Dad's Hearth Project

Thomas having a mid-morning snack while Grampy works on the hearth

 The Hearth project 1

 2

3

(more to come)

Fall Activites

 Brigham roasting a marshmallow to perfection

Grampy, Susannah, and Benny

 Benny, James, and Thomas

 wild turkeys

 Tucker, Dillon, and Uncle Bob helping work up the wood pile

Autumn Views from East Dover

End of Summer 2012

We grabbed the last nice day before school started here, to return to Popham Beach with Susannah's family in tow.  It is such an awesome place - so huge in fact that there is an east beach, a central beach, and a west beach - and when the tide is out you walk forever just to get to the ocean - all fine sand for miles it seems.

Dad and I hiked across the beach which connects to what becomes an island at high tide. 

 Benny started digging this hole and Brigham soon pitched in to help

 they stayed at it

 as you can see

 finally Benny was satisfied that it was big enough!

The waves were so beautiful and fun to play in

 Thomas and Ethan found the hole was the only way to keep the breeze from grabbing their beach ball  :)

 The tide eventually filled the hole and these 3 quickly found themselves mired in the sand - on purpose of course.

 As the tide rolled in, the surf became more dramatic - several surfers showed up as we were leaving - some catching the waves for several seconds before wiping out.

 It was a fun day for all of us - one funny thing that happened - I opened a medium bag of M&M peanuts, ate a few (of course) and left them on the quilt we had spread out on the beach while I went to our car to retrieve our camera.  Meanwhile - a very rude and very bold seagull picked up the bag and strewed M&Ms along the beach for him and his friends before dropping it several yards away.  Half the candy was gone. Dade noticed later there was a bit of sand when we got to the bottom of the bag.  Wish I could have caught it all on video.

The tide ultimately forced us to pack up and leave - stopped at DQ in Topsham for blizzards all around, then headed back to Dover to begin another year of school for the kids.  Great way to mark the end of summer vacation.

Trip West

August 7, we climbed into the cab of this truck and started the trip to Utah by way of Nauvoo.  We got to Nauvoo (thanks to Spencer's driving through most of one night) in time for breakfast at Grandpa John's.

 That night we attended "Sunset on the Mississippi - which was fabulous!

 Katie created a family jeopardy game - and we had a family talent show - and a great devotional by Stuart

 Molly liked climbing the slide as well as sliding on it

 We left Nauvoo Saturday morning and got to Ammon and Heghine's before midnight - spent Sunday with them - so fun!  This pic was taken Monday morning as we were leaving.

 Justin took us into the city with him on Wednesday - this is him walking to work while we walked around Temple Square, shopped at Deseret Book Store.  Then we met for lunch at the Lion House - great day!

 3 of our sweet granddaughters - aren't they adorable??

 It was a great trip and visit with our Utah kids and their families.

Ammon and Heghine's Visit

Ammon, Heghine, and Heghine's brother, Mushegh came and spent 2 weeks with us mid July.  Heghine's first time in Maine and Mushegh's too.  We got to have another glorious day at Bar Harbor, Sand Beach, and Thunderhole.  

 We bought and froze millions of wild Maine blueberries while they were here and I don't think that is an exaggeration if you count each berry :).  Heghine was excited to take some home with them, so they took them already frozen in a styrofoam chest on the airplane and they survived the flight just fine and now reside in their freezer in Greeley, CO.

We had a backyard picnic with Susannah's family and Spencer Sunday afternoon, Ammon, Heghine, and Mushegh's last day.

 This is the important bean boot pic - a must if you come to Maine!

Saying good-by - so happy they came!!

Eric and Mandy's visit

Eric and Mandy came to visit us in June into the 1st week in July - hence this great 4th of July family picture. We absolutely loved having them here with us -  enjoyed playing games at home, an afternoon at Peaks Kenny State Park, a day at Bar Harbor, fireworks at the dock on Moosehead Lake - good family times and memories.