Roots

On day two of our vacation, we did some more scenic driving. We visited Holbrook, AZ, the town I lived in until I was 9 years old. It's amazing how much smaller everything looks, now that I'm an adult! I never realized I could see the whole town from my front yard before.

We drove south a short 15 minutes to Snowflake, AZ. After some driving around, we found the LDS Temple. Here, in northern Arizona, where many of my dad's ancestors were born and raised. I teared up at the thought of what a temple here would have meant to them, and to my own parents, if they still lived in Holbrook.

Our last sight-seeing stop for the day was Pinedale, Arizona. The site of many Crandell family reunions. The cemetery was so lovely and peaceful! I would love to be buried in such a place, alongside my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Our children love the child-friendly version (no alcohol or cigarettes) of the song Big Rock Candy Mountain. When William found out there was a Big Rock Candy Mountain in Utah, he was insistent that we go see it. We found an opportunity, on our recent drive down to Arizona.

Surprisingly, they were not disappointed by the mountain, just confused about where the box cars were and the lemonade springs, etc.
If you want to visit for yourself, it's a lovely drive south of I-70, just off of I-15, down US-89. We recommend you continue south on US-89, if you like a scenic drive, like we do.

Cub Scout Blue and Gold

We have a small Cub Scout group. It recently doubled in size to 4 boys! I am the Den Leader and the Committee Chair. So, this year's Blue and Gold was a big responsibility for me. Our theme was American ABCs.

Luckily, it all turned out great and we had plenty of food. We had All-American food for dinner; rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli salad, and apple pie with ice cream. We put butcher paper on the tables with letters from the alphabet so the guests could write places in America that began with the letter near them.

DJ earned his third bead, which means he is 75% done with earning his Wolf Badge.

Happy Birthday, Gwennie & William

Yesterday was the big day we've been counting down to for weeks! Gwennie turned 6 and William turned 4. What fun! We celebrated by pasting 6s and 4s all over the house, an idea I stole from my sister Jessica.
We also had a picnic with homemade lemonade and coconut rice.

And here are the birthday kids with their new hooded towels.

We will be adding a new birthday to our family this year.

Baby is due October 3rd.

Southern Utah Adventure

This week Jennifer suggested that we take a road trip to see Bryce Canyon. So we arranged for a hotel and off we went Thursday to see the canyon. We arrived in Bryce that afternoon and took a quick trip to see some sights. It was cloudy and cold, but still beautiful.

We wanted to go to fairyland, but it was closed to cars and open to cross country skiers. Also due to treacherous ice, we could not hike in to see the queen's garden.

Below are some photos from that sunset point that evening.


Lyman with the kids


Looking down from sunset point


Some hoodoos

We went back in the morning. It snowed a skiff in the night and was snowing lightly that morning. As we climbed up to sunrise point we saw a little 4-point buck and a doe and some fawns. Later the whole herd decided to climb down into the canyon. It may not look too steep in the photo, but that cliff is not a place I would like to be.


Buck


Doe with fawns


The herd descends into the canyon

Below are shots of the canyon from sunrise point (or possibly the climb/descent).


Looking toward the sinking ship.


Dad with the kids again.


Proof that Jen was there. AKA two beautiful sights.

We moved on to Bryce point saw the following:


Big shot of the canyon.


The alligator formation


DJ saw this formation with what looks like a face near the top of the hill
Update: apparently this isn't what DJ was referring to as a face :(


Video showing the wall of windows

We decided to take the scenic way home, so we drove routes 12-24-50 through Escalante, Lyman, and Scipio to get home. It is an absolutely spectacular drive, and I recommend that everyone take it at least once.

We saw the grand staircase and read about the hole in the rock. It turns out that Jen's Hatch ancestors blazed the trail to the hole in the rock, so we have a connection there.


A shot of the staircase


Jen with the kids

We stopped at some overlooks. At one point the road traverses the top of the ridge and there is literally just enough room for to road (it was a bit scary). We took a shot from there and also saw a bird about 25 feet from us (is it a crow?).



Looking down from the top of the ridge


Birdy at the top of the ridge

We continued on and stopped to see an incredible view from about 9000 ft.


The circle cliffs


Video showing capitol reef with the Henry mountains in the background, circle cliffs, and grand staircase

The road climbed to almost 10000 feet. It was snowing and cold there. There are large stands of quaking aspens with no pines. It was beautiful.

Everyone had a fun trip!

Performances

Saturday was the ward talent show. Our family had two parts in the show. We all performed a modified version of "Suzy Snowflake" (Lyman on vocals, Jennifer on accompaniment, children dancing/singing). Furthermore, DJ performed "Dear Old Mrs. Murphy's House" on the piano.

William Rides the Dragon

Friday was William's date with Daddy. He decided he wanted to ride the rides at the Hollywood Connection Fun Center. So Friday afternoon William and I set out to go ride the rides.

We arrived at 2:30 and found the doors locked...except one. We went in and found a very quiet lobby. All the lights were off. The rides were still. Nobody was there. We did find a flier taped to a pillar indicating that they open at 4:00 on weekdays.

We called home and ended up going to William's favorite store, COSTCO! There we did some shopping, and shared a slice of pizza and some ice cream.

We arrived at the fun center at 4:01 and bought our tickets. There were still very few people there. I asked the manager if the rides were open, and he said yes, they were just waiting for someone to ride them.

William decided to ride the dragon ride! He and I were the only ones on it. Next he rode the merry-go-round. The attendant followed us over to the merry-go-round and ran it for us. Then she ran the bus ride for us. Turns out she was the only one on duty. By that time, a group of pre-teen girls arrived and rode the twirly ride with us. That about killed Dad. We then returned to the dragon for another ride.

William began to get bored with the rides, and we went off to investigate another area. There we found miniature golf. We obtained balls and went to putting. I attempted to teach Will how to hold the putter to no avail. So he had fun just hitting the ball around. I was doing well until a clam ate my ball permanently. Will decided he wanted to go home.

We had enough points left on our card for two more rides. Will choose the twirly ride. Dad refused, and Will settled for the bus. Afterwards, we went to the Dragon for our 3rd time and the final ride of the day, but the attendant would not allow William on. He did not meet the height requirements?!?

We went and talked to the manager, and he said there was a firm requirement on the height since a child had been injured on the ride. The manager had me point out the attendant who let us on so he could talk to her. Then William took his last ride on a reindeer on the merry-go-round.

William had a fun time and thoroughly enjoyed his date with Daddy! Totals for the day: Dragon: 2, Merry-go-round: 2, Bus: 2, Twirly: 1 (thank goodness), Pizza: 1, Ice Cream: 1, Miniature Golf: 0.5.