November 24, 2019

How much Cam likes Christmas. That our tree is up and makes me smile.  Songs Man in the Mirror.  Finding funny things in books and funny book titles to share with my family.  :). Cheap Chinese food when you don’t want to cook. Playing with Jaycee. Getting Cam's permit with a quick side trip to BYU Museum of Art. Vegas getaway with D - especially valley of fire and Nate bargatze. Card playing - Scum with MRC and hearts with DMR.

November 23, 2019

Birthday trip for Darren:

 

Friday - head to Vegas with a good stop at Valley of Fire. Totally enjoyed VofF. Hiked Fire Wave which took us to a kind of cool rock. Kept thinking of Rylie, “Look - a rock.” Then we stopped at Pink Canyon which isn’t on the map but you just walk East from the bottom of the 5th dip. Fun little slot that had some water and I liked. Last stop - Rainbow Vista. We hiked to the Fire Canyon Overlook. I loved it. The sun was going down and the lighting was cool and as we hiked you could hear the sound of bird wings flapping through the canyon. Pretty cool. Dinner was in Vegas at Cracker Barrel. 

 

 

Saturday - we decided to head to Death Valley. We figured if we didn’t go then we would never go. So we drove out and first stop was Zabriskie Point. Then on to Devil’s Golf Course (cool) and Badwater Basin (also cool and below sea level). We drove Artists Drive (getting out on a kind of lame lookout walk) and then stopped at the visitors center before heading back to Vegas. Early dinner at Lazy Joe’s Fish and Chips. Saturday evening was the reason for Vegas - Nate Bargatze (comedy performance). We laughed and laughed and laughed some more. His dad opened for him in a comedy/magic bit that was also so funny. It was a hilarious 90 minutes.

 

 

November 17, 2019

Peppermint chocolate chip chick Fil - A shake with Cam. Jo Bro’s Christmas song. Finding a big rock on a hike by a pool. :). Bowling with M. Train song “50 Ways to Say Goodbye.” Pickle ball with M R and C. Yesterday movie. Also Hobbs and Shaw movie watching with D and Mason. Shopping with Kelly and Steph.  Good General Conference listens, especially Elder Budge - Consistent and Resilient (October 2019 GC) and Elder Maxwell - Brightness of Hope (October 1994 GC).  Darren’s sacrament meeting talk. Taking pizza to the Kings. Taking Keaton and Russell to the park with Baylie.

November 10, 2019

Road trips. Good friends. Zion national park. All things on my road trip with good friends to Zion national park. Hiking. Long hikes (where we see only 2 people). Backpacks. Cameras we carry in our pocket. Views. Seeing a fox. Laughing. Snow College. Fried zucchini. Culver’s raspberry shake (especially with D, M, C, S).

November 9, 2019

I was able to go to Zion National Park for 2 nights and stay in Deb Hillock's cabin and hike with her and Lorien Caldwell and Sariah Kelly.  Way fun!!!  Things to remember:

Sariah’s Nerd box. Surprise new tires in Beaver. Good Red Hollow hike - the lighting was amazing and the slot was fun. Short drive thanks to chatting and laughing. Lots of deer spotting on this trip. Also saw a gray fox. Cabin was great. We had a great time playing games - so much laughter and fun (Pegs and Marbles, 5 Crowns, Guillotine). Sunrise was pretty and we saw the deer eating breakfast. We started our hike at 8:30am in 29 degrees. Ended the hike at 69. Hiked Cable and Deer Trap Mountains - 14.5 miles and 8 hours. Views into Zion Canyon were awe inspiring. Cool to see Observation Point and Angels Landing from the same viewpoint (binoculars- ha ha). Saw 2 people all day. Chips and homemade salsa are amazing after a long hike.  Saturday morning we did a little hike from the cabin where the Ponderosa Pines were plentiful. We headed home with a side trip to Ephraim to watch some snow college soccer and eat at the Malt Shop.

 Some of Red Hollow.

 Starting our hike on the Zion East Side.

 I loved that you could see Angel's Landing and Observation Point from Cable Mountain.

Cable Mountain.

 My hiking friends - Sariah Kelly, Lorien Caldwell, and Deb Hillock.

 Cool view from Deer Trap trail.

 Can you spot Lorien?

 Our lunch spot at the end of the Deer Trap trail.

 Playing a new game we really enjoyed. (Jokers and Marbles.  AKA Pegs and Jokers.)

 View from a lookout near the cabin.

 Saturday morning was smoky.

 Snow College soccer game.

 Red Hollow.

 On top of Deer Trap Mountain.

 One big Ponderosa Pine.

Taking it all in on Cable Mountain.

Fun shadow pic on our hike.  Sariah, Deb, me, Lorien.

November 3, 2019

Cam busting out the Christmas music - she loves it.  Cam and Mason - especially Cam - singing Classic by MKTO (“Barb and Ken”). Snow College. Going with Mason to Snow College. Taking Mason and Tanner Beck out to lunch. Nickel City on Halloween. Don’t forget Cam’s happy laugh when winning air hockey. Also the racing game and Rayman rabid and the motorcycle game and the dance game and Mason kicking my trash at guitar hero. Darren is the king of the arcade. Seriously - the guy has skills. Halloween sunset. Carved pineapple from Kelly. Cabin GNO time - lots of chatting and some movies and a walk and another walk to get unlocked out of the cabin. Kids playing super Mario Bro’s and laughing. The echo sound of ice cracking on silver lake flat. And the sound of the rocks pinging across. Actually watching some of a World Series game - game 7. Mason reporting to the High council. So thankful for Mason’s mission. Almond joy. The way Jack completely adores Mason - watching them race cars.