Book Club

We had our last 2008 Book Club meeting tonight at my friend Julie's house. (I know. We are slow.) That makes two years of books I've read for discussion with others. I've never done that before and I'm still not sure it's my favorite thing to do...but I do like reading the books and I think I should support the activity...so I do it! Tonight's book is one of my favorite young adult reads. It has all the elements of a great story, complete with all kinds of lessons to learn - even for not-so-young adults. I highly recommend it as a read-aloud good tale for younger children or as a thought-provoking read for older kids and adults. Warning: Do not leave it lying around where your thirteen-year-old daughter can find it or you may have trouble getting it back in time to finish it for Book Club!

An MLK Day Adventure

We spent a fun day today in the motorhome, driving around the lake, stopping at points of interest. We did some hiking, and as you can see, some of us were very prepared!


We started out at our shop where the motorhome is parked.


We drove to Redstone picnic grounds and did some serious rock scrambling. Or "bouldering," as the case may be...

...and we did a little cave dwelling.


This photo may not look very remarkable, but what you don't see is that we were at the top of a VERY steep, high climb.


We were just on the other side of Dad here. Look hard. You can see him. I told you it was a high, steep climb. A grandma's nightmare in fact...


Luckily for Grandma D., she decided to stay down below!



Then we stopped in Overton...


...and checked out some restored Indian dwellings. Ooops. I mean "Native American" dwellings. (Thanks, Maddie.)


Hey, the sign said, "Keep OFF of the Pueblos" not "Keep OUT of the Pueblos."


Some people were quite tired by then...


but we still stopped at Rogers Springs on the way back.


We tried some rock skipping...


...not too successfully...


and marveled at the warm spring water...


and the "un-desert-like" view.


If you look closely, you can see some of our party up by the cave. Dad was sending us light signals, but, alas, not one of us "reads" Morse code...

In the words of our old friend, Fawn K. of Midway, "a good time was had by all!"

Go Cougars!

Maddie prepared an excellent presentation on BYU for her English class' "college fair" yesterday.

There was a little drama due to the computer crashing over the weekend when her flash drive was installed, causing a glitch in the Power Point presentation that went along with her display, but...all's well that ends well.

This is one of the things I admire most about Maddie. Even though she would much rather be doing this...



...or reading, or dancing, or watching a movie, or almost ANYthing else...she always gets right to her homework and works on it till it's done. I never have to hound her about it.

No wonder she's such a good student.

Short Hair

Amy, Susan, and I are all sporting new "do's."

I was petrified to cut mine, but I'm glad I did. I can actually make it look fairly professional if I need to! Don't Amy and Susan look cute?

(Sorry about the tree "sprouting" from Susan's head. We need to learn to frame our photos better...)

Baby Martin

When we were in Mt. Pleasant we went over the mountain and saw Sam and Ashley's baby, Martin.



Isn't he cute?

His mommy looks pretty darn good too!

New Year in Mt. Pleasant

We spent a few days after Christmas in Mt. Pleasant. The kids had a great time playing in the abundant snow.


Aubrey in her snow gear.


Tyler WALLOWED in the snow. He LOVED it!


We used the new sled on the dirt mound in the side pasture.


Cousin Jenny spent the day and night before New Year's with us. She, Brian, Tyler, and Maddie made a very cool snow dragon named Herald in the front yard. Notice the egg he is guarding next to him.


Jenny and Aubrey dancing to beautiful music.


Marc and Sarah brought all the fixings for New Year's fondue.


It was delish!


Grandma S. also made some yummy chicken and dumplings.


The kids (Eliie, Ben, Aubrey, and Maddie) had fun playing with new Christmas toys and the Mt. Pleasant staples...


...and each other! (Tyler and Isabel.)




If you made it this far in the post you'll want to be sure and hear the "beautiful" music being created to ring in the new year. It's amazing what you can do with a crystal glass and a little Martinelli's or water! So much talent concentrated in one small family...

Happy New Year!

Christmas Kite

Christmas afternoon we went to the park and Brian flew his kite. I love this video, because we get so few days like this. It did rain a little, but while we were at the park it was just cloudy, windy, and cold. Almost felt spooky. The noise you hear is the kite flying through the air. Tyler thought it sounded like a dragon! It was all Brian and Dad could do to hold on to it. It is quite a feat to keep a kite up in this much wind. Also, Brian said, you have to count how many circles you do in one direction, then guide the kite back through the same circles and swoops in the opposite direction to keep it from getting all tangled up. We kept all the kids behind the kite flyers, as at this speed the kite could do real damage if it hit anyone!