November catch up time

And now I will try to catch up for November.  It was another very full month.  I started the month off with a kindergarten field trip to Staheli Farms.  It was a fun time for the kids to learn about what a farm provides for us. This was the first year I joined them for the field trip.

And I did make it to Koen's baptism!  Paul and I both got to attend and it was wonderful.  Afterwards we went to the Lillywhite/Borrowman family picnic to celebrate the event! 

And then it was time to celebrate with Eliza for #4!  Such a cutie!

More things to celebrate included Ryan's birthday and Jay being made a high priest.  Didn't get a picture of Jay, but Clara was looking so cute we got some of her!  Happy #41 Ryan and congratz to Jay.

Another fun thing we did in November was to take Flat Stanley to Kodachrome State Park.  Madi sent him to us from her school class and we sent him back to her along with the story of his travels with us.  We had already decided to go to Kodachrome for our anniversary and Stanley fit right in with our plans. It was a fun trip after we got over the fact that it was very cold and we had forgotten the tent!  The wind died down and we ended up staying warm and cozy in our sleeping bags.  We had a really fun day exploring the park the next day and the weather was so perfect for visiting this very hot in the summer park.  We saw lots of beautiful things, did a nice hike and enjoyed a scenic drive home.  Happy # 42 anniversary!  

Another day we celebrated more with a bike ride in Snow Canyon!  We just celebrated over and over! We have enjoyed sharing this wonderful 42 year adventure together!

One morning we woke up to rain!  That meant Paul couldn't go to work until it stopped, so we took advantage of it for some fun with Trigg.  We picked him up and then headed out to Snow Canyon.  It stopped raining just as we arrived, but we were in time to catch a waterfall still running!  So pretty and a nice little adventure to share with Trigg!

We added one more special event to this already crazy month.  On the 17th I went to Roundtable where I and 4 other friends received our Wood Badge beads for completing out tickets.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I was signed up to go to this in April and almost backed out after Weed's passing. But Paul was going as staff and other friends were going also, so I decided to attend.  It was a fun learning experience and I loved the people that were in my patrol and so many others that were there. I'm not sure I feel like I earned the beads though.  I felt pretty overwhelmed at the time and set ticket goals that weren't as hard as they could have been.  Also, I have been feeling sort of burned out on scouting after 7 years in the same calling.  But I am glad I went and I hope I did some good in all of those 7 years and more that I have served in scouting.  I will always remember the crazy Bill and Ted's most excellent Journey to Excellence skit our patrol put together!  It was a hoot!

Another special school activity this month is our annual Thanksgiving "Feast" with Mrs. Hunter's class.  Such cute little pilgrims and Indians.

We had our own Thanksgiving feast with 40 people.  We were so happy that it was a beautiful day out because finding a place for everyone to sit inside was pretty hard with so many!  Lots of the kids didn't seem to mind eating outside.

We got everyone in this shot except Bean.  He was otherwise engaged at the time unfortunately.  What a wonderful family we have.  So thankful for each one.  Of course we missed our Weed being with us.  Everyone went all out making rolls this year.  She always did it before and everyone seemed to want to make sure it was covered for her. The after dinner walk to the duck pond helped things settle so we could find room for pie!

Zion's birthday almost got lost in all of the other festivities, but we got it in there!  Happy #3 ZP!

One of the days after Thanksgiving we had a fun outing to White Rocks at Snow Canyon.  The sun, sand and rocks were a great combination!

Another fun outing over the holiday (other than being way crowded and losing Tahlia for a little bit) was a visit to the new All Abilities Park.

We also stopped by to let people see Weed's finished/installed headstone.  It was hard, but good to see the beautiful stone that Derek helped design to honor the wonderful wife and mother that she was. There will always be these pockets of grief that come up and smack you in the heart.  Oh how we all love and miss her.  Can't wait to see her again!  I think the thing I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving was knowing that through our Heavenly Father's plan we can look forward to that wonderful day of reunion with her.

Crazy busy month of October!

I am once again behind, but it has been such a busy month I just haven't been able to keep up with it all!  I'm just going to start where I left off after the Webelos Day Hike.  The next thing to enjoy was Jay, Brynn and girls coming down to have a 40th birthday unparty for Jay. He's not into being the center of attention and didn't want a big bash with a lot of trouble.  We tried to accommodate his wishes by having a bring your own lunch and something to share gathering at a local park.  Brynn brought the cake and ice cream. It was a nice afternoon of visiting and eating.  The kids had fun playing in the park with the cousins.  Relaxed and no fuss was what he wanted the pretty much what he got.  I was so relaxed, I forgot his present!  Happy 40th Jay!  We love you!

Next in the line up was my trip to visit my Mom the 14-20th.  Janet and Tony were out of town, so their grandson, Ian Toomey, and I were there with Mom. We had such a relaxed time.  We ate pumpkin pie and Taco Bell until we couldn't hold any more, visited, watched old movies, and found our way where we needed to go using my phone's navigation tool. It was just good to spend time. Mom is going to be 95 in December and as I left I felt a pang of melancholy wondering if this might be the last time I had to spend with her.  The only problem with the visit was that I got sick as soon as I arrived with a bad cold.  I don't know who was taking care of who!  

I was sorry to miss Koen's #8 birthday, but also relieved that I had done better than I had for Jay's birthday and had the present already bought so Paul could wrap it up and do the partying for both of us.  I will get to attend Koen's baptism and I am glad for that!  We love you Koen!

The Saturday after I got home Paul and I were both ready to get out and try to catch the end of Fall. Pine Valley didn't disappoint.  We did the waterfall hike and cooked lunch over a fire for a picnic!  It was so refreshing and relaxing.  How I love Fall!

Next up is Tasia - she turned the wonderful age 12!  Now she gets to leave Primary and join the YW! Sort of makes me sad to think that Weed would have been so happy to be with here there, but no crying for birthdays.  Tasia has grown up so much and blossomed into a pretty young lady.  So proud of her.  Happy Birthday Tasia.  We love you!  We all came over and surprised her a day early!

For our date we decided we needed to try a little more Fall.  We hiked the little trail between Brookside and Baker Lake. So pretty.  Not much Fall left, but still so nice.  

Next on the list of fun things was helping out at the climbing wall at Cub Day Camp.  I have now been released after 7 years in Stake Primary over Cub Scouting.  It was starting to feel like a change was needed.  I will miss it in a lot of ways.  I have met and become friends with so many wonderful Cub Scout leaders over the years.  I'm feeling a little lost, but also excited as Paul and I start serving at a YSA Ward.  So far, other than stressing out over speaking in sacrament meeting, it has been fun. These are some really great young adults (I just want to call them kids).  So Cub Day Camp at the climbing wall was my last hurrah...but I'm keeping my yellow shirt just in case!  I made it up the wall one last time!  Paul was there to help me out after the poor high councilman wore out after helping out at Friday's session.  Hope he wasn't permanently damaged.  

Halloween...it kind of crept up on me and I was pretty bah humbug about it.  Paul and I did go to a fun YSA FHE Halloween party the Monday before, but none of us got around to doing a family Halloween party this year.  Just wasn't up to finding the time and energy.  But the I did get pics of everyone at least.  I also helped out at school with the 3 class, 60 kid party.  Trigg got to attend as one of our class and seemed to have a lot of fun.  

The Borrowman kids and Brenden and Eliza.  

Smiths and Randalls

Weavers

Lillywhite girls and Jay

That pretty well wraps up the month of October!  It was a great month.  I missed Weed for Halloween.  She and Derek were always dressed so fun as a couple.  It was hard not to have her paint my cat face for the school party.  That may be some of the reason why we just didn't push a family party.  We will always miss her for the holidays.  So thankful for a testimony that sustains us.  

Webelos Day Hike...Lance gets us off the hook!

So Paul and I have been helping out at Webelos Day Hike for the last few years.  We've taught fire building (he did/I assisted), created and put up the plant ID trail, led the hike and taught the Into the Wild class about trees and plants. Well this year they hoped we would do the geology class (Earth Rocks) and we could have muddled through it, but we knew that Lance would do a much better job since that is his field of expertise.  Thankfully he was willing to help out and it was very successful! Kids and leaders enjoyed his presentation.  I think his voice was about done in after the six 45 minute sessions.  I just hung out and assisted however I could.  It was a lot easier day for me thanks to him! And it was certainly a better job than Paul and I could have done.

Snow Canyon evening with Ferf and kids

Ferf helped me get out and leave the men to listen to their priesthood session without me hanging around.  We went out and hiked around on the petrified sand dunes of Snow Canyon.  It was a fun and beautiful evening.  Afterward we were glad to join the men back at the house for brownies and ice cream! Maybe we'll have to start a tradition!

Clara Lenae's blessing

It's always great when you can get a two-for-one deal! We were able to do that when we we went up to Clara Lenae's blessing last week.  We saw leaves on the way up and back and enjoyed the sweet time with family too.  Jay gave her such a nice blessing and it was sweet when he mentioned remembering who she was named for.  I can't remember exactly how he phrased it, but it brought a tear to my eye.  Weed has two namesakes and both of them are blessed to be part of wonderful families.  Hope Clara has a wonderful life! So glad she's part of our family.

Wearing her mother's blessing dress and bonnet shared by her mom and Aunt.

More Labor Day fun - Grapevine Trail

We got the most out of our long weekend!  Monday we did the Grapevine Trail up in the Zion Wilderness area.  It starts out as a REALLY steep trail down the side of the hill to the river.  It is lava rock and cinders and very slippery.  I didn't like it much.  But once you are get to the river it is really beautiful.  There are lots of waterfalls and deep pools.  You do a lot of rock hopping, but it is worth it. The going is a bit slow until you just get in and get wet!  It was a really nice little discovery hike for us.  

Labor Day - Whipple Valley hike

We left Friday afternoon to hike up to Whipple Valley.  We got there in plenty of time before dark and got set up and had a nice freeze dried dinner with flat bread, hot chocolate and a Veyo cookie.  It was beautiful, cool and peaceful.  We didn't see anyone else the whole time we were there.  We had a few sprinkles on the trail on the way up, but they were welcome and cool.  During the night we had a little storm pass over, but we were snug, warm and comfortable in our little tent.  The next morning we hiked down the trail to South Valley which was also beautiful.  We packed up and left to head down the mountain at about 11:00.  It was about 14 miles total and with a nice elevation gain, but the every up hill part I just kept telling myself that it wasn't as hard as our recent Colorado hike so it wasn't bad. We finally met people on their way up right at the end of the hike.  So glad we had such a beautiful place all to ourselves!  

The oldest and the youngest grandson's birthdays!

Tavin and Torin are brothers and they are our oldest and youngest grandsons and they just about share a birthday!  Tavin's is on August 25th and Torin's is the next day! This year they turned 15 and 2 They are both pretty special people.  Happy birthdays guys and love to both of you!

Bean's birthday was the 23rd.  He turned 28 but he was not feeling happy to celebrate it this year, so we pretty much just had to let it go other than to give him some movie passes.  Thankfully he was feeling happier the next day.

She's here...Clara Lenae!

So happy that Clara Lenae Lillywhite arrived safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon, August 10th! She's #4 daughter for Jay and Brynn and #24 grand child,/#13 grand daughter for us.  We made a quick trip up to meet her Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon.  It was so nice to see her and the rest of the family.  She has some excited older sisters and they are more than willing to help hold her. She's one blessed little girl to come to such a wonderful home where she's so loved and will be so well taught.  So happy for this little one!

Backpacking in the Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado

Paul, Bean, Supe and I hiked in this area once before about 12 years ago.  Paul and scouts have done it and Paul did it as a youth.  The plan was hatched for another trip during Christmas last year.  So this time Paul, Supe and Beacher, Jay, me and Supe's friend Weston did it.  Moss was all set to go and then got sick and had to bail.  Weed had planned to go, but we just had to bring her along in our memory. It turned out to be an awesome hike!

1st day (Friday) we drove to Durango to spend the night and enjoyed driving through Monument Valley along the way.  We walked around town some and then went to the Bar D Chuck Wagon dinner/show that evening.  Good food and good fun.

2nd day (Saturday) we drove to the Pine Creek trail head and started the hike.  It was a nice day and we made our goal of reaching Little Emerald and Emerald Lakes and camping just beyond Emerald. It was a long day! We did between 13 and 14 miles; quite a bit of elevation gain, but spread out over quite a few miles. (We had some rain starting at Little Emerald and in the evening.)  It was a beautiful, flowery hike.  We saw two different groups using goats to carry for them.  And some people had their dogs carry a little.  During the night our camp was visited by a porcupine who chewed holes in Supe's sweaty shirt that it found laying in camp!

3rd day (Sunday) we had planned to just hang out in camp and acclimatize, but we were all fine and it wasn't very far to Moon Lake, our next destination, so we went ahead and moved on.  It wasn't that far, but it was all UP HILL. This was my hardest day because of the elevation gain. This camp was at 11,000.  We were so glad to get there!  And it was so beautiful!  And it was so beautiful along the way with flowers everywhere!  We had rain several times in the two days that we camped in this spot, but enjoyed spending time together under Weston's Noah's Tarp.  We cooked, ate and visited under it as needed in stormy weather.  A porcupine visited this camp too and chewed on some shoes and a walking stick handle. There were also many marmots in the area.  We found a good place to hang our packs to keep them out of the varmint's reach!

4th day (Monday) we hiked up to Moon Lake and then up and over to Rock Lake and some beyond. It was the toughest section as far as elevation gain over a short distance, but we did it as a day hike and didn't have to lug all of our gear along thank goodness! We topped out at 12,500.  It was only 3 miles to the top.  It was beautiful!  We were very glad to reach to top of the pass!  We hiked around and ate lunch and then headed back meeting the storm at the top of the pass with some rain/hail.  We ponchoed up and did just fine.  Later when the sun came out for a while we did our wash, took naps and Supe, Jay and Weston braved the icy water in Moon Lake to do some quick washing up!

5th day (Tuesday) we headed back down going at a fast clip to camp at Little Emerald.  It was pretty rainy so we ate and had a good Rook game under the tarp.  We visited the stream that ran out of Little Emerald and also the island between the two lakes when the sun came out for a while.  Supe took another swim in the icy water there!  

6th day (Wednesday) We hiked out, again at a fast pace, enjoying the downhill!  We got back to the trail head by our goal of 12:30. All in all we did about 47 miles. Then we headed down to Durango to enjoy lunch at Grass Burgers. Then we drove up to Ouray and swam away our sore muscles in the warm waters!  It was so nice!  That evening after getting checked in and cleaned up we ate at a nice Italian restaurant and hit the sack.  

7th day (Thursday) it was time to head home.  Paul and I took the route through Farmington so we could stop in to see Ross at the stone yard.  We got home late afternoon and were glad to see our shower, bed and bathroom.  Not so glad to return to the heat after enjoying the very cool and sometimes cold weather in the mountains!

It was a great trip with only a few mishaps for Paul and I.  He fell down and few times and got some bruises and I did a face plant just a little way from the trail head on the way down when I tripped over a root.  I got a little black eye and some scrapes in that one, but neither fall did any real damage.  The younger set were more agile and faster moving for the whole hike, but they were patient and waited up for us now and then on the hard up hills where youth prevailed.  Our food was good and the scenery and company the best!  What a challenge!  I still feel happy when I walk up the Main St. hill on our daily walks; happy that I'm not carrying that 35 lb. pack!  I'm so glad I went and I was also glad to get home!