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.

Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch

A year ago last May, I got up early (before 6:00 am) and started dialing Xantara - the company who makes all the reservations for Phantom Ranch. I was only the 19 call and I still couldn't get the cabins and dates I wanted. The Grand Canyon is a difficult place to stay, but I did get reservations for two nights at the bottom of the canyon. I was supposed to be taking Preston, Jip and my friend, Terry, but Jip ended up not being here so Preston asked his friend, Garrett, to go with us. We spent the night at the top of the south rim and although it was May, the weather was nice, so we didn't feel rushed to be up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat.

We headed down the South Kaibab trail and it wasn't long before Preston and Garret were light years ahead of Terry and I. With my bad knees I'm slow at going down and the Kaibab trail is extremely steep - almost 7 miles of switchbacks.

While the trail is steep the views are breathtaking and I wanted Preston and Garrett to see how beautiful the canyon is. You get a completely different perspective of the canyon as you hike down into it than the view you get from the top just looking over the edge. Everything is so much larger than it looks from the top and so much further away.

After about 4 hours Terry and I finally made it to the river and the ranch. Preston and Garrett beat us by about an hour - youth!!

Phantom Ranch was built around the turn of the century and is the only place where the post office delivers by mule. In fact, all their supplies are delivered by mule.

We stayed in dorms that house 10 men or women and you get the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. You receive a 4:30 am wake up call each morning for hikers who are hiking out that day.

We all enjoyed a nice soak in the freezing water of Bright Angel Creek that runs through Phantom Ranch. The temperature at the bottom is about the same as Phoenix's, so the creek was a nice place to stay cool as well.

The next day we headed up the trail towards the north rim about 6 miles.

A good portion of the trail follows Bright Angel Creek crossing it several times and is shaded by cliffs and cottonwood trees.

In the end you are rewarded with Ribbon Falls - a beautiful waterfall. This picture doesn't do it justice or give you the perspective of how big it is. We arrived early and were the only ones there for about an hour. The falls were still in the shade and the water was freezing!

While this looks like the top of the waterfall, it really starts hundreds of feet above this spot. I think places like this are what make the Grand Canyon so wonderful. You are hiking along in the dust and then you come to a place with ferns and moss and beautiful water - so unexpected.

Preston was the bravest of us all and while the falls were still in the shade and very cold, he went in under the falls and on the top of the falls. He also hiked as far as he could along the crack in the wall and you can see him - just a little spec. Again perspective is everything and you can't tell how high or far he is.

We spent most of the day playing and laying around the waterfall, and when it finally warmed up enough, I made a couple of treks into the falls.

Preston was also the first to check out the hole under and inside the falls which we all ended up making our way into.

Here is Terry gingerly picking his way to the little "cave" through the icy water. The wind was blowing and would shift the falls and the mist and absolutely take your breath away if you were hit by either.

The little rocks were sharp and none of us had brought water shoes.

Here I am looking through a hole you could climb up to after going in the bottom hole. You can see it just above Terry's head on the previous picture.

We got nice and wet and then started the 6 mile hike back to the ranch to listen to the ranger talk and have dinner.

The next morning we got up early to start our climb out of the canyon. Here I am crossing the Colorado River on our ascent.

Preston and Garrett decided to hike back up the Kaibab trail, while Terry and I headed up Bright Angel. We had three more miles to go than the boys, but Bright Angel is not as steep and we are old. The boys ended up beating us by about an hour again, but they both said that hiking out was one of the hardest things they had ever done (wait until they get on their missions).

Here's Terry smiling away as we leave the river.

This is looking back at the part of the trail known as Devil's Corkscrew. It is a devil of a trail, and we were glad when we had finished this part. While the trail can be daunting, you are rewarded with unsuspecting jems like this waterfall

that looks small but really was quite large. Here is Terry finally making his way out- after 10 miles and 5 hours. You really have to admire him. He carried a 25 pound pack down and up and is 71 years old! All total, we hiked about 30 miles in 3 days, of which 17 of it was straight up or straight down.

The Grand Canyon is a magnificent place but it can really kick your butt! Garrett, we loved having you, but Jip we wish you had been with us!

Easter

We had a nice Easter this year. It was even better because Jason was able to make it home for a long weekend.
Here are my little boys, Easter morning with their Easter baskets. Look at those happy faces.

At first the Easter egg hunt was low key and fun. But when Jason wasn't looking, Preston would run over and grab an egg out of Jason's basket. At first Jason didn't notice and then because he had so many more eggs than Preston he didn't care too much. But it didn't take long before Jason's natural instincts took over and the Easter egg hunt turned competitive.

By the time they had found all the eggs and Preston had pilfered about half of Jason's eggs, and Preston ended up with the most eggs. Still Jason didn't seem to care too much - that was until they started to open the eggs and Jason realized that there was money inside of them.

Then someone really seemed to care that his eggs had been snatched right out of his basket and he was on the short end of the egg count.

In the end, Jason wasn't too happy with only $13 - after all he is a poor starving student.

Preston was thrilled with his $22, because he too is a poor starving student who lives with his parents, who pay for his car, room and board, wash his clothes, cook his meals and pay his insurance. He didn't need to share with his brother who he stole eggs from in the first place and has to pay for his own gas, room and board and has to wash his own clothes and make all his own food.

That evening, Raquel, Dave and Millie came over for dinner. When Raquel was told about the Easter egg business, she demanded money from both of the boys who still owed her money for Christmas gifts! So in the end a child who hadn't even participated in the Easter egg hunt ended up with the most money.

Millie looked adorable in her first Easter dress,

and Raquel made her first ever carrot cake that was delious.

But if you asked Millie what the best part of the day was - she would say getting ready for bed and having Grandpa feed you your bottle. Can't get any better than that!