Happy Happy Birthday Morgan Dear and Falls and Flowers

Today is Morgan's 24th Birthday. Wow, it doesn't seem like she could be so grown-up, but then again, she's married and has a baby - so she'd better be. All of you know that Morgan is happiest in a crowd - the bigger the better, and if there are cousins at hand, so much the better.

When Morgan was little, she didn't have friends that lived nearby, so she had to create her own little play world with dolls, popples, mickey mouse, and kitty-cats. She truly could enjoy herself even if she had to do all the playing and talking herself.
Now she has other people to love and care for.

But of course, she still has her cats.

Happy Birthday Morgan! We love you and hope your birthday is happy and wonderful. Love, Mom, Dad, and Zack and all the Baums up here.

Last week, Zack brought me a robin's nest. The poor robin had built her nest in the engine area of the tractor that got was stuck in the mud. They discovered the nest and of course the robin couldn't stay there so she flew away and lost her eggs. Now I have them. I put the nest on a bush so it would look more natural and then I took the picture.

Yesterday we went to cave falls for a little Yellowstone experience. We had fun and the river was so full - I've never seen it that high. It was very misty and cool.
Seth taking in the Fall river view.

A good shot of the falls.

Seth and Zack at the lookover.

Skipping rocks across the river.

Some of the Flora and Fauna of the area.

This is Arrowleaf Balsam Root

A rockchuck that Zack spotted. This little guy had two friends with him.

I believe this was a Common Camas. This is as close as we got because they grow in wet meadows. This species is sometimes so frequent as to color entire meadows blue-violet.

Like this. Indians pit-roasted the bland bulbs with other leaves, and also boiled them, which yielded a good syrup. from the Field Guide to North American Wildflowers.

Now for some pictures of my flowers. These are beautiful columbine on the garage west wall.

Also gorgeous Russell Lupine.

A beauteous iris. . .

Two more.

A bodacious peony.

And a striking oriental poppy.

And lastly, a shot of one of my containers.
I have been gardening like mad, and am wearing myself out, I surely am in desperate need of a vacation. See you all soon.

Here Comes the Sun!

This morning just about when Alan got up (just after 5:00 am), he looked outside and saw a beautiful sunrise. He quickly grabbed the camera and took about 15 shots. These are four of them. the view is toward the east, northeast looking up toward the Yellowstone area. Those blue mountains at the left are in Yellowstone.

This was the first picture he took.

He sped up the shutter speed and let in less light on this one.This one was taken with a slower shutter speed. You can see the color of the fields in this picture.

This one was adjusted once he got it on the computer. The blue sky really shows up, but he said it was still much more red and the rays were much better in real life.
Just thought you would like to see some pretty pictures.

Happy Birthday to Zack

Today was Zack's 18th birthday. It was very normal and ordinary for Zack. Work, work, work, and then best of all he got to go to the podiatrist to have his ingrown looked at. What a happy treat. Zack and Seth went to Rexburg and they got blizzards treats after they saw the doctor. Then they got some peat moss for my flower beds and then came home. We made a birthday cake and got things ready for a birthday party cookout. Hamburgers, potato salad, green salad, watermelon, grapes, and strawberries, chips and salsa. Oh and ice cream too. Neopolitan. Just thought you all would like to hear about our day. Here are some pictures of Zack just to remind everyone of what a fun boy he is and how he has changed over the years.

Zack when he was about 12. Christmas time at Grandma Baum's

Zack running at the Idaho Falls Cross country invitational last September. Whitney ran so hard to get this picture. Thanks Whit.

Zack when he was about 3 yrs old eating spaghetti. He was a very messy eater. He would get so tired eating, he would have to have a nap right after. Sometimes right on the table.

Zack with a rhubarb leaf on his head eating watermelon. Why the leaf? Because he could.
Just a really cute picture of him. about 12 or 13 yrs old.

Another really cute picture of him. About 2 and 1/2 yrs old.

Zack's 3rd or 4th grad picture.

Now he is 18 he has to do his civic duty and patriotic duty too. He must register for the selective service and also register to vote. Grandma Baum says she hopes he knows which party to register with.

Zack in his bedroom under the stairs. I know someone else who had to sleep under the stairs and he turned out to be very special too.

Preparing for Zack's party today. Seth, AA, Roni and Shelley.

It was a beautiful evening.

Zack pretending to blow out his candles.

He's looking so much more mature now that he is 18. Don't you think?

Happy Birthday to our Sweet Zack.

Good and Bad Happenings and Old Pictures

This week started out calm and beautiful. Tuesday Alan and Zack went up to the Clark place in Squirrel to work a field and plant a little alfalfa. Zack found a wet spot and sunk the Case 9380 up to its axels. I was so glad I wasn't there! The next day they went up to pull it out. They used two huge chains and a doubled cable and the other tractor, which just happened to be at Harshbarger's farm just down the road. These are some of the pictures. The Grand Teton is just at the left of the tractor cab. It didn't show up very well in the picture.

Stuck!!

No traction at all.
Getting ready to pull!

What a mess!

Now for the good news. Parker Valora is getting married on the 27th of June in Ancorage Alaska.
His fiance, Emily Ann Owen is from there I guess. They will be having an openhouse in Orem sometime in August. Thought you all would like to know.

Here are some old pictures I wanted to share with everyone. Get ready to copy.

Jamie, Morgan, and Julie after a dance receital in May 1992?

I don't know what these two were doing, but I do know that it was at a bonfire and we were using the longest marshmallow roasters I've ever seen. I will have to post a picture of them some other time. I'm thinking this was summer of 1994.

This is summer 1987. Our beautiful models are from the left: Jamie in an apron over her bluejeans overalls, Morgan in a lovely red shift, and Julie in a stunning blue something or other. Mostly other.

The boys of summer. Jack, Alex and Miles. This is one of the best pictures ever. Doesn't that Alex just make you want to pick him up and squeeze him?

Rachel sticking out her tongue. Madi's response: disgust. Zack's response: Wow!, that's pretty long.

Camping Banner I have no idea what was in her mouth. Did we take suckers camping?

One of my all time favorite pics. Noah, Ben, Whitney, Morgan, Miranda, and Leslie at the Yellowbrush Flat camp. This was July 1991.

The Frito Bandito strikes again. i don't know why I have this picture. It should be with Elizabeth. Halloween 1981.

I'm not going to say where this picture was taken or when, Can anyone guess what Sara was holding?