Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Father's Day

This year's Father's Day was difficult for me.  My dad is still not home following his February 17th surgery and is currently in a rehab facility/nursing home.  It smells bad and the food is terrible.  He is slightly depressed (maybe even more than slightly) and not improving as fast as we had hoped.  As a family, we all went down to see him and took strawberry shortcake as a treat.  The children ran around outside in the rain (wettest and lowest high for June 19th on record) while the adults hung out on the patio under cover.

We are fervently praying for Grandpa De's recovery.  Dad always adds humor and interest to our family gatherings and he has been sorely missed.  We want him home and up and doing.

We had ice cream sandwiches for the children.
Blythe wore hers well.



Christopher and Grandpa De.

Lyla licking the plate of left-over strawberry shortcake.
She liked it!


A Family Reunion

In the company of my mom and Aunt Georgianne, I took the children to a family reunion on Saturday.  It was the family of my great-grandmother Georgina Mordue Richard's sister, Elizabeth Mordue Sorensen.  Aunt Lizzie left England and her family to travel to Utah when she was only thirteen.  I had hoped to hear more about that trip and her experiences, but learned upon arrival that the reunion was held largely to try and patch up bad feelings between siblings and their descendants.  Apparently one of Lizzie's sons had a falling out with the family, left, changed the spelling of his name from Sorensen to Sorenson, and never had anything to do with anyone thereafter.  A sister wanted to gather people together to bridge the rift.

As I am the great-granddaughter of the sister of the mother/grandmother of the people at the reunion, I naturally knew no one.  However, the reunion was held at Young Living Lavender Farm in Mona, and the invitation promised fun activities for children.  Turns out that the farm is beautiful, there were lots of things to do, and we all had a great time.  I met a man who works with my brother-in-law Craig, and the best friend of the guy I was certain I was going to marry throughout my mission.  He recognized my maiden name.  There was a fun western village playground, paddle boats, animals (elk, bison, ponies, and camels), old farming equipment and wagons.  The children ran and ran and had a glorious time.  Brandt even asked, "Mom, can we come back here again?"  We probably will, and I won't even wait for another family reunion.

Rock throwing into the pond.

The super gross pond water we floated on.

Blythe and Grandma Sue in a paddle boat.

Mom and Brandt in another paddle boat.
Because I have been biking so much, I figured that peddling the paddle boat would be no big deal.
Hah!
The pedal rotation on the boat is much smaller than on a bike and I quickly felt my knees begin to complain.

My paddle boat partner and steer-er.   

When Grandma Sue was done, Blythe joined our boat for a short time.  
Like about a minute and a half.

Another water feature and surrounding buildings.  
Isn't it pretty?
Almost picturesque one might say.

Brandt feeding a pony.

Blythe wanted to feed a pony too, but not if it meant that the pony's mouth would touch her hand.

Here is a funky old piece of farm equipment.
Brandt asked, "Mom, what is this?"
I had no idea.
It looked sort of like a hay baler of some sort, but I'm not sure.
Didn't stop the children from climbing up and manipulating all the controls.

Look at that concentration.

There must be a medieval festival or something held at the farm.
There were spots to do archery and axe throwing, there were all the English looking buildings, and a jousting arena, and Brandt found a helmet and sword.  
He put on the helmet, picked up the sword, and before Grandma and I could get out, "Be careful with the sword," he had inadvertently whacked Blythe on the side of the head with it.
He sure looks the part of a brave knight.


 
This is the "jail car," one of many old pieces of transportation.
I found it ironic that my children were drawn to the cage-like car when I frequently consider them wild animals.  
Too appropriate.

My Little Bug

Swam on Saturday.
Blythe looked like a bug.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Capital Reef, Part 2

There really isn't a part two of our Capital Reef experience, I just have more pictures to post.
"More pictures?!" you gasp.
I know.  I posted like 74 pictures, but then Heidi sent me other so cute ones, I had to include those too.

I had to.
And there are only 20 in this post.
I'm actually in some of these shots--because someone else is taking the picture.

Another one of these shots that slay me.

Preparing salad.  
Did I mention how well we ate?

I think this guy is as handsome as his son, especially in that hat.
Maybe it's the hat.



Three very silly adults.

What a grouch face.


No grouch face here--just sweet, sticky goodness.


Brandt loves these boys.  
I think he feels big when he is around them, and they are good to him.

Only sweet faces here.

The Tanners: Jack, Heidi, Simon, and Darren

Our whole family hiking on the trail.
Well, most of us are hiking.


Heidi suggested we wade a bit in the Fremont River to cool off our feet post hike.

Looking at petroglpyhs.

Jack, Brandt, and Blythe putting on a show on a stage outside a malt shop where we stopped for ice cream.
They don't really need a stage.


Heidi's shots of the four kids weren't much better than mine.
Why is cooperation so difficult? 

Saturday, June 18, 2011

"Camping" at Capital Reef

We had a mini vacation this week.  On Tuesday we headed southeast to Torrey and Capital Reef.  We spent three days with the Tanners hiking, swimming, and cooking in dutch ovens.  It was a super fun trip.  Torrey is only three hours away so we didn't have too far to go.  We stayed in a cabin with electricity, a TV, and a little bathroom so we had the necessary "conveniences," but we made most of our meals with the Tanners so we had a "camping" experience.  Kent's idea of camping is staying at a Holiday Inn with an indoor heated pool, so the cabin was roughing it enough for him.  The campground where we stayed had a pool, but it was neither indoor nor heated.  Heidi saw them filling it with a hose one morning.  It was cold (really cold), but the children didn't seem to mind too much.

We love the hiking at Capital Reef.  On Wednesday we hiked to Hickman Bridge, a natural arch.  The hike is only about a mile one way, but the beginning is steep and strenuous.  Brandt was a super hiker, walking on his own the whole way.  In fact, he was in the lead up and back.  He did ask me to carry him as we were headed back, but I told him he was far too heavy and he would have to go on his own.  I encouraged him by telling him how tough, how big, and how strong he was.  Blythe got carried most of the way.  Fortunately, she still doesn't weigh thirty pounds soaking wet so giving her a "piggy ride back" (as she calls it) wasn't horrible.  It wasn't easy, but it wasn't horrible.  The arch is beautiful and the landscape around the area is very dramatic.  There is a lot of black volcanic rock, but also pitted rock faces and striated red and yellow rock.  The cactus was in bloom too.  All lovely.  Not so lovely were tiny gnats that buzzed around our faces and into our ears driving us mad.

That same day we stopped to look at some petroglyphs that were largely concentrated along a stretch of rock wall.  There were people and animals depicted, and fairly easy to see.  Not so easy to photograph, but I did get a few shots.

On Thursday morning, following breakfast, we hiked for a bit in the Grand Wash.  This is a flat wash with very dramatic sheer rock walls on both sides.  The floor of the wash is sandy but strewn with many rocks.  Simon found a geode and that got us all searching for interesting rocks and crystals.  We found petrified wood, more geodes, and Heidi claimed to have found some corprolite (petrified dinosaur poop).  Brandt was delighted with that discovery and  made me put the specimen in my bag.  Blythe worked almost constantly on her "rock collection."  Every three steps she would bend down and pick up several rocks, carry them for a few feet, then stop and pile them up.  Three steps further on she would repeat the process--select, transport, pile.  We spent lots of time on both hikes chasing lizards.

I am happy to report that the children loved our outing, and before we left, Brandt said, "Mom, can we come here again?"  Jack and Simon want to go again as well.  In fact, the day after we got home, they found a fallen tree limb which they stripped of leaves and hacked up for kindling, for our next trip.  We had such a good time we may need to go again before the summer ends.


Heidi is making blackberry roll-ups for dessert in the dutch oven.
She is using a can of Sprite as a rolling pin.
She's not just a pretty face.

The Tanner's cabin.

Kent, at his leisure.

Yummy, yummy dutch oven potatoes.  
I might have had three helpings.

Heidi, working on her heat.
See those steaks?
Delicious.  
I might have had three helpings of steak too.

Blythe hiding behind Kent's hat. 

 

The children had a hard time staying away from the fire.

Making s'mores.
We are toasting enormous marshmallows.


Blythe didn't like the marshmallow. 
She did like the chocolate and graham crackers though.




Not only beautiful during the day, the moon was full too.

While hiking--  
Brandt and Simon trying to catch a lizard.


Brandt on the trail, in the lead.


Heidi, Darren, Kent, and Blythe behind us on the trail.


Brandt leading the way.

 
Capital Dome on the left.



Doesn't Blythe look tiny?
She is.







 





Heidi and Darren having a rest in the shade of a very small tree.









 





Swimming after our hike--




Heidi and Darren reading while the children swam.

Blythe didn't want to be in the water so much.
She hid under the towels.

The Grand Wash hike--



This picture kills me.  



I tried three times to get a picture of the kids.  
None of them worked.  

Another picture that kills me.
I LOVE these two.

Here is Blythe working on her rock collection.

 
Two collection piles.




More lizard chasing.



A happy family on a happy hike. 


This rock collection made us laugh.
Blythe ringed Kent's hat with rocks.