Arches in April

On Wednesday night, I finished my grading and turned in my grades. Thursday morning, April 28, Paul and I drove off for a quick getaway to Moab. We first drove into the stunning beauty of Arches National Park.


Here we are in front of Landscape arch. A lovely gentleman from the Netherlands snapped this shot and I think it turned out great.


Later we walked up to the Windows arches. It was such a gorgeous blue-sky day.

All our kids will fondly remember this warning!

Friday we headed out to Canyonlands National Park. Though we have been to Arches almost every year, we have never been to the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands. It is gorgeous--wonderful panoramas on every side.


Here I am, exhausted after hiking up to the Dome Overlook. The hike was so worth it!


Paul and his camera!

Gorgeous view through Mesa Arch. This view is obscured until you get right up to the arch, then wham! It knocks your socks off.



Paul and I at the Dome Overlook. A nice girl from France (I think) took this one.




Paul at the Dome. We noticed everyone we met on the trail had big grins on their faces. So did we.




Amazing view from the Grand View Point, at the end of the park's drive.


A little desert flora and fauna!


Friday when we tried to find a room for the night, we learned Moab was hosting a huge car show and almost every motel was full. We finally found a room (and collapsed in exhaustion after all our hiking!)

Saturday morning we decided to go check out this car show, and boy was it fun. Lots of shiny, loving restored vehicles--model Ts, Roadsters, corvettes, woodys, cobras. You name it! There wasn't one Dodge Dart or Rambler Station Wagon. I guess no one wants to restore those stalwart family vehicles! So fun to see all the beautiful cars, and to see all the proud owners polishing off the stray piece of dust and showing off their masterpieces.

It was a good ending to a happy vacation.

Easter Egg Hunts

The Lymans and Mark came over for a fun Easter celebration today. We had a yummy ham and cheesy potato dinner followed by a quick Easter egg hunt in our chilly back yard. Mark took some wonderful photos, as you can see. We then had strawberry shortcake and played a board game called Swashbuckled. We sat around and chatted until time for the Lymans to go home.











Tulips from our garden!

I'm thankful Jared accepted that job in Sandy

I'm thankful Jared accepted the job in Sandy about 4 years ago (was it that long ago?). How great it is to have Jared, Emily, Sam, and Eden nearby. (And how I wish the rest of you were closer!!)

On Sunday they all came down for dinner, and then Sam and Eden stayed for "Grandma and Grandpa Camp" for Monday and Tuesday They had spring break and BYU was in finals week, so no school to worry about for any of us. (Well, I had to keep up on some things from home, but I didn't need to go to the office or teach.)

We had a great time--though I forgot to take photos, so I have no illustrations. Each morning when we woke up, Sam reminded us to do our chores (make beds, brush teeth, etc.) and exercises. We danced along with Richard Simmons, and even Grandpa joined in. Eden created her own dance moves of knee waggling and hand circling (wish I had video on that).

Monday adventures: Lunch and games and Pirate Cove. The server dress and act like real pirates ("Aarr! And how be your grub today?"), there's all you can eat pizza buffet, and arcade games galore. Eden liked the roller coaster simulator and the pirate ship playground. Sam liked all the fun video games and choosing prizes with the tickets. After lunch we went to see the new movie, Rio, a fun and colorful animated musical set in (guess where?) about birds.

Tuesday: BYU bowling and dinosaur museum. Lunch and ice cream at Cougareat. I loved bowling because, very atypically, I bowled a strike on my first try. We all had fun, and Sam got 87--almost as high as Grandpa and me. Eden chose to watch and cheer for us. At the BYU dinosaur museum we happened to see Dr. Brooks Britt, a WAC colleague of mine who is in charge of the museum and quite an aclaimed dinosaur hunter. He took us back in the lab where we got to use the electric drill to dig out dinosaur fossils. (I was a bit hesitant; Dr. Britt grabbed my hand, saying "Go at it girl!") We saw all the specimens back in the storage room, including a huge dinosaur head Dr. Britt's grandfather had carved from wood.

Afterwards the sun came out and we played badmitten and blew bubbles in the backyard.

Mark joined us for dinner and brought presents for the children--so sweet! After dinner we took Sam and Eden home. Things seemed pretty quiet the rest of the week!

If any of you are feeling sad that your children couldn't come to Grandma camp, you had better move to Utah! :) Just kidding. We do wish you all were closer. We'll do Grandma camp with the other grandchildren when we can.

CCCC in Atlanta with Mary

April 6-10, Mary and I met in Atlanta for the Conference on College Composition and Communication, fondly known as CCCC, or 4Cs, or just Cs. Imagine 3000 English teachers in a downtown Marriott, passionately debating the best ways to teach writing. I really love it --no sarcasm :) It was so fun to share this energizing experience with my own daughter. I now understand why you hear so often that dads want their sons to follow in their footsteps. It is fun to share the professional part of your life with someone you love.




On Saturday we joined friends Kristine Hansen, Danette Paul, and Debbie Dean to tour the Martin Luther King Historic site. This is the Ebenezer Church where he and his father preached.


We had great grits, fried chicken, cat fish, peach cobbler, and yes, waffles at Gladys Knights restaurant.


This is the view from the glass elevator going down the center of the hotel. Dizzying.




Above is the view from our hotel room window.

Thanks, Costco

I'm thankful tonight for Costco because that wonderful store made it possible to have a delicious company dinner tonight with no fuss and no muss. Marinated top sirloin roast, check. Parisian salad, check. Broccolli florets ready for steaming, check. Delicious wonderful New York style cheesecake, check and double check. Then I was able to spend a little time making homemade rolls. Yumm.

Best part of all this was the delightful evening with Mark, Emily, Jared, Sam, Eden and niece Lindsey. So much fun! Lindsey is recently engaged to her long time friend Heath, so we were able to hear all the details on their plans. Heath is currently deployed in Afghanistan, so wedding plans depend somewhat on when he will be back. She brought us a plate of cookies decorated with pastel sprinkles, so cute.

After Lindsey and Mark left, Sam and Eden watched their shows in the basement and Emily, Jared, Paul and I chatted about what parents could teach their children to help them be happy as adults. Jared pointed out that happiness usually depends on a person's relationship with God and other people (especially a good spouse), so teaching them to be close to God and to get along with others is key. Pretty good advice. It ties in to the two most important commandments: Love God and Love your neighbor.

Just tucked Sam and Eden into bed. Sam has spring break, so the two of them are staying at "Grandma camp" for a couple of days. Paul and I have been looking forward to this for weeks!