Hike to the Bowl

Just thought I'd share some photos I took last week when Talon led the achievement day gals up to the "Bowl". If you haven't been there, the bowl is where water has eroded this sandstone formation creating a "bowl" in the rock. Generations of Gunlock youth and friends have hiked up to carve their names at the bottom. The girls had a great time finding the names of their parents, aunts & uncles and even their grandparents. I remember the first time I hiked up here. It was before Odean and I were even married.

The hike to the top is easy although it is not fun if you don't like heights. To get into the bowl itself, you can slide on your rear all the way down. Getting out isn't as easy. You have to run around the sides of the bowl slowly making your way out.

Top row, left to right: Ceili, Najeli, Karina, Sabrina, Cherileigh (I think), Lexi, Keiki

bottom: Talmage, Alyssa (could be Cherileigh), Brittney, and La.

It was not easy getting all the girls on the side to get this photo...it was even harder to get them all out.

Can't sleep...

remind me not to have caffeine at night, would ya?

It has kind of been a joke in the past that my life happens so that everyone else can feel better about theirs. I don't think that is the case any more...at least not for now.

Dad called on Thursday night asking for a family fast. There has been a lot going on in every one's lives. Mindy's husband, Bill, has had some pretty tough health issues. Tiffany and her family have been dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike...I think she has only had power now for maybe 24 hours or so. Tami's husband is a contractor and we all know how that has been affected by the economy plus I understand they had some serious theft/vandalism problems at their dirt bike track. Jason and Shaun are in Egypt (I think Mindy is there, too.) Jim has his worries right now and even Dad is having some health issues.

I almost feel guilty. Life is fairly normal here. Money is tight and we are living from paycheck to paycheck, but when haven't we been. Life is crazy busy with the kids...again, when hasn't it been. Everyone is healthy-knock on wood. Odean and I both have jobs we really enjoy but aren't so all consuming. The kids so far have made good choices in their lives...there is very little contention at home. For once, it was nice to have a family fast that wasn't mostly for our benefit.

Gypsy and I were at Arctic Circle this afternoon. (I was fasting but unfortunately hadn't gotten the word to my kids.) I hadn't seen her all week. We sat in the van while told me about her week-the melt down in PE over a stupid croquet game (am I even spelling that right?) which then led to a melt down just prior to rehearsal. She continued recounting the fun YM/YW activity she attended later that night and the frantic search for Randy's cell phone in the park. Her shake was finished; I needed to head home if I was going to get something done before bringing Talon back into town for work. (Once again he forgot his clothes for Tuachan.) I started the van, looked over both shoulders and backed out...right into a pickup truck that was parked in my blind spot.

Verna-our van-has been through a lot. Tiff and Mike gave her to us when she had about 150,000miles on her. She was Dad's before that. The sliding door has slid right off a few times. It doesn't even open anymore. The front passenger door was hit by a deer, who must have been running from something...it doesn't open either. The back has hit one particular light pole numerous times. (Couldn't Shanna have put her driveway on the other side of her house? Sheeesh....what was she thinking?) I know that Gypsy and Talon have both backed into things too...although neither admit it was them. It has over 250,000 miles on it now, so I am definitely not spending the $ on body work. The kids climb over the back seat through the hatchback to get in and out...or through the drivers door if I am in a good mood.

Back to the pickup. Did I mention it was new? Saddle in the back and of course there was a dog, although why couldn't it have barked? I would have heard it. The windows were down, of course the air conditioner doesn't work. Anyway, I pulled forward and parked not looking forward to the conversation I was going to be having with the cowboy who owned the truck. Before I got all the way out of the van, I saw him coming out of AC with his young daughter. We walked over to his truck and inspected the damage. Thank goodness only a cracked up tail light. (The van just added one more dent to its collection.)

As I was writing down my name and address for him, debating on whether to give him the insurance info or just offer to replace the headlight out of my pocket, he said "You know, don't worry about it. I don't care about this sort of stuff. I'll just put some red tape on it and it will be good to go. You have a good weekend."

Did I mention it was a new truck?

I got back into the van, a little stunned, I must admit. I guess I needed some fasting blessings after all.

Finally Jumping on the Band Wagon

I know, I know...it's about time. I can guarantee that if dial-up was the only connection available to you, you wouldn't be blogging either. I spend more time playing spider waiting for everything to load than it actually takes to post. Lucky for you, I foolishly had Mountain Dew after a day of fasting, therefore, no chance of sleep anytime soon.

I have thinking alot this week about Gypsy, who much to my dismay, will be 18 on October 2. My head is spinning. How could this have happened so fast? It seems only yesterday when we were living in Bountiful, she was an only child and I would have to sit in the hall outside her bedroom door at night until she fell asleep to keep her from sneaking out of bed. Now she doesn't even live here half the time. She moved in with friends a couple weeks ago to be closer to school & work, coming home only on the weekends. The sad thing is I actually see & talk to her more now that she is gone. How pathetic is that?

I am very proud of her. She has managed to weather her teenage years without losing herself like so many girls do. (I certainly did...) She is a talented artist and gifted writer. She is very smart and can remember almost anything she reads. Her science teacher recently told me he had been grading a test of hers when after marking one of her responses incorrect, he thought to himself, "Wait, this is Gypsy's. If she wrote this, there must be a good reason." He doubted his own knowledge of the topic and had to look up the answer just to make sure. (He was quite relieved to find she was wrong and his memory was not.)

I worry about how much pressure she puts on herself. I wish she could learn to let it go. No one should care so much about how well they play croquet in PE or whether they will dissappoint a YW leader by not beatting the boys in a scrpiture chase.