The black "Ladybug"

G & A

Daring to touch it!

G waiting for it to fly

G & A after they calmed down...

A couple of weeks ago we were visiting Scott and family and I was tending the little girls. We were outside and they found a bug on a tiny branch. They watched it for about 20 minutes. They were in awe until it flew and landed on Andrea. (I didn't get a picture of that because she was terrified and I had to get it off of her.)

Slot Canyon

Brad & Izzy

Frog on rock!

Small Opening at Beginning

Cynthia

Doug

Learning how to scale the rocks!

Our campsite

MaKayla, Alex, Scott, Ellie & Brad ready to hike Angels Landing

Andrea's 3rd birthday

Scott's 37th birthday

Izzy at the Lodge
Ellie's 11th Birthday

We went to Zion for 3 days for the Memorial Day Holiday. It was the busiest we have ever seen it, but we had fun anyway. Scott, Brad, and the 3 oldest grandkids all hiked to Angels Landing, and Brad and MaKayla hiked to Observation Point. We celebrated the 3 May birthdays (Scott, Andrea, and Ellie) Last night we took the GPS and hiked to a place we had never been, and NO ONE was there but us. It was the prettiest spot I gave been to in Zion in all these years. It was a slot canyon. We have been waiting for the right time to be able to go there, because we can't if there is any chance of flash flooding. The rangers at the Visitor's Center didn't even know about this hike and were trying to tell us we needed to be very careful, because it was getting cloudy. We had to do a lot of boulder hopping and the sandstone rocks were pretty slippery. I almost quit half way, but Brad helped me find a way to lean on the rocks and go sideways. It was hard, but I am so glad I went all the way. I can't describe how pretty it was. My pictures don't do justice to it at all. I took a video I was going to put on here, but it is my new camera and I deleted it by accident. ( I won't do that again) When we go in October to hike the Narrows, we will show this canyon to the rest of the family that wasn't there this time.

Sam's 1st Birthday

Sam and his favorite balloon!!

Big Sister Ali

Puppy Quilt I made for Sam

Sam's new haircut. (Cousin Emily behind him)

Our youngest grandson turned 1 on May 1st. We went to Jessica and Justin's house for his party. It was so funny because he didn't want anything to do with the presents. All he wanted was a balloon. She gave him his first haircut on his birthday, and he looked so grown up.Happy Birthday Sam!!!!

My new Camera

Indian Paintbrush (zoom out)

Zoom in

Waterfall in Zion Canyon

Our 5th wheel is behind the trees. This was taken on a hike about a mile away from our camp. We were on the Watchman Trail.

Raven

Raven (zoom in)

Squirrel in tree

Squirrel (zoom in)

Fishpond in our backyard
(zoom in)

Fishpond (zoom out)

Doug bought me a new camera for my birthday. It's perfect for me. Not too fancy, and small enough to carry around easily. I'm still trying to figure out some of the cool things it does, but my favorite so far is the zoom. Here are some pictures I took trying it out. The video is of Izzy up at Emerald Pools in Zion Canyon last weekend. It is the first time I took and posted a video!!! (Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Goodbye Oscar Borges

Cynthia and Oscar in desert behind my house

MaKayla, Oscar, Izzy in our backyard roasting marshmallows for S'mores!!

Chris, Mike, Toni,Bobby, Linda, Cynthia
(In order of age. I am the oldest)

Joan and Cynthia

Bobby and Cynthia

Linda, Toni, and Toni's family

All of us (except Jimmy who wasn't there for the funeral)

Chris, Cynthia, Mike
(my "Little brothers")

Chris, Mike and families

Bobby, Cynthia,Toni,Linda

Doug and I attended the funeral for my biological dad, Oscar. I am thankful that 20 years ago I found him and was able to meet him for the first time. I only have good memories of him. We met several times since then. He and Joan came and stayed at our house a few years ago. We had fun making S'mores in our fire pit. After the funeral we had a luncheon at the church. Here are the family pictures of my brothers and sisters. I am so glad to have met all 6 of them. I hope we all stay in touch.

Busch Gardens (Tampa)

While in Florida for Oscar's funeral, Doug and I had the chance to spend the day at Busch Gardens. The weather turned out perfect, and we had a great time. It was very peaceful. The flowers were beautiful. I wouldn't go on any of the roller coasters, but had lots of fun watching them. My favorite animal was the huge Anteater. I had never seen one before. As all my kids know I love Flamingos and there were lots of them. I even held a snake. I have a picture for proof, because my kids would not believe it.(I use to pay Scott and Brad 10 cents for every water snake they would kill) I hate snakes!!

Anasazi Petroglyphs

Once again, I must say how lucky we are to live here in Southern Utah. We took a 10 minute drive from our house and then hiked up an easy half mile hike to these Petroglyphs. It was the perfect weather for a short hike. We hope to go to some bigger ones in a few weeks down on the Arizona Strip.