Spring Update

It's been awhile, and you might be wondering what's up with us? Well, we've been busy having fun!

DJ and Gwennie started the Urban Fishing Club last week. They both loved it and were thrilled when they actually caught a fish - rainbow trout. We dutifully cooked them up for dinner and the report is they were delicious. Gwennie is counting down the days until she can go fishing again.

DJ and William have started spring soccer. Alas, the copious rain has cancelled their games and most practices so far. This week's abundant sunshine should remedy that.

We took a drive down to BYU to see the Walter Wick exhibit. It was like looking at I Spy books in large print form. There were also some models used to create the pictures. It was a good afternoon.

Last week we continued our (my) quest for us to be a "hiking family", by driving up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Temple Quarry Trail. The gate was closed, but it wasn't locked, so we let ourselves in. There was a bit of snow still on the trail, but nothing daunting. It was a very short hike, good for getting our feet wet, in more ways than one.

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.