It's nice to have a group of single friends who are so entirely different individually, but who come together with a some common interests and characteristics. I have been fortunate during these "prime" years of my life to have such a group around me, who make being 'single' not so bad on most days. One such is a survivor: a survivor from being my roommate for 3 years (a couple years ago) - not an easy thing to survive...
Becky -
the spunky, funny, light-hearted, spontaneous, compassionate, and strong one of us - turned the big 4-0 and so we girls (and James) headed up to her family's cabin at Fish Lake (middle of Utah) for her long weekend birthday bash. Here's some highlights
(just DON'T forget to watch the video at the end!!)
This is where we did a lot of lounging and reading. There were several elk and deer watching us (and winking at us) hanging on the walls. Inside and out - it was nice and quiet to read, visit, meditate, and relax!
The loft had 4 beds - perfect for a
slumber party! (James slept downstairs...)
Her dad took us out on his pontoon boat on the lake for a relaxing tour. We had fun snapping all sorts of fun pictures and daring each other to jump out and swim in the ice water!
Many of Becky's family came up from Richfield for a delicious dutch oven dinner, cake and homemade ice cream. We gals went in and got her a BBQ Grill for her house and all the 'accessories' she'd need. Later, we sat out by the fire pit hearing hysterial stories from her dad.
Friday we drove through Capital Reef Nat'l Park and had fun taking funny pictures, picnicing on fresh scones, rock scrambling around a waterfall, and taking what we've termed
"Shan Shot" pictures - with us resting our chins on our hands in some place with a view. So here are - amongst the gnats, ants, and rocks- a few of our new ones from THIS trip in random places (the original being at a park in Niagra Falls last summer):
The beautiful grove of aspens was from Saturday morning when we took a long dirt road all the way up the other side of the lake (Mytoga point). The view from up there was amazing, especially watching the dark clouds roll in over the glassy lake. We got back to the cabin just in time for a great rainfall - which SMELLED soooo good! It didn't last long and once again we were back out on the porch reading and visiting.
Overall, it was a nice weekend away together. We each had lots on our minds and enjoyed the "slowing down" of life for a bit in nature - time to think, laugh, read, and play.
On the way home, the roof cargo carrier opened up and my bag of bedding flew out into the desert outside Glendale. All was recovered, and the cargo carrier was tossed into the dumpster at the gas station. A comical ending to a nice weekend with the girls!
NOW for the most COMICAL part of our entire trip:
Becky's "School's Out For Summer" blooper!
For my niece Katie's 16th birthday (July 16), I took her up to see Tarzan at Tuahcan. We got there just in time, so we didn't have to sit in the heat of the sun, although without the breeze at times, it got very warm! The costumes and use of ziplines for vines were fantastic, but I have to admit that I asked Katie afterwards why they didn't include this song or that character - she informed me that I was thinking of the JUNGLE BOOK. I think the Jungle Book would have been a more exciting play! I guess I've never really seen Tarzan, the movie!!! It was really good and we enjoyed our time. We stayed at Shirley's (in Santa Clara) for the night and then enjoyed doing some shopping and eating in town before heading back to Vegas. 
