Lillypad Good Times

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Kaibab Camp and Buck's Viewpoint

After many weekends of doing things to get Bean settled in and tending kids we were ready to get out of the house. We haven't camped on our own much at all this summer and it was time. We were feeling a little too tired to go to all of the work of packing up the food, so we took a little stash Paul had and treated ourselves to dinner, cookies and breakfast at Jacob Lake to simplify things. The food was so good as always! It was perfect weather - I only needed my warm shirt - and a full moon and hardly anyone out in the forest was so nice. We awakened to coyotes singing in the early morning. After breakfast we drove down the hill to the Vermilion Cliffs and drove out to the west looking for a place where we could see into the Grand Canyon and see the Colorado River. We found a couple of spots that were pretty cool! Then it was time to head back home. It was just what we needed!

Weaver tending and Lou #43

Juge and Lance took a trip to Europe and had a schedule of tenders lined up for their kiddos. We were part of that schedule one week end. Having water wars erupt in the middle of it complicated things a bit, but we all had a good time while Paul slaved over them. (Sad for him.) Eden had a track meet in Cedar on Saturday morning, so I took her and Noah up for that and it was fun to see little Eden out there working hard. We met up with Tavin and Kennis too and that was fun. Pretty proud of all these kids doing hard things.

We had fun watching the two Apple Dumpling Gang videos in the evenings...they are such funny old movies. We also visited the Town Square and played in the water...more fun.

It wasn't fun when we took them home and remembered at about New Harmony that we left our car keys at home and had to turn around and go get them...dumb!

After we dropped the kids back home for Brynnli to tend, we stopped over at the Randall's and celebrated with Lou for her #43! Bryan made really yummy pumpkin cookie treats which we were glad to share with them!

Monday, August 27, 2018

Bean, Tavin and Torin - birthday time!

These 3 share some close birthdays day wise. Not so close year wise. This year was number 30 for Bean! His last year has been one a of great growth and healing. We feel so blessed that this has been the case for him and we are looking forward to what this coming year will bring in blessings for him.

Tavin is moving along too and is a senior this year and so very busy with school, work and cross country. He's one GREAT grandson and we are so proud of him for all he is accomplishing and for who is is most of all! Happy #17!

And Torin is just getting started! He's such a fun little guy and wants to be one of the big boys so bad. He loves all things Super Hero as you can see from his 3 different hero shirt, capes and present! Happy #4 Torin! We love all of you guys!

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Big Rock Candy Mountain

We had planned to go pick up a load of stone, but it wasn't ready. Paul said he just wanted to go somewhere for a little vacation Friday-Saturday. That isn't much time, but we found a fun thing not to far away that turned out just right. Friday afternoon we used out gift certificates for a matinee play in Cedar - The Fugitive - and for lunch at Park Place. Both were really good! The Fugitive was hilarious in fact! And to food at Park Place is very delicious! (Too bad I'm on a diet!) We also checked out the art museum at the college which had a very interesting display going on.

After we finished up in Cedar we drove over the mountain (beautiful drive) and on to The Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort. It is just a little spot that has some fun things to do. We spent the night in a tiny, but comfortable place and had a really nice dinner at the local cafe. We took a nice walk along the rails to trails bike path before bed. It was cool and had recently rained in the nearby mountains.

The next day we got up and did 12 miles on the bike trail before a really good breakfast again at the cafe. Then we packed up to check out and make it on the 11 am river float trip. It's a couple of miles in calm water in the Sevier River. They drop you off and you tube down the river for the couple of miles. It took us about an hour and a half. Very peaceful for the most part, but you have to pay attention and not get stuck in the eddies! We both got caught in a few and it was a lot of work to get back out into the current. We also got out too early at the wrong stop and it was a little tricky getting back in! It was fun and something we had talked about doing for quite some time.

On the way home we stopped in Cedar and went to a movie with Bean and had ice cream and then headed home. It was a fun trip, pretty reasonably priced and just what we needed!

Monday, August 13, 2018

Thursday, August 9th, I hike the Zion Narrows with Juge, Lance, Eden and Noah. It was kind of a last fling before back to school. It was something I had always wanted to do and it was both SPECTACULAR and strenuous. It was 18 miles - felt like more - and full of beautiful spots. I left my house to meet them at Zion at 5:30 am and got back to my house that night at 11:30 pm. We did the hike in just short of 12 hours. Eden and Noah were really impressive. They just kept keeping on. My feet got a little heavy toward the end and I did a couple of spectacular splats, but was just bruised and not broken. Glad I got that one off my bucket list! Glad they let me tag along!

Torin's first Grand Edventure - Home Depot, etc.

Torin was a little worried about going with us, but ended up having a good time and then was ready to go home. We did another Home Depot building project date and he made Inch Worm book ends. They were really cute and he did a great job pounding the nails, painting and putting on the stickers. After that we needed to stop in at Costco, so we just added that to the date and ate samples and got a book for him to put in his book ends as well. Then we were off to the Town Square to ride the carousel and play in the water. He was not about to take off his shoes, but once we got the squirt guns out he was ready to soak Grandpa and then me and didn't want to leave! After that we went to Wendy's and got lunch and frosties and took them to a park to eat while we dried out. It was a fun time with the little guy. Looking forward to more good times in the future!

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Visiting Grandma Poulsen

It was a quick trip, up and back for the weekend. Sadly, I took no pics at all. Paul, Bean and I left Thursday afternoon. We arrived in Lehi a little too early to go to Jay and Brynn's, so we saw the latest Mission Impossible and then went to their house for the night. It's always nice to visit with them and the girls. After a great breakfast we got on the road to Kennewick and arrived there in time for a little visiting before bed. Then we had all of Saturday to visit, pick peaches, visit with more family who dropped by and eat lots of good food. Sunday we attended church and visited more and ate more good food! Monday it was time to take our leave and head back down for a night with Jay and Brynn and girls and then Tuesday we came back to St. George. It was so good to see everyone. Kriston and family came over, Careina and Andrew and girls too. And Denny made the drive down also. Then Evan, Jenny and girls stopped in on Sunday. Supe and Beacher flew in on Friday night and stayed until Sunday morning. What a bunch of wonderful people. Mom may not have been able to hear all that was going on, but I'm sure she felt loved and visited. Janet and Tony are such great hosts and fun people. I'm so glad we were able to get up there one more time before school starts back up and I'm not able to leave much. Pictures would have been good, but visiting was the best. Mom is actually doing quite well as far as you can tell. She does get tired and naps quite a bit, but other than that, she seems quite well.

Friday, July 20, 2018

YSA mud and marriage experiences

So we got home Saturday from Family Camp and got all of our muddy, wet stuff cleaned up. Then we got texts that evening telling us that church had been cancelled the next day so that all of us could go up to Dammeron Valley and help clean up from the flooding from 2 storms that had dropped 3 inches or more of water on them in short periods of time all while we were out of town. Some of the clean up started earlier, but then more rain had come. So between all of the community and church members there were about 1500 people who came to help on Sunday. Paul and I came in his big truck and hoped the dump bed would come in handy. At first they were still trying to get organized and didn't know where to put us so we just went around taking food and drinks to people working. Then later we worked at a house where Paul could haul off junk coming out of the flooded basement and I could help in loading that junk. It was hard, muddy, hot work, but I was glad we came to be a part of it. I had never done anything like it before. It felt good to be a part of helping someone with a very big problem. The house we were on was huge and had a full basement with 10-foot ceilings that had flooded clear to the ceiling. What a mess!!!

We saw this place when we took food around.

We worked on this place. It looked much worse while we were there. This pic must be after the first storm.

Today we got to attend the temple sealing of a young man from our YSA ward. His bride was not from our ward, but we had gotten to know her a little while she came with him to activities. They are a wonderful couple and we are so happy for them! What a wonderful thing to see them get off to the best possible start. Dave Younie and Mackinlee Barkdull. He didn't have a lot of family to come, so I'm sure that's part of the reason we got to be there. Still, it was a lovely thing to witness. Wish more of our YSA's could move forward with their lives like these two have.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Family Camp 2018 - Tushar Mountains Round Flat - Supe and Beacher

Final shot as we left the camp - what a beautiful place!

It was an AWESOME camp! We had 100% turn out for at least one of the days! That's a record I think. We were in a beautiful place and the weather, albeit a little rainier + hail than we planned for - was cool and it kept the bugs at bay! Juge and Lance brought a giant tarp which was brilliant and provided us a great place to gather to eat, play games and just stay dry and together during some of the rainier moments. As usual the food was fantastic and plentiful. We didn't go on many outings because of the rain, but it was so much fun just hanging out playing games, badminton, horse shoes, the Finish block toss game, etc. that we didn't even miss it and things were rather relaxing. We did take a drive up to the top of the mountains near Delano Peak and saw the beautiful views there very quickly as just after that the hail storm hit. We were not deterred from our good times when we got back to camp to find the tarp had come down some places because of the rain/hail load. The men worked together to remedy that, a bum barrel was started to keep us warm, Ryan provided electric lights to brighten the area and we went on with our fun! We celebrated several birthdays - Beacher #28, Tahlia #7, Supe #32, Malakai #1, Lyv #14, Ellie #12. We had some fun and funny talents shared, a dance party, and a sing along with ukuleles. The rain stopped enough that we could get packed up the last morning and everyone got home safely. Moss and Christie's tent got flooded so they had to make an early departure. Brady's got wet too, but luckily there was an extra sleeping bag available. Thanks to Supe and Beacher for being the in-charge people. So next year - Bean's up!