Thanksgiving Day

I am truly thankful for this time of year. Thanksgiving Day holds a lot of beautiful memories for me. Today we had Mark and Kellie and their four children with us and Sam's father, Lyle. Then we also had children Cory and Kerin, and Jade and Colby and their 2 daughters. Add to that our other children, Carson, Walker, Lana and Bryce and we had a group of 18. The only ones missing who could have made the day complete were Taylor and Shannon and their 4 girls.
Thanksgiving Day is like a breath of fresh air before the hectic Christmas season starts. I love to just sit and enjoy the weekend - enjoy family, lay around in pajamas, eat lots of leftovers, and do whatever I want, whenever I want.
Thanks to the pilgrims for giving us this holiday. Actually, there are many, many, many things I am thankful for and it is nice to have a day set aside to force us into thinking about them.

Zion Park - Oct 2009

Zion National Park Hike - Orderville/Narrows

I love these 5-day Harvest Holidays off of school. Autumn is such a beautiful time to be out in "nature." We camped out in Watchman Campground by the Zion Nat'l Park Visitors Center with Joe, Maureen, Cole & Rebekah in one camp site and Sam, Mary, Carson, Walker, Mark, Chase & Sean in another campsite. Judd and Erica stayed in Springdale in a motel (wimps). After a great pizza/pasta dinner in Springdale Thursday night, we all went to bed fairly early for a full day of hiking on Friday. I was surprised that I slept so well this night, other than the fact my sleeping bag kept sliding off my pad.

This campground is a little crowded if you are used to camping in the mountains with not many people around. Here we were within breathing distance of our neighbors and it took some getting used to. I nearly punched out the guy next to us - he came in really late and then he and his wife proceeded to laugh and talk (yell) as they got everything set up. Then he walked nearly over to our tent and made a cell phone call to his mother telling her all about how they just got in and why they were late and why they didn't get their permit, and on and on and on. I wanted to open up our tent flap and say "excuse me - some of us are trying to sleep." But I didn't -I behaved very respectably.

Friday morning I dropped off Joe, Cole, Rebekah, Carson, Walker, Chase, Sean, Mark, & Sam at their hike start - about an hour drive from camp. Judd & Erica met me and Maureen at camp and the four of us decided to hike up to Emerald Pools. I've made this hike at least 10 times but it is always beautiful-and the day was warm and beautiful. I felt bad that Sam had the camera on his hike and I couldn't take any photos of my day, but that is okay.

We all met up in the evening and went to the famous Bumbleberry Inn for dinner. We had never been there and decided to give it a try. Never again will I go there. Not one of was happy with our dinners. Service was extremely slow and the food was lousy. We went back to camp and made a big fire and sat up and talked.

We decided we need to come every year and reserve four sites together so it is like one big party - and have fun!!!

Fallen Tree - Or is it?

Wild Flowers at Brighton July 24, 2009

We took a hike up around Silver Lake and then up to the reservoir above. Beautiful fields of flowers and green everywhere. I had forgotten how much I love the mountains of Salt Lake.

Just Say NO!!!

One would think at my advanced age that I would have learned how to say no. Whether it is someone asking me to do something or an opportunity I see, I want to do it. I think, "This will only take a little bit of my time," so I say yes. But when I add all of the "little bits of time" segments together, it equals a mess. I think of all the things I am doing because someone else wants me to and then think of all the things I am not doing because I don't have any free time and I get frustrated, tired, and depressed. I am making a firm commitment to free up my time and realize that if I don't do it, I will become sick. I must recognize the fact that someone else will pick up the slack and probably do the job better than me.

I enjoy all the opportunities around me right now and I forget how hard it is on my home and family when I am away so much and doing so many things. I carry around a huge load of guilt most of the time. I think I should be all things to all people. Where did that thinking come from? Why do I believe I have to do everything all of the time?

I have said it now - it's in writing - I'm cutting back. If anyone even reads this, I am counting on you to keep me on track. Help me to Just Say NO!!!

Lagoon

I used to love Lagoon Amusement Park. But I grew to hate amusement parks in general as I got older, mainly because as I have aged I get sick when I go round and round and up and down. We had the opportunity to go to Lagoon (discount tickets really help) and I was amazed at how much fun we had. I only went on the roller coaster type rides - Colossus, Wicked, Wild Mouse, Roller Coaster, Jet Star 2, and the 2 water rides in Pioneer Park, but it was a lot of fun. If I had to choose whether or not to go on rides, I most likely would say no thanks! But when you get with a group of people, you are influenced by what I call the crowd mentality, and you do things you normally wouldn't do - like go on scary Lagoon rides.

In spite of the 98 degree weather and Carson's migraine in the evening, Sam, Carson, Walker, Ashleigh and I had a great time. Who knows if I will ever get back there, but it was a great way to spend a hot summer afternoon.