Conference

Wasn't conference great?!  One of my favorite parts was the quick peek the camera gave us of Elder Archuletta singing in the Missionary Choir right at the end of the closing song.

Shark

My grandson, Calvin, is so smart.  He told us all on a recent blog post that, "Shart . . bite . . you!"  He was right.  It always makes me a little nervous being in an ocean for that reason.  Sharks are big and scary.  But why should a little kid like Calvin know about sharks being scary?

So after he taught us about the dangers of sharks I had a thought pop into my mind.  I wanted to rescue Calvin from a long life of scary shark thoughts.  I remembered a soft, cuddly, furry, cute, small, friendly-looking shark around our house a long time ago.  Right away I headed downstairs to search through the deep dark recesses of the basement (that's a little scary too!).  I didn't have to look very far.  It wasn't too far back in the dark.  And voila, I found it. 

This stuffed shark has lived peacefully with us for many years.  And never once did I have to tell the kids that this  . . . . . Shark . . . bite . . . you. 

Well the next time we had a video call with our sweet little Calvin I was sure to have our nice shark on hand.  I made sure Calvin was looking at the monitor and I pulled out the shark.  He loved it and seemed glued to the screen.  (This was probably the first time I ever had his undivided attention during a video chat.)  It was a hit.  He kept asking to see the shark.  So guess what?  After determining the original owner of the nice shark was Evan - we decided that when we head up to Utah next time we are going to take the shark with us and give it to Calvin.  He deserves having a soft, cuddly, furry, cute, small, friendly-looking shark. 

Thunderbird Trail

I watched Billie for a few days while Mom was in Utah.  It went pretty good.  I decided on Friday to take Billie on a field trip.  We wanted to see the progress on the Phoenix Temple.  The Thunderbird Trail is very close to the new temple.  So we thought we'd also take a walk/hike on the trail for a little exercise and fresh air. 

We loaded in the car.  I took the leash, some water, and the camera.  Then we were off.  We got out of the car when we got to the temple and discovered that the viewing area is only opened at noon - it was only 9ish.  So that was suddenly off the list of things to do.  All we could see was this huge crane through the opened gate.
 

We drove the quarter mile or so to the parking lot for Thunderbird Trail.  We got out of the car and were off.  I had been there once before and thought I remembered it being pretty level and not too rocky.  I thought Billie could handle that.  And sure enough she did great.  There were a couple spots that had big step-ups.  But Billie was a trooper and did great.  She did so much sniffing that she was in smell heaven! 

And everyone, did I say everyone?  Everyone loved seeing Billie.  They did baby talk to her and said how cute she was.  She was a hit - for sure.  We didn't go too far - then we turned around and went back.  It was a great outing - for both of us.

The only negative that I can think of is that Billie got very very dirty.  The Thunderbird Trail was indeed a dirt trail so there was dust flying with every footstep/pawstep.  Billie's belly is a low-rider so she came home a couple shades darker than she left.  But she was very cooperative and let me put her in my tub and spray her off. 

That is my story about our hike on the Thunderbird Trail.