I am Thankful for Families

A few of my favorite people walked around the lake this morning.  Jeff's Ben spied these cormorants from quite a distance.  My camera confirmed he was correct in his identification.

I love walking with Ben.  He is a fountain of the most interesting knowledge.  We revisited this thorn tree.

These thorns go all the way up the tree.  We found a second tree a short distance away that isn't as big, but it has the same thorny projections.

This looks so fake, but Ben has convinced me that this is a real tree.  Besides, I can't figure out how someone could make the thorn thumbs.  Using all my resources, I can't seem to identify it.

My father used to know the names of any and all trees I saw, and bugs, too.  No one in our group today knew why this tree had red berries. I thought at first that this was mistletoe, but I know that mistletoe has white berries, and these berries are part of the tree, not parasites.

Jane and Luke left the paved walk on a side trail.

They hustled back after finding a hornet nest.

The purported purpose of our outing was to walk Hank.  The truth was that with or without him, we were going on a walk.

The kids took me down a trail to their new favorite nature finding:  an elephant tree.  I asked them to climb it, which they did with a little help.  (Bugs caused some concern.)

We had a fun few minutes, I took a picture, and then we had a discussion about how to get down.  Jeff enabled that effort.

It was at this point that Ben found a bug perfectly camoflaged on a piece of bark.

A discussion ensued as to whether this was actually a bug versus a piece of bark.  When I sided with Ben, the verdict was in.

Ben and I discussed names for this critter.  I suggested Camo.  Ben settled on Cameron.  Ben carried the bark for the next mile and a half with Cameron apparently believing he was still undetected.

Why doesn't a seagull fly over the bay?

Because then it would be a baygull.
I love walking with Ben.

These three walked and laughed and raced and had a wonderful time.

Ben pointed out these mud hens.

I love taking pictures of kids on bridges.

Cameron soon realized the jig was up and started walking around on the bark.  Ben decided to leave him in a safe place.  Bye, Cameron.

I do my best to take aim at beautiful objects of nature.  Sometimes there is an equal and opposing object of nature just entering the viewfinder.

We stopped for a few minutes to visit with Beau, Hank's good friend.

Then, we headed home so we could get ready for church.

We met Kate and her siblings as we arrived.

Ella and Kate took excellent care of Ben during sacrament meeting.

After church, Papa and I took Jane and Luke home with us.  Jane borrowed my camera and spied on Luke and Ben.

She's becoming quite the photographer.

Jill attended her grandfather's funeral this weekend.  Jane and I made a creation of flowers for her since we knew she was returning in time for dinner.  The boys found the sticks.  Corinne collected the flowers from her garden.

I love watching these three cousins play together.

We lost Ben and Luke for a few minutes.  Guess where we found them.

Just in the nick of time, dinner was ready.  Corinne took the peas.

Jeff smoked a turkey.  I loved it.  Others thought the brine was too strong.  Who can account for taste?

Jeff made gravy stock from the back bones of the bird in a pressure cooker. My mother and both of my grandmothers smiled down on Jeff's gravy tonight.  Corinne's sourdough dressing was out of sight.

Dessert was Blue Bell.  Once in awhile, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.