life as of late

well #1, life seems to be so busy with other things, it's hard to find time to write about it and share it with others. but for myself, and those few who read, here is what we have been up to lately.

Las Vegas...the end of june, our niece (my brother's daughter) alex turned 10. lucky girl scored a weekend in vegas for her party. luckily, we were able to get some discounted hotel rates and were able to meet up with some of my family to help celebrate her big day and spend time with each other.

i had to work the night before we left, so steve was a trooper and drove the whole way to vegas on his own.

there it is, in the distance...VEGAS!

all of us packed into the car, including marley. he stayed with some friends of ours while we were at the hotel so we could take him camping with us on the way back. thanks eric and jackie!
and ps. steve took this little family portrait while driving. don't try this at home. he took a class...twice.

my mom, sister, and me. love those ladies!enjoying some time poolside.
it was a great trip. good food, great hotel, fabulous company. and i even learned how to play blackjack and pai gow poker. good times.

on the way back from vegas, steve and i had a couple extra days off of work, so we took the scenic route and stopped off in cedar breaks and bryce canyon.

enjoyed the red rocks...

cedar breaks

then on to bryce...

camping in the great outdoors...

marley seriously enjoyed himself. maybe he is a nature dog afterall.

i learned, or tried to learn how to cut some wood. not as easy as you would think.happy family all snuggled into the tent. i think marley had more room than steve or i did.
tent hog.swimming in the lake. doesn't marley look like he's having a grand old time?

feeding "exotic" deer...


...and spotting some wild ones (and elk)

there were deer seriously all over the place!

and we even spotted a few elk. this was the last picture i could get before my camera died, but we spotted a group of about 5 other elk, a bunch of big males. so cool! i had never seen any before.

steve has been keeping busy playing in his two softball leagues, and marley and i enjoy being his #1 fans.

our garden is doing so-so. we are getting a couple of plants to produce, but i think the soil here needs some TLC before next year so we can get better results.
it's fun being a homeowner, but overwhelming at times too. especially when you buy a 50+year old house. there is so much we want to do, but there is only so much time and money to work with. we have learned the value of patience and will continue to do so as we work on this little gem.
i realize i still have not posted any pictures of our place. this next week we will be working on it, so i will try to get some photos to post.
so for the next little while, it's just a lot of working (at our jobs, and on the house) and waiting for the next little get away...whether it be camping, a quick weekend trip, or to california. ah, the beach. i miss it so much at times like this. maybe i should check flights...