Our Back Yard

Paul and I had set aside last weekend to go on a family trip. We wanted to go down to Moab to hike Arches and check out the main street shops but it wasn't to be. We decided to save money and stay home. This turned out to be the best thing that could have happened because it forced us to explore our own back yard - which it turns out is JUST AS COOL as Moab - and it's only 20 minutes away from our house!! So let us show you our back yard!

Split Mountain in Dinosaur National Park. Split mountain got it's name for the way the mountain has been split in half by the green river. It also has one of the largest caches of dinosaur bones in the world - with 11 different species found in just a small radius.

This is the small visitor area that is still open. The monument was condemned and shut down 3 years ago because the ground underneath was shifting and caving. They gave palentologists, who had devoted 30 years of excivating and research, 24 hours to pack up all they could and leave the site because of the danger it posed. But hopefully when the new site opens the work they are doing will move forward better than ever!

This guy walked around the site greeting the children dressed as a dinosaur skeleton. He scared Rachel to DEATH - so much so that she clawed my earing off trying to climb up my face to get away from the dinosaur. She had been begging to go to the dinosaur park all weekend and when we finally got here she said, "I HATE DINOSAURS! I'M READY TO GO HOME AND I DON'T WANT TO EVER COME BACK AGAIN!!" sheesh!

Petroglyphs - these things are EVERYWHERE in Vernal.

Rachel is posing outside a historical spot called "Josie's Cabin". A single woman built this home in the early 1900's. She lived here alone raising cattle and sheep, farming the surrounding area, and literally living off the land. She got her water from natural springs, irrigated her crops, and survived on her own here till she passed away in 1964 - I believe she was 90 years old. WHAT A WOMAN!!

This is the hike up to "Hog Canyon". Josie would lead her cattle and hogs up this canyon which had tall walls acting as a natural corral to keep her cattle from wandering off. It was a fun, easy, STUNNING hike. We had our own personal park ranger to give us the grand tour. Thanks Brian!

Fresh natural spring coming out of the mountain. Paul and I drank some of the water (which tasted so good we could bottle it and sell it). If we end up with Giardia come visit us in the hospital!

There were rocks for climbing...

Sand washed out by the river for digging...

And caves for hiding in!

Here is the beautiful Green River that tourists come to run from all over the world.

Here are our kids "running" the Green River themselves!

So next time you feel like an adventure COME PLAY IN OUR BACK YARD!!

We HEART Vernal!

County Fair

COME TO THE FAIR!!

Tip to Bozo the Clown for the balloon flower and dog.................$1.00

Corn Dogs and Tacos.......................................................................$14.00

Family Size Snow Cone....................................................................$4.00

Tickets for rides...............................................................................$12.00

Seeing your kids enjoy a ride THIS MUCH................................

PRICELESS.

So next year if you want to come to Vernal, be sure to come out for the county fair. You'll have

LOADS OF FUN!!

BEWARE!!

When you give your two-year-old a snack and then sneak away down to the computer to blog...

He MIGHT just give you something to blog about.

Becoming

As I sat on the floor contemplating my life, my three year old brushing my hair into tangles, my one year old driving his red Hot Wheels car across my face, I thought to myself, "Is this it? Am I fulfilling some divine role as I act as a human playground? Am I really on the path of some eternal destiny as I change diapers, wipe faces, and clean up mess after mess after mess (of course only to find another mess there 5 minutes later)? Where is that premortal sign up sheet... are you sure I really signed up for this?"
And then the answer resonates in my heart. YES.

Because even when it seems like you can't play one more round of Candy Land or Memory, even when it seems like you can't answer another 3-year-old "WHY" question, even when it seems like you have done the same thing, eaten the same breakfast and lunch, seen the same Disney video 938,487,276,593,000 times, something is happening. Little brains are growing, little personalities are developing, relationships are solidifying, people are BECOMING.

And that's what life is all about anyway. Becoming. It's not the "getting there" that matters - because we will ALL get there eventually. It's WHO YOU ARE when you get there. Who you have become.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks illustrated this principle so eloquently,

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.”

"Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it."("The Challenge to Become," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32).

My Uncle Stan is a sculptor by profession. I have been to his shop on several occasions and there are often multiple mountains of clay - each having it's own grand scheme, all ready to BECOME something. I have seen one mountain change over night as he carves away massive chunks of clay to get the basic form of the statue. Then is seems to sit and sit for months on end, never appearing to change much because the change is in the fine details. Tiny tools are used to carefully turn faceless spheres into recognizable figures. True god-given talent spins "matter unorganized" into masterpieces. But it's a long tedious process. Especially if you get stuck in the details and forget to step away from the clay for a moment to see how it's all coming together.

"Calm as a Summers Morning" sculpted by Stan Watts and Kim Corpany

Kinda like parenting. It can be a long tedious process sometimes when you are trying to use your God-given opportunity of being a parent to spin "matter unorganized" aka "children" into a masterpiece. And it is SO EASY to get stuck in the details. A peanut butter jelly sandwich sliced in triangles - not squares. A hot dog, served cold, cut into bites, with mustard and ketchup, and a toothpick. The 15th load of laundry TODAY. Those are all tedious, time staking, mind numbing actions whose monotony can drive ANYONE to the loony bin - - - UNLESS YOU STEP BACK. Take a look at the sculpture. Take a look at what they're BECOMING - and what YOU'RE BECOMING TOO.

And hopefully what you will see is "the image of Christ engraven on your countenance"(Alma 5:19). And when I think of THAT, things like THIS don't seem that bad.

Because it's all about BECOMING.

"It's Okay!!"

There is a new phrase in my 3-year-old's vocabulary, "It's Okay Mom! It was just an ACCIDENT!"



Let me illustrate how she uses this phrase on a day-to-day basis.


BANG!
Rachel: "It's Okay Mom! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
Me from upstairs: "WHAT HAPPENED HONEY?"
Rachel: "NOTHING! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
I came downstairs to find one of my African wood sculptures had been knocked off the bookcase - good thing those things are totally child proof solid.


SPLASH!
Rachel: "It's Okay Mom! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
Me from the other room: "WHAT HAPPENED HONEY?"
Rachel: "NOTHING! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
I came in the kitchen to find juice all over the floor - she had attempted to pour the juice into her cup all by herself - she's getting big, but not quite THAT big.


CRASH!!
Rachel: "It's Okay Dad! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
Paul from downstairs (do you see a trend here?) :"WHAT HAPPENED RACH?"
Rachel: "NOTHING! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!"
Paul went upstairs to find THE DVD PLAYER lying on the floor. Why you may ask? We don't know. She still hasn't come clean about that one.


Ben adds his two bits to the mix with stunts like this one...

But IT'S OKAY! It was JUST AN ACCIDENT!


AY YAI YAI.