Sequoia Photos!!!

We had a fabulous time camping in the Sequoias. It's just beautiful there and the weather was perfect! We camped at Dorst Campground, roughly in the middle of the park. Got a great spot that backed up to a gorgeous meadow, so nobody was camping behind us. The kids are also so excited to set up their sleeping bags in the tent! We stopped at Lost Grove and did a bit of hiking and checking out the Sequoia Trees before we set up camp. We spotted a black bear in the camp the first night. The kids were excited!!


Our first day was spent hiking through the forest, seeing all the touristy sites and looking at lots and lots of huge trees! A trip wouldn't be complete without a drive through tunnel log!

We stopped at Lodgepole to check out the Kaweah River. So beautiful. Can you just see Craig scoping out the best fishing spots?

On the way back from Lodgepole, I...with my eagle eye...spotted this cutie black bear rooting around for grubs. I made Craig stop the car in mid-drive and back up and pull off so I could get some pics!!




Our campground was under mountain lion watch the whole time we were there. The night before we arrived, a mountain lion killed a deer in the campground loop right across from us. Killed it right in the middle of a campsite. Our first night after we went to bed, we heard the dogs from 4 campsites down start barked. And then we heard a very loud snarl. Okay, so the mountain lion was real! The rangers were very very serious when they showed us how to protect our necks and throats if attacked. It made a big impression on my 6 year old!!!

Hume Lake was next for fishing and swimming. We fished over by the dam...and caught jack squat!! A good lesson in patience for the kids. Ha!!

We had lunch and played by the river. Despite the 500 warnings that the rocks were slippery...sure enough Kevin slipped and slid down a bunch of rocks and ended up in a little pool of water. Kinda funny to watch..we tried to play it off like he made his own water slide. He wasn't buying it!

After swimming in the lake, we stopped at a little turn off by the edge of the lake. Craig wanted to try fishing again while the sun was getting low in the sky. And sure enough, we caught some whoppers!! Here is Kevin's first fish!

The next day was a free day. Whatever the kids wanted to do...after taking a shower! We went back to Lodgepole and hiked around the Kaweah River. Craig wanted to try fishing again. We found a nice spot by the river and Craig found a big log that he was sure the fish were hiding under. And we caught a few rainbow trout...not huge but we were excited!



We were also treated to these visitors everynight at the campsite. Some even showed up in the morning. The last night we were there, 5 deer were in the meadow behind us, just snacking away.

We did lots of walking and hiking and the kids did great! We had smores and campfires and stories and loads of fun. We did not want to come home, but such is life. We will definitely be going back!

WIP Exclusive sketch

I did this layout last night using an exclusive sketch from Janelle Richmond on the Work In Progress blog. I enjoy stalking Janelle's Sketch This blog and this sketch was a great one as well!! Check out the Work In Progess blog, they have some great ideas, eye candy, and their kits look amazing!!


We are off to the Sequoia National Forest today. A week of camping, fishing, making smores, maybe a black bear sighting and so much more!!! Talk to you all when I get home!

Happy Birthday!!!

I'm sure it is somebody's birthday today. Nobody I know (and if there is, i'm hugely embarassed that I forgot!), but somebody out there is celebrating. This card is for you!!

Come chat with us!!!

Scrapbooker's Club House is proud to introduce...Vicki Boutin!!! She's going to be at the clubhouse!!!

Announcing our NEXT Celebrity Q&A Chat for June 30th!

We invited Canadian Scrapbook artist, teacher and Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame (2006) winner Vicki Boutin to participate in a "Celebrity Q&A Chat” at Scrapbooker’s Club House. To our delight, she said it sounded like fun and she’d be happy to answer questions!

Scrapbooker’s Club House will be posting the “Celebrity Question and Answer Chat” with Vicki on June 30th, 2008.

That morning, questions asked by scrapbookers are posted along with Vicki’s thoughtful answers in an easy interview format that’s unique to Scrapbooker’s Club House. The Q&A Chat format at SBCH allows the interview to remain conveniently in place on our Forum for you to read, enjoy and refer back to at your convenience. Convenience is soooo important in these busy times, don’t you think?

Pop on by the Club House on June 30th to learn more about this scrapper extraordinaire, who is a member of MULTIPLE Design Teams including Sassafrass Lass, Scenic Route and Daisy d’s. Vicki is also a member of BHG’s Scrapbooks Etc…Creative Team.

Everyone is welcome to come and learn more about Vicki, her creative inspiration and her artistic eye. Here’s the link where you can find the Celebrity Q&A Chat on June 30th.

Our community extends the warm hand of friendship to all newcomers. You’ll enjoy the Q&A Chat and you’ll love what you’ll find at the Club House: a sense of camaraderie and lots of scrappy goodness! Mark your calendar! Feel welcomed and comfortable at Scrapbooker’s Club House: we know you’ll want to stay!

Reveal Time!!!

It's reveal day again over at Scrapbooker's Club House. This month we worked with some beautiful paper from Kaiser Crafts called Jade's Garden. It was just beautiful double sided paper. We also got some fun bling and flowers from Kaiser Crafts as well. Here are my layouts!!




And you might want to come on over to SBCH. We are having a celebrity chat tomorrow, June 25th. We will be having a question and answer chat with Carolyn Peeler. Stop by the clubhouse to see what's going on tomorrow!

Our newest friend

Ever since we put out the bird feeder that Kevin made, we've had many new visitors to the backyard. One of my favorites is the squirrel. I'm pretty sure it's the same one that comes back day after day to get the food from the feeder. He's getting pretty bold. At times, he will hang from his hind feet and put his face in the feeder and shovel in the seeds! This morning he was eating from the seeds that spilled on the ground. I used my zoom lens to get close enough without scaring him away. What a cutie!!






All was good until my kids peeked their heads out the back door and yelled...Mom!! Are you getting any good pictures????? That's when the photo opt came to a screeching halt. I did manage to get a few good ones!

Page Plans

Have you seen this new sketch blog??? It's called Page Plans and it's pretty cool. I tried the card sketch this week. I needed a bunch of thank you cards and this was perfect. Here's the sketch:

And here's my card...not exactly like the sketch but definitely inspired by it.


Check out Page Plans!!! You will be bookmarking it for sure!