Some more YSA fun

Paul and I are still enjoying our calling out at the YSA 3rd Ward.  The congregation is ever changing and we are sad to see them go and happy to meet new ones as they come.  They are full of life and dreams and we are happy to be there and enjoy being a little part of this wonderful time in their lives.  And we enjoy partying with them!  We are busy every week, but here's just a sampling of a couple of activities.  

 We had a fun FHE picnicking and hiking the Chuckwalla Trail.  Some of us made the hike a little longer than others and enjoyed it in the moonlight too. 

 I really didn't want to attend this RS Activity of dance and lip sync party.  The chocolate I didn't mind.  Of course I was loser at the dance part - no surprise there - and these two were so good at lip sync/live sing that none of the rest of us even wanted to compete!  I was glad I went for the the fun of visiting even if I still don't have any dance skills to be proud of.  These are some good young adults and I enjoy their company more than I thought I would.  I really like just being around them and enjoying their vitality and strength amid their many different challenges.  

Finishing up damage control in Grandma Kurtz' back yard

A few months ago three big trees blew down at Grandma's backyard.  We got the trees all taken care of pretty quickly, but the damages to the landscape took more time with several different phases to be taken care of.  The final phase is finally done thanks to Paul and Bean's strong backs and good skills.  I came along an helped as I was needed.  It came out nicely with new drip system, weed barrier and 42 fifty pound bags of bark installed along with a butterfly bush planted.  It came out very nice and we hope it will be just right.  We were so glad to have Bean's skilled/strong help to get the job done rather than just Paul and I doing it.

Christie #30, Colony #37 and family dinner

 These two lovely ladies had April birthdays in the same week!  We are so blessed to have them as part of our family.  They are each wonderful in their own way and we are so thankful for all they add to our family!  Happy Birthday Christie and Colony!  Hope your coming year is as wonderful as it can be!  We love you both!  It was family dinner and a perfect day to picnic with just a little wind to liven things up outside.  We all had good food and good times!  

Two rocky adventures with Bean

We enjoyed two beautiful rocky adventures with Bean on a Saturday in March.  We picked him up in Cedar City and drove over Cedar Mountain which is a lovely adventure in itself.  Then as we were driving to the main event we decided to stop for a sidetrack hike to an old favorite. Just outside Glendale is what we call the "name canyon".  It is a lovely soft white stone canyon carved out by tall waterfall at the end where it boxes you in.  Hundreds of names and other fun things are carved into the soft stone walls.  I'm not usually into carving into the stone, but this has been going on for years and now it's just seems OK.  There's one from 1942 if it is accurate.  And there is even a marriage proposal with yes and no boxes to check.  I'm not sure which one Dee Ann checked!  That was a fun little adventure to a place we love and have been to several times.  Bean had never been, so he enjoyed it for the first time.  

Next up was our intended Zion hike.  While we were on our geology trip with DSU we stopped in at the Checkerboard Mesa pullout and the professor told us about a little arch and pointed out the direction where it could be found.  Paul and I had different ideas about where she pointed, but after some wanderings Paul located it high up on a wall.  We went over closer to get a better look.  We also had our lunch picnic style on some rocks before we started the hike.  It was a cool, overcast day perfect for hiking.  It threatened to rain, but never really made it.  We drove down through Zion, spotting a few sheep along the way, as far as the canyon junction and then headed back the way we came to get Bean home in time for dinner.  It was a lovely day in some very beautiful places!

Spring Break with DSU - Geology of Utah's National Parks Lab - GEO 1055

I was reading the paper and came across an article about the university "offering members of the  community the opportunity to be fully immersed in Utah's parks while learning about the area's geology from physical science professors" from DSU.  It offered an "eight-day trip stopping at all of Utah's national parks and a selection of national monuments and state parks while focusing on the geologic processes that have shaped Utah's landscape and environment."  I told Paul about it and we found that the professor leading the trip was someone he had just recently done stonework for.  When we e-mailed to try to reserve a spot she offered us one!  It turned out to be a super fun vacation/educational experience for us.  We went with students from the university and a few other adults.  We went as non-degree seeking students.   What a blast!  It felt like we were just spending more time with people from a YSA ward.  Paul was fine with just going along and enjoying it, but I wanted to do the class assignments and drug him into it with me.  I think it made us feel more a part of things with the kids and also more of a learning experience.  I loved it as a chance to try to learn something new. The bus and the outdoors were our classrooms.  Here are the places we went/learned about.

 Day 1:  DSU to Ruby's Inn via Zion NP with stops at Bloomington Hills, Quail Lake State Park, Zion Park, White Mountain Trading Post. Spent the night at Ruby's Inn.

One assignment we had every day was to write a couple of Haikus about what we learned/saw that day.  We enjoyed doing it even if we weren't always great at it 

Zion Haikus 

Flowing green waters

Cutting carving eroding

Shaping Zion Park

Peaceful calm serene

Angelic lands stone temples

Uplifting Zion

Day 2: Ruby's Inn to Escalante via Bryce Canyon NP with stops at Bryce Canyon, Hole in the Rock Monument, Escalane Petrified Forest State Park.  Spent the night in Escalante at Prospector Inn with best dinner and breakfast of the trip.  

Bryce Canyon Haikus

Poetry in stone

Kaleidoscope of color

Rocks ablaze hoodoos

Carved stone sentinels

Here today gone tomorrow

Freeze thaw erode crumble clay

Flash flood freeze and thaw

Labyrinth of rock chimneys

Hell's place for lost cows

Hole in the Rock Haiku

Undaunted fathers

Pioneering call from God

Through Hole in the Rock

Day 3:  Escalante to Torrey via Grand Staircase Escalante NM and Anasazi SP with stops at GSEM Visitor's Center, Calf Creek Falls, Anasazi State Park, Larb Point Overlook - Boulder Mountain.  Spent the night in Torrey.  

Haiku:  Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

Stony steps through time

Rocky historic chapters

Grand staircase story

Anasazi State Park Haiku:

Ancient one's footprints

Pot shards, pictographs, flint points

Traces of lives past

Day 4:  Torrey to Torrey via Capitol Reef NP with stops at Capitol Reef Grand Wash hike, Petroglyphs Panel, Visitor's Center, Gifford House.  Spent the night in Torrey again.  

Capital Reef Haikus

Wrinkle in the earth

Rugged remote changing cliffs

Waterpocket fold

(Petroglyphs/Pictographs)

Shadows from the past

Stone canvas of pecked varnish

Carved painted stories

Day 5:  Torrey to Moab via Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Bear Ears National Monument, Natural Bridges National Monument. Stops in Hanksville (for cinnamon rolls), Natural Bridges NM, Edges of Cedars SP. Spent the night at Super 8 in Moab.

Natural Bridges Haiku

Meandering streams

Carving, scouring through the stone

Eroding bridges

Day 6:  Moab to Moab via Arches National Park with stops at Arches NP Visitor's center, hike Park Avenue, Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch, Sand Dune Arch, Windows Section, Delicate Arch, rock art site.  Spent another night at Super 8 in Moab.  Went to dinner on our own both nights.

Arches Haikus

Rise and fall of salts

Crinkly red Dewey Bridge stone

Slickrock arch makers

Delicate arches

Chiseled by natures forces

Ribbons soon to fall

Flowing expanding

Creating carving shaping

Arches in the sky

Day 7:  Moab to Green River via Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park, Upheaval Dome, Mesa Arch, Green River Overlook and Grand View Point Trail,  Sego /Barrier Canyon pictographs/petroglyphs.  Spent the night at Holiday Inn Express in Green River.

Upheaval Dome Haiku

The mystery hole

Salt dome or meteorite

What the heck is it?

Canyonlands Haiku by Casey

Headward erosion

Waters playing in the canyon

Water always wins

Biological soil crusts Haiku

Fragile living earth

Knobby blackened micro soil

Please don't bust the crust!

Day 8:  Green River to St. George via John Wesley Powell Museum, Fremont Indian State Park.

I loved this trip in so many ways.  I loved being with Paul.  I loved being in beautiful places.  I loved being taught about how and why of these beautiful places by a skilled and entertaining teacher.  I loved laughing and enjoying the company of the people we were with. I loved not having the plan the trip!  

Stories found in stone

Geology of our lands

History of earth