Every Halloween we get visited by a bunch of spooky characters. This Halloween we got to see all of our kids and grandkids (except one of each). There is still time for them to come see us tonight .... so we still have hope. Mindy and Tales made great hippies.

Tales tried hard to teach Grandma Marie how to give the peace sign. She almost had it figured out.

Mikey was an incredible Superman as long as he didn't try to leap tall buildings in a single hop. He is still hopping after he broke his foot. He got his cast off the day before yesterday.

Nathan came as himself - a whirlwind tornado. He was especially well behaved last night. He really got into the Halloween spirit, crawling around the house on all fours growling at everyone.

 Tyler Mark put in two appearances - once as a penguin and once as a giraffe.

 Lily was an adorable love bug.

 Laura came as a candy washing machine. She is out of uniform here, but you can tell how hard it rained while they were out trick-or-treating. A candy washing machine? How on earth did she think of that? We had other appearances. Isabel was lovely in her 1950's poodle dress. Max looked like a young Dr. Kildare and Jake was one the Knights Who Say Nee. He didn't even think it was funny when I asked him if he was one of those English Kniggots. Sam was a commando dude and Ben was a dragon. Elsie, Andrew and Caleb were all out of their costumes by the time I saw them but I thought they were pretty darn cute the way they were. Cy was in California and we all missed him terribly. Sam and Michael were so excited to see Cy and were disappointed when Elsie came in without him. Heather was a freaky skeleton and she came with Joseph's uncle Steve as a cowboy. Janene and I were dressed as bear bait. ( We were covered in honey, after extracting honey from the bees all day.) What a blessing it is to be surrounded by family.

How to remove an old fencepost.

We decided to work with our neighbors, ( the Phillips family - how strange is that?) to replace our old fence. The problem was that I put in the fence when I was young and it seemed to be OK to use lots of cement for the posts. Well, the posts rotted and I had a hard time trying to remove the old concrete. Brandon and I dug huge holes to get the concrete out and them we couldn't lift the concrete plug out of the hole, even with both of us lifting.

I came up with the idea to use my electric hoist. I drilled an anchor into the concrete and bolted a metal ring to it that I could then hook to the hoist. I used my ladder as a sky hook and Voila!

The big hunk of concrete was out of the hole - and we hardly had to dig at all. We love our new fence, by the way.

A Little Bit of Fun in the Sun

Every year I have to go to a conference for the fire alarm manufacturer we represent. It is always a big deal and we get to live like the other side for a few days. This year it was at the Marriott Marco Island Resort again. We went there three years ago and had a blast then. We kicked off the trip with a lazy day at the beach under an umbrella while people in white shirts and ties waited on us. While I took a nap in the shade of the umbrella, Janene decided to nap on the sunny side. When she was medium rare, we thought it best to get her out of the sun. That pretty much ended our sun related activities.

The beach is made up entirely of shells in various stages of disintegration, at some points becoming a white powdery sand mixture. It is not really the kind of beach where you can walk around with tender landlubber feet, but we were fascinated by the variety of shells to be found.

We dined on fine foods the whole time. As you can see, I partook of the bounty a little more freely than my beautiful bride. The sunsets were amazing for about three minutes, then the sun drops below the horizon and it is instantly dark. The reverse happens in the morning hours we are told. We never really found that out. We did a little bit of the sleeping-in action.

There were flocks of birds on the beaches and you could get a fun picture it you stirred them up a little with the sun in the background. We also got to see dolphins frolicking in the surf and signs to watch out for panthers and manatees. (We never saw any of those, however.)

 We came home to snow on the roof in the backyard and a predicted freeze tonight, so it was straight to the garden to pick everything that couldn't freeze. Two five gallon buckets of tomatillos is going to be a little overwhelming for Janene, but I think I can smell the tomatillo salsa brewing on the stove already. The Hubbard squash were so big, I could only carry one at a time. It's time to pick all the grapes too, but we can leave the onions, potatoes, and cabbage up there just a little longer. Tomorrow, we need to bring down the green tomatoes left on the vines. There will probably be over a hundred pounds of those, so we are looking for someone with a good green tomato recipe. They will ripen in the basement (that is how we get red tomatoes at the store), but they are just not as good as the vine ripened ones from the garden

Falling for (or in) Montana

While we were in Montana, it rained and snowed the whole time. That made it difficult to get good pictures, but it didn't stop us from going out to see things. We hiked to several different locations, including one aborted attempt to hike the Highline Trail from Logan Pass. Let's just say that horizontal snow blowing at 40 mph does not a vacation make. The result of all this moisture was that every little valley had a waterfall in it. This one was called Virginia Falls.



 This was an unnamed falls in the same creek as Virginia Falls. On the way up to the falls, the creek dropped over 4 or 5 little falls just like this. We crossed St. Mary's Falls on the way up this trail, but we don't have any pictures of that one because it was raining too hard there.

This series of falls was just above a little lake we found in the same canyon with Many Glacier Lodge. We hiked up a couple of miles to this lake and were greeted by a cow moose and two calves taking a drink in the lake. I'll try to post this picture up later. (Blogger is being dificult)

Wow! If you shut things down  and re-post it works. Right after that it crashes again, so I can't add the last waterfall. Maybe thre real problem is that the last one was not in Montana, but Canada. Another day for that one.

A Crazy Phoenix Trip

 A nice little work trip to Phoenix - sounds fun, right? On the way here, they couldn't serve any drinks on the plane. The stewardesses had to stay buckled into their seats. The ride was just like the rollercoaster at Lagoon. First thing in the morning, I grab my laptop and head out - get in the elevator, push the button for the lobby, and voila! - the elevator drops precipitously and screaches to an abrupt halt. Mild panic is being held at bay because I know a little about elevators. Then I realize - I know a little about elevators! Even with all the safeties, all sorts of things go wrong. Not to worry, the email the Marriott sent me has the phone number and I can call the front desk. I call the front desk "Marriott Phoenix, can I put you on hold?" Are you kidding me? After listening to pleasant soothing music, I get a chance to explain that I seem to be stuck in the elevator somewhere below the eight floor. "Did you get in the elevator on the right as you were looking at it?" I pause as the realization hits me that she knows which elevator is broken - and they did nothing to stop people from getting on a broken elevator. I listen calmly as she tells me that an engineer is working on it. I use the time while I wait to review all my e-mails. Next thing I know, the elevator is lurching to the 12th floor. It occurs to me that if the elevator falls from the 12th floor, I probably won't survive. What would be the best way to stand? Knees flexed? Should I lie down? Hmmm.... I wonder if the door can be opened? Whoa! It opens! I am about 2 feet above the landing and jump down. I took the stairs down to my meeting and left them wondering what happened to the guy stuck in the elevator. As I look out the window, I see a huge storm rolling into town.

All during my meetings I can hear hail pounding on the roof. Later when I went out to go to dinner, I watch as one of the trees on the property does a slow motion dive into someone's rented Cadillac. You can't even tell there is a white Caddy inside there.

Earlier, we watched from the hotel as lightning struck a palm tree and set it on fire. Palm fronds smell suspiciously like an electrical fire when they burn. I didn't have the sense to take a picture of it while it was on fire, so here it is the next day. The next day we find out that the fountain no longer works and the pool is closed. It seems that a giant palm tree has fallen into the swimming pool, turning the water a disgusting brown. When I got back to the hotel, I found out there were four tornados that tore things up and here close to the hotel, about forty telephone poles fell over onto homes. What a deal - I never got to use my swimsuit and I have had to wear my long sleeve shirt the whole trip. Welcome to Phoenix.

GrandDaddy Daughter Date

 Chelane is so busy with school and work and rotations that we hardly ever see her, and when we do, it is just for a brief moment. She has her own washer and dryer, so we don't even see her on wash day anymore. So it was something of a miracle that she and I got to go backpacking together. We headed to one of my favorite places - the Granddaddy Lakes Basin for a hiking and fishing excursion late in the season. Our trip included Granddaddy Lake (above), Betsey Lake, Mohawk Lake, Heart Lake and... almost Lodgepole Lake.

 After fishing on Betsey Lake, we each caught a fish and we were stymied by two foot long native cutthroats that had no interest in any fly we could give them. I even tried my hand at a few spinners, to no avail. It was freezing (literally) cold and I don't think they wanted to leave the warm water. It was so frustrating to watch them turn their noses at us like that. We ended up at Mohawk for lunch and a nap. I have a favorite nap rock at each of the lakes I visit. It wasn't long before both of us were zonked out in the warm sun.

 We should have been tired after getting up at 4:00 AM and then walking seven miles at that point. You can see that Chelane really knows how to enjoy her beauty rest. We then headed back to Betsey and around the east end of Granddaddy to where we started down the trail to Lodgepole. Holy cow! It is about a 1000 foot drop off from Granddaddy to Lodgepole. I have been there with my dad, and my brother says it is a nice place to stop if you are going to Fern Lake and the really big fish. We decide not to head down that canyon. We were too tired to think about coming back up.

We turned around and continued all the way around Granddaddy before heading back up over the pass before we were done. That lake is so dang big, that it took almost three hours to walk around it. I think I wore my poor girl out, but we had a lot of fun, we talked about all sorts of things - everything from how she wanted her wedding to be ( got to get a man first) to what Grandma Marie was like before Chelane was born. She has only known her after she got sick. Pretty good date if you ask me. And we only had to hike 12 miles to do it.

Desert Rats, Gemstones and Pond Scum

 A couple of weeks ago, we were approached by the kids, who wanted us to take them out into the desert for a day's outing. They wanted to go rockhounding and looking for fossils. We got the two Montana vans, packed them full of kids, rock hammers, chisels and snacks and headed for Millard County. We started the day at Topaz Mountain where the kids all found topaz crystals in the washes. Sam was particularly good at spotting the shiny spots. We then went on a wild goose chase looking for garnets (supposedly found in the coves on the east side of the mountain). It was a pointless search. What exactly is a cove? When you are talking about a desert mountainside, what qualifies as a cove? Is it a cave? A canyon? An alcove? We could never figure it out and four wheeling in a minivan packed with child seats a hundred miles from a repair shop didn't seem like a very good idea.

Once we were that far out, Heather told us how they had found out that their minivan had been in a wreck and the axle had been welded together. You can't weld an axle together and expect it to stay welded! Not fully loaded on rough dirt tracks. So we headed back to the graded road for the trip to Baker Hot Springs. We had never been there before, so we were a little surprised to find them in the middle of the desert - surrounded by a herd of cows. It was the only water for miles - so the cows made it their watering hole. It was a pretty mucky mess.

That didn't deter our kids. Within a few minutes the kids had their swimming suits on and their diapers off and were splashing away to their heart's content. Only one of the three concrete tubs was cool enough to get in. I did not partake. I didn't even inhale. I swear I could see the pseudamonas araginosa having a party in the pools with the rest of the pond scum. It smelled just like the Dragon's Cauldron at Yellowstone. The kids loved to dive to the bottom and bring up big globs of algae and scum to smear all over each other. The experience was..... unique.

 On the way back Janene spotted a marsh along the Sevier River. The perfect place to find polliwogs for the kids. None were to be found here. The kids wanted to see if they could scramble up the roadside where cars were going seventy miles an hour.

 After scaring the wits out of their grandparents, " You kids get down from there this instant!", the kids then headed for some old charcoal kilns where they did some exploring.

 All we found was big sunflowers. Since the kids needed a potty stop, we headed to Nephi and a gas station for the kids.

 We topped off the day - or should we say evening - by frolicking in a schoolyard playground where we ate dinner and spun around on the weird spinner things until the grownups puked. Some of the new toys in the schoolyard are designed to scramble kids brains. It was pretty much a failure, when it came to finding gems and fossils, but we all had a great time, and can't wait to get back out there - Well, Janene could wait another year or two before we do that trip again, but I could be talked into it  tomorrow. I think I just might know where those garnets are hiding.

Did we sign up for this?

In February, we found out that we could trade our time share for a condo at Glacier National Park in September. I thought "Wow!, What a great time to go to Glacier." The fall colors, the absence of throngs of tourists, a little cooler for hiking. It couldn't be a better time to go - or so I thought. When we arrived, we found out it had snowed the day before , 8 inches to be exact. Oh well, not to worry. It will all melt. For most of our week long trip, this is what we saw from our condo balcony as it snowed all week long.

After almost a week, and after one sunny day, this is what we should have been able to see from our porch. We still couldn't see the mountains very well, but at least we could tell they were there. For part of the time, we decided to leave our comfy snow cave and headed north to Banff and Jasper in Canada where we heard the sun was out. When we came back to Glacier, the wind was howling and the mountains were socked it with clouds. So.... we left early, headed south to Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

Well, not so good an idea. When we arrived at Yellowstone, we found that 50 feet past our campsite, the road was closed because of a wild fire that was out of control. So here was where plan B kicked in. We will head to Grand Teton where the scenery should be stunning.
This is what greeted us in the Tetons. Another wildfire was burning in the Teton range and we couldn't see a thing.

This is what I expected - and I was sorely disappointed. There were some moments on this trip when we were able to see some stunning sights, but most of the time we were not able to take pictures because of the poor weather. I hope to share some of the good times later, but I thought I ought to give everyone a sense of what our trip was like. Glad to be back home again in a warm bed where we don't have to bundle up in multiple layers to go out the door.

Cool Cats Jumpin and Jivin'

Who would ever have known that Michael was a primo jazz pianist? Or that Lily could dance? Janene caught these two in the act the other day at our house when they thought no one was looking. Check out Mikey on the keyboards! Vegas - Here we come!

Cohab Fun Fest

Every time we go to Capitol Reef, we climb the cliff face and enter Cohab Canyon. The old settlers of Fruita used the canyon to hide the polygamous patriarchs from the federal agents sent to arrest them. The entrance to the canyon is hidden by huge rock slabs. Once inside the canyon, you find yourself in this cool oasis with pinion pines and hidden alcoves throughout. The kids just love this place and could play in the canyon all day long.

The kids posed for me at the entrance to the canyon while climbing on the rock slabs. Andrew cannot be seen because he was exploring a hidden way under the rocks and into the canyon. They look like cast members for a famous kids TV show here.

The other end of the canyon drops into the Fremont River. It wasn't too long before everyone decided to cool off in the muddy water.

I guess the muddy water wasn't muddy enough for some of the"kids". They had to totally immerse themselves in the 100 proof stuff. All of these mud-caked pieces of humanity then had to be transported back to camp in peoples cars. And, No, Caleb's diaper did not hold up under these severe conditions. I think a complaint letter to Huggies is in order.

Stairway to (Polliwog) Heaven

So... we're walking down Capitol Gorge and we notice a sign where the canyon gets wide. It says "<---Tanks" with the arrow pointing up the cliff. It was time to explore, so we headed up a stairway carved in the stone. Once on top, this was the view that greeted us.  If you look really carefully, you can see Andrew and Chad down in the Gorge. They sat this part of the trip out.

We found a bunch of potholes in the bottom of a canyon leading to the Gorge. It had just rained a day before, so they were full of water. The kids soon discovered one of the secrets of the desert. When these potholes fill up with water, they are soon teeming with life. The kids found water skeeters, fresh water shrimp, miniature fishes and POLLIWOGS!

T

The kids caught all sorts of little critters and soon had 20 or so polliwogs in various stages of creation. some with no legs, some with two or four, and even some that were little toads hopping around the pools. There were a few of the kids who had to be restrained from swimming with the amphibians. Elsie was particularly adept at catching  them and was totally disappointed when she found out that she couldn't keep animals she caught in the National Park. We got to hear all about her guppy that got flushed down the toilet and how she never got to keep a pet. Talk about drama!

 There was a whole series of the "tanks" going down the canyon and most had  tons of little wiggly things trying to escape. It was looking pretty dark, so we headed back into the Gorge and started to get out of Dodge. It was a little unnerving to be in this little narrow canyon with thunder and lightning upstream. Heather and Janene stayed up on top for a while longer than the rest of us. Girl talk, I guess.

Have you ever

seen two 

more 

GORGE-US 

women? 

(pretty buff if you ask me)

We ended the day with a gorgeous (no pun intended) double rainbow and an

i

Incredible Sunset over the Reef

(and a little dutch oven BBQ chicken with watermelon from our garden)