City of Rocks, Baby Megan, and New Counselor

My birthday was this last Saturday. Ammon and I have been talking about meeting somewhere between his place and mine to go camping for a while now. We finally got to do it this past weekend. A friend of mine recommended going to the City of Rocks National Reserve, just south of Burley, so we decided to try it out.

We also invited others in our family. Angie and Gary’s family met us there and Dawn and Ray came up too. Unfortunately, Erin, Travis, Mom, and Dad couldn’t make it. Mom has been recovering from her surgery and also had back spasms all week. Erin had an emergency c-section and little Megan (spelling?) is doing well. I heard that it was a really traumatic experience for Erin (the baby was coming out “breach” and the nurse had to hold her in for twenty minutes until the doctor arrived for the c-section). I talked to them last night and it sounded like things are going well for both mother and baby now.

The Reserve was incredible! Huge granite boulders and spires struck out of the sandy ground for mile upon mile. We were fortunate to camp in the Twin Sisters campground farther away from most of the climbing routes, but plenty of rock around us to allow the kids to climb around and find little caves and tunnels in the rock. All the kids really enjoyed it and I often spotted Nathan and Bryan at the top of a large boulder or rock cliff, like human mountain goats. The smaller kids found little canyons and small caves to play in. It was fun to see them so excited. Now that we have a big tent and Grant is old enough to handle it, I’d really like to go camping more as a family. Unfortunately, winter is coming again. Maybe we can get a few more trips in before it’s too cold.

Friday night Amy and I made stew for everyone and after roasting marshmallows, we all enjoyed some dutch oven peach cobbler made by Ray and Dawn. We all sat around the campfire and talked until it was dark. After everyone else was in bed, Ammon and I stayed up and talked for a while longer until the bats started flying right past our heads. The next morning, Gary made his dutch oven breakfast and we had hot cocoa and juice. Most of the kids went with Angie and Gary on a good long walk and when they got back, we packed up and drove around the rest of the Reserve. The scenery was incredible and we could see climbers all over the Reserve. At one point as we were driving up the side of the mountain, we looked across the valley and watched two people climb to the top of a huge spire and then stand on the top as if it were a huge platform rather than a tiny peak with a precipice on all sides.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic area with tables and a large old fashioned hand pump to bring drinking water up from a perched aquifer below. The only negative adventure we had was when a bee got into Baily’s pants and stung her several times before we could get it out.

On the way there and the way back, Amy and I read together. We are reading the Lord of the Rings series for my first time and we are both really enjoying it. I thought back on the day and realized how great my birthday turned out. I would much rather spend time with my siblings and family in the outdoors than get lots of expensive presents. I wish the rest of our family could have been there, they would have enjoyed it. We decided to make a trip to the Reserve a yearly tradition. The scenery and terrain is fantastic and it is about four hours for both those in Utah and those in Idaho to get there.

Yesterday I got a new first counselor – Bro. Bender. He will also serve as the Assistant Varsity Coach under Lanson Baumgartner. This week we will be planning for the next six months of activities and I’m excited to have Lanson now be over the Varsity scouts. The Teacher age boys have a little more time to do activities and I look forward to having them get into the outdoors more. We have done very little of that in the Venture program. Last night at Rhet’s eagle court of honor I met the new Stake Young Men’s President – President Mansfield who was just released as bishop of the 20th ward. He informed me of upcoming firesides and events. It was so nice to have the stake actually communicate with me and I’m really looking forward to working with Pres. Mansfield. It feels like things are headed in the right direction. I sure do enjoy my calling and feel like the Lord is blessing me so much.

Flu, Baily's Class, and Friends

The stomach flu that each of my kids had, finally caught up to me last week. In the middle of the night on Monday morning, I woke up sick. The entire Labor Day holiday I spent throwing up. It was terrible, but thankfully only lasted about 24 hours. Still, a week later and I continue to feel drained. Grant is now seven months old and still wakes up in the middle of the night. We’ve tried putting the pacifier back in to see if he would go back to sleep, but to no avail. Once he wakes up hungry, he will not settle down until he’s fed. Since Amy has a super-ability to not wake up through the screaming, I end up getting him from his room. So, with the sickness, waking up several times a night to crying, and having things that keep me up too late at night, I am feeling a little worn out. For Grant, I think its time we just let him cry himself back to sleep in the middle of the night. The girls all went through this and learned quickly to just go back to sleep, but never were as awake and as loud as Grant. I’m not looking forward to it, but something needs to happen.

On to another topic – Amy and I signed up this year to volunteer in Baily’s class. Although Amy did it last year fairly regularly, I never had the chance. Now that I have Fridays off, I take one Friday and Amy takes the next. Amy and I have worried about sending Baily to school where she hears negative and degrading talk and where she must interact with disrespectful and even cruel children. Yet, we know this is also part of life. We decided that rather than isolating her, we would be as involved in her schooling as seemed appropriate. So far it’s been a really great experience and I was very impressed with Baily’s teacher Mrs. Noble. She told me that Baily had the second highest score in her grade for a reading assessment test they take at the beginning of each year. I think this will be a really good year for Baily.

This past weekend seemed to go by in a blur. I went home teaching, attended a business opportunity meeting hosted by one of the families I home teach; fixed several flats (including on my bike); went for a family bike ride; played dodgeball (and got appointed to be team captain in a dodgeball league); removed the storm door in the front; removed the damaged molding and replaced with new molding; made many trips to the store for groceries, propane, and other household items; made smores with the Dittrichs late Friday night, had friends over for Sunday dinner; did a lot of cleaning; and a little yard work. In some ways, I’ve created more work for myself. I originally put the storm door on incorrectly and although it worked, it didn’t look very nice and wasn’t air tight. So I still need to figure out the best way to put the door on. Shane offered to help me and I think I’m going to need him. I just never have been very good at fixing household items. Shane just built a room on to his house and then built his own large bookshelf. It looked incredible. I wish I had more of that ability, but I guess the only way to get it is to start trying. At least I’ve begun the learning process.

We decided this week to try and reach out to other people in our ward. We have felt such a strong bond with our friends the Dittrichs. Still, we knew we shouldn’t be exclusive. So, we had Read and Angie Young and Lanson and Amy Baumgartner over for dinner on Sunday. We all just talked while our kids played outside or in their rooms. The kids went a little wild and were all very dirty by the end of the night, but it was well worth it. We felt such a good feeling after everyone had gone home. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such good people who all have their own unique way of helping us. I am always impressed with people who I like to call “real.” “Real” people are those that may not do everything the traditional way, but have no pretenses - no false fronts. I feel very comfortable around these people who are open, honest, and humble.