December 31, 2021

Awesome quick overnight in Torrey for D and I. We hit some scenic drive in Capitol Reef and then the Cohab trail for sunset above the barn. Dinner at the Sunglow Cafe in Bicknell (yum). We stayed at the Broken Spur which was surprisingly a great place to stay. Next day was a hike to Castle Overlook. It started out overcast and then turned to lots of wind. We found some bighorn sheep on our way back. They crossed the trail right in front of us. Way cool to watch them for a bit.

Then it was home to NYE celebrating with everyone! Skull King, marbles and jokers, Darren’s new “Trails” game, food, foosball, left center right, candy bar game, Jackbox games, Switch playing, and ringing in the new year. Awesome! 

December 25, 2021

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is the best. Being together (in person and in thoughts and texts), giving and receiving, and thinking about the real Christmas is awesome. We had a fabulous day with all the Christmas stuff. To top things off, Rylie got weird stamps, a movie from the library, and a puzzle she already has. :).

R C S slept in the same room Cmas eve and the 5 of us enjoyed all sorts of together Christmas Day. K and T came over for a minute. We texted with M and R. Thankful for my Savior today and everyday. He is the Babe of Bethlehem and so much more. 

Good times. 

December 21, 2021

What a wonderful family Christmas celebrating few days.  

Spider-Man movie in the theater was awesome! It was Darren’s birthday present from the girls and it was way fun. 

Bethleham dinner with all my kids. Awesome to be together. Some food and lots of games, including a new favorite - “Poetry for Neanderthals”. Having the kids together is awesome.

What a wonderful Draper Christmas party. Some drawing with the girls, food, cousins, siblings, kids, grandparents, aunts and uncles, games, smiles, and laughter. Plus homemade blankets for all the grandkids. And chimes! How wonderful. 

December 16, 2021

I used to hate winter. Now it's not so bad.  Today was a snow globe day - the kind of day where you get to hike in beautiful surroundings with the snowing falling.

December 14, 2021

Some things I’m especially thankful for:

Seat heaters, Handel’s Messiah, Ephraim visiting M and R, snow, The First Noel. 

December 4, 2021

 Lizzi got baptized! I am so excited for my cute niece. This brings me so much joy! 

Pic with Lizzi and Kim

November 25, 2021

Gratitude opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. - Bonnie D Parkin (April 2007)

This trip we’ve seen some huge vistas and trees. Then there have been the little things you have to look for which are just as cool. 

Also - Yosemite is so photogenic. And I can see why Ansel Adams choose black and white. I got back to Vernal Falls. Just as cool 6 years later. The sound of this waterfall is awesome. 

November 22, 2021

Darren’s birthday in Yosemite. Awesome hike from Taft Point around Sentinel Dome and back to TH. Way cool views of Yosemite falls and the valley far far below. The lime green trees were so cool. 

 

November 1, 2021

Woke up to a voice message from Mason’s mission president. What a great surprise to start November. 

“Hey this is Norm Hanson I was your son Mason Draper's mission president Arkansas Little Rock and I do not have his cell phone number.  I'd like to get a hold of him to stay in touch.  If you could give me a call back at 360-890-6553 or just a text me his phone number we sure love to get caught up with a remarkable missionary.  He was a hard worker he should've probably been home for about two years now on we've been home for about a year.”

 

Photo - October 2017
 

October 18, 2021

Happy happy birthday to Rylie. 19. Such a fun kid to have around. She’s always up for an adventure or activity and I love that she takes initiative and makes the activity happen. 

Here's the birthday pic she sent me from Utah State.

October 16, 2021

Had all my kids together for a few hours tonight for a little Rylie early birthday celebrating. Homemade Mac and cheese, caramel apple making, and some pickleball. Pickleball was super fun and also included some cheers from the sideline. Great couple of hours.  

October 8, 2021

Rain didn’t stop us from grabbing some pumpkins. But it did hurry us up. It was rainy and cold. We then came home for some birthday pumpkin carving. Good evening with the kids.

Also - Cam’s window almost flooded again and she came up to tell us, “It’s raining men.”  That is apparently a song from the 80s that the kids know but Darren and I didn’t. 

Also - went on a quick rainy solo hike from the AF Summit because I was told the yellow trees are amazing.  The yellow trees were amazing.

October 7, 2021

Cam is 17.  What!?! Love this girl who calls everyone "numbnut".

Loves - sleeping in, Baylie, West Coast, sisters, Capri Sun, winter, courtesy cones

Likes - Minecraft, Ben & Jerry's Tonight Dough ice cream, her green jacket, pandas, firewords, anime and K Pop

Hates - school, racism, bad people, global warming, parking the car, sweat bangs

The Old Spaghetti Factory was fabulous.

October 6, 2021

Just a little Tim McGraw singing Southern Girl this Wednesday morning to get things going.  Cam left with a little "hazel eyes and golden curls" in her head.

October 2, 2021

 Took my parents to the cabin to get some sticks for my dad.  It was beautiful with the yellow fall leaves.

September 30, 2021

My dad called and told me I had to listen to “With a little bit of luck”. He’s so funny. And the song was funny like he said.

Today was another fall foliage day. Hiked to Willow Lake with lots of yellow and then we had some extra time so we walked around Silver Lake. Silver Lake was gorgeous! Fall was showing off there with some fall colors reflecting in the lake.

This afternoon I helped Kenz with their Region XC meet. I like seeing her in her XC coaching element. The kids love her and it was fun to watch the races. 

September 29, 2021

It’s fall out there and I got out to see it with D tonight. Second meadow up Pine Hollow had awesome yellow. Then as the sun set we had a great view of more yellow trees, mountains, and yellow clouds. Baylie loved it. 

September 24, 2021

 Went to the movie theater for the first time in 18 months. Cam, Darren and I saw Chang-Chi. Great flick. 

September 22, 2021

Cam and Sade are just awesome.

September 20, 2021

Quick trip to Logan in the morning to give Ry her SS card. Loved having lunch with her at Costa Vida. She’s rocking the college life. She says - I love it and I also cry every day. :)

September 19, 2021

Good Sunday afternoon visit with my parents. Mason and Rachael stopped by as well so we played a little bocce to 5 points where I had a huge comeback from zero to win in three consecutive turns. And they were all giving me a hard time because I hadn’t scored all game. :). My dad showed us his work station for his sticks in his shop. (Don’t call it the shed, he says it’s a shop. :))

September 18, 2021

A few weeks ago I checked to see if there were any open permits for Murphy Point (which I have had on my radar as an idea for a one night backpacking trip).  Friday September 17 was open so I reserved our spot.

It was a fabulous 22 hours in Canyonlands - Island in the Sky with Darren.  We picked up our permit at the Visitors Center about 1:15pm.  Before heading out to Murphy Point we took a quick hike to White Rim Overlook.  (We also took a quick hike on the non-existent False Kiva trail on Saturday before heading home.)

After that we loaded up and out to Murphy Point.  We found us a great spot on the north-ish side of the point and set up our tent closer to the edge than I had originally imagined.  :)  It ended up being a fantastic spot.  

Here's some thoughts:

• Don’t let the tent blow off the ledge. 
• Great views all around. Like at least 250 degree views.
  
• Eagles song of “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” for our theme song. “I want to sleep with you in the desert tonight. With a billion stars all around.” Although we didn’t really sleep and the moon was too bright for very many stars.  
• Watching a lizard (for more than 15 minutes) try to get a butterfly. The butterfly won and lived to fly another day. Darren got a cool video of the encounter.
  
• Watching the big black birds circle overhead and ride the wind. 
• The only sound is the sound of the breeze. 
• You can see the Needles and the Maze from here, nd why they have those names. 
• Eye photos are way better than iPhotos. Especially sunset and sunrise eye photos. 
• Moon was so bright. 
• Warm night was great weather. 
• 2 minute rain storm just so we could hustle and get our packs covered. 
• Sunrise was aaamazing. Pinks and blues and orange. So pretty. 
• Packing all your water in isn't too bad when it's only one night, you don't cook with water, and it's only 1.8 miles to your campsite.
  
• What a relaxing reset one night backpack. 

(Choose your own adventure - pit toilet style - at the Visitors Center.)

 

September 14, 2021

Had the opportunity to meet Sister Cordon and then listen to her give a devotion to our stake YW. Being with Sadie was great and the devotional was so good. 

September 12, 2021

Had a good weekend with Rylie visiting. They had their Monsters at Work finale watching party. Also some games, a Sunday trip to the park with the fam plus the flip the shoe game, and of course Handel’s ice cream. 

September 9, 2021

Happy President Nelson’s birthday. Such a prophet.

Cam did schoolwork on the tramp with Baylie and it just made me smile.

September 6, 2021

 

Such a great camping trip! Arches is a bit magical to me and thanks to friends with better reservation skills than me, we were able to be in the heart of Arches National Park for a few days and nights. 

The campground was awesome. Not a bad site and if didn’t feel like there were thousands of people in the park even though there was. :). 

The sleeping temperature was just how I like it. Not cold but just a little cool in the middle of the night. 

The stars were shining with the Milky Way right in the middle. 

Deer in the campground, a morning coyote, and a spotted lizard. 

Crickets sang a lullaby. 

Moab was close for a delicious lunch and ice cream (Spoke). 

Good friends joined us. 

Fiery Furnace was an awesome hike once I knew I was through the obstacles. :). But really the rocks and arches and fins and slots were awesome and I just followed Cam who showed me how to get past the tricky parts. (So glad D got us permits for this.)

I loved sitting in the shade of the junipers at our campsite in the morning. 

We had some time to just relax. It was extra relaxing surrounded by red rock beauty. 

I absolutely loved our time at Sand Dune Arch. Bare foot on the sand and drawing in the sand while chatting and laughing. It was a great place to visit during the hot mid day as it was much cooler in the shade under the arch. Surprisingly there were not many people there. And I got to drink my lemonade. :)

We hit the Windows section for some sunset which is always a good choice. 

Also - if you need cell service in the campground, go to the amphitheater. 

One of my top camping trips. Loved being in a cool place with cool people - D, Cam, and Sadie. (Even though the girls fought over sleeping arrangements every night.) And glad the Kings could join us for part of it. 

September 1, 2021

Started out September with a hike to the Summit.  Felt like a fall thing to do.

 

August 30, 2021

First day of college pictures from Ry and Mason made my day. 

August 26, 2021

We’re going to miss Ry. Got her all squared away - well she got herself squared away, we just bought some groceries and Aggie ice cream. (Go with true Aggie night flavor. Mmmm.) it’s a new adventure and I’m excited for her and yet my heart misses her.

August 25, 2021

Rylie’s last night in Lehi for awhile. They had the evening planned out which included watching Monsters at Work. I’m going to miss hearing Cam and Ry laugh together every evening. It’s been an awesome couple of weeks of that sound. 

“Through basketball, I found my super power. My power wasn’t in being a great player, but in loving something enough to work hard at being better.” - Kareem Abdul Jabar

August 24, 2021

Some Walmart with Ry to check off the moving out list. Good chatting with her. Then we grabbed the girls and met Kenz at Handel’s for some ice cream and laughing. Peach Handel’s is a big deal for the girls right now. Also Capri Sun. They have been gulping down boxes of Capri Sun. 

August 23, 2021

Ry brought me a smoothie at work. Mmm. Then after work I just watched as she and Cam laughed and talked and were hilarious. I’m going to miss Ry when she heads to school. Which is in 3 days. Sigh. We'll also miss her watermelon cutting skills.

August 21, 2021

Movie night at the Randalls. My favorite. Tonight’s feature was Jungle Cruise. $30 for 7 of us to watch it on the Randall big screen through Disney+ was better than the $80 it would cost to go to the theater. And you don't get Penny if you go to the theater.

August 16, 2021

Back to school. Crazy that there’s only two headed back right now. Sadie had a great day. Cam had online today and heads back tomorrow to Skyridge for B days. 

August 15, 2021

One last summer getaway and it was at Brian Head.  It had a cheap Airbnb and was a place to be together. Some things that happened:

Chill chill and more chill. 

Ry and I did a cat Puzzle. 

Played speed Uno. Needed more than three people to play. 

Played psychic with the girls. So fun. 

Tetherball. Ry and Cam cracked me up. They loved tetherball. 

Had lunch at the Bearpaw Cafe at Panguitch Lake. Ry ordered for Cam because Cam didn’t want to say “yogi hoagie”. Cam ordered for Ry. :)

We stopped at Panguitch Lake to skip some rocks and see some prairie dogs. The lake was disgusting with green thick water that Rylie splashed on herself. 

Saw Cedar Breaks. Our viewpoint limit is 4. 

Drove to Brian Head Peak. Peaks are easy when you can drive to them. 

Swung in the ski lift swings. 

Pretty yellow flowers around. 

Somehow the girls got on Paul Bunyan and then Paul Bunyan’s bunion. 

Another chill day. Slept in. 

Drove a loop through Zion. 

Stopped in Orderville at the German bakery. It was ok. I guess I was expecting a donut and there were no donuts. 

Stopped at Checkerboard Mesa. Made everyone pose for a pic. 

Drove through the tunnel and laughed. 

Stopped at the Visitor Center for a picnic. I’ve always wanted to have a picnic in Zion. 

Saw squirrels doing the belly crawl and playing tag.

Drove back to rainy Cedar Breaks. 

Enjoyed an evening at the condo (with a walk for D and I and hot tub for the girls). 

Ended the night watching Cruella. 

Left blue skies and cool mountain air to come back to hot smoky Lehi.