A Beagle in Boise

Mom and Dad came for a visit last weekend. Of course the beagle, little Susie Cute, came too. We were so happy to have them all here.

It turns out Susie has grown quite a bit since I first met her at Easter. And she is also quite a biter. All of us had bled by the end of the weekend. Rick decided it was better to wear heavy gloves when handling the beagle.

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Our friends Dan and Ellisea came for dinner on Friday night. I just love this photo of Dan and Susie.

On Saturday we drove to Leslie Gulch in search of the wild flowers that weren't there in April. Well they weren't there in May either. But the rock formations were still spectacular, and we enjoyed showing the area to my parents.

We spent a lot of time on the deck. It was the best place for smoking cigars, drinking gin, and for keeping Susie entertained. She loved watching the people and dogs passing by on the bike path behind our house.

We did manage to fit in 9 holes of golf. Rick beat us this time, but we all had fun.

I know it seems like the weekend was all about the beagle, and let's be honest - it was. But seriously, I absolutely love spending time with my parents, and I am so glad they are willing to drive all the way from Kansas to Idaho to see me.

Shuford-Black Wedding

On May 9 we were in Reno for my nephew Brian's wedding. He married Candi Black at the Peppermill casino. Rick and I drove to Reno on Friday for the wedding and spent the weekend with my sister, Linda, and her husband, Alex (aka Pepi).

The first highlight was seeing my new great nephew - Jenny and Tim's baby boy, Gavin Michael. Here is Gavin with his mom and grandma.

Of course the main event was the wedding. The chapel was decorated so nicely, the ceremony was short and very sweet, and the dinner/reception was fantastic.

We had so much fun at the reception. I caught Linda and Pepi taking pictures of themselves.

Candi's dress was beautiful. Here is the happy couple at the end of a long wedding day.

Grasmere

We probably should have gone to the Riggins Rodeo with Ben and Laura this weekend, but instead we headed south to check out our (hopefully) California Big Horn hunt area. It turned out to be too muddy, so we went over near Grasmere instead. This is a place we have camped before. We fondly refer to it as the "burning wood" place. This time we camped up on a high flat with an incredible view (and an incredible wind.) The red circle on the horizon is our camp. If you look closely you can see our white trailer.

The best part about camping here is the Sheep Cr. canyon. Here are views in both directions.

We also had fun checking out an old homestead. We found some old rusty farm equipment...and a marble.
We're getting pretty good at making moon pies. Ham and cheddar for dinner; apple pie for dessert.

Ben & Laura

Ben and Laura Lopez came for dinner Thursday night. I know Ben from when he worked at HP back in 2005. Now both he and his wife work at BP in Houston. We had a great time hearing their stories about their work industry, training, and international travel. It was so good to see them both again.

April Chucks

Dale visited us for about 2 weeks in April. The main objective while he was here was to get into the desert and hunt rock chucks (a.k.a. yellow mantled marmots.) The desert is so pretty in the springtime. Rick took time off from work, but I am nearly out of vacation time. I did go with them one weekend. Here is our campsite in Cannibal Canyon. I was trying to prevent an allergy attack, but Rick thought it was a hold up.

Our friend Brent joined us Saturday morning.

We hiked out of camp and onto the desert flat. Here's a shot of our camp below.

We hiked up onto one of the canyon rims for a spectacular view of the country below. If you look closely you can see our bikes to the top right of Dale's binoculars.


Of course when we were home...we did puzzles.

Easter

I went to Kansas for Easter. Everyone on my mom's side was there at Grandma's house. Scott drove down from MN. Paul and Jaime drive up from TX. It was great having everyone together. Here we are, the cousins, with Gma.

Mike and Alice got a puppy too - at the same time my parents got Susie! Plato is an adorable long-haired miniature Dachshund. We were thoroughly entertained watching the two puppies play.

Leslie Gulch

Here's why I won't take any more videos with my camera rotated. I can't figure out how to rotate the video. Still, it's an interesting perspective.

I have always heard Leslie Gulch is a great place to go in the spring. We were too early for the wild flowers, but it was still fantastic.