Wrap up of the summer that ended months ago

It is now November and I thought I really should wrap up our summer because it was very eventual, and I know that in the blink of an eye it will be Christmas and this year will be over. So this week I will quickly update you on our summer and hopefully next week I will update you on our fall.

The month of June was spent mostly in classes for me. Garth and I did have a quick trip to Las Vegas to see Garth's cousin's daughter get married. It was fun to ride with Paul and Lee and we got to go over the new bridge bypassing Hoover Dam.

I also had a quick trip down Havasupi once again. Here is the twin sisters rock formation that towers above the village and serves as the Supi tribe symbol.

I went with a teacher from school and her sister. Neither of them had ever backpacked before and they both did great carrying their packs down and up.
And here is a look at one of the new falls -the new Navajo Falls, but they aren't officially named that yet. The Elders of the tribe have to vote on the new name and they haven't had time in the last three years since they were formed. They are the absolute best to jump off of.

We had lots of time to swim this summer and it was especially fun to have Amelia and Millie come over to swim. They both loved the water and the pool.

It was great having Lonica and Scott back. They waited all summer to close on the house they made an offer on in May. They actually got the keys last week on November 1!

For the Forth of July we decided to head out-of-town and the heat of the valley and spend the day up on the rim north of Strawberry. Paul and Lee came with us and we had a great time just relaxing and eating.

Things did get a little wild, as usually happens at Drain parties, and Jason thought he could wear Amelia's sunglasses.

Then Paul thought he could wear Millie's hat. As Amelia would say siwee (silly).

A couple of days later the boys and Garth and I flew to Hawaii for a week. We spent a few days in Honolulu checking out Pearl Harbor, Wikiki, Hanauma Bay and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Then we headed to Maui for four days. Our second day there we headed up to the top of the dormant volcano, Haleakala, and road our bikes down 29 switch backs from about 10,000 feet. It was the easiest bike ride ever - hardly any pedaling! You just had to keep from going too fast.

The rest of the week was spent snorkeling, lounging by the beach, looking for good places to eat and driving the very memorable road to Hana. There is a narrow windy road that leads to Hana on the south end of the island. All along the road are waterfalls, spectacular views of the ocean including black sand beaches, fruit stands where wonderful fresh smoothies are made and we ended up at Wai'anapanapa State Park that had this amazing volcanic beach. We gawked at the force of the ocean on the rocks and I knew it would be certain death for me if I fell in.

Preston thought in every picture we took he needed to give the hang loose sign and stick out his tongue. I hope some day he will grow up.

The boys took surfing lessons one day and they both did pretty well for the first time. Unfortunately, they both got really sunburned on the backs of their legs while they were laying on their boards waiting to catch a wave. Here is Preston.

A couple of days after we got home from Hawaii I had surgery on my foot which incapacitated me for the rest of the summer. After spending a week in a chair with my foot elevated and working on vocabulary tests for the fall semester, I decided to tackle the job of refinishing Garth's grandmother's Victrola. Paul had given it to us years ago and it took us about 3 years to pick it up out of his garage. It then sat in our garage for about 8 months. It was really dirty and the finish was in bad shape, but it still worked and came with lots of records.

After about a week of stripping, sanding, staining and varnishing, we made a new home for it in our living room. We've had great fun showing it off and dancing with granddaughters to it. Come by and check it out.

But the biggest event of the summer came on August 22 when Preston gave his farewell talk before he headed to MTC and then on to Brisbane, Australia. He had lots of support from family and friends. Here are those that gathered with us for brunch after church.

Tuesday night Pres. Ahlstrom (our stake president) came to set Preston apart and give him a blessing. He did a wonderful job and we are all interested in seeing how the promises in his blessing are fulfilled.

Here is our missionary son. For years I knew the day would come when my older kids would leave home, but the one I never planned or prepared to leave was Preston. It has been a big adjustment, one I'm still not sure I want to make. Preston has been my pal for years - going hiking and camping with me, playing in Europe with me, helping fix my computer or set up my classroom, he talked to me while we worked at our computers each night and listened (at least I thought he listened) to me drone on and on about whatever I had on my mind.

While I know there is no other place I would rather have him be right now, it is still hard to have him gone. I live for his letters each week, just like I did for Jason's, but this time I don't have someone sitting next to me while I read it to them. I'm thrilled that he is so happy and growing and learning while having the opportunity to live in Australia.

He left for Salt Lake early on August 25, so Garth and I were the only ones who got up to take him to the airport. One of his friends from our ward was on his way to the MTC too and was on Preston's flight, so they left together

The last event of the summer was having Amelia's second bithday on the 29th of the month. She was so excited about the balloons, presents and cake. But she loves everything. It looks like Christmas with that stack of presents for her.

She was thrilled with every present she opened. Millie didn't really understand what was happening, but she wanted to be close to he action.

Lonica and Scott had been working with Amelia to teach her how to blow out the candles, but she couldn't quite do it. Luckily mom was right there to get them out.

Once again, the summer flew by, yet the heat lingered forever it seemed! I guess that is what you get when you live in the desert.

Another Havasupi trip

Jip had only been here a couple of weeks and I figured I needed to get these two out of the bedroom and away from the computer, so what better way to do that ... than have them hike to Havasupi at 5:00am? Look they even have smiles on their faces!

After about a 3 1/2 hour hike, there is never anything better than soaking your feet in the cold water of Havasupi creek. We sat here a while debating on a campsite and finally decided to move down the creek a little ways.

There had been another large flash flood only about 4 weeks prior to our hike and you can see the sand bags that have been placed to try and save some of the camping areas. I was amazed at how much things had changed since June - especially the campground. Most of it was gone. The river had changed course and now flows over the best camping areas. The area left to camp in is where the river used to be and it is rocky and uneven. We settled on this spot but moved the next day when our neighbors left.

After setting up camp, we headed back up to Havasu Falls. There were drastic changes here as well. Once again the river had changed course and now misses most of the travertine pools that these falls are so famous for. The boys had a good time going behind the falls and coming out on the other side of the falls. They enjoyed it so much that they did it both days a dozen times or so.

Could there be a better place on earth to eat lunch?

After exploring Havasu Falls we headed down to Mooney Falls. This has to be the safest part of the hike - not!

Again, more changes here. The pool under Mooney is very shallow (just like under Havasu) and you can walk right up under the falls. The problem is that the water is coming with such force that you feel as though rocks are being thrown at you.

We hiked down to what used to be the best rope swing in the world. The rope has been replaced and the rock to jump off of is still there but the river is shallow now. There was one spot that was deep enough to jump into but it was difficult to get the right angle to hit it. We had a good time trying though.

We then decided to walk back up the river instead of using the trail. We had a great time climbing up water falls and wearing our legs out (as if they weren't tired enough from hiking down) going against the current.

Check out the buff men I'm hiking with!

The next morning we finally found some food that Jip didn't like - instant oatmeal!

If you are familiar with Havasupi you may recognize this area where you go to get water. You can see the dead trees, that happened with the 2008 flood, but notice that one of the bridges is missing. We had found it down below Mooney Falls the day before along with a bunch of picinic tables. This area was completely different from when I was here in June. Notice how milky the water is as well. It was just like this below Havasup Falls, above the falls, it was clear and blue like you expect it to be. Not sure why that was the case.

We headed up to Rock Falls (not the official name yet) the first ones in the series and the closest ones to the village. They are difficult to get to (check out the boulders you have to climb over in some of the pictures) but so fun! Preston is behind a small part of the falls.

Here I am about half way up the falls.

And here are the boys up on the top. We were almost able to get to the top going straight up the falls but we to one spot where the current was too strong, so we found a little trail off to the side.

Next we went back down to the 'new' Navajo Falls for come waterfall jumping. About half the campground had left that morning, so we had the falls to ourselves. It was great! Here is Jip jumping

and here is Preston

and here am I. At the end of the blog is a video of one of Preston's jumps and he does a little dance too.

We then decided to look for the cave that I'd been told about and we succeed in finding it. At one time someone had been mining in it and there were still rails for the cars. We only had one flashlight and didn't go too far. As we were coming out we met some people who know all about the cave and they asked if we had gone to the drop off. We realized that we had turned around right before the 50 foot drop off and were very glad we had, because our lighting was so poor we all probably would have fallen off.

Both evenings we sat on one of the many picnic tables that are now in the water and soaked our feet and played cards. Nothing could be better!

Our alarm didn't go off Monday morning and so we got off about 1/2 hour later than we had planned but we beat the sun and that was our goal. Here is Jip after his first backpacking trip where he saw his first waterfall, ate his first dehydrated meal, jumped off his first waterfall and saw his first Indian village. He did great - better than me that is for sure!

I decided that September is a great time to go to Havasupi. The weather wasn't too hot and the water was perfect. I could get in it and stay in it easier than any other time I had gone, because usually the water is just too cold for a cold blooded person like me. Plus, there were no scouts!

Our new son

Almost a month ago, Jip came to live with us. He will be here the whole school year and we are so glad to have him. This isn't the best picture of him, taken as he got off the plane after about a 16 hour flight.

He is my friend, Anita's, son and has come over from the Netherlands to go to school here this year. He and Preston are good friends and were supposed to be going to Mesa Community College together, but in the middle of July we found out that Preston received a four year tution scholarship to ASU. We hastily registered Preston for ASU and so the plan for Jip and Preston to go to school together is no more.

Both the boys are enjoying their school experiences so far - just hope that continues after the first tests!

Jip is great to have a round - fun, easy and always happy. We are planning on showing him a real American experience this year and hope he still likes us after spending 9 months with us!

California here we come

Since I am over a month behind in blog post and my girls have already done posts on our trip I will let you read their posts. Plus they both do a better job with the photos and the text. So here is Lonica's and here is Raquel's. Probably more about our trip than anyone person would want to know!

We had a great time and after we all recover we will do it again in another 10 years!

Another Funeral

So I'm extremely behind in writing blogs and I've had this one written in my head for over a month, just no time to sit down or if I did I was finishing my last class! I started my student teaching last week and we had wonderful company for a month - enough excuses.

Just four days after we got home from my cousin's wedding in Utah we got an early morning call telling us that my father-in-law, Ralph, had passed away. We weren't surprised because he had been sick for the last five years and had fallen the first of June and things had not been going well. But you are always surprised even when you know that death is coming.

Garth spent one weekend in St. Johns helping his mother make all the decisions and make all the funeral arrangements and then we had the funeral the next weekend. Garth's family is a little musically challenged, but they still had all the grandkids sing a song. Here is the practice and everyone was worrying they would be embarrassed by their lack of ability.
And even though Lonica hadn't played the piano in years, she was called upon to play a solo. Catherine had to listen and okay the number.

In the entry way to the church, Jill, Cara and Lora set up some pictures and memorabilia of Ralph's.

Garth and his brother, Keith, both spoke as did a grandson, Adam; they all did a great job. Lonica's solo went well too. The grandkids song was after Adam spoke and everyone was in tears and couldn't sing. So their singing abilities were never questioned because it just looked as though they were too emotional to be able to sing. Jason and Preston were the only ones who were able to help everyone out and sing the whole song.

It was really warm the day of the funeral but you can't tell that from the pictures. Here are all of my boys looking so handsome in their suits. Keith is also looking good in his new suit.

Since St. Johns is such a small place, the guys had to lower the casket into the ground themselves. Jason was on the corner and the soil beneath him gave way and he almost went in on top of the casket. You can see a man who came to his rescue and held on to his belt. Garth's cousin, Royce is a mortician and is always called on the for these affairs. He is so good and does such a wonderful job.

After the luncheon, I made all the grandkids get up and take a picture together. I think the last one they took, when everyone was together, was over 10 years ago. By the end of this year there will be 9 great-grandkids as well.

In the evening, Colleen, my mother-in-law, wanted to go back out to the cemetery and have another look. She had been holding up so well all day and just wanted one more chance to say good-bye to her husband of over 60 years.

For the last few years, Ralph couldn't make it much further than his kitchen table, unless he was having a really good day. He said he held down the command post right there and talked to everyone on his cell phone and kept up with the blogs and knew what was happening before most people in the family.

The last time I talked to him was on my way back from Havasupi. I had been gone for three days and when I got back into cell range, I listened to a message from him telling me that I needed to call him right away - it was important! I called and he told me that the message had been left days ago, and just where had I been?

After explaining where I'd been, he proceeded to tell me that Raquel had just found out she was having a baby girl and Kyle and his wife were expecting twins. He even knew about my granddaughter before me!

I have been amazed how much I have missed the crusty old guy and find myself wanting to tell him so many things. He can finally take a full deep breath and I'm happy for that, but we miss him so much!