March 3, 2026

Camping sounds so fun while still in winter.

July 2013 and 2016 - back when you didn't have to make reservations 4-6 months in advance to stay in a campground.

March 1, 2026

Mason, Camrie, and Sadie were all cracking me up tonight. Lots of laughing for our Sunday evening. 

February 28, 2026

Lizzi came to visit. We went to the temple, JCW’s, and a live podcast recording of Standards of Truth. 

February 27, 2026

Happy birthday to a dog gone good dog. You can count on the family text thread to come through.

I went sledding with the ladies this morning and once we found a good spot it was so much fun! It was my perfect kind of sledding. 

February 26, 2026

Went on a hike this morning with Lorien. It wasn’t that fun trudging up the slushy muddy road while sinking through a bit but it was nice to get some mountain air. It was tiring and we were thankful when we could follow someone’s previous tracks. Something about if someone has gone before they can make it easier for those that come after. Be that person who helps others along after you have experience. 

PS. Believe it or not I didn’t take a single picture. And the mountains were kinda pretty with snow and sun. Here's a pic from game night with Mason and Rachael where I found the zeros.

February 24, 2026

A few fun photo finds from today. 

Summer 1981 - my dad and me:

Summer 1980 - I loved these roller skates:

Summer 1975 - Grandma and Grandpa Christensen, Cris, my dad, my mom, me, Denise and Rux at Accord Lakes:

Christmas 1974 - Cris, my mom, me:

February 23, 2026

Darren bought a slide scanner so we can go through my parents slides. We looked at a few tonight and they are awesome. The photos below are me during the summer 1982 (9 years old). 

We spent a lot of summer weekends at Lake Powell. The Christensen brothers had boats so it was a family thing to go. I remember jumping off rocks and eating jello jigglers (we would drive into a cove and all have lunch on the boats, passing food back and forth). 

Ready for church and not happy about having to wear church clothes. I probably just came inside from shooting hoops in the backyard. 

February 22, 2026

Sunday evening at the Randalls for dinner and meeting Lola. She’s a fluffy squishy cute puppy. We played Perudo (which we haven’t played in a long time) and watched some Olympic mountaineer relay. 

February 21, 2026

Snow cabin time! Our 2026 cabin night is complete. Such a great tradition! Mary taught us to play Canasta so we felt really old.  :) It was great chatting and playing. We also made breakfast, munched on tons of snacks, and took a walk. Lots of laughs and Patty randomly pulled a banana from her pocket. So so thankful for these friends. 

February 17, 2026

Back to work today at PG High School but thinking about our great weekend (2/12):

Porters breakfast - best eggs ever. Sitting on a rock overlooking Zion eating PB M&Ms. Oscar’s burger and sweet potato fries with caramel (ask for the caramel). Patio at our hotel. Walter’s wiggles and Sally’s switchbacks :). Sandee’s lemon bars. Bumbleberry Inn (it gets all the stars, it was great, although I might take a tip of a star off because of the new carpet smell). Finally hiking Watchman Trail. The views from Watchman (we should hike this again but in the morning). West Rim Trail (of course we hiked this trail - we love it). Kyle from New Zealand chatting with us after he hiked up to our snack spot. Sunrise at Court of the Patriarchs. Those Zion cliffs as a backdrop to a weekend away with Darren. 

February 16, 2026

We finished up our long weekend with Clayton and Sandee in Beaver Dam. Church, dinner, and games yesterday. Today we drove home with a stop in Richfield. We threw away a few more things and brought home some slides and projector because as I was debating what to do with them, I pulled out a slide and looked at it to find this gem. 

(Cris and me with my Gma C reading us a book.)

Also this slide is classic my dad. You can see his handwriting and I’m sure this was his idea to ski down the backyard little hill. 

February 15, 2026

Those Zion cliffs are amazing. So gorgeous. Zion cannot be captured in pictures. You really need to see it. And the more time I spend here the more I see the beauty. Seems like there’s a gospel analogy with that. Like the more time I spend with God the more I see Him. 

Pic from my sunrise watching at Court of the Patriarchs yesterday. 

February 14, 2026

Darren + hiking + red rock + snack spot with chocolate = best Valentines ever

 

February 12, 2026

Mason and Rachael came over for a bit tonight and since I was the only one home, the three of us played SkyJo and Dr Mario. Baylie wanted to join. 

February 9, 2026

Lorien and I hiked to Lake Blanche today. I try to do this hike every so often in the winter because I love seeing Sundial Peak in the snow. Can you see it? Yeah - me neither. But it was still a lovely hike and it snowed on us which hasn’t happened much this winter. It was freezing at the top so we ate a cookie and headed back down. 

February 8, 2026

Had all the kids tonight for a Cole birthday Sunday dinner. The sound of kids chatting and playing games is great. 

Yesterday I went to Richfield to see my sisters.  Mason and Rachael came with. The Richfield house is a mess - one thing after another.  But we had some good chatting about my parents.

February 6, 2026

Today was a quick hike to Willow Lake on a day off of testing. The lack of snow is sad and concerning. I came home and my yearly journal books had been delivered. 

February 3, 2026

Darren loves that he can now watch hockey in the evening. I remember hockey enjoying Darren from 1994. 

Also, it’s do a puzzle and listen to an audiobook season. 

Also, the girls were singing by along to the Hannah Montana soundtrack. 

Also, it was a pink shirt day with Sadie. Although hers was her pajamas. 

February 2, 2026

Happy Groundhog Day! Oh how I miss my parents on a day like today. The girls were talking about it last night and how Gma and Gpa would take them to Build-a-Bear. I remember going bowling. Mason mentioned celebrating at IHOP. Good times. Sadie celebrated today by getting her ears pierced. 

January 30, 2026

Drove to and from Richfield today. I love that drive. I have no idea the number of times I’ve driven a variation of it between Richfield and Utah county over my 50+ years but it’s a big number.  

January 29, 2026

It’s been a bit of a stressful week with things coming all at once bringing a lot of work to come. I’m not the only one with stuff. Poor Cam had to get tonsil stones removed and Mason and Rachael are quickly packing up and moving. 

January 25, 2026

Send that text you thought about sending. It just might make someone smile as Hannah did for me this morning. 

I thought about what a good trip we had this weekend. Bleu cheese bacon burger and sweet potato fries at Oscar’s. Being kind to our Zion Guru worker. Our Zion beanies. Wearing waders like tourists. The feel of deeper water against the bibs. Neoprene socks. Driving HWY 9 with the morning light. The Narrows! Frost covered trees. Bryce Canyon in the snow. Driving through a snow dusted Red Canyon (the color was cool). Deb’s cabin and playing Tens. A new necklace. 

January 24, 2026

Today we decided to skip muddy Zion hiking and do a quick tour of Bryce Canyon instead. We found snow at Bryce which was beautiful and COLD. 

Last night I realized that by visiting Bryce I had been to all 5 Utah National Parks in one month. Kinda cool. First park was on December 27 and fifth park was January 24. 

January 23, 2026

My hiking friends and I are at Deb’s cabin for some Zion fun. We decided to hike the Narrows today and it was spectacular! Such a great hike! It was a really great day. 

Driving through SR 9 in the morning was gorgeous. Then we had such a fun walk through the narrows. It was gorgeous and so enjoyable and it was January. We were decked out in tourist narrows gear - bibs and boots and neoprene socks. Every turn was my new favorite spot. First it was the alcove part where the water flowing was loud and there was turquoise water and some rocks and red tall rocks. Then it was the narrow sandy somewhat deep part by Mystery Falls. Then it was…

You could drive your own vehicle up the canyon which was cool. I haven’t done that in 10 years or so.  We headed to Oscars after our hike for a yummy burger. Driving back to the cabin a young ram wished us farewell with a red rock backdrop.  Sigh. Like I said - great day!

(Me, Wendy, Lorien, Deb)

January 21, 2026

Darren and I barely survived another valiant activity. (And this was only the second one.) We took Mason to Costa Vida for dinner where Sadie joined us for her break. It’s nice talking to those two. Then she came home and made us laugh - that witty girl. To Darren - “You’re almost there.” (Talking about a dance move he was trying). :)

January 19, 2026

Darren humored me this morning and took me to hike Park Avenue in Arches before we drove home. I don’t know why but I really like that hike. We touched the trail sign at the top and turned back around. It was a good and relaxing long weekend. 1 out of 12 completed for the year. 

January 18, 2026

Today was a good day:

Sacrament meeting in Moab with a bonus good talk. Fisher Towers. Views. Bald eagle driving along castle valley road. Colorado River (with photo). Raven caw echo. Windows from behind. Sunset Gru arch. Hotel snack dinner. Snow capped La Sal mountains. Darren laughing at how obsessed I was with the river and the mountains. Making Darren laugh. Non existent Football Arch. Hotel hot chocolate two nights in a row. 

January 17, 2026

Did a little Bears Ears hiking today. We drove on Highway 95 and Darren and I talked about how we think my dad probably loved that road. It was right up his alley. We also decided he had a cool job driving around some of the state. I don’t think HWY 95 was in his district but it stinks that he’s not around to ask. 

First stop (after Maverick for our breakfast and car gas) was House on Fire. This ended up being a really cool ruin site. Getting there a little early meant it didn’t quite look as on fire as prime time but it also meant we had it to ourselves which I loved. (It had me singing This Girl (house) is on Fire all afternoon.) Then we went to Natural Bridges where we hiked 9 miles under 3 bridges and saw a cool ruin/rock art spot. That’s a great Saturday in mid January. Also, Darren’s “Wow” when he turned the corner and Sipapu came into view was awesome. 

January 16, 2026

I love driving Hwy 6 after Wellington near sunset. The shade of blue at dusk looking east is one of my favorite colors. It must be the grey shade of cliffs but whatever it is it makes it awesome. 

Doug’s BBQ in Monticello was a delicious dinner. And The Atomic Motor Inn is as small town clean motel as it gets. “Motorin’”. 

January 13, 2026

Tonight Camrie said, “neato Reno”. I smiled just thinking about my dad as he used to say that all the time. 

January 11, 2026

“It’s not fresh, but it’s air.” - Sadie after enough time had passed after her two sisters farted. 

Other things that made me smile:

Ry made us pretzels - they were delicious. A first Peep eating of the season. My library friends. Tina Turner’s song The Best comes on and reminds me of climbing up Frigid Air Pass. 

January 9, 2026

Journal prompt this morning was - Who is someone who makes you laugh? Darren. It’s Darren and I love it. Also the kids. I have funny, clever, witty kids. 

As for comedians, I love finding funny, clean comedians. Greg Warren, Ryan Hamilton, Alex Veluto, and Karen Morgan are some of my favorites. 

January 5, 2026

Got out on a little hike just up to Granite Flat and finally found some snow. It was lovely. Some snow on the ground and some snow falling from the sky. 

January 4, 2026

Some thankful things this week: Darren, new puzzle, Capitol Reef, Hot Spot fries, when the sky is pink through the window blinds, when you go to do an exercise and the last one you did was a hike, snagging a permit for the first part of your birthday trip, laughing, Cam and Sade being Cam and Sade, seeing Kenz mid week, Sadie describing an arch to me that she’s been to that looks like a cat and we figured out she was talking about Druid, C and S singing Descendants at 10pm in my room, Greg Warren at Wise Guys, K and T for Sunday dinner, this picture Sadie gave Darren for his birthday I finally remembered to take a picture of. 

January 3, 2026

Greg Warren is so very very funny! Darren and I laughed and laughed and then laughed some more - for an hour - while Greg entertained us. Dan Gardner. Garder clown and garder mountain lion. I think he’s our favorite comedian. We laughed harder tonight than we ever have and we’ve laughed at a lot of comedians. 

January 2, 2026

Day trip to Capitol Reef for D and me. I like to come to Capitol Reef in December as it feels good to remember my mom and dad at that time but this year it had to wait until January.  

6 hours of driving but we hiked more miles than hours driven so it was a win. 9.2 of awesome Capitol Reef. Frying Pan, Grand (more like decent) Wash, and road back to the trailhead at Hickman. I love the views along the frying pan. Sigh. The only thing missing was pie. But we made up for that getting my favorite fries at The Hot Spot in Salina.  I still wish I could have dropped in on my mom and dad.

(I spy Darren, Henry, and Fern.  :))