Happy Birthday Ryan!

It's a perfect fit!  Ryan got a just right "man apron" from us to wish him a happy birthday.  "Grill Master - the man - they myth - the legend".  Hope he will enjoy a great year of grilling to come Ryan.  Happy Birthday -we love you!

Cottonwood Narrows, Grosvenor Arch, Kodachrome Basin

We finally had a Saturday of our own and decided to get all we could out of it.  We left about 9 am and got home around 10 pm.  It was nice the time changed and gave us an extra hour of sleep in the morning.  All of these things were over in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area.  We started at Cottonwood Narrows where we did the mapped hike and then some more.  It was beautiful and the unplanned part was every bit as good if not better.  After that we just enjoyed stopping in at the other places en route back home and want to go back and spend more time at them at some future date.  

Grosvernor Arch

 Kodachrome Basin State Park

Bryce and Red Canyon area

Happy #1 Sweet Eliza "Gray"

We did join them and it was such a "sweet" party.  Eliza didn't have her usual smiles since she wasn't feeling well, but even so, she still had some little smiles.  Christy is amazing.  She has such fun ideas for parties and this was no exception.  The decorations and treats were so cute.  The movie left us teary eyed. We love hanging out with the Key gang too. We are so happy this sweet little one joined the family only a year ago. Happy Birthday Eliza!  We love you.

Halloween 2013

The annual Halloween party happened once again.  We didn't have the Randalls or Jay and Brynn and kids, but the rest made it for at least part of the time.  We had good food and fun games.  Ferf was the organizer and deserves a big THANKS for all of her work.  Some dressed up and some didn't, but it was all good!

Here's the whole gang minus Ryan who got off work later.  Moss and Christie provided donuts for dessert!  They were yummy!  Speed mummy wrapping game.

Koen the fire-breathing dragon, Jack Frost (Tavin) and friend MoMo, Brynnnli (punkrocker), Kennis and Gaige (Flamingo dancer and Ninja), Christy and Brenden (OB One and 80's gal), Indiana Jones (Moss), Columbo (Paul), Me (a little bit catish), Tasia (Mavis of Hotel Transylvania), Kaebri (Dorothy), Weed and Derek (Miss Pepper and Ironman), Zade the skeleton, Sarai the puppy, Noah the ghost, Bean the soccer keeper.  I missed getting a single picture of Eden the butterfly or of Eliza or Trigg (see the family shot).

Birthdays and Art Around the Corner

Sunday night the Lillywhite and Borrowman gangs got together to celebrate Koen's #5!   It was a good time with a good crowd.  It was hard to see Koen opening his gifts with the crush of kids surrounding him!  Happy birthday Koen!  We love you!

The next thing was the Stake Activity Day - a Mother Daughter Art Walk.  It was difficult in that there ended up being lots of conflicts with city events in the same area, but in the end it came off very well and we had a good turn out.  I so enjoyed learning about the Art Around the Corner program and about the how and why of many of the pieces of art displayed in the down town area.  It was a treat.  Paul served as one of the guides and did a fantastic job.  I think he really enjoyed the opportunity.  I'm lucky he is so willing to support me in my church calling.  We had the girls sculpt with play dough and/or do leaf rubbings while we gathered and then had a light lunch.  During the lunch Amber Rich (part of the art council) gave a short presentation about the Art Around the Corner program and about the bronze making process.  After that we divided into two groups to do the walking tour.  We had a good turn out - about 50 people.  Our focus was on the Talent area of the Faith in God booklet.  After we were done we had rainbow cookies which we used to discuss with the girls that gifts and talents come in a rainbow of colors.  We encouraged them to enjoy seeking to discover, develop and share their own colors so "that all might be profited thereby."  D&C 46:11)  The girls/moms/leaders seemed to really enjoy the whole activity.  Yea!  I'm so glad it is over!  Now on to Priesthood Preview.

New Dancing Moon, Austere, Brigham Young with his "daughters", Puffed up Prince and Princess, lunch bunch, girls in each group gathered around Harvest Joy and Amber Rich.

Ben Hammond  - Fall and Winter Vessel - This piece has a sister sculpture – it is another vessel that depicts two women as Spring and Summer.   The reliefs of trees along the top show how a tree changes with the season.  I looked up the Spring and Summer Vessel and it is beautiful too.  

Nathan Johansen - Thorns, Bees and Rhinos – is a whimsical depiction of the childhood practice of putting a rose thorn on your nose and pretending to be something else – maybe a bee, maybe a rhino.  The artist used drawings of bees and rhinos from four generations of his family members to etch on this sculpture.  (Notice that each green part is the profile of a nose and mouth.)

I didn't really like this one until I found out what it was about.  Then I could relate and enjoy it for that reason even if it doesn't seem beautiful to me.

Dan Hill - Before Dan opened his studio he used to sculpt in his driveway when the weather was nice. One summer he was working on a pair of life-size pieces depicting two brothers, ages 5 and 7, playing tag. Beginning with construction of the armatures using wood, threaded rod, wire and foam, two young Polynesian twin girls who lived up the street became curious about what the old dude was doing in his driveway. They would come down and watch the sculptures emerge from across the street, killing time by taking turns shimmying up the street pole to get a better view. As the “Tag Boys” sculpture progressed, the girls became bolder, moving in for a closer look, and eventually, striking up a friendship with my mom and dad as they visited daily, intrigued by the creation taking place. When the “Tag Boys” were complete and sent to the foundry, Dan didn't look far for his next inspiration. The girls, with their parents blessing, were willing models, taking turns climbing the street pole, and watching as their efforts were captured in clay. 

Franz Johansen - Veil Series:  Mother and Child

This piece comes from a series by the artist portraying the religious idea of the veil that hangs between our present mortality and the afterlife to come; this piece portrays the resurrection. The inspiration was the artist’s pioneer ancestor who lost her child crossing the plains to Utah.  The artist is paying homage to a Latter-day prophesy which states parents who lose a young child will have the opportunity to raise that child following the first resurrection.  The cloth on these figures represents their burial dressings.

Learning about this sculpture brought me an appreciation of it on a whole different level and it ended up being may favorite of the 18+ pieces we visited.  (We checked out a few others along the route that are in the city's permanent collection.)

While we were hanging out waiting to get started, who should show up - Brenden and family.  He was proud to show us his soccer trophy and report on his end of the game goal!  Yea Brenden!  Such a cute kid!  

Last fun of the week was getting together to celebrate for Tasia's #9.  It's always fun to get the gang all in one place...noisy, but fun!  Happy birthday Tasia!  We love you!  (We even had Aunt Sheryl here all the way from Texas!)

October Day

Today in Sunday school our teacher shared this beautiful verse of poetry.  I loved it...not only for its' content, but also because I remember the author.  She is Helen Bauer's mom and lived in our ward for several years.  She was in her 90's and came every week, was very sharp of mind and spirit.  She was an inspiring example to me of enduring to the end.  Her poem was published in the Relief Society Magazine in 1961.  I wish I had the perfect picture to illustrate it, but the words are so descriptive that they may be enough.

October Day

Ramona Munford – 1961

Silence –

So profound, all nature seems inanimate.

No floating cloud to dim the burnished blue,

No breath of breeze to stir dead leaves still clinging,

No step to crush the bleaching grass in golden warmth,

The mountain sleeps.

Silence –

So intense, a sudden sound would shatter it,

Like breaking glass!

A day for dreaming,

For knowing God,

For peace.  

Our teacher also shared this excerpt from an article - I got a copy because I found it  so very true. Gladys Palmer has a wonderful way of teaching. I think she is my favorite church teacher of all time.  She is also a compassionate and understanding friend.  I would like to grow up to be like her!

Commentary

Three Cheers for Quiet Work

By Jeffrey S. McClellan (BA’94) Executive Editor BYU Magazine Fall 2013

 You've got to have a passion for anonymity in this work.  Quiet work infuses and sustains our lives.  Like the humble mortar that binds together the polished stone of a temple, quiet work underpins society, enabling our lives to function smoothly and to resonate with beauty.  Most of us do quiet work; our efforts are not applauded by large audiences or accompanied by grand awards or celebrated with banquets or press releases.  Accountants, nurses, construction workers, parents; lived saved, problems solved, improvements made, tears dried—all with no fanfare and no credit line. 

Quiet work.  It can change our lives.  Anonymous, subtle, discreet, it affects the course of history—personal or international—with hardly a headline. 

Like the grandeur of creation, much of the quiet work around us transcends the bustle and clamor of other activities in life, taking its glory not from the attention granted it but from the effort itself.  This anonymity is, in part, what endows quiet work with its nobility.  

The idea for the article came from this poem, also very good.

Quiet Work

Matthew Arnold

(1822-1888)

One lesson, Nature, let me learn of thee,

One lesson which in every wind is blown,

One lesson of two duties kept at one

Though the loud world proclaim their enmity--

Of toil unsever'd from tranquility!

Of labor, that in lasting fruit outgrows

Far noisier schemes, accomplish'd in repose,

Too great for haste, too high for rivalry.

Yes, while on earth a thousand discords ring,

Man's fitful uproar mingling with his toil,

Still do thy sleepless ministers move on,

Their glorious tasks in silence perfecting;

Still working, blaming still our vain turmoil,

Laborers that shall not fail, when man is gone.

Staycation UEA

My UEA school break needed to be a "staycation" this year.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  We started it out with a moonlit walk in Snow Canyon.  Didn't take any pictures, but loved the cool peaceful darkness with moon shadows making it all beautiful.  The next morning I wanted to go back and visit one of the places we had walked in the dark, but got sidetracked when I saw the Johnson's Canyon trail was open again.  I went there and then got sidetracked again wanting to go up and see where that waterfall at the end of the canyon originated.  That entailed scrambling up to the top of the canyon in not the greatest of conditions for a person not all that comfortable in high, exposed places.  I had to stop and recommit myself to keep going to the top a couple of times when I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Actually, I probably should have just stopped then, but I didn't.  I did get to the top and it was beautiful and I even spied a coyote.  But, I could have gotten to the same place in a safer way.  I wandered around up there enjoying the beautiful scenery and putting off going back down the way I came.  Eventually I just had to accept that what goes up must come down...and this time on the very same route.  I was lucky to find my footprints regularly in the sandy spots so I didn't have to reinvent the route.  I was glad to get to the bottom safe and sound.  On the way out I got sidetracked again and explored the spring at the mouth of the Canyon - Snow Springs.  Finally I got back on trail and made it home in time for lunch.  I loved all of my off trail wanderings even if those high places do give me a bit of the fantods at times.

fan·tod  ˈfanˌtäd/noun informal plural noun: fantods   
1.a state or attack of uneasiness or unreasonableness.

Beautiful desert morning, giant turtle head rock in the wash, flowers among the Old Man Sage, Johnson Arch.

The views on the way to and at the top.  There were lots of amazing carved washes.  I never did get to the top of the wash that feeds the waterfall as it was just too inaccessible.  Lots of beautiful vistas. A short, but very deep slot canyon that I did not go into.  (Dumb has to give in to good sense once in a while.)

Friday afternoon we took off to explore and camp out at Pinto Springs.  It was delightful.  No one was there but us.  We decided to hike the Paradise Trail and spent a couple of hours on it before we decided that it wasn't going to get any better than an old 4-wheeler trail through some pretty, but not very exciting Pinion and Juniper forest.  There was one little stand of Aspens.  We got back and got dinner going and set up camp just as it got dark.  We had a wonderful Dutch Oven stew and cornbread.  It got very cold and our hot chocolate and cookies from Veyo Pies were a welcome desert.  We listened to Ender's Shadow for a while and then hit the sack.  It was a nice full moon night.  Next morning we were awakened as the first hunters on the first day of the hunt arrived in the area.  Brrr...it was cold.  Frost was on the grass and ice on the seeps around the camp.  After breakfast and clean up we decided that a better hike would be to follow the stream up to find the head waters of Pinto Spring.  It was very interesting to find the places where water just came out of the ground, then it would be a dry stream bed for a while and then start up again.  We got way up high and found a spot where it just came out of rock.  On the way down a different way, we found amazing dry waterfalls that we hope to visit next year when they are running.  We also got high enough to enjoy the beautiful colors of the Maples.  Then it was time to head for home.  In the afternoon we took dinner up to Lou's for the family members that had come to help Juge and Lance unload at their new house in Cedar City.  It will be fun to have them a little closer!  The cousins were having a great time playing together.  

Our campsite, the lonely little Aspen grove among the sagebrush, icy, frozen water with autumn leaves on top. 

Paul in a seep area with several springs feeding it, a place where it came bubbling up, dammed up area and the rock where much of it seemed to originate.  There were places where is was running very deep from several different springs feeding it and other places where the stream bed was completely dry.  Very interesting.  We talked to someone familiar with the area and they said there are many springs in this area that run year round.  

Beautiful Maple leaves, looking down on Paul at the bottom of a dry waterfall, Bonnie at the bottom.  There were others that made this drop look pretty short.  

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New Harmony to Pine Valley via the back road

Saturday afternoon we drove to New Harmony to check on a job and then drove the dirt road over to Pine Valley.  We stopped off to check out Pinto Spring en route.  It was a beautiful drive with many promising camp spots along the way.  The Pinto Spring area was beautiful with the stream still running and the grass green.  There is a great camp spot there complete with several picnic tables.  We also saw the trail head for Paradise Trail, which seems to connect up with the Summit Trail of Pine Valley Mountain.  Can't find anything about it on-line.  Guess we will just have to check it out on foot some time.  We ended up at Pine Valley about dusk and then headed on home with a quick stop in at Veyo Pies for a little treat.  It was a great drive.  Enjoyed it very much and wished I was camping out and enjoying some of Paul's Dutch Oven cooking!  

Poor scared tortoise...didn't mean to do it!

Friday after school I was itching to get some sun, but needed to stay close to home and make it quick.  It was off to the Red Hill.  I was really pounding along trying to make time and came around a corner and there was a poor, peeing little desert tortoise.  I felt bad that my pounding feet must have scared it so bad that it let loose.  Hoping it found one of the little left over rain puddles that were around to get filled up again.  I walked the trail on the way, but on the way back I took to a little wash and found little pools and flowers blooming.  It was so nice!  

Saturday morning Paul took off very early to help at a Camporee, so I treated myself to another walk - this time up to T-Bone Mesa.  I walked to every point of the T and enjoyed the whole thing.  Didn't see anymore wildlife other than birds and lizards.  The flag up there is looking really bad.  It tried to take it down to bring it home to retire it, but couldn't get the bolts undone.  Hope someone will do the job.  I will try to get Bean to do it.  Loved the walks both days!  Everything was trying to get in another bloom from the recent rain.  

Desert Marigold, cactus hugging a rock, moss and Sacred Datura all greened up from the rain.  The tattered flag.

Lava Caves & Yellow Knolls

This weeks' get out times were few, but we tried...despite the windy conditions.  One evening we decided to check out the Lava Caves at Snow Canyon.  We parked at the north entrance and then rode down to the trail head to the caves.  I nearly blew off my bike on the way down.  We crawled into the caves some, but decided against going in deep since it was getting late and because of the drop.  Needed to have a rope along to be safe.  Some of the views were really beautiful at sunset.  Riding out uphill proved to be close to impossible in the wind.  Finally, I just got off and pushed rather than get knocked over.  Not the best conditions to be out, but we tried.

Friday after work we decided it was again, too windy to go camping, but we at least wanted to go for a walk.  We drove up the Turkey Road and came to a trail head for a trail we had never done - Yellow Knolls.  We decided it was worth doing.  It ended up being a very nice and beautiful surprise.  We found a really cool 30-foot waterfall (no water right now) that we looked at from the top and later climbed up it from the bottom.  Very hard to get a good picture of the whole thing.  We also found parts of what looked like an old contraption for damming up some water.  Lots of beautiful, Snow Canyon type rock formations.  Loved it and the wind even died down for some of it!  

The top right picture is looking down the waterfall.