June Through July! My, Does Time Ever Fly!

June started off with me already up at girl's camp!  This year I was asked to help with camp by serving as a stake first level specialist.  It was a great learning experience!  And as usual, it was great to get home.... and get some sleep! 

Camping in Missouri is so different than what I grew up knowing to be camping.  First, there isn't any green grass where I've camped... and especially, there is no such thing as mowed grass!!  Even though it isn't rugged, surrounded by evergreens, with the air lacking in oxygen, it is really pretty!  The girls opted to try cooking turkeys in our reflector ovens, and everyone cooked biscuits and muffins in the reflector oven boxes next to the fire. 

I had wonderful youth leaders who managed everything sooo well!! 

It was a wonderful experience!

All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl.  It also makes Jack rather boring too.  One Monday evening in June, we packed up hambugers and ran up to Nine Eagles on an impulse.  It was a good impulse and we had a great time!  The burgers were great, the water was fun, and the sunlight was perfect for pictures!



By the end of June we managed to complete the downstairs bathroom in our Nebraska house.  Just in time to show it of to my parents, and Grandma!  We hadn't seen Grandma in six years and this was Gracie Anne's first time meeting her.  After she warmed up she had so much fun talking to Grandma and showing her all of her toys!



This is a bloom from the old rose bush next to the front yard gate.  They do have some charm to them!!



Here is a shot from the gate up the road.  Tim is getting the mail.  Our wonderful neighbors, Ruth Ann and BW are so sweet to think of us and mow the strip of grass next to the road!



While the Grandparents and Great Grandma were here to visit, we squeezed in a quick trip to Nauvoo.  It was a beautiful day along the Mississippi!

We also had an amazing experience to rescue this little puppy from off the middle of the highway.  He was starving to death and couldn't stand for more than a few seconds at a time.

We cleaned him up, fed him and named him Gilligan.



However, within two weeks it became apparent that Gracie Anne was not yet ready to be a dog owner.  A strange "sibling rivalry" came to be and the two were at each other constantly.



A friend of ours helped us find a new adoptive home.  She places rescued and abandoned animals.  She interviewed lots of people and we decided that a young couple who lives 1/2 mile from a dog park would be the best dog owners ever!

So we all cried, said our goodbyes and sent our Gilligan on his way.  We were told that the first meeting was beautiful.  He ran right up to his new mama and crawled up into her arms.  We miss him terribly, but we just know that Gilligan is in good hands and is being loved and spoiled rotten!