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!

July birthdays!

We had Beacher (26), Tahlia (4), Supe (30) and Ellie (10) to wish happy birthday to in July!  We love them all and hope they all know it!  We enjoyed Tahlia's long distance via pictures.  We joined Ellie and family at Mamoth Springs for a picnic.  Supe and Beacher shared their celebration of their week apart birthdays!

The little sheep decided to stand in the road on our way home.  He moved when he got good and ready!

Bear Trap Canyon Falls via Hop Valley

We didn't get on the trail until 10 am and it was getting hot.  The sandy parts of the trail, which are many, are not my favorite.  The scenery is beautiful though.  We were happy to get to the part of the trail where the river was running through Hop Valley and could escape the sand by walking close to the water.  This is not an easy trail.  The downs/ups are steep and sometimes rocky.  But when you get to La Verkin Creek it is so nice!  We ate lunch there and cooled off in the stream.  Then we continued up stream to Bear Trap Canyon Falls.  It is a beautiful water fall that reminds me of one in Ashdown Gorge.  Sources suggest this as a two day hike...and it was long.  We ended up with 20.3 miles on the GPS.  I'm glad we did it, but we were both very tired by the end, especially tired of the sand!

4th of July 2016

We started out the day at the ward breakfast/program.  It was great.  Then we decided on a hike to Taylor Creek/Double Arch Alcove at Kolob Fingers.  It's close, but cooler.  We had a great hike to the alcove and then continued on up the canyon until we came to an impasse, found a way up and around it and then continued until the canyon boxed and we would have needed to climb up and out about 60 feet to continue.  It was a great hike. That evening Derek and kids joined us for hot dogs and fireworks.  They changed where they let them off to the university stadium and none on the Red Hill anymore, but our hill was still a good vantage point to see them all over the valley; just not so up close and personal.  It was a great day!

We did come across a life and death struggle between a snake and a lizard.  It's hard not to want to step in and change the outcome.  Pretty sure the lizard was toast.  Later, back at the alcove we were eating lunch and some people across the way had a battle with a  crazy squirrel that was sure it needed to eat their lunch with them.  It was very persistent even when being tossed away by a hiking stick.  

Family "Glamp" 2016 - Moss & Christie

You will need to check out the final report at Lillywhite Family Get Together blog, but here are the camp collages.  We had a great time as always!  Many thank to Moss and Christie for being in charge.

PS - To say thanks to the Sheffields for lending us their cabin Paul made them an address post.  They had talked about wanting one some time ago.  After he got it all chiseled we had a little work party to unload and set it in cement.  It was pretty heavy duty, but with the help of Lou, Juge, Brady, Paul and I we got it done!