They're all around

No, I did not take this picture. I wish!
At least once a day I hear from friends and neighbors...."we had a bear in our garage",or "we had a bear in our yard", or "you should have seen this bear!" And then last night at about midnight our neighbor's dog was going crazy barking his head off....and we heard a growl..BEAR. Night before last same thing at about 5 am. I WANT TO SEE ONE OF THESE LITTLE GUYS!!


With a pane of glass separating us, of course.

Back to Young Women!!

The ward here is sooooo small. Even though Spencer and I will only be here til October 1st, we got put to work right away!! Spencer is a ward missionary, and I am the secretary in Young Women. Not only did I get called to that today...I also taught the lesson today. NICE!! I truly love it though. I always feel that I will now and forever belong working within the Young Women program. What a GREAT group of girls too. I felt so welcomed and apart of such a great program here. I miss the YW back in North Carolina so much too! I am just grateful to be apart of another great group here.

Camping...not so much

Last night our ward had a camp out at Lado Del Rio, and my dad spoke on our pioneer heritage.


We left right after this picture was taken...


because of this blood sucking fool

I Love Ketchup

What a great month!

I have some great pictures of our road trip from NC to CA. Spencer's favorite was passing by a water tower in Kentucky that read "HOME OF SUPERMAN" and had Superman's picture all over it. And mine was the tornado we drove by in Kansas right after eating at the most delicious ma and pa restaurant ever. We were far enough from the tornado so that I didn't go into cardiac arrest, so it really was awesome...not terrifying. Those pictures are unattainable at the moment. later.

We got to SLC to visit with family and friends.

We were only in SLC for a couple days, so I am so thrilled that I was able to see Jenny! She was one of my bestest college girlfriends. So sad you weren't there Beth.

Side note to family: EMAIL ME THOSE PICTURES!! (love you)

Then we headed out on the final 12 hour drive to Crescent City, CA.

We got here right in time for the wonderful 4th of July Parade.

WWII Veterans always bring tears to my eyes.


After the parade we have been in a whirlwind of activities here at the ranch. I say 'ranch' because where else are there 3 different buildings on one piece of property that offer a wide variety of activity whilst surrounded by wildlife?

My parent's garden is AMAZING!! Here I am harvesting potatoes. It's like digging for GOLD.

We woke up to her right outside our window

That's a snake that has taken up residence in an ivy bush
Usually this feeder is surrounded by about 10 of those suckers. It's almost like watching a UFC tournament...violence, flexing muscles (in this case feathers), blood (red sugar water), and the last one remaining gets to live (eat).

I'm so glad that my parents don't actually live in Crescent City...even though it's right on the beach... it is ALWAYS foggy there! Instead they live up in the Redwoods right next to the Smith River. sunshine, swimming, rock diving, fishing, tanning, etc.

freezing

this little island surrounded by rapids. Not easy to get too with class 5 rapids about.
(the river is low right now)

pondering whether or not to jump

a much better angle
if only you could hear him screaming like a little girl about how cold it was :)It may not look it...but there is a wicked current that Spence almost surrendered to
it tuckered the poor guy out

And of course, after he jumped I had to. And look at how much better...the pointed toes, and perfect arch. Very dolphinish.

After about 10 full seconds, you get use to the cold. It was so refreshing. Did I mention that this is the cleanest river in the US?

hotness