Happy Anniversary!

40 years ago today, my parents were married in the Manti Utah Temple.

44 years ago today, Ryan's parents were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

And to both couples, we say, "Thank you! for being good examples of how to have a healthy marriage! Happy Anniversary!
We love you!"

Click on this video to see Hyrum's greeting!


(I think it is pretty cool to have my parents and in-laws share their anniversary date. If I would have been more aware of this fact when Ryan and I were seriously dating, perhaps we too would have been married on August 31. But alas, getting engaged on August 11, 1996 made 8.31.96 much too close and 8.31.97 much too far.)

Infamous Gibby Lake

In the 1950s, Ryan's Dad and brothers took a hike to the Uinta Mountains and found a small, unnamed lake near Grandaddy Lake. They decided that it should be named "Gibby Lake" and before hiking there again, one of the brothers created a wood sign to put there. And so the story goes. Ryan told that story to me and we hiked to this lake in August of 1996, right after we got engaged. There was no sign, was it really the right lake? In August 2003, soon after Baby Xadie died, we went on a family backpacking trip to the same lake. This time, armed with our Canon Digital Elph 2.1 megapixel camera, Ryan took panoramic pictures of the lake in question. When we returned, his dad affirmed that this lake is indeed the infamous Gibby Lake. His mom liked the picture so much, she had it framed for his dad for Christmas, and gave copies of it to all of the Gibby brothers as well.

Gibby Lake, August 2003

Five years have passed, we've added 2 boys to our family, and we planned another backpacking trip to Gibby Lake. In February, when we started making the plans, I surmised that this was going to be the best year to do a backpacking trip because a) Hyrum is still small enough to carry in the backpack; b) Roderic is the same age that Sabrina was the last time we did it, and it wasn't too bad to hike with a 4 year old; c) Ryan loves to go to the same place every 5 or so years; and d) I'm not pregnant.

To prepare for this 4 mile one-way hike, our family has gone on numerous bike rides through our neighborhood (up steep hills, I might add), I've gone on a 3-mile walk through our neighborhood daily, pushing the boys in the double stroller, we went on a couple of short hikes and we've gone swimming a lot. Both Ryan and I even mowed the lawn several times with Hyrum on our backs. When Ryan started to be nervous about the feasibility of the trip, I told him "I've been building up my endurance all summer, we are going." And was it worth it? You bet. Enjoy the pictures.



Requirements for hikers:
AND
AND


CAUTION: ROCKS AHEAD


They are good for
AND
Are we there yet? During the early part of the hike in, I swear we were stopping every 10 minutes for a 5 minute break. Amazingly, when we got to Hades Pass, I calculated that we were hiking a mile an hour. Not bad, for a young family.
We set up camp in the exact same area that we camped in 2003. All of the logs for sitting were the same as they were. Everyone had fun climbing and sitting on them.
Ryan and Sabrina were on water detail. Cool mountain spring water. Yum.

When we all attempted to walk around Gibby Lake, to see it from different vantage points, Sabrina got too close to the edge.

So all but Ryan turned around and went to sit in the sun and throw sticks into the lake.


Ryan walked all around Gibby Lake, taking pictures all along the way. And we waited.

And waited. And while we waited, I can't tell you how many rounds of this game we played. I lost track.



Since we were hiking in on a Monday, we didn't expect to see many people on the trail. The trailhead parking lot was pretty much full when we got there and a Boy Scout Troop passed us on the hike. On Tuesday, Ryan came across these firefighters.


If we would have kept following the maintained trail, we would end up at Lodgepole Lake. It's at the bottom of a steep incline. I didn't want to hike back up. Instead, Roderic hates hiking. At least that is what he will tell you now. I kid you not, we were not more than 20 feet from the parking lot when he first sat down and refused to move any further. (He was upset that he was not the leader in our group.) Ryan, Sabrina and Carson were all ahead of us on the trail. I could not get him to stand. Thankfully, Ryan came back after what seemed minutes and helped me coax him to his feet and start walking. Then he saw a bridge that crossed a stream and he started running for it. Then he tripped on a rock and scraped up his elbow, wrist and knee. (see photos above for the tripping tears). It was really slow going. Ryan sent me on ahead with Carson and Sabrina and then tried to coax/drag Roderic up the trail. He felt really bad doing that when other hikers would pass him, so then he had a brilliant idea. He told Roderic that as long as he walked, he would tell him a story. And that is what we had to do EVERY time we wanted him to move along a trail. "Peter Rabbit", "3 Little Pigs", "Little Red Riding Hood", "the story of Carson", "Star Wars" as long as we talked, he would walk. Except on Tuesday afternoon, he asked his dad for a piggy back ride...

Truly Beautiful.

Hyrum perfected his pronunciation of the word 'water' while on this hike.
Wha-hoo! We did it! We actually survived our trip to the Uintas! When do we go again?
Ryan quickly got over to the creek to soothe his sore feet.
And the rest of them wanted in on the action.
A BIG "Thank You!" to my brother, Carson, for going on this trip with us. As we were packing up all of our stuff, we realized that it was not possible for Ryan to carry everything. Sure, Sabrina carried clothes and sleeping bags for herself and Hyrum, and I carried Hyrum's diapers, but everything else was supposed to be carried by Ryan. Way. Too. Heavy. He had an idea that he could hike up once, then hike down with Sabrina and retrieve a second backpack, to then hike up with. That got me to thinking, so we invited my little brother to come and be our 'pack horse' and he said, "Yes." Yes! So he carried all of the food. And became Roderic's favorite story-teller.

And now a good-bye to a good pair of shoes:

A Taste of Heaven

If you want heaven in a cup, may I recommend a Mango Smoothie from Jack In the Box. I've now enjoyed one 3 times. It is truly divine. Check out their website here for a coupon and a better picture!

I Love to See the Temple

On our way home from Utah this past week, we stopped at the Twin Falls Temple Open House. It was well organized and executed. We didn't have tickets, which I remember being completely necessary for the Bountiful and Mt Timpanogos open houses, but no tickets were being collected. The tour started at the Stake Center next door. We waited for all of 3 minutes in the chapel for a tour, and that was only because Ryan had to run back to the car to put away our camera. The tour started with a movie about temples and LDS history in the Twin Falls area. That kept my children's interest. Then we got to see the grounds of the temple. It was beautiful, native plants, water fountains. We all got the white shoe coverings put on. They had to use rubber bands to keep them on Roderic's feet. Tonight, Roderic told his Grandpa on the phone, “we put shoe paper things to walk on the floor” in the temple. (Which is an interesting memory, because the only thing I remember about going to the Jordan River Utah Open House is putting on blue furry slippers and walking down a long hallway. I was about 4 when we went to that Open House.) We got to go throughout the whole temple, with our tour guide telling about each room. Except the Celestial room. In there, he was silent. Beautiful. Wonderful to feel the spirit of that room even before the temple dedication. I liked sitting in the Celestial Room with my whole family. I look forward to doing that again in the future. Afterwards, when talking with Sabrina about her thoughts of the temple, she said that it wasn't as magnificent as her imagination. Until the Celestial Room, where it was majestic. She was expecting it to be all white throughout the temple. In one of the endowment rooms, there is an awesome panorama of the Snake River Canyon and Shoshone Falls. Happily, my boys were pretty decently reverent throughout the whole tour. Only once did Roderic slug Sabrina in the arm. Hyrum spent the tour in Ryan's arms, and I got to carry Roderic a lot of the time. Of course, no church function is complete without refreshments. We got our choice of homemade cookies in the cultural hall, peanut butter, lemon sugar, oatmeal raisin or white chocolate macadamia nut. The Twin Falls Temple is the 128^th operating temple in the world. They had a large map of the world on one wall of the cultural hall with pins marking all of the temples of the church, in operation and under construction. They literally dot the earth. I think I'm going to try to recreate the map in my house. Using different colors to show the ones I've been to, and the ones under construction. I love temples. I'd really love to be in Ukraine in 2010 when the Kiev Temple is dedicated (that is where Ryan served his mission and we went on a trip there in 1998). I've got to be saving my money now.

Next Sunday is the dedication and they are going to broadcast it to our Stake Center. Ryan, Sabrina and I got our dedication recommends today after church, so we'll be attending it. Thanks to my awesome VT Companion for being willing to watch my boys during the dedication!

Our latest trip to Utah...

We have just spent the last week in Utah, visiting family (again). It seems as though that is the only location we know how to go to on vacation. But oh, how we love to visit our families! Our original plan was for us to visit the Twin Falls Temple open house on the way there, but that didn't work out. Ryan worked a (later than planned, due to packing) half-day and then we drove straight to Causey Reservoir, in Ogden Valley to his Uncle Brent's cabin, arriving about 9 pm. Roderic got sick on the drive down (sound familiar?) and puked in the car just after we drove over North Ogden Pass and suffered from a fever for the rest of the night. The next day he was better, thankfully, and played with more legos than he's ever seen assembled in one place. I think I know what he'll ask for for Christmas. Hyrum also enjoyed playing with the legos. Yep, legos are in my future. Definitely.

Ryan and I (actually me) got to be in charge of assigning the meal/clean up crews. We ate well. Very well. There was plenty to eat. Ryan's brother-in-law, Glen (a doctor, for pete's sake), is a "serial feeder". If you are still at a table with or without a plate in front of you and there is food left, he will bring around the serving dish and forcefully put more food on your plate. There is just no saying no to him. Did I mention lots of food?

While 13 of the bigger people went on a long ATV ride, Ryan and I strapped on our backpacks and went on a practice hike. Grandma Gibby, Sabrina, Roderic, Matt, Ethan, Hailee, Jaron, Daniel, Micah Brown, Aidan Brown, and Grandma Brown went along also, but turned around when the path got less worn and more steep. It was a good practice, too, because Ryan discovered that he needed to turn the tent around in his pack so the poles wouldn't be right on his back.

Trever and Heather brought Rock Band for the 2nd annual competition. It was a hit for hours and hours. Most of the songs I've never heard of. When Melissa was helping me choose a song to sing, there were 2 that I recognized: "Roam" by the B52s and "More Than a Feeling" by Boston (thanks to Cortney). I was surprised to see my daughter sing songs that I'd never heard before; and that she'd only heard on Rock Band. In the competition, she won the trophy for the best "Little Gibby," beating out last year's champion, Ethan. Ryan is morally opposed to the computer graphics shown on Rock Band. He didn't participate in any of the practices or competition. After singing "Roam" in the preliminaries, I didn't join in the competition, for marital harmony -- and because he makes a strong point that I wouldn't allow my kids to go to a place where ladies are so scantily clad, so why will I let them watch it for hours and hours.



We went on several short rides on the ATVs that Uncle Brent and Glen & Genette brought up. Roderic didn't want to go at first. He is really scared about trying new things that aren't completely in his control. After we started going though, he had lots and lots of fun. Of course, I don't go very fast at all. I'm a scaredy-cat. Sabrina even got to drive the small one around the parking lot, with Uncle Glen as a passenger/helper (thanks to him, she didn't run into the bumper of Trever's car)!

While at the cabin, we were able to see most of Ryan's cousins on his Mom's side. Which is a rare treat. He got to play Memoir 44 with Trever and Daniel and he played Puerto Rico with Daniel, Scott, Cameron and Jeff. I worked on crocheting a baby blanket and had a great time visiting with people.

And if ever we are invited to go again, I definitely want to sleep in "the bat cave" again. Meaning one of the three bedrooms downstairs where it is dark (no windows) and quiet.

If only the cabin had satellite TV, so we could have watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Oh well.






After cleaning up from being at the cabin, I got to go with my sister-in-law Heather and mother-in-law to Bountiful to tour a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He died before it was completed. I had no idea that he had designed any houses in Utah. They sure didn't mention it in my Interior Designs or Art History classes at WSU. It was open for public tours on Saturday only, and I was one of the lucky 1500 people who got to walk through it. Thank you Heather!


While we were touring this house, Ryan and the kids met Daniel and kids and Glen, Genette and Matt and launched Rockets at the infamous Rocket Park in Layton. I got to see the final launch. It was beautiful. Then the adults went out to eat at Golden Dynasty, Glen's favorite Chinese restaurant in Ogden, owned by one of his patients. Delicious.

When my mom learned we were coming into town, she organized a family dinner on Sunday, inviting Grandpa and Harriet, (uncle)Brennan & Tammy and girls, and Shanda and family. Once again, good food, good company. It was fun to sit and talk to my relatives! We played the Farming Game, a game my parents are addicted to playing. We weren't able to play to the bitter end, but I did win, with assets worth $63,000. We also took some cute pictures of the grand kids.


So now, I'm chronologically to the most exciting part of our trip, the backpacking trip into the Uinta Mountains to the infamous Gibby Lake (which is no longer listed on any maps and has no sign due to the Forest Service's desire to make it be more wilderness-like)! Unfortunately, I need to do the things I've been neglecting today, like laundry and making dinner, so I'm going to have to post about that later.

Sewing and Cooking Class 2008

This year Sabrina and 5 of her friends learned how to sew 2 items. A bed book bag and a gathered skirt. It was so much fun to work with them! They also had 5 cooking lessons, learning how to cook eggs (fried, scrambled, boiled, poached), brown ground beef (pizza snack cups), use the oven & follow a recipe (banana muffins), chop veggies (Pita bread sandwiches), and Rice Krispy treats. I taught the week they cut out their pattern/fabric and read a recipe and used the oven.