Ridgeway Heights: Trying to Catch Up!

It has been weeks since I've been able to update my blog! I will start with our trip to Anne and Matt's and end with their visit to our house. It will include our trip to Will and Julie's (where we also visited Megan and Andy), our Mills Family Reunion, my cousin Stephanie's wedding, Katie's 20th birthday party, a few miscellaneous pictures (like deer :-), and our trip to Opel Creek with Anne and Matt, Katie, and Paul. Similar pictures may be on my children's blogs, but I want to feel like I've covered everything! It has been an exciting summer so far!
Anne and Matt's home (above)

Living room and kitchen

We visited a lavender farm.

A beautiful clematis at the farm

We enjoyed looking at old homes in Spokane, and we visited a lovely park there. My daughter Anne has more pictures on her blog (see the link above).

After returning from Spokane, Paul and I left for Rexburg, Idaho to pick Katie up from college. We stopped at Multnomah Falls to take a little break. I took a picture of Paul on the bridge. Next we stayed at our good friends, Rick and Ruth Ann Earle. It was good to visit with them and some of their children. After picking up Katie at BYU-Idaho, we all drove to Utah together to visit Will and Julie, and Megan and Andy. We had a great visit and got to do many fun things.

We attended the Ogden Rodeo where Will was on duty as a bicycle policeman. It was very hot, but as evening arrived, things began to cool off.

The Rodeo started with this beautiful event.

Maggie is trying to deal with the sun going down, as she sits by her Auntie Megan and her cousin Jesse.

Drew is always a happy baby!

Will joined us now and then to watch for a few minutes.

Megan took this great picture of the barrel races.

Megan, Katie and I rose up early one morning so we could make a trip to Antelope Island. It is a fascinating place in the Great Salt Lake. This is the dike road we took to the Island.

There were VERY large spiders that inhabited the Island!

We saw many Franklin Gulls. They feed on brine flies and brine shrimp. The gull is Utah's state bird because they saved some starving pioneers who first settled there. Crops were being ruined by locusts, and the gulls came in large swarms to eat the pests. They flew to the Great Salt Lake where they regurgitated the locusts, and then they flew back to the crops to eat more. We saw a good variety of shore birds while we were on the Island.

Kate spotted this buffalo way in the distance.

This shows some of the terrain of the Island.

These rocks contain clues as to the existence of Lake Bonneville during the ice age.

The buffalo we saw in the distance decided to cross the road when we drove back up the Island, so we got some great pictures.

Something startled these antelope down on the salt flats and they took off running.

Maggie

One morning I heard Drew wake up and I got up to play with him so his Mom and Dad could get some more sleep. It was a precious time and I loved these pictures in the morning light. Billy woke up and joined us, and later Will woke up and came in to see how Drew was doing.

We attend the July 24th Parade in downtown Ogden, Utah. Will was on bicycle duty again in 100 degree weather!

We loved the patriotic displays!

Maggie with her Auntie Megan under a BIG umbrella

Katie, feeding her nephew Jesse

Will stopped by now and then to say "hi" and to share water with Maggie.

The main purpose of the parade was to commemorate the pioneers who first entered and settled the Great Salt Lake Valley.

Jesse was oblivious to all of the activity.

It was a great "down home" parade. I liked the old time tractors.

It was wonderful to see displays of patriotism, even by the young children.

These young high school cheerleaders were impressive!

It's not a parade without the Shriners in their little cars!

After returning home from Utah, we attended our Mills Family Reunion and it started out with a bonfire on Nedonna Beach.
My brother Terry brought cooked crab which everyone enjoyed (except me...I have not been able to cultivate a taste for it!).

Matt Kizerian

Peyton Craven

Anne Kizerian and Emden Griffin

Donna Fellows, Anne, and Candy Stauffer
enjoying cooked crab

Ryan Fellows (Donna's grandson)

Anne and Matt

Although the turnout for the Mills Reunion was smaller this year, it was fun to get together. I was lucky enough to win the quilt raffle! The quilt was made by my cousins Carrie and Claire from California (to see more reunion pictures, visit my daughter Anne's blog, which is linked above).

After leaving the reunion, I could not resist stopping to photograph these colorful kites along the beach at Twin Rocks.

After the reunion we had a fun "jam session" at Terry and Diane's. This is my brother Terry playing the harmonica and the guitar.

Candy

Matt and Diane

Lily

Emden and Anne

Tonya, Ryan, Elyse, and Pat playing Cribbage

After returning from the coast, I had some visitors again. I can never resist taking their pictures!

Lindsay McNeill made special cake for Katie's 20th birthday.

This beautiful cake had a blackberry mousse filling with a whipped cream cheese frosting and a garnish of fresh fruit.

Katie has a fun group of friends! Part of them enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the deck.

We had "wall to wall" kids in our family room enjoying a movie together.

Stephanie Blatter (daughter of my cousin Jodi) married Mitchel Barnett on the 8th of August. Anne and Matt attended the wedding with us.

This is Zurich, Stephanie's son, in a tuxedo.

Jodi and Jeff, Stephanie's parents

Mitch is holding Zurich, and Stephanie is holding their son Elijah.

Matt, Anne and Bill at the reception. Donna Fellows attended the reception also and stayed with us that night. It was fun to visit with her in the morning before she headed home and we headed to Opel Creek.

While Anne and Matt were staying with us, we decided to find Opel Creek which is located on the Little Northfork of the Santiam River. On the way we stopped at the Canyon Creek picnic area which used to be our favorite swimming hole when our kids were young.

Bill, Anne, Matt, Ryan (Kate's boyfriend) and Kate

Bill and Becky

The moss looked like strands of jewelry hanging from the trees!

Boys will always be boys (throwing rocks)!

Who can resist a picture of the gorgeous mosses that grow in the Oregon woods?

Huckleberries, a favorite childhood treat (which I still like to eat!)

Vine Maple

Paul

Hemlock seems to be the most plentiful tree in this part of the Willamette Valley. It is my favorite tree because of its tiny needles and its delicate look.

A frog in the Opel Creek Wilderness Area

The beginning of the trail into Opel Creek brought us to this bridge overlooking a pristine pool.

Ryan and Kate

The trail into the wilderness area used to be an old mining road. This shows part of the planks used to make the old road.

An old mining shaft

Fireweed

Matt is giving Tilly a drink from his "Camel Pack."

Bill is taking a break to carve on a walking stick.

There are a variety of beautiful ferns in Oregon.

Paul with Tilly

We came upon several old remnants of mining equipment, including this old steam donkey.

White Fox Glove

Our first good view of Opel Creek...crystal clear water with an aqua tint!

Anne and Becky on a trail through the woods

Above Opel Pool

This was our first view upon arriving in Jawbone Flats, an old mining town. We felt as though we were going back in time.

These carts were used to haul rock from the
mining shafts.

This looked like an old water wheel.

Matt is standing by an old rock crusher.

Jawbone Flats has been converted into an
educational center for children's school groups
and for other visitors. Some of the big equipment
came from an Oregon battleship.

There are 11 residents in Jawbone Flats.
Their homes are pretty rustic.

After leaving the town and heading back to our
cars, we enjoyed more of the beautiful pools along the creek.

This area is called "Three Pools" and it is located
along the drive to Opel Creek. We stopped here
on our way back home.

Kate and Ryan are in the background.