My New Socks

Erin is showing off her new socks and footies. And Mindy is just giving her lots of love.

Visiting Erin

Wednesday we visited Erin at the hospital. I actually felt the baby kick one time and it was just a little tap.

Mindy with Erin in Hospital

We visited Erin at the hospital on Wednesday and this is Mindy just talking with her, Davis eating a sucker and Dad resting.

Phantom of the Opera

This last Thursday evening Dad and I attended the live showing of Phantom. I have always wanted to see it in person and being as it is playing all month, we took the time to attend. What an exciting night. It was at the Opera House - kind of an appropriate place wouldn't you say? Our seats were pretty good - about 3/4 the way back in the middle. For anyone that has already seen Phantom you might remember how the chandelier comes forward a little bit and then rises to the ceiling in the first part of the show. Well, the equipment that makes it rise failed somehow and there was a 15 minute waiting period while they fixed something. Then, after it started again everything worked fine. It was a marvelous and very entertaining musical opera that I am glad we decided to go see.

General Conference

Sunday Morning Session - "Finding Joy in the Journey" - President Monson “I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now. "[From The Music Man:] ‘You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.’ “If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly. “Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume…”

One Little, Two Little, Three Little - - -

In the gardening/flower building they had an Indian display and this tepee was part of it.

The Great Llama Ride

Bodee had just watched a little boy on the bucking machine and how he lifted one arm in the air as he was being bucked. so when Bodee got on his Llama ride he thought he might as well do the same as that other boy was doing so he waved his right arm in the air through the whole ride. The Llama didn't buck too much though.

Boys and Goats

The boys loved petting the animals. Goats loved being petted too. Avery was pretty excited to be able to milk the goat - - and he was pretty successful at it.

Train Ride at the Fair

Avery and Bodee took a train ride at the Fair and by the end of the ride Bodee was a little teary eyed and eager to get off fast. I'm not sure why because he was very eager to take the ride in the beginning. Maybe it was a little tipsy turvy or maybe just the noise of the train. Anyway, it's a cute picture.

Janet McOmie Sherlock Smith

The Wyoming Clan

This is Janet McOmie Sherlock Smith on the left and three of her children

The South Pass City Hotel

This is the hotel that was owned by Janet. Janet McOmie, born May 3, 1844 in Edinburgh, Scotland. One of 8 children born to Peter and Janet pringle McOmie. Her father was a tailor to the British royal family at the summer palace called Holyrood House in Edinburgh. They were converted to Mormanism in 1843 and became influential in the LDS church in Scotland. They emigrated from Liverpool, England for America, May 11, 1860 aboard the ship William Tapscott. Janet married Richard Sherlock in Salt Lake. They were intrigued with stories of the great gold strikes and that is when they moved to South Pass City. Richard died in 1872 and left Janet (29) a widow with 5 small children. She then leased the hotel in order to support her family. From there she became the first postmistress, a position she held until 1908. She later married a local man named James Smith and he owned the mercantile. They decided to combine their interests together. I was thrilled to find pictures of Janet father and mother (my gr gr grandparents) hanging on the wall in her bedroom. This trip to South Pass City was so fun and now I wish we had taken more photos to share.

The Smith-Sherlock Mercantile Store

This store was owned and operated by Janet and her husband, James Smith.

Time for Valleyfest!!

It's time for Valleyfest. This is always held in September. When the kids were in school, all of the activities were held at Terrace View Park following a parade down Mcdonald. Well, it has become a little bigger affair these days - probably because the Valley is now a City of it's own. Who knows! Now we have a parade that goes down Sprague (yea) from Pines to University. People sit on the sidewalks and even in the middle of the street because the parade only goes down one side of the street. Funny huh? On Saturday and Sunday all of the festivities are held at Mireabau Park - it's bigger and can hold more people I guess. This year they even had a hot air balloon takeoff. It's just a big get-together for the valley people and we all love it because it's kind of country like here anyway. Who cares what you wear and what you look like as long as you are having fun, right?

Bodee at the Valleyfest Parade

What a flag waver he is. It was fun sitting by Erin and the boys and to watch their reactions to the parade. This weekend is Valleyfest. It starts with the parade on Friday night. Saturday at Mirabeau Park they have things going on all day, starting with a hot air balloon send off and then a pancake breakfast. Anyway, the parade was bigger than last year and hopefully each year will get better than the last. Last year Mindy, Evan and Davis went with us and Davis had so much fun running after the candy.

It's Parade Time

Here's the family at the parade. We had fun and it was a good parade. Bodee did get out of the stroller and race for the candy being throwed. They really throw the candy at this parade and that makes it fun for the kids.It Started at 7 and was over by 8:30.

More Floats

Comparing last year's parade to this year's, I think it was bigger and better and there were more spectators too. There definitely were more floats and bands. However, Erin and i think that all Jr. High's and maybe High Schools should be required to march in the Valley parade. If for nothing more than to get a little experience under their belt. After all, it's the music of the band that makes a parade - - right?

Yea for the Valleyfest

What a Humdinger

Today Erin and I canned peaches. We bought 2 boxes last week and scalded, peeled and sliced them. We got 4 gallon bags - 2 for each of us. Wonderful frozen peaches for smoothies. Well, today this peach got put into a jar and canned. These were Hales and so beautiful. I almost hated to cut into them. Anyway, we're done. 28 quarts later.