Aunt Margaret

This is to let you all know that Aunt Margaret fell yesterday and broke her ankle pretty badly. She is in the VA hospital right now waiting for her swelling and blood sugar to go down so that they can operate to set her ankle. She is doing OK and is in good spirits. Dad and uncle Jerry went in to give her a blessing. Don't know how long she will be in the hospital, but will surely go to a rehab ... to help her get back and going again. Please stay safe and well. Am praying for all of you!!!!

Awesome Hike

Dad and I did a great 24th of July hike. It is now one of my favorites. It is the Millcreek to Lambs canyon. Once at the top, you can see both Parleys Canyon and the Salt lake Valley. It has been a wet year, and the growth and wildflowers were unbelievable. What can I say but "Awesome".

It was pretty steep, but Dad slowed down so that I could keep up with him. Going back down was hard on the knees, but it was so worth it. I love that we can drive 20 min. to a trail that will totally take your breath away. It was just the two of us on the tops of the mountains....the world was ours and we loved it!!!

Later, we went to the Cottonwood Heights park and watched the Fire works with Deb and Stephen. It was a great day :)

Ma and Pa are back from Trek

Well, Dad and I just got back from our Stake Pioneer Trek. We were Ma and Pa to 10 great kids. The ages ranged from 17 to 12 years. We had a handcart to pull as a family with all our gear. Just like the pioneers. We even went on our trek in the same area that they would of traveled the last stretch before coming to the SL valley. We spent 4 days on this trek and covered about 20 miles. 10 of which was on the first day. Lots of hills and dry dusty HOT trails. It was very hard! We did not see a tree pretty much the whole time. Our family faired pretty well, but many had blisters, sprained ankles, and heat problems. But as you can see from the picture, we ate pretty darn well. That was our third day breakfast. Sausage, eggs, potatos and cheese....YUM

We camped and made our own shelter with a big tarp and the handcart. Some nights were better than others. our kids loved to sleep under the stars mostly. It was so hot during the day that we thought we would die, and then it was freezing at night. The dew caused us to have wet sleeping bags every morning. One morning, Gabby (one of our kids)'s sleeping bag had frost on it. We also slept among the dried cow pies (:

My family were good trekers.... the handcart was very heavy and some of the hills were a bit steep. Really good kids!!! We had a couple of strong boys and some strong girls. They were real troopers. IT WAS HARD!!!

We also had a girl that had damaged her knee and could not walk. So we put her on top. We only went about an hour that way before leaders in charge of the land ( a couple missionary cause it is church owned land) said we could not do that. She had to be pulled in a seperate handcart. 2 or 3 of us then helped with that. I have to say that I felt my 56 years on this trek and realized just how out of shape I am. It was a very good experience. We did a lot of family things together and had a good time. We had some super kids to work with.

This is our family on the last day ready to do the last few miles and go home. I must say, that I am glad to be home now and on to the other exciting things coming up in our lives.

Fun Times

I was inspired by Becky to post some pictures about what has been going on in our life. We had a fun trip with Deb, Dan and Angie to Lava Hot Springs Idaho. It was cold, but we had fun just getting together. I did a little Temple trip with Darylee. It was great!! We did the Logan Temple on Tuesday,( with Angie and Stephanie Griffin) then did the Manti and St.George on Wednesday. It was a long day, but was really nice. We are planning to do all the Temples in Utah.

Parked in the Back

It is very strange to have the Snoasis parked in the back for the summer. I have mixed feelings, mostly because of family. I won't get to have much family around and I will sure miss that. The extra money was always great.. for us all. I will admit that I still struggle with the other business getting our spot and our costumers. Grrrrr! But it also feels good to not have to worry about all the day to day, hour to hour stuff. Dad has been chopping the trees and digging and moving plants, and getting into the daily yard things. I have been planting flowers (my sad attempt every year). We are hoping to get out and travel around a bit more this year...who knows? We are serious about doing the Zion Narrows end of June. Maybe the Thursday before the reunion....or that Friday????? Get down there Wed. or Thurs. night and get into the canyon by 6 or 7 in the morning.... out by 3 or 4 if pretty good hikers. We heard about the way to do it as a day trip and we want to go. Best time is the end of June. Would love any and all to come with us. Think about it :)

We had such a great weekend. First of all Rachel and kids came on Thursday and we have been enjoying them so much. But we have also had some wonderful things happen this weekend. Caleb turned 8 years old and we all gathered at his house to wish him a Happy Birthday. He got many great gifts, but his favorite is his very own guitar. It is a really nice one too. He played while we all sang to him. Happy birthday Caleb!!

Saturday, Daniel graduated from Utah State University. It was a very big day, and we are so pleased that we could celebrate this great day with him and Angie.

The actual graduation was short and very nice. His degree is in Geography from the college of Natural Resources. CONGRADULATONS DANIEL!!!!!! They had a wonderful luncheon for all of us as well. It was a great day. We love you Dan.

Caleb went with Grandpa and the great uncles on the yearly Flaming Gorge fishing trip. I think he had fun......I know that grandpa sure had fun having him there with him. Grandpa's dream is to take his grandchildren with him on his adventures.

We took a little trip to the Mayan Resturant. Something none of us had done for a while. Tayson and Mia loved the divers, and we all got pretty wet. It seemed that they did more diving and more often then I remembered. IF you come this summer to visit and we go there, maybe you will see someone you know diving. Ask Deb and Stephen about that :)

We just had a great weekend with such great things happening. But just spending time with family is the best. We love you all!!!!!

Zions

Dad and I did the St. George via Delta and Venice trip this weekend. We had a great visit with Grandma and Neil and Julie. Got some good plans for the reunion this July, and are excited to get that all going. Grandma was doing good, and we played card games with her.....golf, fish, ya know, the fun ones. Next morning we drove to Cedar and St. George so Von could do some work. We were able to go to the Temple while we were there. The St. George Temple is so beautiful and the grounds were so peaceful. Then off to Zions.

Zions is one of our favorite spots. The park was open full scale with shuttles and all. We did not have a lot of time, so just parked the car and walked a ways up the road to see some of the amazing sites.

You don't have to be a hiker to enjoy the beauty!!!! However we love the hiking too. Next time we will allow ourselves more time. From Zions, we drove to Venice and spent the night there with grandpa. It is always good to spend time with him. He is rather lonely, but doing good. We noticed some major repairs that need to take place with his house there, and will be planning a trip just to get some things done. Could use help from anyone wanting to take some time to do that with us. Inside and outside stuff. I know, sounds like fun :). We love our parents, and are glad when we get the chance to spend time with them. Life is pretty good to us.

What a fabulous time we had in Italy!!! This is a picture of our stop in Pisa. Note the leaning tower in the back ground. It was so beautiful and much bigger than I expected. We spent the day traveling to Pisa, and then to Florence. We saw the statue of David (could not take pictures), and walked around in Florence. Would love to be able to go back there and see more.
Becky was able to go to Venice with Dad, Alex, Stephen and Deb. I stayed home and played with the Moss boys. We all had a good time that day. What an interesting and fun place to see.

A group picture in Becky's kitchen. We spent a lot of time there. Becky took such good care of us and feed us lots of yummy food. We had a lot of different pasta dishes... Italians eat pasta everyday. Thanks again to Becky and David!!!!!

We spent two days in Rome/Vatican. What an awesome place. There is truly so much to see and so much history to learn about. I loved it!!! We walked and walked till Alex said that her legs were like rubber.

This picture was taken in the fields behind Becky and David's home. It was beautiful there with the green fields and the fruit trees in blossom. We had such a great time and saw so much. It would fill up many pages to tell it all. We visited Venice, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Revenna, The Republic of San Marino, the most amazing Cave, and some of the cool things in Cesena (home of the Moss family). The most important thing that we did was attend Adam's baptism. Thanks for letting us be a part of that. We have lots of pictures we would gladly show anyone who wants to see them. What a wonderful experience the Moss family has given the Callister Clan by opening their home and giving of their time to us. Thank You! Thank You!

January 2009

We had such a good time celebrating Deborah's Birthday. Josh and Family came, and Dan and Angie drove down, and Deb's friend Stephen also came to share in the fun. We had dinner and games and much ,much more. We have decided to have a "Family Night" get together, each second Sunday from now on. Would be great if you all could come. Josh, Caleb and Sammy went with us to Delta to see grandma Callister and we had a great visit with framily there. Aunt Catherine came last week and that is always fun for me!!! Grandpa Warner drove up for a couple of days as well. Good times!!! What a nice start to the New Year.

Alex's concert

Von, Deb and I had a good time this last week going to Alexandria's concert at her school. She did such a great job and it was so fun to see her do this fun thing. She is one of the few that tried out for this singing group to make it. She seems to enjoy it alot. Christmas Concerts are great, We loved it!!! Thanks Alex!!.