You put in tent in...didn't you?

As it turned out, neither one of us did, so our pick up stone, camp out, see the leaves and hike trip didn't turn out quite as planned.  Hurrying really fast to get ready doesn't make you more efficient!  If it hadn't been so windy and cold, we would have just slept out, but cold wind and sand blowing down your back isn't all that pleasant.  We did get the stone, so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip.  Saturday morning we decided to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and salvage the plan with a trip to see the leaves and get back in time for the other things that were happening that day.  The leaves were kind of random.  Must have had a hard, early freeze in some places.  There were leaves totally brown on and off the trees, others just kind of dulled and still hanging on, and here and there a beautiful bright spot that we loved to see.  Just getting out together is always a good thing.  Enjoyed dinner and Women's broadcast with Weed that evening after the stake baptism.

Earlier in the week: for FHE we hiked to the Vortex with the Fawson family.  He was checking out a possible site for a youth  activity.  We ended up coming out in the dark, but it was a fun evening with good folks.  A couple of evenings I visited pack meetings.  One was an amazing Arrow of Light ceremony for 4 boys. Should have had a camera there. It was a good week despite some back pain that I am trying to get under control.  Stayed home from church with a fever and had to miss the family dinner...bummer.  Did get in some good reading time.  

Cub Day Camp, Zion bike & hike

Yesterday Paul and I spent the morning having a blast at Cub Scout Day Camp.  We got to help run the rock climbing wall.  We were harnessing, encouraging and giving climbing tips to about 350 boys as quickly as we could run them through.  They had a blast and couldn't get enough of it. Paul and I also took a turn before and after the boys were there.  It was my first time and I was really surprised that I could make it up. I did choose the easy route.  I wished I could have tried the medium and hard ones, but we had no time. I had some great help with 9 of my hoped for volunteers making it out to spend the morning helping wherever they were needed!  

After that we took off to Zion and rode bikes up to the Grotto where we locked them up and hiked up to Emerald Pools seeing lower, middle and upper pools in the process.  At the middle pool we saw people just finishing up their canyoneering trip down Behunin Canyon.  At the upper pool we watched another group finishing up their final rappel out of Heaps Canyon down a 285 cliff.  It was really cool.  We finished up the hike and then rode back down to our car.  We did stop once to wade in the river.  It was crazy because a month ago that wading spot was up to our neck and now, because of all the rain, sand had washed down and filled it up until it was only up to our ankles.  It was a beautiful, crystal clear day with perfect weather.  

The middle picture is the slot they are coming down.  The other pictures show the rappel in progress.

Other beautiful landscapes and interesting critters. 

Happy Birthday Lou - #38

Brady and Ellie had planned, on paper, and then put the plan into action to create a special birthday party for their mom.  They did a great job!  Paul, me, Grandma and Bean got to join them for the fun and good food. It was a really nice evening and we came away with some of Bryan's amazing onions and other home grown/produced goodness from the garden and chickens.  Thanks for letting us help celebrate!  We love you Lou!  So glad you survived all of our bumbling efforts as you started us off on parenthood so many years ago!

It had been a busy day at the Randall's before we got there with lots of kids' activities.  Brady modeled the knight helmet he had made earlier at one of the activities.  Pretty cool.

Enjoying Snow Canyon...whatever the weather!

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."

~John Ruskin

I'm cannot say that I have gotten to the point of totally agreeing with this quote, but last week we had chances to experiment on some of it and sunshine and rain, in moderation of course, were both greatly enjoyed out at Snow Canyon.  Saturday evening we went out to the Overlook to read the Sunday School lesson and got so distracted by the rain that it just didn't happen.  We could see some amazing waterfalls coming off the cliffs.  Then we decided to go over to Kayenta (along with a lot of other people) and the waterfalls over there were going like crazy...had no camera of any kind with us unfortunately.  Monday morning it was raining again and since Paul couldn't really work, we just decided to take a walk out at Snow Canyon.  We had on our rain gear and had a great walk.  We went up the West Canyon gravel road and saw so many waterfalls! Then we went across the Lava Tube trail and back down the paved trail where we saw more waterfalls on that side of the canyon. The camera got too humidified and quit working, so we didn't get hardly any pictures...again.  We ended up enjoying it so much that we just barely got back in time for me to get ready and get to work on time.  We decided we would come back out on our bikes in the evening with both cameras.  (I need to replace both semi-working cameras with a waterproof one.)

In the evening the crossing was flooded from all the water that had come down during the day.  It was just sprinkling (sometimes pretty heavy) while we were there.  We rode up the paved trail and locked up the bikes and hiked up on top of one of the petrified sand dunes to see all of the rain pools.  So pretty! Then we got back on the bikes and rode to the top/back of the West Canyon road.  The wash was running like crazy until we got to the very top and it kind of ran out.  Several road crossings had water damage.  It was a beautiful ride.

Another morning before school I went out and hiked up to White Rocks to see the water there.  There were still little waterfalls running down the rocks.  Lots of sand had been washed down and was so saturated that if you stepped in it you could sink in pretty deep and might loose a shoe.  The water was seeping out of it to fill up the pools.

Saturday morning the sun was out and Paul was at a Camporee, so I walked in at the North end and took the Lava Tube trail and then the Butterfly trail and got up on top of the other petrified sand dunes to look around.  The water is fast disappearing, but there was still plenty of signs of its' passing.  It was a great hike.  It was a GREAT week at Snow Canyon.  So glad we live close to such an amazing place.

Zucchini rules at the family dinner

The Smiths hosted the family dinner last Sunday with very tasty grilled stuffed zucchini and good additions from the rest of the family to go with.  Eliza was happy to sit/lay on the table and make her cute smile available whenever she saw my camera.  She is a very willing and cute photo subject.  After dinner Tasia and Kennis and the gang of little boys took turns entertaining us with their "shows".  It's so fun to see the cousins enjoying each other.  So glad we make time for this tradition.  Thanks to the Smiths for making it happen for September!  

4-wheeling with Rufus...and his family

Friday afternoon we headed off for another adventure in the Kaibab.  The stake is planning to do a trek over there next year and we went over with Kris and Robyn Johnson to do some prelim checking out of routes.  We drove our truck as far as Kanab and dropped it off for stone to be loaded up and then joined them in their truck for the rest of the trip.  Their dog Rufus came along too.  We dined at Jacob Lake and then found our camp spot.  They had their camper and we had our trusty tent and airbed.  After some hot chocolate, cookies and a game of No Peaky, we all called it a night.  We woke to coyotes singing in the morning.  It is pretty interesting, but just a little disconcerting too.  We tried to record some of it.  After breakfast was done we loaded up on the Johnsons' 4-wheelers and started looking at some possible routes.  It was beautiful with rain in the air, and sometimes on us (but not too much) and everything fresh and vibrant.  We covered some beautiful routes through the forest and to the  rim of the Grand Canyon.  This was my first 4-wheeler trip other than the short rides I have been on at Family Camp.  It was great! The Johnsons are such fun, nice people that it really made the trip great!  I got to know Rufus the dog a lot better and he even gave me a turn throwing a smashed bottle for him to fetch and also gave me the opportunity to be his pillow once in a while in the back seat on the way home.  He is a funny fellow and made a great masthead riding shotgun on the Johnson's 4-wheeler.  He did get out and run some here and there just to keep in shape.  We stopped by Jacob Lake again on the way home to see if they had had a chance to fill our hopeful request for some of their amazing coconut cream pie...they did!  It was very crowded and we were in a kind of a hurry, so we just got it to go.  Mmmmm good!  We picked up our truck/load in Kanab and headed on home after a perfect trip.  We were glad that we had finished our scouting before a huge hailstorm hit the area.  It was crazy with hail pounding down and piling up along the road.  Rufus was not bothered by it and just slept peacefully on my knee.   Thank you Kris, Robyn and Rufus for letting us join your fun!

Good news...#22 is on the way!

Brynn tried to let us know via technology that they are expecting.  Since the pictures on my phone are way too small for me to see very well, I just thought she was sending a cute picture of the girls for me to enjoy.  Finally, after e-mailing it to myself (and because the other kids clued me in) I saw the official announcement!  Yip Yip Yipee is what we are saying too!  The big sisters are looking pretty happy about having a new little sibling too!  

Labor Day - Leisure Day

We have done a good job of combining these two this weekend.  Saturday we stopped off in Brian Head on our way home and measured up (in the middle of a rainstorm) a job we are bidding there. Monday we picked up an beautiful 800 lb. lentil stone to go over a front door on a house we are working on.  We also went up to Dammeron Valley and took pictures of a job we just finished.  The leisure part on Monday was a trip to Zion (this is the last month on our park pass) and hiked to a glyph site and also up the Many Pools trail.  We also got really close to a little herd of bighorn sheep. After that we went over to Glendale a hiked a little canyon - Spring Hollow.  Then we picked up our stone and headed on home.  It was a perfect weather day and we got all we could out of it.  We have also been listening to Ender's Game and started on Ender's Shadow while driving so we can get ready to see the movie when it comes out.  It has been a fun labor-leisure weekend.  

We love the old 1930s' stonework on the culverts.  We love natures' stonework too!

It was a perfect time to enjoy the Many Pools hike.  The recent rains had filled things up nicely.

We spied this up to you neck deep pool on the way up and decided to take advantage of the chance to cool off on the way back down!  The water was great! Paul took advantage of several smaller ones on the way up too.

These sheep were not as skittish as others we have tried to photograph in Zion.  They were almost curious at first and peeped at me from behind the bushes.  Big daddy ram was more interested in his lady love than in worrying about me taking his picture.  

It's a little hard to locate the trail to get in to Spring Hollow Canyon.  We finally had to ask someone. One of its' features is that the walls of the canyon are covered in carved names, some dating way back.  Someone even carved a marriage proposal into the wall!  Paul added a little of his own.  I would love to see the waterfall at the end when it is running.  

Here's the big stone that was the object of our labor.  

Plays and playing

Cool, fresh, vibrant, fragrant, clean - those are the adjectives I can use to describe this week, along with busy!  Lots of rain has made everything even more beautiful than usual on the Red Hill, at Snow Canyon, in Pine Valley and in the mountains.  We walked, rode bikes, camped and hiked to get out enjoy it.  We were happy that it didn't rain on the night we went with lots of family to see Mary Poppins out at Tuacahn.  We also enjoyed seeing 12 Angry Men up in Cedar too.  We redeemed both of our Christmas gift cards in one week!  It was a great week!  

!2 Angry Men, the Green Show, the gang waiting for Mary Poppins to start

Pine Valley, the Red Hill and Snow Canyon

We got to our camp spot in the Tushar Mts. just as it was getting dark.  There had been rain and hail earlier, but it let up long enough for us to set up our tent and go to sleep.  We woke to rain on the tent. It let up while we got breakfast ready and then we retreated to the cab of the truck to eat.  Then it went away for the morning. We were able to hike up to a different peak than usual to see to goats.  As always, they kept just enough ahead of us to make getting a good picture hard.  We herded them over the hill and down the mountain.  Then they took off to join the main herd on another peak where there were about 100 of them.  We were done chasing them and headed back down the mountain...just in time for a rain free lunch and then it started up again.  

We also drove the road to Minersville Reservoir to check out the camping up that way.  There are some pretty spots along the stream, but right now the reservoir is drained and while it is being dredged. We drove home over Cedar Mountain and Cedar Breaks was really pretty with clouds down among them.