Bear Lake

The Malmborgs invited us and the Songers up to their Bear Lake cabin for UEA weekend. It was gorgeous! The view of the sunrise over the lake through the red leaves was unbelievable. I went on a run that was definitely in my top five most gorgeous runs. The kids got along. The food was yummy. And I skunked everyone in Dominion 3 times. Hee hee!

Victoria planned a hike for us to Bloomington Lake. On the drive to the trail head, Clint saw a garter snake in the road and caught it for the boys. The boys (except Cole) took turns holding it in the car. Boy did it stink! Ugh! We had to keep the car windows open. Then it got loose and we were thinking about what it would be like to have that snake caught in our vents stinking up the car for years to come. But Talmage came to the rescue and found it. Thank you, Talmage!

The snow and wind wasn't anticipated - brrr! But after we got over this small hill, it warmed up and the wind was blocked.

That's Cole and Anderson walking across the log.

What a stunning little lake!

The reward for the hike: The Garden City Chocolate Shop! Clint and I shared a bag of chocolate covered frozen raspberries! Heaven! The boys got dipped marshmallows on a stick.

Red Butte Hike

This hike was part 2 in my attempt to keep the boys active over UEA week. The first day we went on a 3-mile bike ride. Our friend Isabella came. The low point of the hike for me was Talmage pouring out the biggest Nalgene bottle to make mud. The highlight for me: I decided to skip the pointing out of all the beauties to the boys. Lo and behold they took over the job for me: "Mom, look at this view! Look at this rock! Look at those colors!"

Talmage,"Don't take a picture, Mom. People will think I like Trace."

I started out thinking we'd just go up 15 minutes or so. They ate their snacks in the first five minutes.

Trace showing me the "waterfall" at the trail head.

Here are the boys searching for a letter box. No joy! So we thought we'd head down the trail farther to see if we could find it.

At this point we decided it looked closer to go forward and down to the U of U campus, rather than turn around. It was about even, and it ended up being a 2 1/2 mile--two hour hike! We did a complete perimeter of Red Butte Gardens. I only carried Trace for about a 1/4 mile. 

This wall of flowers is so fuzzy it makes your eyes go out of focus. Jack says the center is spiky and rubbery. By the time we got to the car it was 6:30 p.m. and we were all tired, thirsty and hungry! But it was a gorgeous hike, and quite an accomplishment for the boys. It's so wonderful living in the city, but being right next to the wilderness!

Javelin Practice

Here is Trace talking with his friend Gordon Scheffner, our back yard neighbor. They talk several times a week over the back fence. Gordon gives the boys berries and grapes from his garden, but most of all he gives them a good listening ear. He's a fantastic gardener and he's also an amazing athlete. The boys love watching him throw his javelin, seen here in Jack's hands.

 

Gordon gave Jack some pointers, and here he is, giving it a go.

A running start! He even "stuck" it three times!

Navy Ball

Happy Birthday to the Navy! Clint invited Congressman Jim Hansen to speak. He was fantastic and we really enjoyed the evening with him and his wife Anne. He was in congress for 20 years, under four different Presidents. His favorite, hands down was Reagan. He said that Obama was a junior senator on his Intelligence Committee and Hansen hardly noticed him. He doubted Obama would win the election, but Obama can give a good speech. Speaking of good speeches, Hansen's was fabulous. He credited his service in the Navy for turning him from a 1.9 college freshman into an ambitious student and public servant.

Cresap Reunion in Jackson Hole and Yellowstone

Grammy Cresap's retirement gift to all of us was a reunion in Jackson Hole. She spent her childhood summers there and it is her favorite place on earth. She rented a luxurious house for us in Upper Teton Village. The boys enjoyed running around with their cousins, watching cable TV and swimming in the hot tub--even in the cold rain!

Old Faithful began to erupt 90 seconds after we arrived. By the way, when I last saw Old Faithful in 1977, it was erupting every hour. Now it erupts about every 93 minutes. It has eroded some of the chamber inside, so it takes longer to build up enough pressure to erupt.

The boys spent the whole eruption look away from it, yelling, "Mom, Mom take a picture of me! No, like this!"

I'm so glad we went to Yellowstone in October. We had the boardwalks to ourselves and the extra steam makes the whole landscape like another planet!

I am the Sulphur King!

With cousin Allie

Papa using a device used by plumbers to measure the temperature of the pools. It correlated with what we learned at the visitors center. The pots with the yellow and brown bacteria are the coolest 140 or so. The blue and greens are closer to 200!

The Sapphire Pool was my favorite. So pretty! It would be even prettier in summer, with less steam obscuring the view.

With Cousin Annie in Jackson Hole. We took the kids to Ripley's Believe it Or Not! Museum--eww gross, said Annie. Lizard men, shrunken heads, two-headed cows--just right for boys. Then we went window shopping, with the intent to give each kid $5 to spend. Gone are the cheap souvenir shops I remember as a girl. Now it's all designer stuff. So we took the kids to the Dollar Tree, where $5 buys more landfill weapons than a boy can carry. Our boys voted it the favorite event of the week! Alas, the world headquarters for Dollar Tree is in Salt Lake City!

At Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park

Uncle Andy and Riley Burwell

L to R: Tal, Emily, Clint, Annie, Cole, Jeff, Trace

Fact: All the Cresap children, Clint and his three sisters, started their families with girls. Now there are 11 boys and 4 girls.

Clint, casting into a three-inch pool. None of the men caught anything. But they were nice to hang out with all of us.

Ryder Kost

Cole and Annie

Papa and Grammie and a rare view of the peak of the Grand Teton--it was shrouded in clouds the whole week we were there. (can you see Jackson under the bridge?)

A photographer came in from Rexburg and took our pictures--along the edge of a bicycle path! Many near collisions. And at least one ticked off cyclist. Trace had just woken from a nap and wasn't ready to smile.

Cresaps, Laffertys, Burwells, Kosts and Papa and Grammy.

Conference Crusaders

It's such a luxury in Utah to turn on the radios and listen to conference anywhere in our house. The boys and several neighborhood regulars took the occasion to get in full battle garb and battle evil, their way.

Fun Run!

The boy's school had their annual fundraiser. All the boys ran at least a mile. Jack's first lap.

After the first lap, Jack decided to run the rest backwards! He did four laps like this! No one has ever accused my kids of being conformists.

 

Here is Cole doing a warm-up led by our neighborhood Disney Cruise DJ. He always makes our events awesome.

Tal ran with such an even pace, he never stopped to walk. He added a bit of umph for this picture. :)