the grand canyon: south rim drive

Here are a few pictures from our drive of the Grand Canyon's south rim. It was a cold and blustery day. We hadn't been there more than an hour when the skies went completely gray. It was still breathtaking. Seriously. I was kind of surprised at how amazing this canyon is. Everyone knows it is a big deal. But when I reached the precipice of the first viewpoint I had one of those moments where the rest of the world goes still. And then I thought of Abraham considering the nothingness of man. And then Eden started fussing. The poignant moments of parenthood are so brief. :)

We spent a bit of time at the visitor center at the south rim's west side. Then we drove east stopping at viewpoints along the way. After a little while, we kept Eden in the car and took turns walking about with the older kids at the different stops. It was pretty cold and windy.


The last stop on the east side of the south rim is the historic Desert View Watchtower. It was built in the 1930's right on the edge of a cliff and offers some impressively acrophobic views.



We're looking forward to visiting again- perhaps on a clearer, warmer day. And we definitely plan to venture up to the north rim sometime. We're happy that the canyon is on our way to Utah!

thanksgiving

We traveled to snowy Utah County for Thanksgiving this year. It had been a few years since our last Thanksgiving with family and so we were excited to be close enough to make the trip.

The original plan was to make it a 4 day drive and get a few more stamps in the kids' National Parks passports. All the storms that blew through changed our plan pretty quickly. But we did get to drive the south rim of the Grand Canyon before the snow started falling.

Despite our foresight in pushing through our original itinerary to get straight to Grandma's house, we got snowed into Beaver. They closed the I-15 and traffic piled up quick. We got a room as fast as we could- the 'no vacancy' signs were flashing up all over- and had a smorgasbord of car snacks for dinner. The roads were clear come morning and the rest of our drive was quick.

Once at Grandma Sandy and Papa Ray's house the kids were perpetually entertained. The Tinkertoys and Marbleworks were very popular this year with all the grandkids. The snow too. I remembered to pack everyone's swimsuit for the hot tub, but did we bring any snow clothes? Phoenix has already skewed my sense of reality. Our kids would not be deterred, Grant especially. Coats from home and everything else from around Grandma's house were enough for snowmen and sledding.

Our dinner was amazing as always. Cori and I got let off the hook big time as all the food assignments had been made without us. We had fun helping out where we could around the kitchen and really enjoyed eating everyone's grub. The kids made table decorations with Grandma the night before.

We went over to BYU the day after to see the Karl Bloch exhibit at the Museum of Art. Such an experience! I hope to blog more about it.

At night we got the kids in bed and then we got the games out. The big kids (adults) stayed up so very late every night. It was loads of fun. The little kids had a great time too. We loved being all together. Thanks again Grandma Sandy and Papa Ray for hosting all 20 something of us!

grace at the beach: november 2006

eden lately

10 weeks gone by already! How can it be?

Her eyes are still dark blue, they've just gone a bit milky in the centers. Her hair has a fire-orange glow. It makes me smile. As soon as we knew she was a girl, I started trying to imagine her. All I could see in my mind's eye was blue eyes and red hair. Of course, it is too early to say how everything will end up. She'll be just lovely in any case. But for now, I love looking at this face that I saw in my heart for months before she got here.

She is a very good baby. I can't believe how we have lucked out three times in a row. Nursing has been our only challenge. She still falls asleep nearly every time she nurses and we still struggle to get a good latch. It continues to take me upwards of 40 minutes to get her a full feeding. And burping was a big problem (as in, she wouldn't ever do it) that has only recently started improving. But she has been very cooperative about getting on a schedule. She naps well and our night times are very manageable. It is a good 10-11 hour stretch where she only gets up to nurse once and goes right back to sleep.

Developmentally she has been ticking all the boxes. Her growth stats are more like Grant's were at this age. 75th percentile for height. 50th percentile for weight. Her little newborn body was so muscular. I couldn't believe it. Well, actually I could. She is very strong and from the start I recognized her stretches and kicks from having felt them internally. Now all her wrinkly skin has plumped up with baby goodness. She smiles and cooes and makes us all so very happy.

Eden loves a swaddle. She loves face time. Her brother and sister keep her entertained and happy. Her swing almost always calms her down.

blessings

This baby. She is so smily and delicious. We are all very happy she is part of our family! This week I am also grateful for:

Cori. I mention it often, but not nearly enough. He takes such good care of us- me especially. He works hard. He plays hard. He makes the kids so happy. He picks up all my slack and never complains.

The cold I had last week. I completely lost my voice for about 3 days. It was very frustrating. I could only speak in a whisper. But it made me think about the way I communicate with our children. I had to think of other ways to help them see that I was very serious. More than once it was mentioned in our stake conference this weekend the importance of setting the tone in our homes. I know how much of an impact my mood and tone of voice can have. That illness that made me want to amputate my throat helped me take a cold, hard look at my conduct. Everyone is happier when I speak softly.

Stake Conference this weekend was actually a state-wide broadcast from Salt Lake. It was a treat to hear our Prophet's voice.

A busy week ahead. There is a lot I want to get done before we embark on our big Thanksgiving odyssey next Saturday. Busyness always makes me more productive - perhaps all those years of honing my procrastination skills? I'm actually looking forward to diving into my to-do list.

In our curio: Petrified Forest National Park

As I mentioned, our visit to this National Park was unintended. But we had a great afternoon there. The Park has a lot of interesting things to offer. Besides the petrified geolical wonders, there are also paleantological discoveries to learn about and there are a lot of ancient american petroglyphs and ruins to explore. We spent our first hour at the south entrance visitor center. There was a great Ranger there who gave a very visual presentation about the petrification process.

The drive through the park is very scenic and there are lots of turnouts and little hikes that lead to impressive vistas. It was a balmy 70* outside the day of our visit. Perfect.

In front of "Old Faithful", the largest petrified tree in the park.

above the visitor's center

Most all of the trees are broken like those pictured here. All the better to see the magical minerals inside!

Below are closeups taken at the Crystal and Rainbow Forests. There are sings (and rangers) everywhere stressing/pleading/threatening visitors against taking souveniers from the park. The Crystal Forest used to be full of glittering specimens- most of which have been stolen away. We still found a few.

There were stumps filled with sparkling grey and opaque white limestone.

The colors of the rainbow forest

The 'TeePees'

Cori and I agreed that the ancient american ruins was one of the most interesting things we saw. Once we got up to the north end of the park, every stop became a little 'where's waldo' hunt for petroglyphs. Cori was really good at spotting them. It is so amazing to see the ancient mark of human hands on the side of a rock in the middle of the desert.

It was turning dusk as we rounded into the area called The Painted Desert. I couldn't get the camera set to capture the colors we saw. It was a singular site to be sure. We reached the north end of the park just about closing time. There was just enough time to catch the video at the north visitor's center (which focussed largely on the crime and disservice of removing petrified things from the park) and pick up a souvenier at the shop.