Dad

What great kids Shane and I have, and what a blessing and comfort they are to me right now. My Dad is now on Hospice and in the process of dying. It is a very bittersweet time for us. Dad has literally helped raise our kids and been a huge part of our everyday family life, so what will we do without him now? It will be so tough, but it brings us so much joy and happiness to know that he will finally be pain free. Our joy for him and his sweet reunion with his parents and close family who have gone before outweighs our loss. It really has been such a great blessing to have so many family members here to visit and say their goodbyes. Sitting with Dad daily has also been a blessing to feel the sweet spirit that is present when the veil is so close. I truly am grateful for the knowledge that families are eternal, I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what is best for us. My Dad is the most humble, sweet, forgiving, and loving man and I know that now he will be free od the aches and pains of his earthly body and enjoy the peace and love which can only come through our Savior.

Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers offered in our behalf, it really does make a difference and gives us strength to go on. Hope you can feel our love for each of you also!

Family

Everything is a little crazy, and pretty hard these days at home in Sandy so while I'm here at BYU I thought I would help them out a bit by putting up some kind of blog post so you all know we are still around! I think I speak for my family in this post when I say that we, as a family, are so grateful for family! We have had the opportunity to see so many family members the last two weeks, and we will continue to see many more in the coming weeks. Although the reasons for the visits do not always seem like a happy thing, each visit brings so much joy, and peace. I believe it is one of our Heavenly Fathers greatest blessings that we are sent to earth into families. Families are our cores, our very centers. They shape and mold us into the people we become, and they leave impressions that last generations. It is also one of the Heavenly Fathers greatest blessings that families are eternal. That child and parents, husbands and wives, entire families, can see each other again after this life. Families are truely amazing, and I'm so grateful for mine!

New York Pics

Our "Real" Family Vacation

So it has taken me forever to get to posting about our trip to New York, my excuse is that Nicole had my computer so bogged down with her High School Historian pictures that I couldn't download the New York pics....so now that I resolved that problem, I am back! The first stop on our "real" vacation was the beautiful town of Palmyra New York, where we toured all the church history sites and did baptisms for the dead at the Palmyra Temple. The best part for me was the time we spent in the Sacred Grove, individually with our scriptures. The weather was beautiful, with a few sprinklings of rain...this is such a beautiful part of New York! We even got to go to a parade in Palmyra....the Fireman's Parade, it was quite an event!

After a few days in Palmyra we flew on to NYC, we had the best time, we even decided to stay an extra day and go to another show! We saw "The Little Mermaid", "Mary Poppins", and "Legally Blonde", we went purse shopping on Canal Street and that was so hilarious...to go into these little tiny shops,through a secret door, and into the basement to see their knockoff purses, and then to haggle over the price with them was an adventure too! We took a great bus tour of the city, a day tour and a night tour and it was beautiful at night and we learned alot of fun stuff. We went to "The Metropolitian Museum of Art" and "The American History Museum", we went to the Manhattan Temple, Ground Zero, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Ellis Island, and The Statue of Liberty. We went to bed late and got up early every day and we had so much fun together!

We also enjoyed walking through Central Park several times and going to Magnolia Bakery for their delish cupcakes, and frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity, our dinner at Serendipity was also one of the best meals we had in the Big Apple, although we did find the best pizza ever, in a little hole in the wall pizza joint near our hotel, and their pasta was amazing! We went to Rockefeller Center, where there were some great views of the city. It was a once in a lifetime trip as a family....meaning the next time our kids go their own husbands will have to take them and pay for them, but I am sure Shane and I will go again at some point. Ha,ha :)

We were riding the subway back to our hotel one evening, as the doors closed there was this booming voice behind us saying, "Alright, EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! I lost my job and haven't been able to find a new one. I used the last of my $ for the subway ride home,and I haven't eaten since breakfast!" I thought for sure we were all going to be mugged, I was afraid to look back to see if he had a gun cuz he was standing right behind us....then he continued..."So if there is anyone who has any food that they could share with me I would really appreciate it" I looked at him and I could tell he wasn't a homeless man....just someone who was about at his breaking point and was looking for help. We happened to have a box of cupcakes that we were taking back to our hotel, so Nicole and I both decided to give him one, he was very grateful and when we appoligized for it being kind of messy...He just smiled and said, "It is food, God bless you!" I have thought alot about this incident, and about how sometimes our fear can hold us back...when he first started talking to everyone we were all nervous and scared, some people wouldn't look at him, some were trying to figure out what was going on....but as he continued, if you listened you could tell that he was sincere and just wanted some kind of kindness. We all want a little kindness, some tender mercy, but how often do we allow ourselves to be someone elses tender mercy. We often become so busy in our own lives, so wrapped up in our own thoughts,and sometimes our fear holds us back, I just hope I can use this experience to remind me to be more aware of others, to be more kind. Sorry to ramble on, and on...just thinking outloud I guess.

Robyne's Hasn't Got Time...Trek Catch-up!

OUR FAMILY VACATION?

Family on Independence Rock!

My great wife never has time to catch up the blog so I thought I would help her out with August's activities...maybe then she can keep things up to date. She's been very busy lately moving her Dad, keeping up with the girls, and getting back to handling all the library duties at Silver Mesa.

Our Stake had Pioneer Trek and the entire family was able to go. It was great to be there together, and had some great experiences. It was fun to have all of us there even though the girls were in separate "Pioneer Families" while we just floated...some called us the "grandma & grandpa" of the ward (I didn't like that label).

We all came away with a different experience that impacted us and we certainly learned to appreciate the sacrifice of those who did this "for real." I'm pretty confident that if I was a pioneer I would have probably died somewhere near the eastern border of Wyoming. The thoughts of having to walk through the entire state of Wyoming and it's dreary, desolate, and depressing landscape (not to mention windy all of the time) would have done me in quickly. The only redeeming quality about walking through Wyoming is it's much more beautiful than flying over it (even uglier) as we experienced a few weeks later.

CLIFF NOTE HIGHLIGHTS:

Day 1: Left on Wednesday morning (4:45 am...no, that's not a typo), arrived at Martin's Cove, walked five miles around the cove, re-enacted the Sweet Water River Crossing (great experience), then went to our camp ground for dinner, square dancing (okay, I didn't square dance...remember I'm the grandpa), and sleep. By the time we had arrived the wind had destroyed one of our wards huge canopies we use at girls camp and didn't seem to quit blowing the entire time we were there! During the night Nicole had severe stomach pain which appeared to be her gal bladder; medical staff gave some powerful medication (helped her sleep) seemed better in the morning. Coyote's howled most of the night...they were right next to camp. Did have one of our young women leaders wake up on Thursday morning and ask if she heard the "Antelope that were mating during the night." TRUE STORY!

Day 2: Got on bus, went to Independence Rock for a devotional (each ward separate), then traveled to Six Crossing station to begin walking on the trail (and last flush toilet until you get to the Little America rest stop on the way home). This day on the trail is around fourteen miles, with about a mile along the river. Pretty hard day on the trail and we did have a few causalities along the way...one of them being Nicole. She ended up with a re-occurance of the pain from the night before and Robyne & I ended up going with her along with the Stake President to Lander to the hospital. That was one of the hardest things we had to do in our life was to drive by our other two daughters who were struggling with the last couple of miles on the trail, and seeing their faces as they new something was wrong. Hospital took a long time and we decided that since I still had two daughters and a ward to watch over that the Stake President & I would go back, not yet knowing what was wrong with Nicole. I have a niece who lives in Lander and would come and get the "women folk" (pioneer talk) when they determined something. Very hard for me to leave them there and not knowing for the next 18 hours what was going on.

Day 3: Best day of trek! Walked up Rocky Ridge (most elevation gain on the entire trek) and "Women's Pull." When I walked I generally was at the rear..two reasons. 1) didn't want to leave anyone behind, 2) I was generally going slower than the rest for a number of reasons. Before reaching the summit they pulled off the men and made them leave the women by themselves to pull the wagon over a very difficult part of Rocky Ridge. We had several young women with different problems, and some just broke down. My counselor's and I gave some of them a blessing, and then had to leave them. I will admit that my eyes were leaking when I looked back and saw their condition, and to see my two remaining daughters with their arms around each other and their faces filled with concern. This combined with Nicole & Robyne being gone and not knowing her condition was ripping us apart. I waited with the young men who lined both sides of the trail in respect waited for the young women to arrive. I sat watching the crest of the hill they were to come over and was so happy to see the orange flags of our ward finally come into view. It was so amazing to see these young women pull up those hand carts up the hill and see the courage and determination of our young women and their leaders. Again, eyes were leaking most of the time during this also.

Day 3 (continued): After Rocky Ridge I was able to meet up with Nicole (she was released and okay..turned out to be a virus) and Robyne and we walked back a couple of miles from the end (Rock Creek Hollow) with our young women's president to meet up with our ward. It was so neat to see Nicole and her sisters run to each other with hugs and also her "trek family" do the same. Then together we walked the final few miles together (after yet another Bishop's teaching moment...sure appreciate putting up with me during those discussions..my youth are great). Rock Creek is my most favorite part of trek because it has some beauty, there's no wind, and the creek runs through it. We all went down to the creek to cool/clean off and then finished the night with a great testimony meeting.

Day 4: Final devotional with the Stake which was great and then boarded the buses for home. WE did stop at Little America for a bathroom break and ice cream.

Trek is a lot of work, costs a lot of money, and may not seem worth it. However, I learned so many great lessons on this trek and so many lives change. I personally learned how difficult it is to have your family separated and having to decide who needed you the most. I learned how hard it is as a parent to let your children go through struggles so they can grow and develop. I also learned that the spirit has an amazing way of touching lives and teaching some powerful lessons. Among the lessons I saw taught were leaders learn that we can only do so much and then the youth have to decide. How you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. How beautiful the end of a journey can be after you've sacrificed so much to get there.

Glad we went, but sure was glad to see the shower, air conditioning and to replace my sleeping bag and thin ground mat for a mattress.

SUMMER......PART 2

Okay so here we go again...trying to catch up the blog with the actual life we live! A few days after Megan and I returned from VA it was time to go again....this time on our annual camping trip to Moon Lake. Moon Lake is a beautiful place in the Uintah Mountains, a beautiful blue lake surrounded by trees, mountains and along one side...a sandy beach and maybe 20 something cabins. These cabins are nothing fancy.....they were built in the 1930's I think, and the bathrooms fit a toilet, small sink, and very small shower. The walls and the floors are slanted and there is usually a bed in the dining area. There is usually no counter space in the kitchen and the ovens are to small to actually cook anything in them, but we love going up there every year with a couple of families from our ward....no phones (or cell service), no traffic (unless you count the deer, and sometimes cows that wander through the camp sites) We have been horseback riding, hiking, swimming, rented paddle boats and even a motor boat. Some people fish, or just sit on the beach and visit and it is just very relaxing! It is "Tradition" for us now! Nicole and I drove Big Red up there a day earlier than the rest of the family, and it was great to spend some one on one with her. I even let her drive the truck from Duchane to Moon Lake! The next evening Shane, Megan, and Abbie arrived in time for dinner, and the next few days were spent relaxing, enjoying friends and family, card games, smores at the fire every night, and watching the wildlife!

Utah Michigan Football Game

Robyne & I had the opportunity to go with the football team to their game at Michigan. We were able to travel with the team on their airplane, stay at the same hotel, and travel in their escort to and from the stadium.

We had a great dinner on Friday night with some other guests and University of Utah PR staff. Robyne was able to meet one of her favorite former basketball players (Jimmy Soto) and his wife.

The best part was being at Michigan's stadium ("The Big House") and watching the game which the Utes won 25-23. There were around 109,000 people at the game and we were packed in their like Sardines. Poor Robyne had to find a less confining seat for the last half of the game and ended up on a seat next to an usher. She probably had the most comfortable seat in the house.

The funniest part of the trip was getting on our Jet Blue plane whose name was "100% Blue." The Utes (Red & White) getting on a plane saying that to go play a team called "Big Blue" and BYU being Blue & White. Okay, I thought it was funny!

It was all worth it.....GO UTES!