In All of Living...

One of my favorite quotes from Gordon B. Hinckley is, "In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." I love to laugh and have fun and have tried to teach my children to do the same. We are far from perfect. We argue, tease, torment, and do all those things that bring contention into our home. But, Trent and I also try to do activities that will build great family memories and provide for much "fun and laughter." So, this last weekend we took a trip to the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana. It took nearly three hours to get there. Seems like a long way to go just so we could hike in some cave. But, we had a great time getting there.


Once we got there, we had a small wait for our tour guide. Notice more laughing. The girls aren't sick to their stomachs. They are doubled over in fits of laughter. We noticed a large rattlesnake warning sign. If I had seen a rattlesnake, the tour would have ended for me. Luckily, no snakes were on the 3/4 mile hike up to the cave. The view of the Jefferson River valley is beautiful. I wonder what it looked like when Lewis and Clark passed by. Oh, yeah, those two explorers never saw the cave. Teddy Roosevelt just named it in their honor. And, when did Collin grow taller than me?



The cave is beautiful inside. There are 600 steps that go down - luckily you don't have to climb back up them. It is about 2 miles long inside and takes roughly 2 hours to get through. Some of the passageways are very narrow, some are very short, and some are down right dangerous when wet. We had to do some bobbing and weaving to make it through a few of them. Inside each "room" the formations were spectacular. There are so many colors and interesting things to see. It was awesome!


Leaving the cave was almost blinding. When the doors first opened, I thought, "Go toward the light." After our eyes adjusted we enjoyed the 3/4 mile walk back to the parking lot. It wasn't uphill. That was nice.

We enjoyed a lovely picnic below the cave. Don't you just love it when people take your picture and your mouth is full of food?

I made the kids pose for pictures next to this cute little stream that runs down the mountian. At least they look like they are happy and having a good time.

We stopped in Virginia City on the way home and had homemade ice cream and played at the Gypsy Arcade. The ice cream was delicious and the arcade was hilarious.

I think we accomplished what we set out to do. McKenna posted on her facebook page that she spent the day hiking in a cave and being with her family and that it was "way fun." I think that is a good way to sum up the day. Can't wait for the next adventure.

One Day of Escape

Trent made arrangements for us to take one day and escape. We had so much fun - which always makes it hard to return home. We left the kids home and I knew they were looking forward to our return - haha.

I used our pictures and tried to make a movie using Picasa. I'll get better. I am having so much fun with that program.

Summer hike #1 - Golden Lake in Harriman (and my first attempt at collages)

Rain or not, I was determined to do something with the kids this week. I have been so busy helping my sister paint her "new" house that I haven't been able to spend time with them at all. So, on Thursday we went hiking with the cousins. Thanks for letting us tag along, Sus! It was raining when we left. However, when we got to Harriman it had stopped and the conditions were perfect. The hike was about four miles and we had a blast. I don't think we heard a single complaint along the way.


The first of the hike was along the road used for service vehicles in the park. We had to walk through the horse pasture. The horses must have thought that we had come to "round them up" because they walked right up to us. My kids were nervous at first - being city folk and all. But, they quickly warmed up to them. They pet them and let the horses nibble grass right out of their hands. That was Katy's favorite part of the hike. After that it was just a regular old hike out to the lake.


Once we reached the lake it was time for lunch. What can be better than lunch, lakeside, with the cousins?






The returning part of the hike was through the forest on a little trail. Everything is so green because of the rain. All around us the clouds were gathering so we moved fast. Across the lake we could see the rains moving down the mountain. On the lake we saw a huge flock (what do you call it?) of pelicans getting ready to weather the storm. But toward the end of the hike, right beside us, a moose pulled up out of the grass. He stared at us and we stared at him until we all felt safe to move on. That was another highlight.


Since we had already paid for parking in State parks for the day, we ventured over to Mesa Falls. WOW!!! So much water. So much green. Sure glad we went. And still, no rain! Sure glad we took that little side trip.

The hike was a success. Katy and Adri liked it so much that they went hiking the next day. Glad they enjoy it because we plan to go somewhere new in two weeks. If you want to come along just let me know. We'd love to have you.

June Flowers

Not being able to kayak has left me kind of down in the dumps. The rains keep pouring and pouring. If I didn't know better, I'd think we had moved to Seattle. So, I've had to think of positives that have come from all of this rain - besides the usuals (filling the resevoirs, reducing my water bill, blah, blah, blah). So while thinking I was checking out the flower beds, wondering if they were going to float away. What I found were gorgeous blossoms. My flowers have never looked so good. I found my positive. I'm sure they won't look like this next year so I took pictures.

Vanity

I was thinking today about how vane we can be - especially as girls or women. My kids don't care what they look like when they go out. It doesn't matter if their hair is messy or greasy. They aren't persuaded to stay home if they are wearing purple striped pants and an orange plaid shirt. They aren't interested in it. That will change soon. They have almost reached the age that the vanity switch turns on.
My switch is definitely on. I have been painting at my sister's new house. I have been wearing a most unflattering, mismatched, but perfect painting outfit. I always wipe my fingers off on my clothes which has made it splattered in various shades of paint. After I had finished on Saturday, Trent and I decided to go get a snack at the grocery store. I wouldn't go in because my clothes were "ugly." Later I realized how ridiculous this was. IF anyone had taken notice of what I was wearing they would have thought, "Oh, she must be painting. I bet that's fun." Instead, I sat in the car, alone, waiting.
During this softball season we have watched the vanity of teenaged girls at work. The umpires who work at the games are high school girls and they do a fine job. But, they cannot be persuaded to wear a face mask. Why? It will mess up their hair or ruin their makeup. It is torture for the spectators as we watch balls whiz past their heads or hit them in the chest, arms, or backs. Two weeks ago, the umpire at our Rexburg game took a foul ball to the face and suffered the consequences for her vanity - two broken teeth, black eyes, and an enormously fat lip. In my opinion, she looked better with a mask.
Today, the umpire at a game (who, coincidentally, has been hit a couple of other times) was hit by a foul tip off the bat. She now has eight stitches in her head. Her cute little hairdo is being squashed by a roll of hot pink bandage wrapped around and around and around her head. She would have looked better in a mask, too.
Silly what we do and can lose all because of vanity. I hope I can encourage my girls to keep their vanity switch in the off position as long as possible. It is much less complicated - and less painful.