reached out and folded our mirror in and drove by us. Needless to say it got everyone nervous about driving down town Munich. We unpacked our van and while everyone checked in I drove the van to the nearest parking lot where it stayed until we had to leave Munich.

The next day in Munich was both fun and very busy. We first got group subway passes so we could get around with the transportation and we headed to the Deutsches Museum. It was a museum that covered about everything - similar to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. We limited ourselves to two hours there. After the museum we headed to the outdoor market and had lunch. We sat with some "locals" and talked with them about their city.

After lunch we visited the St. Peter's Church and climbed to the top of the tower to see the view of the city. That is where we got the picture from above.

We then headed to the Neues Pinakothek Museum where we saw some beautiful artwork. This is Van Gogh's piece called "Sun Flowers".

We then went to the Allianz Fussball Stadium where the Bayern Fussball team play their games and the where the World Cup was played last year. Our soccer player,Julie, was especially excited about that venture.

We saved some time for the ladies to do s0me shopping and just walked around the fussganger zone and viewed the sights. We crashed late that night thinking what adventures would bring us the next day down in Castle country.

In the evenings (and during the day) the street entertainers came out to entertain and hopefully get some euros. Some even had CD's they sold such as the group pictured here. They were really good. I imagine some of them played or taught professionally. There was always some type of entertainment going on.

First Big Snow

2007-10-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to interrupt our travelogue to bring you news of our first snow here in Rexburg. Last week it snowed but did not stick. This week it snowed some over the night, then it really came down throughout the morning. So much that it is knocking down branches of our trees, which by the way haven't really turned colors nor fallen off yet. Deborah got out this morning to try to save what trees she could. Unfortunately the damage has been done and we will have to wait until next summer to see how our trees will survive. Here are a few pictures.

More on the trip

2007-10-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I would add more pictures from our trip. From the last entry we have Rothenburg, where we spent our first night in Europe. The next morning we headed to Munich, stopping in Dinklesbuhl, the Dachau concentration camp and the palace called Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich before we checked into our hotel in downtown Munich. We stayed in Munich for two nights.

The first picture is from Dinklesbuhl, a very old and quaint village, where we made a short stop. The next one comes from the infamous gate to the Dachau concentration camp. The words say "Arbeit macht Frei" or

'Work makes you Free". This is the gate where all the prisoners entered from when they went into the concentration camp. The final picture is of Schloss Nymphenburg the palace which is located in Munich.

First Entry

2007-09-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Kiera set this up for us clear back in August and we haven't done anything with it yet and it is almost October. First of all we were out of the country when she set it up and next I have been busy with work and now I am writing something.

It has been busy this summer. We took a trip to Europe with Tom and Laura Luthy's family back in July and August. We went to Rothenburg, Germany, Munich, Germany, Salzburg Germany, Venice and Florence, Italy, Gimmelwalt and Basel, Switzerland and finished up in Paris. It was a lot of fun and we were going fast from early morning until late at night each day. We saw so many amazing sights and "walked our feet off" trying to do as much as we could. I hope to post a few pictures of our trip over the next few weeks so you can see some of the beautiful and interesting areas we visited.

I have posted the pictures from the first City we visited, Rothenburg, Germany. I will post more in the future.

2007-08-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Relaxing with granddaughter Kambri