utah summer 2006

andy thought emily needed to know what appropriate hand holding was... emily was appropriately horrified~
Andy, Candice, Mandy, and Emily formed one of our family groups at the park.
There is something i really enjoy- i look at the expressions in each of the following photos and know that these people love me- just look at their faces (well, Mandy is thinking about it- with an expression that reminds me of Ron, i might add...) . I love you too!!!

This is the final group- Dad, Mom, Braden, and Taylor.

my group: Kirk (Dani's husband- she was home being sick, baby #4, and missed out), Ally, Kimmy, and Rissa.

i could not get enough of the trails that followed the river up sundance canyon.

here in texas our river beds are dry- and because of my thoughts regarding this river that is so full of life and the barren one i walk by daily (pun intended???) i wrote this:

Oh River

Oh river that ran in beauty
Your days gave joy!
Working, forging- laughing
Years flowing in meaning
(you were full)

Oh river that ran in faith
Forgotten, empty, cracked
Are you lost now?
Is what you feel…despair?
Do you dream in your loneness
(or are dreams gone too)

Oh river that ran in innocence
I weep for you!
For the days that flee
And the forsaken-
Life that turned away
(i know my tears do not fill you)

Update:
Em read through this poem and said "It's only personification! No metaphors, no similes! What are you really writing about?"
ummm....