Favorite Flowers

My favorite flower is the rose.  I love roses.  In California I had a beautiful rose garden right outside my kitchen window.

 I loved looking at those beautiful roses.  Just before we moved to Alaska, I picked one last rose from my garden and took a picture of it.  This picture was taken in January.  I loved that I had roses nearly year-round. 

Except for wild roses which bloom for about a month, roses don't grow well in Alaska.  So, I decided to plant my second favorite flower -- sweet peas.  I love the sweet delicate smell of sweet peas.  But, it has been a challenge getting the sweet peas to grow.  Last year, I got one stem with two little flowers on it.  Yep, that is right  All summer I had only one little sweet pea.  But, I picked it and set it in a little vase on my kitchen counter.  That one little flower was so fragrant.  I could smell it every time I was at the sink.  It made me smile and feel happy.

This year we have had such a nice warm and sunny summer.  Maybe that is what has made the difference because I got lots of sweet peas this summer.  (Okay, it wasn't a huge amount, but much more than one little flower like last year.)

Several times I have picked several stems at a time and put them on my kitchen counter.  I love to look at them.  I love to smell them.

If I can't have roses, then I will certainly settle for sweet peas any day.

Baby Shower

Last Saturday, Rachelle's sweet mother-in-law and sister-in-law hosted a baby shower for Rachelle.

This was the first baby shower that I have been able to attend for any of my daughters.

There was a wonderful luncheon.

Friends came and we enjoyed visiting,

 and playing games.

 Rachelle received lots of nice gifts for the baby.

 

 Scott's mother gave Rachelle some of Scott's baby clothes -- an outfit from Scottland (on the right) and...

 Scott's baby blessing outfit.

 Now all we need is for the baby to come!

Fisher Family Reunion

Every four years, Brent's extended family gets together for a family reunion in the mountains of Colorado.  This year, we were fortunate to have all five of our children join us.  (The only ones missing were Elise's husband, Austin, who just started a oral surgery residency, and Rachelle's husband, Scott, who just started a job with Conoco-Phillips.  We missed them both).  Brent, Jacob, Rachelle, and I flew a red-eye flight so we arrived in Colorado very tired.  We rented a car in Denver and drove two hours to Snow Mountain Ranch.  We were able to rest and nap in the lobby since our check-in time wasn't until the afternoon.

It was wonderful to see the family members arrive.  A total of 57 people were able to attend the reunion.

  The next day, we attended church in a small branch.  The children got ready for church and watched a Veggie Tales movie on the computer in Jeanine and Rich's room until it was time to leave.

 The branch was small and our family definitely made up the majority of those in attendance.  After church, the men all got on their i phones to find a park where we could eat lunch.

It was fun to eat (a sack lunch provided by Snow Mountain Ranch), and just visit with each other.

The rest of the day we spent doing quiet activities in the lodge.

Cousins had fun getting reacquainted

and playing games.

It was wonderful to have all my girls together.

Monday through Thursday we had lots of fun activities to participate in.  

We went swimming,

bike riding,

 archery,

and zip-lining. 

Brent and his brother, Kurt, are geared up and ready to go.

Jacob said his favorite part of zip lining was climbing up the 65 foot pole.

 

 Look at him go!

 Jacob was tired out afterward.

 Another fun activity was the wall climbing.

William, James, and Alex were very excited to climb the wall.

 James was so light-weight, that when he lost his footing, he just dangled in the air instead of the bungee pulling him down.

 After several tries, James made it to the top.  Jeanine also made it to the top,

 along with Jacob.

Besides climbing the wall, Jeanine and Amy took lots of pictures.  (Notice their cute matching outfits.  They didn't even plan that!)

 

All of the children enjoyed playing miniature golf.  In the evening when the children were asleep, the adults would sneek away to play mini-golf too.

 Jacob had a good time getting better acquainted with his cousin, Noah.  They had fun doing activities together.

 One afternoon we went down to a lake and went canoeing for a couple of hours.

(Elise and Caden are ready to get in the canoe.)

 (Jacob coasting along.)

 (Jeanine with her boys.)

(Amy and her family)

(Brent, Olivia, and Elise)

The recreation center offered lots of fun things to do.  There was roller skating and basket balls and soccer balls to play with.

 There were games to play like Foosball...

 and pool.

 There were also fun crafts to do.  Rachelle and Olivia made friendship bracelets.

 The kids enjoyed making hiking sticks.

 They finished their sticks then went on a hike.

 One of my favorite parts of Snow Mountain Ranch is that I didn't have to cook all week.

 Meal time was a great time to visit while we ate.

 A couple of nights we had a bonfire...

 and enjoyed visiting as a family.

 Every night after dinner we met in the conference room and had a family home evening. 

We had a short lesson and played a game.

Before bedtime I read the children a story.

I loved being with extended family.  It was nice to have four generations at the reunion.

 I loved having all my children together.

I loved spending time with my grandchildren.

We made wonderful memories at Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado.