Not At All Like the Pioneers

Our 24th of July was hot . . because it was in Moab. So we decided to find someplace cool to hang out. And that someplace turned out to be one of our favorite places here. Upper Lefthand.

Everyone in Moab knows about Lefthand, and on a hot summer Saturday afternoon you will find Lefthand crowded with people. But interestly enough, very few people venture just a little further down the trail to Upper Lefthand. We don't know why. The pool is just as deep and there is fun to be had. Just ask us. Because lucky for us, we had it all.

It was a hot hike as you can see by Kimbrey's red face, so we were ready to jump right in the water and cool down.

And jump we did. At least those brave and daring young people we drug along with us did. I stood waste deep in water and took pictures.

Oh, the sacrifices you have to make when you are trying to be the adult in the group!

With a little coaxing from Kenny, Jill jumped a few times. I tried to trick her into jumping more by claiming I almost had the perfect jumping picture of her. She just needed to jump One. More. Time. But she caught on too fast.

And came ashore with the rest of the party poopers to dry off and get warm. Did I just say get warm? That was so hard for us to believe after how hot we were hiking in.

But Kenny, now HE had captured a renewed purpose in life. He jumped and jumped and jumped. Over and over again. As many times as it took . . .

to become A BLOG STAR!! Yes folks, that is whatKenny aspired to on this particular pioneer day afternoon. Blog Stardom. And I think he achieved it.

It was a fun time for everyone. Chase LOVED the water, and even Aiden, who stepped one foot in and decided it was too cold for him, stood on the bank and happily threw rocks in while his Dad tried to achieve Blog Star fame. And then we hiked back out, tired and a little sore, but happy. Every one.

Another Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to this cute face, and the cute boy who goes with it. Here he is at the family reunon shooting his first marshmallow gun, and doing a pretty good job. Doesn't he have the best pucker you've ever seen? Hope you had a really great day, Porter. We love you.

It's Jills Birthday!!!

It was pretty poor planning when I had my first two babies in the middle of July . . . in Moab! But 27 years ago, when Kyle was two years and five days old, along came sweet little Jillayne Marie. Here's wishing you the best day - without me there it will be tough I know ;}, but have great one anyway and Happy Birthday!

The First 29 Years of Kyle's Beautiful Life

Meanwhile Back At The Homestead . . . .

While Dave and I were basking in the cool mountain air at the cabin on the 4th, Drew was chillin' with his homies on the LaSal mountains here in Moab. It was their "one last blast before life as they knew it ended and they went off to college, missions (in Drew's case) and basically entered the dreary life of an adult" campout. They had been planning this camping trip for a year, and rumor has it they had a good time.

Here Drew is making a hammock out of rope. From scratch. He didn't sleep in it. I can't imagine why.

Here is the whole gang on the tip top of Mt. Tukuhnikivats. Did anyone notice girls in this picture? Yea, Drew kept the fact that they were camping with girls a pretty good secret until just before they took off. Good thing I trust him . . .

They camped two nights - the night before the big mountain climb, which was Thursday, and the night after they climbed, which was Friday. Messy little campers they are. Drew insists they cleaned the place up before they headed home on Saturday.

These are the "guys". You've met them before. They are the same guys who were in Drew's graduation photos. That's Charlie on the right . . I mean left. I'm left/right handicapped, a sore point with my engineering minded husband. Anyway, Charlie, the one in the bright orange shirt, he's off to Columbia University in Chicago to become a famous film director. We are practicing saying "we knew him when . . " Of course you recognize Drew, who is working hard getting his mission papers ready to send in. Next to Drew is Nathan and then Tristen. Nathan and Tristen are going to college right here in Utah. They are going to be roomies.

And these are the girls, Kira, Hailey and Dana. Drew found out an important fact of life from these three. There is such a thing as "boy points"!! See, if you get up early and make the girls breakfast and then take it to them in their tent - BOY POINTS!! If you hold their hand and help them across the slide rock on the way up the mountain. Score!! BOY POINTS!! He did not know about these before.
Drew used the beauty and majesty of the view from the top of Mt. Tukuhnikivats to write some of his book. Yep, Drew is writing a book. He's been working on it for a few years now. He figures if Charlie is going to be a famous movie director, he's going to need someone to write books that can be made into movies that he can direct.

And that is how Drew spent his 18th 4th of July. Boy, I'm going to miss this kid.

And To Think, We Almost Missed It

We spent our 4th of July at this beautiful place. Traditionally our family reunion is the 4th and if tradition had held we would have been here anyway, but someone changed tradition this year and I almost forgot the 4th because of it. That's right, if it hadn't been for my Mom calling and asking me what we were doing for the 4th of July, we might have missed it!

Jay was there. Yes, the same Jay who broke our 4th of July reunion tradition so families could be home to watch the fireworks on the 4th was NOT home watching the fireworks, but at the cabin anyway. Luckily he put himself to good use and made some improvements to the kids play area so we could forgive him. He made this teeter totter . . .
. . . and this cute little ladder so the little kids can get on the tramp without bothering us big people.

We celebrated this cute red-head's birthday. Can you believe it was four years ago that Dalen came tearing out of the cabin early on a 4th of July morning, taking the time to actually run around and SAY GOOD BYE to everyone before driving his laboring wife down the mountain to have this girl.

There was a 4th of July parade in Huntington. Shannon thought the parade was for her birthday, and she went around inviting people to it. Too cute!

We also went on a mini "Dalen Hike". For those who have never been on one, they are notorious, to say the least. Some people in my family avoid "Dalen Hikes". I LOVE 'em! We talked Mom in going on this one, but Dalen had to build her a bridge and then help her across it. It was fun having Mom on the hike. That is my goal, to still be able to go on "Dalen Hikes" when I'm a Great Grandma.

Tyson thought the hike was a little long and started to wilt. . . and then he crashed. Right there on Dalen's shoulders. What to do, what to do.

Now, isn't this clever? I taught him that, you know. That's what big sis's are for, situations just like this. It was a good, fun, peaceful 4th. And to think, we almost missed it!

The Two Extremes

Jill's latest blog had pictures of Aiden feeding the horses at the cute little rural place right in the middle of the big city Kimbrey and Daniel found to rent. Jill showed the back side of the property with the alfalfa fields and the animals. The flip side of Kimbrey's newfound residence is the view from the front. This is what Kimbrey sees every day when she walks out the front door of her house.

Dave and I recently stayed there while he was recovering from surgery enough for the long drive back home. I was so struck by the beauty and implications of the sight everytime I drove down the little dirt road towards shoppingville, which was pretty often. I don't think you would need pictures of the Temple on your walls when you have the real thing in your front yard. What a great reminder every time you look up of what is really important in life. Now, the opposite of the above picture is this.

This is what Brennan looked like the other day after cleaning the backhoe at the carwash. Interestingly, this also reminds me of what is important every time I look at it. The two may look like opposites, but they actually go hand in hand. Family and the Temple, that's what it's all about.