Critter’s Family Adventures

The month of May has been very busy for us. I feel like all we have been doing is coming and going and doing. Mother’s Day weekend was interesting. I wish I could say really nice but Pap Bear and I came down with colds that we think turned into allergies for me. But we did get to go and see the annual Mother Lode Parade and watch my brother ride his horse.

Mother’s Day I felt so bad that Papa Bear let me sleep in. When I did finally get up he asked me what I wanted for breakfast and was so surprised by the idea it took me several minutes to answer. Finally all four of us had pancakes. Mine were plain while everybody else had chocolate chip.

This was also the end of Pap Bear being home for eight days on vacation. We mostly spent the day home trying to get better and enjoying each other’s company.

Last Friday, the 15th we had our trusty concrete guys come out and start doing the dirt work for our retaining wall so we can have the cement poured and our landscaping officially started.

This is the start of the retaining wall looking straight at it.

This is looking at the retaining wall from the front right side. You can get a little better idea of how much of the hill of dirt we took out.

So after having the cement guys here all day that Friday and then waiting two days for the county to come out and do their inspections we finally poured concrete on this last Friday, the 22nd.

This is what the area looks like now. Now we just need the time to get the blocks all set in. We have over 20 pallets of block in the back yard right now. Two and half of those are just for this project. As soon as this one is finished we have to start a new one and that one will be much bigger. The way the lots are here in our subdivision we have to put retaining walls around to keep the hill and the backyards behind us from coming down on us. And now that we have started we can’t really stop until we are done, hopefully before winter or the rains come again.

But as many of you might have noticed we are now nearing the end of May here which means Fire Season has started. They have already tried sending Papa Bear south three or four times.

In the middle of all of this and Papa Bear being stuck at work for most of one weekend we decided to take the girls to Yosemite and see what the Falls look like this year. So on the 17th Papa Bear came home that morning and we loaded up and headed out. We took some really beautiful shots and the girls really enjoyed the views. Silly Girl was excited to see several deer, some pretty close and even one black bear while driving home around Crane Flat.

These are several pictures that Papa Bear took and then used some software to “stitch” them together to make them look like a panoramic. My favorite is the three brothers in the middle.

Lil’ Monster was so excited to get out of the car when we got there. Yosemite Falls was so beautiful and had so much water that we parked and let the girls out to stretch their legs. As you can see Lil’ Monster was really enjoying herself.

The first one of Silly Girl is right after we drove in. The second of all of us is on our way home. I thought it would be nice to get at least one picture from Lil’ Monsters level for once.

This is right in front of the bridge (you notice it behind Papa Bear) at the Lower Yosemite Falls. It was so beautiful there. The wind was a blowing and misting us. The water felt good after walking all the way up but once there we were starting to cool of a little too much. The girls and I were getting cold.

This is also the trip that we found out we need to make sure we don’t forget the chariot’s handle bar. Without it we couldn’t use Lil’ Monster’s stroller.

But all in all the month of May has been a nice mixture of crazy busy and mellow.

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President Benson’s Top Ten List

(Ezra Taft Benson, :Strengthen Thy Takes’,: Ensign, Jan 1991, 2)
1. We must be a "light" of the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. The Savior commanded, "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Ne. 27:27.)
2. We must seek for opportunities to share the gospel message with others. Member missionary work is the key to the future growth of the Church, and it is one of the great keys to the individual growth of our members.
3. We should do all we can to help prepare our sons and grandsons to serve missions. Each boy should have a mission savings account.
4. Our homes should be places of refuge, love, and harmony. Under the direction of the father, each family should have prayers, gospel study, and family home evenings.
5. We should seek for the blessings and ordinances of the temple. This means that we are keeping the commandments of the Lord-honesty, integrity, personal chastity-and sustaining the Lord's priesthood leadership. This also means that the brethren are worthy to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood.
16. We have an obligation to do temple work for our kindred dead. This means that we will do the necessary research in order for their names to be sent to the temples. We cannot be exalted without being eternally linked to our ancestors.
7. As families we should strive to be self-reliant. Since 1936, members of the Church have been instructed to have in storage a one-year supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. This enables us to survive loss of employment, loss of income, or even calamity, as spoken of in the revelations.
8. Priesthood holders need to provide watch care over quorum members and their families through organized home teaching. We should have an interest in every fellow member of the Church to whom we may be assigned and who does not fully participate in Church activity.
9. We should participate in the programs and activities of the Church-keep the Sabbath as a holy day, attend our meetings, accept callings extended to us, and magnify those callings. Give service willingly; I promise you will have great joy.
10. Every adult member should be a full-tithe payer and contribute a generous fast offering.

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