42 YEARS AS A WEEKEND WARRIOR

Quietly he rides off into the sunset! Forty two years of once, twice and sometimes three weekends a month John would quietly and uncomplaining go to guard and serve his country. John doesn't like a lot of fan fair so Friday night he said, "oh by the way the guard is going to have some kind of ceremony for my retirement tomorrow morning at 7:00". I looked at him bewildered. He continued, "and I told them I would bring my wife." I asked him why didn't he tell me sooner so I could tell the kids and he said it was because he didn't want to bother making them get up too early on a Saturday morning to go to it. Well I couldn't do anything about Mike, he's in California and Brandt took his family camping. But I called Natalie and Shannon and we went to the ceremony, we were so glad we did! There were so many wonderful comments about John and how well he served, he was also given several awards. He spoke for a few moments and talked about his journey to this point. I loved how he mentioned his two sons who were also a part of the Army National guard at one time. Natalie and Shannon said, "hey we worked here too!" I guess you could say the Strong family left a mark at the Army National Guard Armory.

WE ARE VERY PROUD OF HIM!

ARMY "STRONG"

Hey Papa John, lets go fishing this weekend!

THE 24TH OF JULY HOLIDAY

The 24th of July in Utah is a very special day. We celebrate the entrance into this valley by the Mormon pioneers. John and I have a great Mormon Heritage that we are very proud of.

The kids wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle in Salt Lake and celebrate the holiday by going to Ephraim and camping out in Grandpa Bill and Grandma Ellen's front yard. So we packed up our things and headed to Ephraim. John thought it would be nice to sleep under the stars so we did'nt take our tent. Bad idea! We got rained on (John would say sprinkled on) we decided to sleep in G & G's trailer (too hot in the house!)

The 24th was a great day. We enjoyed the four wheelers, dinner, fireworks and just being with family.

Saturday wasn't as nice. Grandpa Bill got very ill and we had to take him to the hospital. We are hoping that the procedure they do on him this week will help him feel better. The kids were all very nervous and worried. We sure hope we can keep Grandpa Bill and Grandma Ellen around for many years to come.

Left to Right

Brandt & Soupie's tent, Shannon's tent (Larry was in CA) and Jay and Natalie's tent


Dresden and Collin really concentrating on their DS games

Grand kids playing with Carlee

Going for a ride on the four wheelers

Getting ready for the fireworks (thanks Jay and Natalie)

Watching the fireworks in front of Grandpa and Grandmas

The fireworks were pretty loud!

Two year old Tayler giving her Cousin Collin a hug

Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Strong

Sitting outside just enjoying the weather

BEAR LAKE IN JULY

This weekend our Utah family got to experience what our California family can do all year long. We spent two nights at a camp ground and went to the beach during the day. Mike and Niki went camping this weekend too. They stayed over night at one of their many camp grounds near their home, then they took their trailer home and went for some fun in the sun on the beach. We drove 3 hours to get to Bear Lake, not fair! But the weather was perfect, the warm water was a beautiful blue and we all had a great time.

Idaho State Park, (north end of the lake)

Jay and Natalie got a great deal on a wave runner, everyone had a blast

Shannon had some fun toys for the kids to play on also

Everyone was enjoying the warm water

Soupie, Tayler and Sydney playing in the water

The sand was perfect for castle making (I missed Jay's traditional sand castle) he was having too much fun out on the wave runner so no castle this year

Logan and Dresden

Sydney and Collin (Sydney found tons of mini sea shell)
Papa John and Maya relaxing at the Lake

Tayler was covered from head to toe in the sand, she loved helping the boys dig holes

The Hey ride at our KOA camp ground was pulled by a tractor

Brandt and Tayler at camp

Shannon and Dresden roasting hot dogs

Hand prints reminding us of our 2009 adventure at Bear Lake

CELEBRATING THE 4th

John and I had a really fun holiday with the kids. Brandt and Soupie invited us over for dinner on the 3rd of July. Wow, what great turkey burgers Brandt made! The whole dinner was wonderful and it was so nice to spend some time with them. We missed Carlee, she was away for the evening. She is going to miss our Bear Lake trip too, but I know she will have a lot of fun with the young women at camp.

TAYLER LOVED THE FIREWORKS

On the 4th during the day, Larry had to go to work. Shannon and John worked on her kitchen, so I took the boys to the Murray Park Carnival. I think they had a lot of fun, I know I did watching them. They picked a ride that was a blast, they spun around till they were really dizzy. They played in a couple of bouncing houses. They loved the tug of war while the fire fighters sprayed them with water. They tried out hockey (ps mom, Dresden said he wants to play hockey.) They both scored very high, way to go boys.

DRESDEN & LOGAN LOVED THEIR TREATS

The evening of the 4th John and I enjoyed being with Natalie, Jay, Collin and Sydney. We had Kentucky Fried chicken, John bought some kettle corn and they also had snow cones. You'd think all that sugar would have kept the kids up all night, but by the time the fireworks started we had some tired children on our hands. They worked really hard at staying awake but it was worth it, the fireworks were spectacular. I think the kids had a lot of fun! I know we did! Thanks for the invitation.

NATALIE, COLLIN AND SYDNEY WATCHING THE FIREWORKS

A FOURTH OF JULY TO REMEMBER

My most memorable Independence day that I can remember was when I was flying to Rochester, New York to start my mission for the LDS church on the night of the 4th of July. It was very frightening to say the least. I was already scared and excited all in the same mixed emotions for my new adventure in life, but to have a night of complete terror on a flight that hit turbulence with lighting and thunder was a surprise. I remember seeing the flight attendant crawling on the floor trying to get our food trays back to their place on the plane. I don't know how long the storm lasted, but it felt like eternity, we were rocking and rolling! We had to fly into Syracuse and be bused back to Rochester. It was a long night but one that I will never forget. The Funny thing about this flight was that we were given a card board firecracker as a favor from the airline when we were served our dinner (you'd never see that today). We were all holding onto our firecrackers with fear and trembling. I can laugh about it now!

MEXICO 2009

FAMILY TRIP TO ENCENADA, MEXICO 2009

Top, left to right

Papa John, Mike Strong, Logan Curtis, Cole Strong, Sydney Rudel, Natalie Rudel, Nana Donna

Bottom left to right

Larry Curtis, Jay Rudel, Dresden Curtis, Savannah & Baby Creed Strong, Collin Rudel, Shannon Curtis, Nicole Strong

NANA & PAPA WITH THEIR GRAND KIDS

THE DOLPHINS GREETED US EVERY MORNING AROUND 8:00 A.M.

LA BUFADORA (the blow hole)

WAITING FOR THE WATER TO SPRAY UP!

THEY ALL LOVED IT!

EXCEPT FOR COLE!

ENJOYING THE FIRE OUTSIDE ON THE PATIO AREA

THE GRAND KIDS FAVORITE THING WAS TO BOGEY BOARD

I LOVE THIS PICTURE OF SAVANNAH

(all pictures courtesy of Larry Curtis, thank you, thank you)

COLE'S FAVORITE THING WAS TO PLAY IN THE SAND

WE WANTED OUR CALI FAMILY TO ENJOY OUR FAMOUS SPAGHETTI DINNER

INSIDE THE BAJA HOUSE

WE HAD BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS

The only thing that could have made this trip any better would have been if Brandt, Soupie and the girls could have joined us. We missed them and hope that next time we do this they will be able to be with us. It was a wonderful trip with lots of excitement along the way.