My first Hurricane

This is a photo of the website that was tracking the Hurricane. The power went out a few minutes later and I was in the dark till the next morning.

These are a few of the big trees that blew down

in our apartment complex. It was Sunday morning but church was canceled, and I was out cutting up trees with some of the other priesthood brethren so that people could even get out of their driveways. Some places were without power for a week.

Halladays in Virginia

July 3-10, 2011

Katelyn and Thomas steering the God Speed on the James River

The Halladays wearing their armor. Tim's is a bit snug.

The girls with Pocahontas

Gramma and Laura taking the hair off a deer hide.

On the Battleship Wisconsin.

Going under the ocean.

At the very old jail where the pirate Black Beard's men were held before they were hung.

Sun rise at Assateague Island.

The unsinkable Katelyn.

The big, mean, old, hissing, snapping turtle

The ninja crab.

My expert kite flyer.

It started to rain and get a bit chilly but we were not going to leave the beach. Then a big lightning and a loud thunder crackled over the beach from one end to the other. We decided it was a good time to go get lunch.

Tim rented half of a car. It was a lot of fun.

The sunsets on Assateague Island were as good as the sun rises.

The kids' favorite roller coaster ride

Patty had a bit of bad luck skiing down one of the slopes at Busch Gardens.

Tim won Laura a bunch of prizes at Busch Gardens

Karen got a picture of a firefly on mid glow.

Picnic at a lake with Blair and his family.

Reading bed time stories.

One of the bridges in the Governor's Palace gardens.

The Governor's gardens made great run through mazes.

Feeding the seagulls from the James River Ferry.

Looking for Fossils at Chippokes Park on the James River.

Katelyn found the only shark's tooth.

Laura found the largest petrified scallop.

Going out for an scary fogy evening ride through old Revolutionary War battlefields.

Eating our Sweet Frogs' ice cream by the fountain at New Town.

The Barkers in Virginia

Last week Annie, Jeremy, Luke, and Ava came out to Virginia for a visit. We tried to cram a months site seeing into a week.
They flew into DC and we toured Mt. Vernon, the monuments at DC and then headed to Chincoteague for a few days. There we caught turtles and frogs. Swatted a lot of mosquetos, and saw wild ponys, dolphins, seeca deer, white tail deer, skunks, racoons, all sorts of birds, wood chucks, and some snakes.
After leaving Chincoteague we drove across the 17 mile Chesapeeke bay Bridge and tunnel and stopped in Norfolk to see the Battle Ship Wisconsin. The rest of our visit was in the Williamsburg area. There we saw the Jamestown Settlement and got to go on some sailing / pirate ships. Meet Pocahontas, ride across the James River on a Ferry, find sharks teeth, and some fosselized shells. The high light for the kids was a day at Busch Gardens. That was a big hit for all of us. Although the day was hot there was a nice breeze and lots of shade. The big kids got to ride plenty of big rides and the little kids got ride lots of little rides.
We also got to spend time with Blair, Jolie, Sydney, and Sabrena, and have a few out door dinners and do some boating. It was a great week! But by the end everyone was a bit "Bazahausted"!

The Govoner's Palace Garden

Feeding the gulls from the ferry.

Inside a real pirate jail.

Manning the guns.

Little boat - big ocean.

Ava with Pocahontas.

Assateague light house.

Fences don't get in the way with love.

Empty beach at sun rise.

The wind was a bit chilly.



Wild ponies.

Door to the DC Temple.

Mt. Vernon.

We miss you guys already.

Cabin in the Clouds

This week I did not have to work so Patty and I went up to the Shenandoah National Park to stay a night at one of the old cabins on the Appalachian Trail.

On the way to the Cabin we spotted a mama bear with her tiny little spring cub.

To get to the cabin we had to hike in about a mile and on the way out Patty spotted a doe and her yearling that was sprouting his first set of antlers.

They did not seem to mind that we were only twenty feet from them on the trail. Of course we don't have any photos. Our camera quit working that morning.

The view was breathtaking. It was looking down on a small town in the Shenandoah Valley.

This picture was taken just after a thunderstorm swept across the valley.

That night several storms rolled over the far mountains and the light show was beautiful.

We christened this stove "Old Smoky"

We did most of the the cooking out side and the aluminum foil dinners turned out great.
For once I got the Jiffypop just right without burning it.

In the morning the clouds were too lazy to fly and would crawl through the trees and we were in the damp clouds for a short time.

We had a great time and wish you all could have been there with us.