Simms Boys Hiking

 Alex took the boys on another hiking trip... they love those. Here was Alex's description- 

It’s been over 20 years since I last climbed a 14er (mountain over 14,000 feet), but I did it this week under much cooler conditions - with three of my boys (Jared, Owen, and Weston).  As part of a 50 mile backpacking trip we climbed Mount Whitney - along with two other passes - Kearsage (11,700 feet) and Forrester (13,200 feet).  Really proud of Weston for pushing through - by far the youngest kid out there.

Beautiful Hailey

 Beautiful Hailey has a birthday this coming week, on Tuesday. We celebrated with her, last night at Sunday dinner. She had asked me to make a vanilla cake, with vanilla frosting, and fruit on the top. At first, I bought two boxes of vanilla cake mix and I was going to use those... then I found a homemade recipe, that seemed pretty simple, so I decided to go "homemade". It actually turned out pretty well. It didn't taste as amazing as it looked, but it was pretty good. She received her patriarchal blessing yesterday. She is a beautiful young lady... inside and out 😉😘She went to FSY last week and this week is girls camp for her. 

Almost a Missionary

 Jared was ordained to the priesthood and then attended the temple, in preparation for serving a mission. Here were Annie's words-

 Special week for Jared too. He received the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday and Endowment on Thursday. He had a really good experience going through the temple. Felt the Spirit really strong and felt close to family on the other side of the veil.

Happy Birthday to Weston

 Love to see pics and posts about our grand kids birthdays. We usually aren't there to help celebrate, but our kids and their spouses do a great job on fun birthday treats, gifts, and parties. I am sure that all of our grand kids feel special. Here are a few pics of Weston, growing up fast. I can't believe that there are still Lego sets that those boys don't have yet. 

Thompsons at Trek

 Last week Mike, Carrie, and the boys went on a youth "Trek". So glad that they got to experience at least one of those. Carrie shared a few pics on Face Book and a brief description. Here is what she posted-

 So proud of our own 2 boys who went on TREK too.  They were such a blessing to their trek family and brought a much needed strength to their group.  It was great to see them working hard and making such amazing memories. The boys would have been great at taking pictures in the old days when nobody smiled😄. But I will say that the boys never complained and they were constantly working. I had to tell their Pa to make them take a break on the third day because I could see Ryan wilting. Luckily they got breaks the last 2 days. Their Pa said they were the quiet power of the family. Super proud of them!!

TREK 2024 was amazing!  Mike and I had the best little family who we came to love like our own kids.  I was so proud of my girls who had to do a lot of the work since our boys were young and small (and one of them spent most of the four days in the medical tent).  But what we may have lacked in size, we made up for in spirit.  My girls never quit, and had so much energy.  And my two little boys stepped it up and gave it their all.  It was 30 miles of hard dusty work, but we did it!  And when we didn’t think we could go any further, the Lord sent us help.  Either through other people helping or sending us an adopted son the 3rd day who literally breathed fresh strength and power into our family.  So grateful for my trek family who pushed, pulled, ate dust, and always had with the most wonderful attitude.

July Sunflowers

 I am glad that I came up with a decorating plan that ended my red/white/blue stuff right after July 4. Remember, I can only do specific decor for about a month and then I am ready for something else. 😉I have moved on to Sunflowers. When we were Corpus Christi in April, I purchased a bright colored kitchen towel that I planned to turn into small table runners... those turned out perfect. Then just adding a couple of new floral picks and a black bird pick, was all my existing sunflower decor needed. Happy with "Sunny flower July". 

First Week of July

 Since the fourth of July was on a Thursday... that meant it seemed like we had two Saturdays, that week. I spent time working on some custom sewing for a lady and I took some new items out to my booth at Homestead Handcrafts. I started making some Mini Teether taggies. I sold five of those, the first month that they were in my booth. I should try to go in there twice a month, but usually I only make it once. They were writing checks twice a month, but recently decided to only do one, on a monthly basis. The rent checks are due on the 5th now, and they usually have the monthly check ready then too. I try to keep Gracie off of my sewing table, but she loves to sit on whatever fabric is there and close to my stuffed animal toys... if they are there 😂