Beautiful Jackson Hole, Wy

Just got back from a quick trip to Jackson to check out our newest little granddaughter: Annette Barrus Jackson. As you can see, she is perfect in every way and sooooo tiny! Just 5 pounds! A living doll.
We got to see some bears--CLOSE UP! eating berries up in a bush--notice the red circle around the brown bear. And loved seeing all the beautiful colors of fall and the breathtaking mountains!
Aaron and Joe look like cowboy models! We also took some great family photos of Court, John and Everett.

Happy Fourth of July!

The real reason for this post is not about the fun time we just had visiting Ben and Kristen, & Dylan & Kaci, Jarom and Stephanie, John and Courtenay, going shooting with Ben, John and his brother, attending a practice concert of Ben's country/rock band Sunset Ride (They are great by the way) , going to LeAnn's family reunion at Ophir, Utah (by Tooele), or being blessed to see our newest grandson, (John and Courtenay's) Everett Michael Lance just a few hours after he was born. (he is sure a beautiful boy.) No, this post is about how I spent my fourth of July. I left LeAnn in Taylorsville to take care of Courtenay and Everett....and John for a few weeks. So, at five in the morning on the fourth, I turned on my GPS, put in my Louis L'Amore stories narrated by Willie Nelson CDs, and headed West. I stopped Willie long enough to listen to the special 4th of July presentation of Music and the Spoken Word featuring the MoTabs. It was great....many of my favorite patriotic hymns and of course, The Battle Hymn of The Republic. Awesome. Willie finished narrating just outside of Burns, so I finished up the day listing to General Conference talks from April Conference. So fifteen hours after leaving Taylorsville, I was home....in time to sit with the neighbors for a few minutes and enjoy the fireworks going on around us.

But...I forgot to wear my special patriotic T-shirt Sequoia sent me for Father's Day. Dang!

Anyway, I stopped along the way to photograph a few things..... a few extra patriotic retired farm implements somewhere between Vale and Burns, Oregon and took the scenic route through the Cascades and stopped on top at the Dee Wright Observatory (I love that drive) and took a few shots of Mt. Jefferson....unfortunately the 3 Sisters were covered with clouds so no photos.
Anyway, that was a lot of rambling for just a few measly photos.....

Bruce's Retirement Video

Our good friend and neighbor Bruce Jolley just retired after forty eight and one half years working for the railroad. With the help of Andrew and LeAnn, I made this video for him. Andrew was a big help...I had a sequence in mind for the first verse but he came up with a better idea and we used it....much better than what I had in mind.
The music at the beginning, Wonderland by Night, was a popular instrumental hit the year Bruce joined the railroad.
We played it at a party held in his honor Friday night at the Jolleys. It was fun to see some old friends we haven't seen for a long time.
Here's also a few photos LeAnn took of some of the shoot.

Fun In LasVegas!

Our favorite spot on the "Strip" was the fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel!!
Warner had a trade show in Vegas--so I went with him. We stayed an extra weekend and our Utah and Arizona Kids met us there. We fit a lot of activities into that one week--Take a look!
We got to see a fun Tribute to Elvis Show--Thanks Em and Steve for the the tickets! Another night we got to see the Donny and Marie Show at the Flamingo--they were great!
Emily, Easton and Carly at the Chocolate Factory/ Cactus Garden. We saw some cool lizards!
!Filming the Chris Angel show right outside out Hotel (Luxor)--When the body guard saw me take this pic, he came over and asked me not to take any more!

A view of the Strip from one of the pedestrian overpasses! We did a LOT of walking!!!


After the trade show we moved to the Silverton Lodge (not on the" strip" and our Kids and families joined us. We spent the whole day--and into the night in our cool,poolside cabana.
We had a Poolside Baby Shower for Courtenay!

We spent all day and into the night at the cabana near the pool!

Support Our Berries!

RAMBO of the RASPBERRIES!!

One to dig and one to supervise the digging!
Warner and Andrew had a "ceremony" after each section was finished and they placed the copper post caps!

Warner designed and built this structure for our Raspberries--They have been kind of running wild the past few years and he wanted to "corral them". These three wooden structures will have support wires running between them to help the berry canes stay up. Andrew was a big help digging the holes. He and Dad had a good time installing them.

General Conference

I am looking forward to listening to General Conference--always very uplifting to me. I also love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! Can't wait!
I also love the talk by Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon--if you have not heard it--take a listen--and then pass it on to others.
Happy Easter!!

Warner's Monster Cookies!

This is for Emily...and anyone else who wants to make some very yummy cookies. This makes a HUGE batch so you can cut it in half if you want to. There is no flour in this recipe--so don't think that I just forgot to write it down.
I wish I had a photo to add so Em, when you make them post a picture!


Warner's Monster Cookies

1 pound (4 sticks) margarine (or butter)
4 cups white sugar
4 1/2 cups (one 2 pound bag) brown sugar

CREAM TOGETHER TILL LIGHT AND FLUFFY

THEN ADD:
12 eggs (beaten)
3 pounds( 6 cups) peanut butter
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
8 teaspoons baking soda

MIX TOGETHER AND THEN ADD THE REST OF THE INGREDIENTS--BY THIS TIME THERE IS TOO MUCH TO FIT IN THE MIXER SO YOU MUST MIX THE REST BY HAND!

18 cups "old fashioned"oats
1 pound (4 cups) chocolate chips
1 pound plain M&M's (optional)
2 cups nuts (optional)
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal (optional--use for part of the oats)
2 cups coconut (optional)

uSE AND ICE-CREAM SCOOP AND PLACE ON A COOKIE SHEET--I SMASH THEM DOWN A LITTLE BIT. BAKE AT 350 FOR 8-12 MINUTES. DO NOT OVER BAKE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We had a wonderful trip to Utah for Christmas--it was so fun to spend time with our family. We went sledding, roller skating, seeing the lights at Temple Square, seeing the production "Savior of the World" (fabulous). went to Pirate Island for pizza and fun, had a hot wheels tournament, a nativity play and tons of fun watching the grandkids. We also played "Rock band" and I was pretty good!