Vist to California

After having my sister, Julianne live with us for three months, we drove out to California to take her home so she could get ready to go back to school. And it was a good excuse for us to visit the family, of course. We loved having her come and both agree that she can come back and live with us any time! We love you Julianne!

Aunt Julianne

"Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters"
(from White Christmas)

While in California, the kids had a blast playing with their aunts and uncles, we took a family trip to Knight's Ferry to hike around some of the historic sites there and the kids did a pre-Easter egg hunt. We love it when we get to go to Nona and Grandpa's house.

Party on the trampoline

Easter Eggs

Knight's Ferry

The covered bridge

Arthur and Sean at the old mill, (that looks like a prison)

Me and my three by the river

Arthur and I also got to see my family perform in a multi-stake production of "Savior of the World" which my Dad helped direct. We were so impressed with the production, and so proud of all the work they all put into making it happen. Good job, guys; it was really phenomenal!

Dad, Jacob, a very tired Nathan, Emma, Reed and Mom
(Mom made these costumes)

Grand Canyon in the Snow

FYI: I'm backtracking a few months (it's actually July, even though the posting date says April) to fill in the months I've missed. Hopefully I can consistantly update this thing and catch up to more recent happenings. Keep your fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath.

We had low visibility on this, our first visit to the Grand Canyon. We stopped there on the way out to California and were not prepared for SNOW! Although we couldn't see much, I could tell it was just way bigger than anything I'd ever imagined. Pictures (even without snow) can't do this place justice. We'll have to try again when the viewing conditions are a little more ideal.

Daphne spitting over the edge

Aunt Julianne, the super hottie!

Catching snowflakes

Snow at the Grand Canyon

Us

Bandelier National Monument

Yesterday we took a trip up to Bandelier National Monument where we hiked around some of the ancient ruins of the Pueblo people. There were a few caves that had ladders we could climb and actually go inside the dwelling. Those caves were a welcome relief from the rain. It started raining on us half-way through the hike and didn't let up until we were on our way home. We were all very cold at the end of our excursion from the near-freezing rain. We just kept telling the kids that it would be a grand adventure we could talk of for years to come--"Remember the time we got rained on at the cliff-dwellings?"

From Cumorah's Hill

Last weekend was our Stake's performances of "From Cumorah's Hill." We have been very busy the past few months preparing for this event since I directed it. It was a lot of work, time and stress, but I think it was worth it. We had 130 voices in the choir and almost 40 in the orchestra. The youth had a great experience and did a phenomenal job. Julianne was awesome to help with the children and all the housework that I didn't get to, (which was significant.) And Arthur was a great support in building platforms for the set, singing with the choir and he even grew and dyed his beard for his prophet role. It was a wonderful experience for our stake, I would definitely do something like this again! . . . But I'll wait a couple of years.


Arthur working on the set


After rehearsal


Orchestra rehearsal


Here I am leading the alto sectional


Arthur and I in our "concert attire."

Sledding!

On February 17, 2007, we went sledding up in the Sandia's with our friends the Schmutz Family. Dallin & Daphne had a blast with their little friends Bobby and Loralyn. Poor Sean tolerated it as best as he could. That little boy just doesn't find the joy in snow.

19" of Fresh Powder!

New Mexico is having one of the best winters ever! It seems like we're getting a weekly storm that is dumping 1-2 feet of snow each time. Sharee and I went up to Ski Santa Fe after it had just received 19" of new snow. It was a beautiful day with clear, deep blue skies, but it sure was cold. The base elevation at the resort is at 10,350 ft. elevation. The peak is at 12,075 ft. It was -4 degrees F. when we got to the parking lot and +12 degrees when we left at the end of the day. Here's what Sharee looks like with 6 layers of clothes + her new ski mask that with her goggles allowed her to have no exposed skin! The secret to getting Sharee to ski with you all day is lots of layers, and lot of hot chocolate.

Snugglin on the lift

We found the powder!