Addendum to desert blooms on the Red Hill post

Oops! Found out that the bloom I thought was Sego Lily is a close relative, but not the real thing. It is actually a Weakstem Mariposa Lily. Paul is taking the Scouts up to identify 10 native plants on Tuesday and I dug out my Plants of the Virgin Mountains book (leftover from Webelos) and we found both Sego Lilies and Mariposa Lilies in it and checked out more info on-line and found out the truth! Sorry for the misinformation. I did check with Karl Brooks about the graves of dead Indians on the Red Hill and he just laughed.

Rocking and rolling along the highway

Paul and I took a rock trip leaving on Friday after school and returning home very late Saturday evening covering around 1,000 miles in all. We needed to check on a load in Ashfork, Arizona and then headed over to Ramah, New Mexico to check on another load. It was fun just spending time together, looking at some beautiful rock (some with petroglyphs), enjoying the scenery and listening to a new Clive Cussler book. It's hard to believe that people can be so handsome/beautiful, strong, indestructible, etc. as they are in these books, but it was an enjoyable listen. Another cool thing was seeing the new bridge at Hoover Dam by Lake Mead. It is an amazing feat of engineering for sure. I don't think I would want to be on it in an earthquake no matter how well engineered it is! We had thought about camping out, but after checking the weather and seeing that it was supposed to be 27 that night, we opted out and camped at a cheap (but nice) motel in Williams instead.

Desert Blooms on the Red Hill...among the dead Indians

Saturday morning I went for a walk on the Red Hill. It was a beautiful day and the night before on a walk I had noticed lots of beautiful flowers blooming. Paul had the camera on a Scout camp out and I wanted better pictures than I could get with my phone, (not to mention how slow I am at e-mailing them to myself to download) so I finally went up this morning and took pictures of all the different kinds that are blooming right now. I especially like the Sego Lilies. They are blooming all over the place. I have never noticed so many up there before. They are a really light lavender. The ones I found on-line looked more white than what's on the hill. I don't know the names of any others I saw except for the one Indian Paintbrush that I found. Now, about the dead Indians...on Saturday I came across a couple of older women hiking around up there. Came to find out one was a guide from some local hiking place (I had seen their van parked alongside the road) and the other was a tourist being taken for a hike, and maybe just taken in somewhat. I asked whether they knew about the little geocache that's up there. They didn't so I walked along with them for a while so I could point it out. The guide was doing the guiding thing - telling about the flora and fauna, etc. At one point we came to some undercut rocks along the trail and she told the tourist that those were old Indian graves. I was just about to ask where in the world she had gotten that fact when I decided it wasn't my party, so I just stayed quiet. Now, that is my question to all of you...have you ever heard of old Indian graves up on the Red Hill, or is that just a figment of some over zealous guides imagination? I plan to ask Karl Brooks about it the next time I see him. Dead Indians or not, I love having the Red Hill as my backyard.

First night under the stars in 2010

Friday afternoon after work we got packed up and headed off up Red Mountain Trail. We hiked up a ways after the overlook into Snow Canyon and then went up and over a ridge and down into another canyon away from the trail and set up camp under a big, convenient for hanging everything on, Juniper tree. It was perfect weather. We had a dinner of ham and beans, flatbread and oranges. Mmm good. We hiked up to the top of a hill and looked out over Snow Canyon and up to Pine Valley and then down a really pretty wash. It was good hiking because it had rained recently enough that the sand was still wet in lots of places. We got back to camp just at dark and had hot chocolate, talked some on the phone to Juge and Lou, and then hit the sack. We didn't bring a tent, but did bring the airbed, so we had a comfy bed and a great view of the stars. It was pretty cool by morning, so we stayed snuggled in until the sun was up. We had warm granola and hot chocolate for breakfast...very good. We broke camp and headed out to see the slick rock, ponds and beautiful vistas. After hiking around there some and stashing our packs, we headed off to see if we could find the overlook into Hellhole (Kayenta) Canyon. Paul is pretty good with his map and compass and we actually found it enjoying some amazing scenery on the way. We had lunch there and then headed back. It was a beautiful day for hiking. We got back just in time for Paul to make it to his 4:00 stake conference meeting. It was probably about 15 miles total. It was a great first night under the stars and lots a amazing scenery!

Art Festival, Conference, Birthday, Easter, moving...all in one weekend

It was a fun, haphazard, busy, wonderful weekend. I had Friday and Monday off, thank goodness, or there's no way I could have fit all of this in. Paul had to work Friday, so I spent the day house cleaning, shopping, etc. Friday evening we walked to an Easter Concert by the Southwest Heritage Choir and a Pine View Choir at the Tabernacle. It was very nice. Jay and Brynn arrived shortly after we returned. Saturday we watched conference and in between the am and pm session we wished Christie a happy birthday and did a very quick walk through of the Art Festival. In the evening the men headed to priesthood. Weed and kids came over and we visited the Art Festival (they were closing up so we couldn't see much), walked over to feed the ducks and had dessert. After the men got back and had dessert we headed over to see Moss and Christie's new house which they were in the process of moving in to. Moss and Jay had a deep discussion which the rest of us listened in on until almost midnight. Sunday we enjoyed conference with our Easter Feast after the am session with Jay and Brynn, Moss and Christie and Grandma. More conference and then we got Jay and Brynn on their way. Monday morning Paul and I did paperwork, etc. and in the afternoon the Borrowman kiddies came over while Ferf took Koen to the doctor. We were hoping to take a hike, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we had a fun time indoors. Paul and I taught the kids how to play Pit. They did great! We also played Sorry and Guess Who? while snacking on strawberries, Cuties and carrots. It was lots of fun. Later on Paul, Christie and Moss moved some of their stuff into their new house while I played with Brenden and ate crackers. What a great week end. Oh, we also got to have Jay make us flat bread to go with Saturday dinner. It's really good. Thanks everyone for a great weekend. We are so lucky to have such a fun family to enjoy!

A pretty quiet week end

We didn't really have too much time to do anything big over the weekend. Paul left for a Scout camp out on Friday afternoon. I spent the evening cutting out baby blankets with Genghis thinking he should sit in the middle of each one and take a nap while I was trying to cut. He's lucky he didn't lose his tail. I also took a really nice stroll that evening up on the Red Hill before it got dark. So lovely up there. Saturday morning I was out for another walk on the hill. I had some projects planned, but the scouts ended up getting blown away (couldn't keep their stoves lit) and had to come home a little earlier than expected. The rest of the day was spent doing the Scouting For Food pick up and going to a little ward BBQ later in the day. We did manage to take a short but new hike out past Sun River. We only had about a couple of hours and I had heard about the recently dedicated Bart Anderson Trail out there. We had to do a little shopping at Wal Mart and then headed out there for a look see. It was actually very pretty...in a desert sort of way. It meanders along the Virgin River. We saw some people camping out there and we even ran into some people from our ward (the Tophams) who were out there riding little motorcycles around with their kids. We decided we will have to go back out and maybe even camp out there some time. It's definitely not a summer hike, but was perfect for the weather on Saturday. Sunday we had a fun time taking Grandma and her pooch up to Lou and Bryan's (they are are going to babysit him for her while she goes to AZ) and eating dinner with them, gathering eggs with Ellie, meeting Brady and Ellie's chicks and just visiting. Bryan got called out just as we got there, but wasn't gone very long, so we did get to see him a little when he got back. On the way home we stopped off to see the job Paul is working on in New Harmony. I've been hearing about how cool it is and was glad to get to see it. That's it for our weekend. (The hike was sort of spur of the moment so I didn't bring the camera...took these with my phone. Not the best quality.)

Spring Break Fun 2010

We didn't get all the things I had on my list of Spring Break ideas done, but we did relax and did have some fun times. Other than visiting the Stucki cabin, we watched Weed and Derek's kids so they could spend some time there. They had a good time relaxing and skiing and we had some fun with the kids. It rained and we had to change some of our plans, but we still had fun. I got lots of things done around the house that I have been putting off - washing windows, etc. When Supe and Bean came down I still had one more day off, so we went to Brian Head/Cedar Breaks and initiated Bean to cross country skiing. He did great and he and Supe pretty much wore Paul and I out. It was a beautiful sunny day and we didn't realize just how sunburned you can get out in the snow, so we are now dealing with some red and pealing skin on our faces. It was worth it, but I won't make that mistake again!

A little Pine Valley respite...so nice.

Saturday I worked on the newsletter and Paul worked around the house. Then we ran errands and ate lunch. We thought we'd take a local hike, but after taking a nap it was pretty late and pretty cold to take the hike we had talked about. Then we remembered that the Stucki's had given us the key to their cabin while they are spring breaking in Mexico. Paul didn't have to teach on Sunday, I didn't have choir practice, the food would be easy since it was going to be fast Sunday, so we decided we would just head up to the cabin, ski some, make a dinner we already had stuff for and attend church up there. I am turning into a last minute Lillywhite person after all these years. I think having only two people to plan for makes it a lot easier to be last minute too...probably that's mostly it. We had a great time. The snow conditions were the best they had ever been. We actually did some real cc skiing with some actual gliding going on. We were able to drive to the parking lot at the lake and then skied up to the Whipple trail head parking lot and then down the summer residence cabin road and then back. It was so pretty, so quiet and so nice to be getting the hang of this ski thing. We had a nice dinner and then snuggled up by the wood stove and watched a good movie and then hit the sack. Today we attended the Pine Valley Branch meetings. It is really a nice, friendly branch and one where the Spirit is much felt. We went for a nice walk after church and then headed back home to make the feast of the fast over. I took some nice pictures and even took a little video of Paul doing the ski thing. We may have to do that again!

The Birthday Girls!

We all got together for Kennis, Weed, Grandma and Ferf's birthdays. We thought it would be fun to have fruit and chocolate fondue instead of cake...those who didn't want chocolate could be good and do the no sugar thing. It turned out that there were no takers on that one except Brenden. We just sang to the girls over the birthday plate with a communal candle in the middle since there was no cake. A BIG THANK YOU to Moss and Christie for bringing and setting up the chocolate fountain and to everyone who brought fruit. The kids thought it was so much fun. Birthday cakes might not be very popular after this! Unfortunately while Christie was slaving over it, she missed getting her picture taken. Sorry Christie. Derek was sick and couldn't make it. After most of the gang headed home Brenden went around showing off his new bipedal skills. He was pretty pleased with himself and we were pretty impressed. Happy birthday girls! We love you all. M&D

Dad's and Donuts with Kaebri

Last week Bloomington Elementary had a Dad's & Donuts breakfast. Paul was very happy when Kaebri called to invite him to go in Derek's place (he was already at work for the day at the appointed time). Paul went by and picked her up and they went over to the school. They got their donuts and chocolate milk and then went to meet Kaebri's teacher and see her classroom. We were still on our diet at the time, so he had to fudge a little, but it was well worth it for the fun time spent with Kaebri.