Thanksgiving holiday 2010

 It all started on Wednesday evening with Moss and Christie providing an authentic McRib dinner at our house for us and the out of town arrivals...mmm good!  The Thanksgiving feast took place at our house with everybody contributing to the goodness.  We had 30 here...only Supe was missing this year.  Since there were too many to fit in the dining area, the older kiddies had their own little table in one of the bedrooms.  After the delicious feast, we loaded everyone up and headed to the Red Hills Golf Course where Derek and Brynn worked on getting a whole family picture and some individual family pictures.  The sun was out, but I don't think it was what you would call warm.  We got a little bit of walking in which felt good after all that good food.  After that we were ready to come back and warm up and sing happy birthday to Brynnli, Noah and Paul over one of the pies.  Visiting, game playing, more eating, and Christie and Brynn and Derek planning their Black Friday shopping strategies were other activities of the day.  Friday some of us took a little hike in Snow Canyon.  It was beautiful weather and beautiful scenery.  More eating and game playing.  Saturday some of the men worked on Moss and Christie's gate and kept kids occupied while some women hit Santa's Workshop at the Dixie Center.  After that was the BYU/Utah football game and then Juge made us some delicious taquitos she claims are "heart healthy."  We were all just glad for a break from left overs.  More games and visiting.  Sunday morning's weather got us busy getting the out-of-towners on their way hoping to beat the storm or at least get home before dark.  What a great few days it has been.  Thanks to everyone for making the effort to come, bring food, host, and take and sit through the family photo session.  We are so thankful to have such a wonderful family and to have the chance to spend time together.  Thanks for making our Thanksgiving a great one!

One gate done...one more to go!

Pretty calm weekend at this house.  Moss & Christie added some excitement by inviting us to share some free tickets they got to go and see the new Harry Potter movie with them on Friday evening.  We had perfect seats right in the middle of the upper section.  The movie was great!  Thanks for sharing Moss & Christie.  Saturday Paul went over to help them work on putting in gates.  It was like most projects...a little more complicated than they planned on, but they got one done and learned a lot in the process.  While they were working away I got most of the Thanksgiving shopping done.  Can't wait to get everyone together for the big day.  Wish Supe could come, but he will be the only one missing this year.  I also got all the flowers I had gathered on hikes and walks and then dried put together on some cards.  Genghis tried to help since he was bored because he didn't want to play out in the rain.  It was a relaxing day for me and a working day for Paul.  Moss sent me this phone pic of their new gate.  It was pretty much dark when they got it done.  Good work ya'll! 

Capital Reef - work & pleasure combined

The Golden Throne kind of reminded me of the Great White Throne in Zion - the same, only different.

Saturday morning we left early to head over to Capital Reef to check out a possible job there.  It was beautiful and cool.  We drove out on the on the road where the job would be and then down the road in the Grand Wash. Some places in the shade the road was iced over and other places in the sun there wasn't any snow to be seen.  We spotted some desert sheep taking a nap in one sunny spot.  On the way home we also saw a flock of turkeys.  It was a nice drive and good for Paul to see the area where the work will be done.  We just have to decide if it will be something worth bidding now. 

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We went over to the Borrowman's last night to join the birthday celebration and were treated to a fantastic dinner along with lots of good company. While we were cleaning up Ryan gave Paul and his dad the run down on his recent gun training. Lighting the candles, as you can see, was a three-man process and it was hard to get the job done before some of the candles had melted down to wax stubs. That's what happens when you get soooo old! Presents were opened and cake eaten. Brynnli and Tavin then treated us to a practice run of the hilarious stories they are telling for the school story telling festival. It was a fun evening. Happy Birthday Ryan...an many more.

Stone and wood

Had a day this week to go on a rock trip to Ashfork with Paul.  We did it budget style and camped out over by Williams.  It wasn't cold, but the wind was swishing through the treetops all night long.  We got our load and also were able to find some more rubber mulch for Moss and Christie at the Wal Mart in Flagstaff.  There was an old building at the quarry that has flagstone shingles...heavy duty.  We stopped at Cameron at the trading post and had an authentic Navajo Taco for lunch on the way home.  It was very tasty.  We didn't get into Halloween much...had four trick-or-treaters stop by.  Saturday afternoon we went out the old turkey farm road to a burn area and collected a pick up load of firewood and then came home and cut and stacked it.  That's our weeks highlights. 

Whiterocks, etc.

We decided a long hike might not be a good idea if we didn't want to get rained on, so we just took a short walk up to Whiterocks in Snow Canyon.  We knew the rain would have packed the sand for easier walking.  We haven't been up there for a very long time.  It turned out to be very pretty with water trickling down from pool to pool. After that we took a drive up to Pine Valley just to see what was happening with the weather up there and saw some really colorful leaves and ferns.  We did Chinese for lunch and also used up the rest of our movie pass to see Secretariat.  I highly recommend both.  It was a restful, enjoyable Saturday.  Sunday we took dinner over to Grandma Kurtz since she has a hard time driving with her broken ankle and couldn't come to our house.  After that we got to go over and help celebrate Tasia's #6.  Too bad I forgot my camera for that one.  Happy Birthday Tasia!

UEA 2010

We weren't sure we wanted to leave town after Moss got hurt, but after making sure he got through surgery well on Thursday evening and checking him out on Friday morning, we took off.  Our destinations included Canyonlands (the Needles District), Arches, a picturesque drive in Colorado and Dead Horse Point State Park.  We managed to get everything in and still make it home to wish Koen a happy birthday on Monday night.  We camped out for two of the nights and spent one night in a motel in Monticello so we could clean up and attend church there Sunday morning.  It was a great meeting with a really nice missionary report.  We had a hard time finding a camp spot the first night, but finally found one just outside Canyonlands.  It was just a BLM area, with no fee, but was really crowded.  It was a good spot though, other than too many people.  We had good food and a good sleep.  The next day we hiked to Druid Arch which is an amazing, huge arch.  We loved it.  We spent the rest of the day seeing other sights in that area of the park and then headed to Monticello for the night.

Next morning we took a scenic drive up in the nearby mountains seeing lots of deer, turkeys and beautiful leaves before church.  After church we took off stopping to make our lunch in a park in Delores, Colorado and did a beautiful drive up to Ouray and then back down to a nice camp spot below the La Sal Mountains where we made dinner to the tune of coyotes howling and had a restful night waking to a light rain that conveniently stopped in time for us to make breakfast and get on our way to Arches. (Notice the little Ophir Post Office - it's the one from the ruined oil pan/day before Juge's birth fame.  The old boiler isn't there anymore.  The road has been changed some and it must have been a casualty of that change.)

We hiked to the North and South Window Arches and then to Delicate Arch.  Such amazing rock formations everywhere!  We had seen the rest of the park on another visit.  After lunch in Moab we went over to Dead Horse point and took in the sights there.  Just as we were leaving a rainstorm came in...perfect timing.  We drove on home enjoying the scenery all the way and stopped off in Toquerville to wish Koen a happy birthday.

Genghis was very glad to see us and has needed lots of lovin' to make up for his lonely time at home without us.  We have decided to make UEA trips to beautiful places an annual tradition.

Lazy week end

Didn't do a whole lot this week end.  Friday night we walked down to get a movie and discovered it was another of the Friday night Gallery Walks they have every so often down town.  We really like going to them.  They start at the St. George Art Museum (you get in for free) and then continue on down Main St. with every gallery open from 6-9 pm.  It's such a feast for the eyes.  (The next one is on November 12th.)  You may be out of time, but if you haven't seen the Willie Holdman "Summoning the Spirit of the Southwestern Lands" photo exhibit on the top floor and the Botanical Illustrations: From Penstemons to Pines downstairs at the St. George Art Museum, hurry up.  This exhibit only goes through the 16th.  I don't know what's next (the little room at the end of the upper floor is also very interesting - Forgotten Places.)  That made for a fun, free evening.  Today we took a walk on the Red Hill, did some shopping, lawn mowing, etc. in the morning and in the afternoon went out to see if we could find some Yucca blossoms for hiking sticks that Paul wants to make.  We drove out behind Bloomington Hills to an area that overlooks the Gorge.  Found a few Yucca blossoms, saw a couple of mountain goats and got a flat tire.  There are some really sharp rocks out there - be warned.  Now Paul is working on some paintings.  He's getting back into painting which is good. It's something he loves and is a very stress relieving activity for him.  I got all that chicken we bought this morning bagged and frozen.  We are loving this cooler weather.  We are planning to have some good adventures next week end over the fall recess from school. 

Autumn Leaves and a quilting cat

Family home evening was a trip to see the leaves and a picnic with Paul and his mom.  It was a beautiful evening...just wish it would have lasted longer.  Things at school are good.  Bus duty is interesting and some kids are a challenge.  While Paul was at Priesthood I put on a quilt to make for our stake's humanitarian project and Genghis was right there to help me out with it.  It was a pretty relaxed week at this abode.

Family Camp/Sleepover 2010

 The Family Camp/Sleepover for 2010 was great!  Sleeping, though much more convenient happening inside a cabin rather than a tent, was still somewhat  of a premium which always seems to be the case when small children or snoring are a part of the equation.  The meals were frequent and very tasty.  The clean up was minimal with just a button to push for dish washing to occur.  The leaves were perfectly beautiful and the weather ideal.  We had a great turn out with everyone, except Supe and Bean, being able to come for at least some of the time.  The inside activities were varied including Foosball, ping pong, pool, Wii Resort, Cranium, Malarkey, puzzling, visiting and various other fun stuff that the kids came up with to entertain themselves.  Grandpa told a scary bedtime story that ended with a laugh from all who heard the tale of a kissing bear.  Outdoor activities included a hike to Cascade Falls, a little spelunking and headbanging at Mammoth Caves, a search and find outing to Mammoth Springs (with a little poison ivy adventure thrown in), a visit to the top of Brian Head Peak/Vista Point, some 4-wheeling, leaf looking, marshmallow roasting and walk taking.  The cabin was very comfortable with plenty of room and beautiful views out the windows.  The kids were great with very little of fighting or biting. Thanks to everyone for making the effort to come.  Next year Lou and Bryan have agreed to be the head honchos for our get together.  I'm already looking forward to it!