Whew, the Craziness Never Ends!

May has been an extremely busy month with projects and events. I have much to catch up on in my blog journal. I look forward to a satisfying summer filled with family fun, and for myself some brutal summer hikes and backpacking trips. You know I love it!

Ben is officially six years old as of the 26th. I'm totally proud of him and he is proud of himself too. He is intelligent, sweet, caring, funny, and fun to do things with. We are having a birthday party for him and I think it will be quite the shindig. I'm planning pizza, almost 200 water balloons, arts and crafts, and a pinata. Clean up ought to be fun! ;)

I've been much happier and more productive these days. I've been doing some art here and there and hope to get to it more often this summer. During the searing days, we will probably do indoor activities.

I do hope to post pictures soon. I have many to share and so little time to get them up here.

Cheers My Friends,
Ginny

Old Pics from Long Ago. Enjoy them Family. :)

A very young Russell. Yes ladies and gentlemen, the man did have hair!

This was a picture Caitlin drew for her Aunt Lynn. I don't know when Caitlin did this, but it was in grade school for sure. Her and her sister's art has come a long way since those days.

This is Samantha about the age of 10 or so.

Some of Samantha's early works of art

My uncle Gordon turned a painting of mine into a stained glass window. The window was installed in my grandparent's bathroom so they could see it every day. I was totally touched by this. I cry to think this is in a house that none of our family live in anymore. But my mother has the original painting at least.

My brother, me, and my sister...I was probably about 20 or so in this pic

A montage of family

Samantha
Caitlin and Samantha making salad...it was a tasty one too!

The only man I could truly call my father. This was Hulbert J Smith not too long before he died.
I believe it is one of the last pictures of him I ever took. He was a wonderful man who helped shape who I am today. He taught me so many things about people, love, life, laughter, manners, and nature. I miss him more than I've missed anyone in my life. They day he died was a very dark and sad day for our family.

My two lovely daughters. It was hard to get them to look happy in this picture! They dislike weddings almost as much as I do.

The first and only camp letter I ever got from one of my children. It was too precious not to scan in the computer. I hope I still have the original in a box somewhere.

Sam and Mom...thinking Sam is about 9 in this picture?

Caitlin...a lover of animals just like her mom

Mom blow drying Caitlin's hair...I have no idea what year this was

Little Caitlin

Granmama and Caitlin. I got all my fire and stubbornness from Granmama. She didn't take guff from anyone and neither do I! Sometimes it's not a good thing when I'm feeling a total lack of diplomacy. My mother did tell me many times when I was growing up that my mouth would get me in trouble. She was correct of course. But my mouth has also gotten me out of trouble as well. So there mom. :)

Ok, Remember that Big Announcement?

A while back in another post I mentioned that I had a big announcement to make, but didn't want to say anything yet because it might not come to fruition. Well unfortunately it didn't. I was going to go on the road with my mom but decided not to.

The plan was to take Ben with me and make a vacation out of it. But when I found out more details about the trip I realized that it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I was supposed to go with her to Colorado and then on to Montana. I was to be gone for well over a month. But things wouldn't have worked out the way I needed them to, so I had to turn down the trip. Mom understood perfectly of course.

I'll get to Colorado most likely this summer under my own steam and stay a month or so on the ranch with Lynn and her family. I'll get to spend time with my nieces and nephew, and have amazing adventures in the forest.

I've wanted to visit Montana since my early 20's and someday will get there. :)

I Have Another Niece!

Mom and Baby are doing great! I would have posted something sooner but I was camping this weekend. Speaking of camping...I have several trip reports to get caught up on and lots of photos!

I'm About to be an Auntie Again!!!

My sister is in labor and from the sound of things will probably have her baby around midnight or so. I'm so excited! I can't wait to see pictures of my new niece. They don't know what they are going to name her yet. I'm gonna hop over to her blog to check out the list she put up and add my two cents worth....

Ok, here is one of my picks:

Vivian Carmin Kinsey. It rolls off the tongue so easily and it gets two family names in there. :)

I'll have to look again later to see if anything else jumps out at me.

So, I wait anxiously for the arrival of my new niece. These are exciting times! I'm so glad it's Lynn and not me having a baby. I told her I thought she was nuts having another one, but I know she'll do awesome and continue to be a great mom.

Getting Back to the Great Outdoors!

A friend and I are gonna camp two days in a row this weekend. I'm really happy about that because it's rare I get to do such a thing. Usually it's just Saturday, come home Sunday. That's never enough for me. If I could stay out a few days in a row and do some through hiking I'd be totally thrilled.

This trip is a car camping trip with hiking involved. The first day I'll have some time alone since my partner has to work a bit. I intend to use that time checking out the area and test my ankle a bit. It hasn't hurt once over the last few weeks and feels pretty strong, but believe me, I'm gonna baby it and be ever so careful on the trails. I sure as hell don't want a repeat of that injury. I'll tape it for added support in my boots...I think it will be fine.

It's wonderful to get back out on the trails. It's all I can think about right now this Thursday night. My house is clean and my yard is looking great, so all I have to do is relax and enjoy a worry free weekend. I'll come back to the blog with pictures and the usual trip report. I like trip reports a lot. They are so much fun for me to go back and read to help jog the memory. Remembering good times and making new ones is what it's all about.