Sue and Ray's Zion Paradise

Hyde Park....A Great Little Funky/Crunchy Part of Boise

2011-12-31T23:35:00.003-07:00

I drove all over the place today in search of fun places and things to do when my sweetheart joins me in only two weeks.

I got my haircut today and I asked the girl who cut it to tell me about some fun places to see/visit. She told me about a few but the one that peaked my interest was Hyde Park...an old funky cool area just a few blocks form downtown Boise. It is about two blocks long but is filled with some great shops and restaurants. I ate lunch at this great little brew pub kind of place. Hyde Park is loaded with antiques stores, second hand stores, and a fair trade boutique where they sell all kinds of wares from impoverished artisans in third world countries and some in the united States as well. My honey will love this place. The owner (non-profit) was a very friendly lady named Lynn. I picked up a couple of things and know that htis will be a favorite store for my entire family when they come and visit. They ahve all kinds of restaurants and a a homemade ice cream shop (not that I had any)

I am back on the HCG diet for the next few weeks in my quest to get down to about 170 lbs. I have lost 9 lbs in the last 3 days and am feeling great.

I also went to an Idaho Steelheads hockey game tonight. I had a great time since I didn't have to sit at home by myself on new Years eve. The game was good even though they lost. They have a na awesome stadium right in the middle of downtown.

Check out these cool photos....I miss everyone but since Christmas is over it's much easier this time. I think its also because I know Sue will be with me in just 2 weeks. I have i told everyone how much I love this little lady.

Again, Happy New year Everyone :)

Cool little antique shop

Homemade ice cream shop

Awesome spinach salad with delicious sliced steak

This is the 13th St. pub and grill where I had the salad

Great re-sell shop

This is the fair trade boutique...I loved this place

Another cool antique shop

A Quick Hike with the Family in Zion National Park

2011-12-27T21:48:00.001-07:00

Stanley, Minnie, and Sugar had a blast with everyone...they love to hike too

Tina, Penelope, and Nana Sue

The kids taking a quick dip in the frigid waters of the Virgin River. They are now official members of the Polar Bear Club.

Brett and Evie

We decided to take a quick hike in Zion with some of the kids, grand kids, and all three dogs. It was a fun 3 mile hike on a beautiful early winter day.

Family Contest....New Blog Name

2011-12-21T21:31:00.001-07:00

Ok family...the Zion Paradise blog theme/name has got to go. Let's have a friendly contest to see who comes up with the best new name for our blog. No hard and fast rules but I'm thinking some type of Idaho or Boise theme...but let the creativity flow and don't limit yourselves.

I'll come up with some sort of fun prize for the winner. A new layout and photos are sure to come as well.

Let's have some fun with this....multiple ideas/entries are encouraged!

Hello Boise, it's Nice to Meet You!

2011-12-18T13:10:00.001-07:00

Well, I have been up here for two full weeks now and while I am still having a very hard time being away from my family, friends, and ward members, I am beginning to feel a little more comfortable up here. Last week I explored the "Bo-D" district of downtown Boise that is right near the Capitol, I did more of the same this week...why...because it is an awesome are that is filled with really cool shops, restaurants, etc.

I ventured onto many more streets this week and loved what I found. Tons of boutique stores and restaurants. It was also the last Saturday of the year for the farmers market that literally stretches blocks and blocks. Independent vendors selling fruits, veggies, wines, every sort of heritage type meat imaginable, arts, crafts of every type, and of course all kinds of sweets, candy, pastries, and ethnic food (African sausages) I can't tell you how much I love this little place and the great vibe it puts off. This is a place where we will hang out in the spring, summer, and fall.

I ate at a great little Greek restaurant yesterday...Opa...I think.I had a great Horiatiki salad and some Lamb Shwarma...chased down by osme of the best baklava i have ever had. It sounds like a ton of food, but it really was just about right (I only ate half of the pita to keep the carbs down so I could indulge the baklava) Saturday has been my weekly indulgence for eating lunch out...ootherwise I cook all my meals and brown bag to work each day. Keeps costs down and since i am eating very healthily, I control what I eat. I have been able to keep my weight down to 190. I am going back on the HCG after Christmas so I can drop the last 25 lbs. or so.

I was invited to attend the empty nesters Christmas dinner last night. Normally I don't like these things, but because of the lack of human interaction, I succumbed to the prodding s of Carma, this sweet little old lady...she was unrelenting. I actually had a great time. great dinner, wonderful people, white elephant gift game. It lifted my spirits.

The highlight of my day each day is when I get to talk or Skype with Sue. She truly is the light of my life and uplifts me in every way possible. I miss her dearly and can't wait to see her this week. I am also getting very excited to see all of the family this week...what a great but hectic Christmas it will be.

Here's wishing all of the peace, joy, and happiness that they deserve during the very special Christmas season...

p.s. I'm new to the video uploading thing so you'll have to cut me a break :)

Boise Mall

Opa Greek restaurant in the Bo-Do district

Inside Opa

Horiatiki Salad....yumbo!

Lamb Shwarma with roasted veggies...oh my gosh was this good


Baklava....a truly guilty pleasure :)

Boise Here we Come!

2011-12-10T20:54:00.001-07:00

I began a new chapter in my life this past week that is exciting, frustrating, and lonely...at least for now.

I moved to Meridian Idaho last Sunday to begin a new career as the General Manager for Circle J Trailers that is located in Caldwell, Idaho, a suburb of Boise. Circle J is owned by Big Tex, a huge manufacturer of heavy duty utility trailers.

Sue and I chose a very nice home to rent in Meridian where we will put down some new roots at least for awhile. At 54 years old I am way too young to retire and way too old to be unemployed...not a good position to be in. While neither so or I are happy to move away form our family, friends and beautiful home, we do feel very blessed to begin a new chapter in our life.

We are both giving up a lot as we begin our new adventure...family friends, Sue's great job, my calling a a Bishop was only 3/5 complete, and so many great friends, neighbors, and ward members.

I am thankful for being well connected in the industry that I have been in for the last 15 years and for the opportunities that present itself.

I would be less than honest if I didn't say that this week has been one of the roughest I have ever had on me outside of my divorce to my first wife, Rosann, and the cancer ordeal and ultimate death of my second wife Debbie. While this week pales in comparison to those two events, it has been nonetheless very hard on me emotionally. Thos who know me well know that I am one tough bird and never a victim in any way shape or form. Maybe it is becasue I am getting older and really need personal interaction. Even though Sue and I talk each night for over an hour it just isn't the same.

I know that this week has been a little tough on my new employees too. They are naturally apprehensive about what will happen to each of them and that is very understandable. I think about them each day.

I actually got out today and ventured into the downtown area of Boise. They have this really cool district called Bo-Do. It is made up of block so really cool stores, shops and restaurants. We have already staked a claim on a really good pizza place...Proto's. This area is very Annie-Like" They have a weekly market,art, etc street fair each Saturday from mid April to Christmas...lots of neat goodies. I even bought a couple of awesome pottery mugs today form a guy who was just closing up shop.They had really nice Christmas display there too. get this, they even have a minor league hockey team in town (Dallas Stars...Crap) to go and see and root for in a really nice new arena.Bois ehas tons of shopping, restaurants and just about whatever else you would need.

I had to try and get into the Christmas spirit today before the Holiday Blues set in, and I splurged on a 2' fake Christmas tree that I lit up and decorated and is sitting on my kitchen counter. it isn't much, but it is mine and is all that I have to help me get in the mood.

Here's a few photos of my trek into Boise today...enjoy.

Tis the Season

Inside Proto's Pizza

Atomica Pie, Garlic, Tomatoes, Olives, Italian Sausage, and Crushed Red Peppers

Everything Taters at this Shop

Downtown Town Square

Funky Little Shops

Proto's and Five guys

My Little Christmas Beacon

Mama Sue and Buster the Bronco on the Blue Grass at the Airport

Halloween at Jimmy and Hollie's Place

2011-11-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Every year Jimmy and Hollie put on a huge Halloween party at their house. They decorate the outside of their home in an awesome Pirate theme. People from all over the place come and stop by and take photos with their kids. They always do a great job and the food and family make it extra special.

Thaks Jimmy and Hollie for another wonderful Halloween bash....Arrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhh....till next year.

Preston & Gracie

The two cutest vampires... ever!

This guy is like 12 feet tall....seriously

Grandma getting in on the action

Cap'N Sal

No....my son is not a cross-dressing Pirate!!!!

Marcus the carcass

The lovely Wench...Miss Hollie...no wonder the Cap'N is so happy!

Cap'N Sal getting a wee bit frisky!

Payton "Crazy Legs" Plumb

This is one tired little super-hero!

This was only part of "The Spread"

Jimmy & Hollie wiht Hollie's parents


The Cap'n and his Mateys

Father/Daughter Halloween Party

2011-11-03T22:04:00.000-06:00

I had a wonderful opportunity to stand in for Will at Brinly's church sponsored Halloween party last week. Needless to say I jumped at the chance to do this with Brinly.

We had all sorts of fun. We had a really good spaghetti and meatball dinner, then we made candy-filled spider ornaments, played pumpkin bowling (which my the way Brinly kicked my butt in), and then danced the "Monster-Mash" with each other.

The best part of the whole night was spending time with this little Angel. It made me feel extra special as she didn't care one bit that she had to go and be seen with her grandpa instead of her dad....she wasn't the least bit embarrassed.

Thanks Will and Brinly for making Grandpa's night so special. This is one of those events that all grandparents live for.

Lucky Grandpa

Cutest little vampire ever

A one-eyed jack....o'lantern :)

Celebrating Mama Sue's Birthday Part II

2011-10-28T12:14:00.002-06:00

As promised, this is the second of 2 tributes to my little sweetheart.

We'll pick things up where we left off...in the Orchids restaurant. WE were totally pampered with a wonderful 4 course meal of crab cakes, fillet Mignon with a Gorgonzola cream sauce that was surrounded by skillfully roasted fresh vegetables. We topped the night off with dulce de leche cheese cake and Imi's wonderful Hungarian apple strudel.

We then enjoyed a scenic ride home on the stretch limo. It was really nice, extravagant, and just a little embarrassing but what the heck....it's not like we drive around in limos every day you know. Sue drew the line at us riding to church in it the next day though (just kidding). It really was a great night.

On Sunday we celebrated as a family. We had more family over than we ever have had before. It was great to have Sherri, Talon, Addy visiting us so they could join in the festivities too. Add Kari, Will, Jimmy, Hollie, Chris, and most of the kids into the mix and we had an awesome houseful. We really did have a great time, and best of all we got to celebrate Sue's birthday.

I can't tell everyone enough how much I love this little woman. She is everything that a man and a family could hope for in a wife and mother. She is so grounded, pleasant, happy, beautiful....etc....etc. We are all fortunate to have her be a such a vital and vibrant part of our lives. I love our journey together. Who knows what the future will bring but as long as I have Sue along with me....it's going to be great.

Here's to celebrating Sue's birthday and welcome to everyone else as you visit Sue and Ray's "Zion Paradise"

p.s. sorry for the less than perfect photos of the family as we misplaced the camera and I had to take these form a crappy camera phone :(

Fillet Mignon With Gorgonzola Cream Sauce...Yumbo!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake

Apple Strudel

When Momma's happy...everybody is happy!

Grandma with her favorite people in the whole wide world

Kari was really in the mood to celebrate :)

I love this photo

Will said that he ran out of candles :)

The Salley clan

It was great to see Sherri, Talon, and Addy...we miss them...a lot!

Addy and Gracie hanging out

Will was just chillin and enjoyin things

Kari finally settled down :)

My beautiful Wife...happy birthday honey!!!!!

Celebrating Mama Sue's Birthday

2011-10-25T13:37:00.020-06:00

We celebrated my sweet wife's birthday about 10 days ago and had a wonderful weekend.

We started off our fun-filled weekend by heading up to Zion National park with our dog, Minnie. For everyone who knows Minnie, you know that she is a bundle of never-ending energy. When she is on her leash and walking with us, she is like a whole different dog. She stays with us, isn't distracted by people or dogs, and is generally very calm. We hiked the Pa'Rus trail which is the only trail in Zion that you can take dogs on. It's about a 3.5 mile round trip. After the hike went stopped at the Soleil Cafe and had a nice lunch.

All of this was to help us get prepared for a wonderful night out together. I won a wonderful dinner for two with limousine service to the Orchids restaurant...our favorite. Our good friend Imi Kun, is the owner and executive chef. Imi used to own the Cosmopolitan restaurant in Silver Reef, where Sue and I had our wedding dinner at with our family. Needless to say that my bride looked absolutely stunning. The food was wonderful and we were pampered in every way by the staff and the Orchids as well as the limousine service. it will be a wonderful night to remember.

On Sunday we were able to have Kari, Will and the kids over for dinner as well as Sherri, Talon, and Addy, and Jimmy, Hollie, and the kids over. it was quite birthday celebration. This was the most folks we have had over to celebrate Sue's birthday since we've been married.

It was a great weekend...I am so blessed to be married to this wonderful woman...my "little lady".

Happy Birthday Honey!!!

p.s. For some reason I am having all kinds of trouble loading photos on this post, so I will put the rest of them an another post real soon.


Getting ready for the big night out

We be stylin

Add caption


Hot couple


Sue was made to ride in a limo!


The Orchids took such great care of us

Simply Stunning

A Day in the Mountains

2011-08-16T15:15:00.000-06:00

Sue and I decided to head up the mountains on Saturday and check out the sites and sounds. We were not disappointed at all.

We started our day by heading up into Cedar Canyon. This would take us past Navajo Lake...a deep water pristine mountain lake at about 9700 feet above sea level. The overlook was spectacular.

Duck Creek village is just a short drive past Navajo Lake. Duck Creek is a great little getaway spot that has a really cool 1/4 mile long village of stores and some eateries along with a bunch of cabins. It just so happened that they had their annual Duck Creek Village Days going on. They had this huge little festival in a meadow filled with all kinds of vendors and food stalls. Sue and stopped and visited this for about an hour. The buffalo and Elk burgers were great.

Soon after we stopped at the village we headed up the road a few miles to visit Mammoth Caves. These caves are off the beaten path about 10 miles. These caves were actually in the ground. We didn't see any, but it says that these caves are filled with a lot of bats, about three species. While we didn't see the bats we did see a nice Mule deer doe on the way to the caves.

We then decided to ride over to Bryce Canyon to check out a special hike with more caves just outside of the park. The trail was called the Mossy Cave trail and it is located about 3 miles past the turnoff for the park. This was a great hike. We were rewarded with a great hike that not only included the cave, but had a great mountain stream running through it with a 30 foot waterfall. All of htis was surrounded by some great rock hoo doos.

After checking out the little tourist village just outside of the canyon we had a nice little dinner at Ruby's Inn and then headed home. Quite the long but fun day. Our thrills weren't quite over just yet. We decided to go through the East side of Zion on the way home, which we've never done before. Just before we entered the tunnel we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road just ahead of us. A large Bighron Sheep was in the road...WOW...how cool was that. He even walked right next to the car on the opposite shoulder of the road. A perfect ending to a wonderful day.

The best part of the day though was that I got a chance to spend the day with the love of my life...my sweetheart, Doesn't get much better than that.

Our travels and adventures continue......

Navajo Lake

Doe Mule Deer...check out them ears!

An entrance to one of the caves at Mammoth Cave

Yours truly

Sue was very brave

Is this girl cute or what!

Mossy Cave trailhead

Sue in Mossy Cave. This thing has icicles in it through June

This rock formation looks like a cool animal scuplture to me

This waterfall was at least 30 ft high

Western Village at Bryce

Desert Bighorn Sheep in Zion National Park

Picnic in the Mountains

2011-08-10T16:12:00.000-06:00

Sue and I felt like getting away for a few hours in the mountains near our home. It has been extremely hot for the last couple of months...over 100 every day. It was nice to go to Pine Valley Mountain where the temperature was only 80 degrees. Seriously...it felt cool.

This was the first time we have ever taken our dog Minnie out with us. Those of you who know Minnie, know that she has only one speed....full throttle. We couldn't believe how absolutely perfect she was the entire day. No pulling on the leash (although she really is pretty good with that all time). She just laid around us while we talked, read, built a campfire, and so on. We even took her on a short hike with us and she was able to walk in and out of a little mountain stream. She had a blast.

Sue and I really did just hang out. Read a lot, had a nice picnic lunch, read some more, and did a short exploring hike. What a great day to just kick back and unwind. We both needed this so bad. it sure is great spending some quiet alone time with my best friend.

Here's some of our favorite photos from the day.

The new family portrait


I didn't do anything....this time!

A girl and her dog


I love this photo!


This girl is hot!

Do you have any idea how cold this @$#^%*^$#$ water is!

3 Years of Wedded Bliss

2011-08-08T15:02:00.002-06:00

We are celebrating our third anniversary today. What a wonderful 3 years we've had too. I remember very clearly when we were discussing what date we should get married on. We were originally planning on getting married sometime in October but Sue thought it would be great to get married on 8-8-08. Primarily to make this date a more positive remembrance. August had not been very kind to Sue and her family. Both Sue's mom and previous husband and eternal companion, Guy, passed away on this date. I asked to her to make sure that she discussed the idea with her family so everyone was ok with the idea. The rest is history.

I am so grateful to have this sweet little lady in my life. Sue is an absolute joy and a sweetheart. She is such a great wife, mom, and grandma to her children and mine. Our life has been so full and so full of adventures. We really do have an absolutely wonderful life together. Its so great to be married to your best friend. We both love spending time together.

Each of us had very tough acts to follow as each of us have been previously married to wonderful people. We both love each others families and have integrated all of them into our lives. I think that while neither one of us has never intended to replace each other as the parent of each others kids, we have strived to accept, love and treat them as our own. None of us can ever have too many people that love us. I hope our spouses would be proud of us and how we are looking after each others families. We are both so blessed to have the wonderful children and grandchildren that we both have.

We strive to live life as full as we possibly can. That usually includes some great adventures, great food, great family activities, and of course, church service. Sue is the ideal Bishop's wife. She is absolutely perfect for the job. Supportive, understanding, never prying, and will do whatever she is asked to do. We both love serving in the church and especially our ward members.

We celebrated quietly this year in the comfort of our own home. I made us a yummy filet mignon and lobster tail dinner that was scrumptious. I even made homemade candied pecans for the salad and some baby red potatoes. We had a great time and just chilled and talked...a lot. What a wonderful evening.

No one knows what the future will bring, but we know that we share a very deep and special love that won't be broken. Our marriage is founded in; truth, mutual respect, affection, love, admiration, and support of one another. We know that we must not ever lose sight of the important things in life and our ultimate goal.

No matter what life will bring us as we enter our 4th year...we know that it will be an adventure. Here's to my sweetheart...may we have many more wonderful years together as we live life to the fullest in our own Zion paradise.

A Visit to the Grand Canyon

2011-08-02T05:40:00.000-06:00

Sue and I recently visited the Grand Canyon for a day trip. We haven't been there for a little over 3 years...just before we got married. We're glad we decided to go. St. George was over 100 degrees, and while still hot, 80 degrees seemed like a nice spring day to us.

We had a chance to visit most of our favorite lookout spots and trails on the North Rim and even met a few nice tourists throughout the day. I think the predominant languages for the day were German and French, with a little East Indian thrown in for good measure.

The vast beauty of this treasure is truly breathtaking and unsurpassed. I think they really named this canyon "Grand" because it truly is "Grand". Our country has so many of these special national treasures that are scattered throughout the nation. During our travels it never ceases to amaze me of the utter vastness that it there for us to enjoy. Here's a few photos to remind everyone what they have been missing since there last visit....enjoy

We're Back!

2011-07-29T16:40:00.001-06:00

It seems like it's been forever since we blogged last. That sure isn't like us. Where do I begin....back in October I was asked to take over our Oregon manufacturing plant in addition to my operation in Southern Utah...now that seems like a short lifetime ago. My/our world has been turned almost upside down. Running two manufacturing operations and being the Bishop of my LDS Ward really keeps me hopping. While we have been able to get away for some fun family visits and a little R and R here and there....life is just moving so fast.

Sue has also seen some changes at work where it makes it harder for her to get on the internet and check blogs out during the day. We both live hectic lives at night as well and well, blogging has taken a backseat to our other obligations. Not that we want it that way, it's just the way it is right now.

Unfortunately with these changes, we have neglected some of our family members by not blogging about our fantastic family visits we have had and other fun-filled family events. So I wanted all of our family members to know that we will repent and try to do a better job in the future. To make amends we will mention some of the events that have taken place in our lives since October.

Sue and I had a wonderful vacation visiting Felipe, Tina and the girls in late October. We posted one days visit and didn't get a chance to post anything else from our absolutely wonderful trip. It was great to see those guys and visit New York City....lots of fun for us for sure.

I traveled for two weeks at a time through January to visit our Oregon operation and needless to say, that while we enjoyed the holidays....they flew past this year. I don't even think we decorated for Christmas until a week before. Not fun!This was especially so because during this time I had 6 laser procedures on my eyes for my glaucoma. The surgeries didn't really work for about 2 months and the meds they had me on were just wiping me out...seriously...not good.

We had extended stays from Sherri and Annie this winter and enjoyed the time spent with them.

We have had three new grand babies born in the last few months. Amber had her second child, a cute, chubby-cheeked little guy named Caiden. Amber and Lucas are great parents. We really loved to see them interact with Ayla at bedtime. Sue and I visited them and D.C and had a wonderful time. Sorry, again only one post from this wonderful visit.

Annie had her first child a little angel named Evangeline. We even got a chance to go up to Logan for Evie's blessing. It was a great opportunity to meet Brett's family too. Annie was able to come and visit us with Evie for a week while Brett moved across country on an event-filled trip....think "Chevy Chases Amazing Atlanta Adventure" and I think you'll have the picture. Brett started Chiropractic school this summer in Atlanta....Way to go Brett.

Tina had her third little angel, Penelope, and Sue was able to go and visit and help for a week or so. I know that Sue had an absolute wonderful time. Raquel and Mila had a blast with Nana Sue while she was thre. Nana had a pretty good time too :)

Kari and Will are doing great and Will is really growing his practice in St. George. Brinly had a health scare this summer but is doing much better. The boys are doing great and they are definitely boys. The family suffered the loss of their dog Stryker to an underlying health condition. I was very proud of them and how they handled this loss. They also just got approved to buy thier first home in St. George.

Sherri and Addy came to visit us a couple of times and we really enjoyed those visits. She and Talon have just been able to buy their very first home....a really nice old place on a great big lot. We're excited for them

We have been able to have a couple of family BBQ's and have been able to spend some time with Jimmy and Hollie. We were able to see Gracie's season-ending dance recital and I had a chance to go tot Dad's and donuts with her at school....what a treat for me.

Chris has been so busy we haven't been able to spend as much time as we would like to with him and the kids. When he isn't working long hours at the spa, he is always busy with his kids....I'm so proud of him.

We were able to ge tto almost every one of the local grandkids sporitng events this year and had a great time rooting them on to victory (or at least a really good effort)
We have recently had a chance to go on some mini getaways, whether they were for a day or a weekend. Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon....some photos for the Grand Canyon will be in my next post.

Life is extremely busy, work has been beyond insane and not sure exactly what's going on there on the larger scale. The economy has really taken a toll on our business....more changes are sure to be coming. We'll hold on cause I think it will be a bumpy ride.

We're looking forward to this Christmas when we'll have all of our kids and grand-kids here for the holiday. Woo Hoo! Should be lots of fun.

Well...I know I have left out a ton of stuff and again I apologize to all of our family for not being able to keep up with things like we would like to....we'll strive to do better the rest of the year...until then....happy blogging!

Virginia Trip: Day One

2011-05-06T07:58:00.000-06:00

We had our first full day in Virginia on Friday. We spent most of the day visiting with Amber, reconnecting with Ayla, and meeting our new grandson, Caiden. We had such a fund day today. Unwinding for the most part, but we still had an opportunity to visit the Fredericksburg Civil War battle site just a couple of miles away.

Fredericksburg is loaded with so much history. The specific battle site that we visited today was the "sunken road" site where so many Union soldiers were killed by the confederate army who had a superior position up on the hills. There were over 15,000 union soldiers killed in this battle and only 1,000 confederate soldiers. All of the soldiers buried in this cemetery were union soldiers. Of the 15,000, almost 13,000 are unknown. Pretty humbling.

We spent the evening unwinding with Amber and Lucas. It sure was nice spending some quality time with them (the steak dinner was pretty fabulous too)

Nana, Ayla, and Caiden


Miss Ayla


Battle Visitors Center

Compassion even in battle

Tall headstones are known soldiers, short are unknown

Cemetery gates with cannonball marks in them

This served in the 'Revolutionary War"...WOW!

Cannon positions overlooking Fredericksburg and where the Union soldiers came from

This guy was buried here in the 1700's

Inscription at the base of a monument telling how many are buried here

Poignant

Haunting View

Donuts with Dad...AKA...How to Make a Grandpa's Day

2011-04-06T12:52:00.001-06:00

I had a fabulous morning today that just made my whole week. At the expense of my son Jimmy's inability to attend his first ever "Donuts with Dad" with Gracie at her school this morning...I more than willingly stood in for him".

I really was sad that Jimmy couldn't attend, but I'm afraid to say that my sadness vanished quickly at the thought of going with Gracie in his place. I'm not sure what I loved more, actually taking Gracie to school and spending some very special time with one of God's little angels, or the fact that Gracie was not the least bit embarrassed to be seen with her grandpa when all of the other kids were there with their dad's :)

This whole event started out on Tuesday night while I was in church meetings until 11pm. I received a couple of phone calls from Jimmy that I was unable to take, but I was able to have Sue call to find out if anything was wrong. I heard that Gracie had requested that I attend this marvelous event with her because her daddy couldn't go because of work conflicts. I readily accepted. I loved it when I got home and listened to her little voice on a voice mail asking me to come with her...ended my night on a very high note, and I then went to sleep dreaming about the next morning...sweet dreams indeed.

The morning started when I arrived to pick Gracie up at 8:15am. She was dressed in a cute spring outfit that she made look heavenly. After a couple of photos together we walked hand in hand the two blocks to her school. When we arrived, we got into a long line of other dad's and their "not as cute as Gracie" sons and daughters :) Seriously, all of the kids looked so cute and the dads were all so proud. While we were waiting to get a donut and some milk we read a couple of books together. Gracie's favorite book is a book about herself....and...why not....it was a great book that Gracie had put together about things that she likes.I also asked her who her best friend was....she quietly whispered "the one behind me" :)

When it was time to get our donuts we realized that we both shared the same favorite donut...a maple/caramel bar....um um um...or as Gracie and I always say....YUMBO! We also realized that we had the same favorite class....RECESS....wow, the gene pool remains pure!

When we sat down I had a chance to read her the story..."Where Wild Things Grow" (I think that was the title). We finished the story, and our donuts and milk, and then wandered down the hall to her classroom, where I met Gracie's teacher, Mrs Cardon. Mrs Cardon has done a wonderful job of decorating her classroom and making it very inviting and friendly. I can imagine that her students love her and love learning from her. I introduced myself to Mrs Cardon and told her that I was Gracie's grandpa and that I was 'pinch-hitting" today for her dad who had to work. Mrs Cardon then said..."lucky grandpa".

After showing me around her classroom Gracie was ready to go out and play on the playground for awhile before school started. I kissed her goodbye and reminded her how much I loved her and sent her off to be with her friends. As I walked back to Jimmy and Hollie's home I almost felt myself skipping along...for just a few moments I felt as if I were back with my two boys and doing the fun stuff with them when they were little. I visited with Hollie and Preston for a few minutes before I had to head back to work and get on with life, realizing that it was experiences like these that make life worth living.

Some may wonder why I spent so much time on this post, but as I get older these special times don't happen everyday anymore like they did when my kids were little. Today I got a glimpse into the past, but more importantly, into the future. I must admit, as I close this blog entry, there are more than one or two tears on my cheek. Today I was afforded the opportunity to be with one of God's most special creations... a little girl so special that she makes all those who know her come alive. I am grateful for this opportunity because Gracie has so many wonderful people in her life that love her so much, but it was me who had this special opportunity. Jimmy, there will be so many of these opportunities for you in the future, I never want you to take any of them for granted...but, I will always be ready to "pinch-hit" for you whenever needed.

I have so many of these little angels in my life and they all make me feel like this.

Lucky grandpa?...indeed Mrs Cardon...I am a very "lucky grandpa"!!!!

The Main Event

Gracie is all ready to go with Grandpa

I'm not the least bit proud :)

Grandpa and his little "peanut'

This little girl can eat some donuts

Gracie's awesome classroom

Happy Valentine's Day to My Sweetheart

2011-02-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've told anyone lately how much I love my little sweetheart Sue. She is an absolutely amazing wife, mother and grandma. She has so much energy and shares her love with everyone.

Sue is such a vital part of my life, I really don't know what I would do without her. At the risk of sounding cliche', she really is my best friend. We love spending time and talking together and snuggling on those special Saturday mornings after neither one of us has had an extra minute of time during the week.

We love to talk about each other and our families. I think some of the best times we share is talking about our kids and grand kids.

I am so blessed to have this little treasure in my life, I honestly love her more than anyone will ever know. Once again at the risk of sounding cliche'...Sue really does complete me and makes my life so interesting and full.

I surprised her with a nice homemade upscale dinner last night. Fillet Mignon, Grilled Jumbo Shrimp, Asparagus, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Chocolate covered strawberries, Chocolate silk turtle pie, and an Apple- Pomegranate Sparkler. The table was set in festive Valentine decor and I used the fine china. But the best thing of all was that I got to spend some great quality and personal time with the love of my life! All men should be so blessed!

Desert Winter Wonderland

2010-12-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

What the heck!!!! Yeah that's right snow in the desert. No it's not the 2 1/2 feet that Tina and New Jersey received but 4 inches in the desert is HUGE!!!!!!! They don't clear roads and nobody knows how to drive in the stuff.

The snow was halfway up Minnie's legs and she didn't know what to do. Sue and I took these pictures in our back yard this morning around 7am. The palm trees were covered and so was the hot tub....too funny!

We'll enjoy it while it lasts...it will probably be gone later today or tomorrow.

Introducing Minnie

2010-12-28T16:21:00.001-07:00

Before I get into the formal introduction, I want everyone to understand that Sue is just fine, and that she has not lost her mind. Sue came to me a couple of weeks ago after we had been casually discussing getting a dog a few months ago. Needless to say that after I got up off the floor and recovered from a mild case of shock, she told me about a lady who was giving away mixed breed puppies and wanted to know if I wanted to have one. We discussed this in great detail before we mutually agreed that we were ready for the new addition and the challenge of raising and training a little puppy.

After we decided in principal that this is what we both wanted to do and were both committed to doing, she took me out to the people's home who had the puppies. Sue had already seen them, but we both fell in love with them. We initially decided to take the runt of the litter but when we got there this other little puppy won our hearts over. They had named her "Minnie" because she has a Mickey Mouse ear pattern on her back that is very prominent.

This little girl just turned 6 weeks old today and is adorable and very smart. She has not pooped in the house one time in the almost week we've had her. She's only had a few peeing accidents and almost always goes outside. Now, that;s not to say that she runs to the door to go out. At barely 6 weeks old we watch her carefully and take her out but that's ok.

She really is a beautiful little dog with a sweet disposition, and a ton of energy...although she does sleep a lot too.

We made sure that she was a surprise to all of our local kids and grandkids on Christmas day. Needless to say she was the hit of the day.

Here's some picture to enjoy of her...and yes...she is that cute!

Miss Minnie

How does she sleep like that?

Sound Asleep

Elonna and Minnie

Eli and Minnie

Merry Christmas Family Thoughts

2010-12-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

Christmas has once again come and gone but the memories will linger forever. It was another fun-filled day and week leading up to it. We were able to celebrate this great day with Chris, Champ, Elonna; Jimmy, Hollie, Gracie, and Preston; and Kari, Will, Payton, Brinly, Bronson, and Eli. It was so good to have everyone together. It was the first Christmas day that Jimmy and Hollie were able to come over for some time now as Jimmy usually has to work on Christmas day.

As is the custom at the Salley house, we had prime rib that was delicious. We had fun watching the kids and grand kids open their gifts.It was really great seeing the grand kids play with our new little addition...Minnie, a 1/2 pure bred Springer Spaniel and 1/2 Australian Cattle Dog mix...(aka Australian Springer Cattle Spaniel)....more on Minnie in our next post.

As always we missed Annie and Brett, Sherri and Talon, Tina and Felipe, and Amber and Lucas. Even though they weren't with us we know they had a great Christmas too. It's been great that we were able to see them all this year and spend some quality time with them .

Please enjoy a few of the photos we took.

Oregon Coast Getaway

2010-12-08T22:39:00.003-07:00

I had another great day in Oregon last Sunday afternoon. I headed to the Oregon coast after church on Sunday and had a fun time.

Newport is the closest coast town to Albany, which is where I've been staying. Newport is about an hour and a half away, but the ride is really beautiful. We visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium, had some great "off the boat fresh" seafood, scoped out some lighthouses, a tidal pool/basin, and the coast in general. It was a great day. Enjoy the photos

Some Aquarium art at the entrance

Is this cool or what! I invaded their privacy..this was almost R rated. I wonder if I can win a photo prize with his one?

Extremely rare!...the sunshine silly...not the plant

Needless to say we didn't want to rile the little buggers up too much :) There's nothing worse than an upset, horny, little furry Otter...not a pretty site! lol

Sea Otter feeding

Gateway to the tourist district....really cool town

My view from the restaurant

This place had some great caramel corn

Newport is a major fishing port

Right up Annie's Alley

Lone Starfish in the tidal basin

Tidal pool area

Portland Travels...or...an ode to Annie and Brett

2010-12-05T09:24:00.002-07:00

I've been up here Oregon for another week and will be here through Dec 10th. It finally stopped raining on Friday...I think its been raining since November 1st when I first arrived here. Yuck.

We were snowed in in Salt Lake City on our first night and didn't get to Oregon until Monday afternoon instead of Sunday night as planned. Oh well, no worries. West Valley City which is about 10-15 miles South of the airport had 24 inches of snow on the ground when we landed. This night was something out of planes, trains, and automobiles...except without the special '"pillows" :)

At least this time I was able to get out and enjoy some of sites. My business associate, Johnny, is traveling with me this time so that makes the time away from my family a little more pallatable.

We took off early on Saturday morning to go see Multnomah Falls which is about 30 miles East of Portland. The falls are the second highest year round falls in the U.S. It really was pretty spectacular. Check out he photos.

After we got our fill of the falls we traveled down the Columbia River Gorge to a fish hatchery and a lock. Pretty cool stuff. Security was very tight so I didn't take any photos. It actually had and underwater viewing area that you could see into the fish ladder...pretty cool

The Portland Saturday Market was next on our list. It was highly recommended by most Portland attractions sights. It is held every Saturday in the Old Town area. This area is pretty sketchy and is surrounded by homeless shelters and soup kitchens. With that said the experience was pretty cool. Lots of artisans selling their wares. Some of the people were sketchy themselves, but most were pretty normal (by Portland standards). They had food, jewelry, crafts, street preachers, and of course people trying to get money form you for one cause or the other.

We had lunch in China Town. Really pretty good stuff in a typically klitschy neighborhood. After lunch we basically went a couple blocks to visit the Voodoo donut shop. If you haven't heard of it, check it out online. Hippie chic for sure and dang good donuts.

On our way back tot he hotel we stopped in Woodburn and visited this gynormous factory outlet mall. When all is said and done, which one is weirder? The question needs to answered.

One word on Portland....WEIRD....but....FUN! We enjoyed ourselves and the opportunity to get out of the hotel and abandon our "cabin fever". On Sunday we're off to the coast after we go to church. Look for the next post.

SLC Airport on Monday morning.

I was on this bridge when I took the next photo

Lower section of the falls

We were on this bridge for the next photo

View back down towards Washington from mid falls

Can't you just see Annie and Brett here?

Need I say more!!!! :)


Voodoo Donut Shop..How do you say Maple Bacon Donut...Yumbo!

Updates...or... Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...Oh My!

2010-11-16T15:17:00.001-07:00

Well, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth but sometimes it feels that way. I have been away from home for the last three weeks other than a brief stop back home to change clothes and head out for two weeks.

Sue and I have had some great adventures since our last post. We had a wonderful vacation to New Jersey to visit Tina, Felipe, and the girls. Check out Tina's blog for some great stuff. Sue will be updating our blog for me in the very near future so stay tuned. Raquel and Mila are such good girls...we had a blast with them for the week.

I have been given the responsibility to be the General Manager for our Oregon plant in Lebanon, Oregon, in addition to my responsibilities as the General Manager for my Utah plant. This is causing me to be away from home a lot more frequently. Sue has been so supportive of this. The extended travel will continue through January than I will fall into some regular schedule of going up there for a week every 4-6 weeks. Lots of good people up there, but ti's definitely a "turnaround" situation, so not as comfortable for some folks as they would like.

I live in a mini suite and have grown accustomed to not only talking to myself...but answering....gosh....I never knew what a fun and interesting guy I could be....hahahahahaha. The weather in Lebanon is "soupy miserable" 95% of the time. Annie, it was even to gloomy and rainy for me, and like you, I love the dark, cloudy, and rainy days.

It was nice to come home and "reconnect" with Sue. We hibernated most of the weekend and just enjoyed each others company. I found out that I really love our house too....a lot! It helped me realize what a special area that we live too.

I'm home for two weeks then off again for two weeks then home through Christmas. We're looking forward to Thanksgiving and having some of the family over to help us celebrate.

Hope all is well with everyone else....we'll try to do a better job of keeping this up but I've seriously been scrambling for even an extra minute of time. When I'm in Oregon, my day starts at 6am and finishes up around 8pm....it's all good though....I usually have tons of energy.

Until the next time...happy blogging to all and to all a good night :)

Beautiful Bryce Canyon

2010-10-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

I decided to take Sue up to Cedar City to see the Diary of Anne Frank at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City to celebrate her birthday last weekend. Needless to say that we had a great time. We had a nice dinner and the play was great. On Saturday morning we decided that we wanted to take a ride over to Bryce Canyon and do some hiking. This place is gorgeous. Beautiful rock formations and colors. The town wasn't very full of tourists so we enjoyed ourselves without having to battle for space. We took a nice scenic ride home and had a wonderful time...life is good!

Sue looking as great as ever!

Queen Victoria Herself

Taylor Creek Wash Hike

2010-10-21T10:10:00.001-06:00

Sue and I are finally ready to get back to regular hiking after taking time off since Labor Day allowing me to recover from my knee injury and to take a break from the brutal summer heat.

This was our first hike and it's one of my all time favorites. It's about 20 miles north of our house up Kolob Canyon. Once you get to the trail head there is a steep decline onto the trail 98 steps below. The trails follows the wash/stream for 2 1/2 miles and ends at a double arch grotto. The trails crosses the stream about 75 time each way, but the water is low enough that you never really get wet. The scenery is beautiful as you are constantly in a fairly narrow canyon. There are even two cabins form the 1930's still in place.

Sherri, Talon, Addy, and Brett joined us on the hike. Annie sat this one out because she wasn't feeling great because she is PREGNANT! Woo Hoo. Enjoy these photos

The Birthday Boy and Girl

2010-08-20T10:28:00.000-06:00

We are blessed with the cutest and smartest grand kids...seriously. Two of them share August 16th as their birthday...even the same year...Bronson, Kari and Will's son, and Gracie, Jimmy and Hollie's daughter, both turned 5 this past Monday. Sue and I had a chance to share some time with both of them ( a real trick so no one feels left out by grandma and grandpa :) ) We love spending time with all of our grand kids whenever we get the chance.

Bronson absolutely loves anything to do with Cowboys. He got the whole shebang of cowboy get up including, real cowboy jeans, boots, hat, belt buckle, shirts, some six shooters. He's a real cowpoke now. We we able to share a lot of that experience with them on Sunday evening. On Monday his parents took him to the Texas Roadhouse where he was treated to a special ride in the birthday saddle. What a great time for Bronson...he is on cloud nine. That boy has moved to the right area of the country, because here in Utah, there really are real cowboys. He's practicing his new cowboy walk in those tighter than tight jeans and boots. He'll be ready for mutton busting one of these days real soon....then bull riding....that's just around the corner. (sorry Kari...just make sure the insurance is paid up)

Gracie had a friend party during the day on Monday and got all kinds of neat little girly girl stuff. A lot of it was Barbie related...because....well...she really is a little girly girl and looooves anything to do with Barbie. Jimmy and Hollie had a fun family get together at night where she got a lot of books, and lots of other fun things. He most favorite gift of all was....wait till you hear this....MOUTHWASH! Seriously. This little girl is so funny. She always has hand sanitizer with her and loves mouthwash. So Sue and I and grandma and grandpa Comeford both got her a few bottles of mouthwash....the kind that colors your teeth until you brush it off. She also got a couple of Barbie electric toothbrushes.

The little princess in front of her special birthday wall. Hollie is so creative

Gracie sharing some fun with Preston

Jimmy, Hollie, Gracie, and Preston (peeking)

Grandma & Grandpa with the birthday girl.

The birthday cupcake mmmm good!

Gracie checking things out

Gracie absolutely loves Elvis....she gets that from Hollie's family. She can sing most of the songs he sang in his movies...5 going on 16

The birthday goods!

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse for a family of 6 about $75, making little boy's dream come true....PRICELESS

He's ready for action!

Mom telling Bronson about the finer things of cowboy life.

Practicing his draw... a real little Wyatt Twerp

Bronson's first hostage....Eli....daddy loves this!

There's boots in that there box Pilgrim

The little birthday buckaroo himself

Will and Payton getting things ready for Bronson

Enjoying our Second Anniversary Together

2010-08-09T15:09:00.000-06:00

Our first two years together have flown by. We decided to get out of town for a couple of days for some much needed R&R.

We reserved a hotel for a couple nights down in Las Vegas. Most of you that really know us, know that R&R to us means "Rippin and Rarin" to go...seriously....we love being busy....maybe when we get old we'll slow down for awhile and take a vacation in the mountains by a lake with no cell service...but...until then....we have chosen to be busy.

We stayed at the Westin Casaurina just a block off the strip. It is a really nice, almost a boutique kind of hotel. We had lots of great food and saw some pretty amazing entertainment.

We went to the Mirage on Friday night to see Terry Fator, Fator is the dude who won America's got talent a couple of years ago as a ventriloquist. The guy was amazing. Be fore we saw the show we went to grad a salad at BB kings restaurant and was entertained by some blues group that was playing. BB King they weren't...but...if you like Blues (and I do) they were pretty good. After Fator's show we walked the strip and went through Casear's Palace Forum shops where Sue and I went to eat at Wolfgang Puck's Spago restaurant. it was really very good .

Saturday morning brought a new day of fun and adventure. We ate breakfast at the Hash House a Go-Go (Man vs. Food) was there not too long ago. i had the sage fried chicken and waffles....mmmm good, Sue just had the vanilla waffles.

We then spent the day walking around Vegas, people-watching, and doing some shopping. Then when night time came around we headed over to our favorite Italian restaurant, Maggiano's. We had a perfect near window seat overlooking the strip...a view that we really hadn't seen before. The meal was delicious as always but the time spent with my beautiful wife was priceless. After dinner we went over to Treasure Island so we could see Mystere', a Cirque du Soleil show that is kind of like a bizarre circus performance. Pretty amazing though.

We wrapped things up on Sunday and headed for home. We were about 15 miles South of Mesquite Nevada when the temperature dipped to 46 degrees from 99 degrees in just seconds. Then all hail broke loos (pun intended). Seriously, we wee caught in the middle of the worst haul storm I have ever seen. 10 minutes of pure hell and nowhere to hide. My new car is now the recipient of a hundred dents and dings thanks to this storm. Nobody was hurt but we actually had to yell at the top of our voices to be hear each other inside the car.

After all this we still had a wonderful time together because we were with each other.

August 8th brings many different meanings and emotions to our family. There have been so many things happen on this date. I remember when Sue told me that she wanted to get married on 8-8-2008, that she wanted the date to be remembered for something good. Not that the other things should be forgotten, they shouldn't be, and cannot be forgotten. But, it's great to see my beautiful wife happy. She is such an energetic little lady with so much life in her. I love her and love being with her and around her.

We both have been blessed with children that love us. We are fortunate to have the family that we do have. We love being around them too, even if it's not as often as we would like. Life is very busy for us but we try to spend the quality time together as often as we can.

We look forward to many more happy years together. All the best!

Taking a Break from the Heat in Logan

2010-07-20T12:58:00.000-06:00

Sue and I had a wonderful weekend in Logan this past weekend. We decided to go up and visit Brett and Annie and see their new home and hang out for the weekend.

We started the festivities on Thursday night around 6pm. Just before we were ready to leave we had a little crisis in our ward. A little girl fell from a ladder and fractured her skull. She is alright now, but she fell from over 10'. Family was very stressed but all is good now.

We got into Logan around midnight and stayed up and "shot the bull" with Annie and Brett until after 1am. When I got up on Friday morning I felt like getting out and exploring and found this cool little Hispanic grocery store. I found a bunch of cool stuff and went home and made a pretty authentic breakfast torta with fresh papaya and mango nectar on the side.

After breakfast we all went on a nice walk to the Temple grounds and back. We took a few photos including a family shot. Even Stanley got in on the action. It was good to see him recovering form his surgery a couple of weeks ago.

Sue requested that we go to the Firehouse pizzeria for lunch and we were not disappointed. Really good pizza, calzones, and sandwiches. It's a pretty happening place with good pizza. After lunch we drove out to Bear Lake and beyond. Our final destination was the Minnetonka Cave in Idaho, about an hour and a half Northeast of Logan. The cave was pretty spectacular. I think it went almost a 1/2 mile into the mountain with lots of up and down natural stair climbing and rock formations, including, stalagtites, stalagmites, and bacon ( a term used for a fissure looking thing in the walls of the cave) The tour guide was great and we would highly recommend this to anyone who is in the general area. It was a constant 40 degrees inside when it was over a 100 degrees outside.

On our way home we decided to stop in this quaint little town to get fresh raspberry milkshakes....mmm good. Not too sweet, just right to cool us off for the ride home.

When we got home we planned to have dinner at Le Nonne (The Grandmothers), this really nice little Italian Restaurant in an old refurbished home in downtown Logan. It was well worth the visit. The menu was very sophisticated and the food was excellent, they even had a couple of guys playing guitar outside, near where we were seated. I had their seafood ravioli and it was probably the best ravioli I have ever had. Everyone else enjoyed their food to and the company.

Saturday morning came quickly for us as we all had to be in Salt Lake before 10am. Sue had bought us tickets to see Glenn Beck's "American Revival Tour". We really enjoyed the event. Glenn's delivery can be pretty over the top sometimes but we all end up agreeing with him more times than not. David Burton was there talking mostly about the Constitution and our Founding Fathers and their well documented belief in God. David Buckner is an acclaimed economist talking about the state of our nation's economic condition (did we really need anyone to tell us it was this bad?) Judge Napolitano was there as well talking about various subjects with Glenn Beck providing the keynote address which really was like a religious revival. Glenn also was part of every segment throughout the day. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate it a solid 8 and it was better than I thought it would be...well worth the time and effort.

Annie and Brett have this cute little early 20th Century home on a great lot in the city. It has a lot of charm and they are in the process of making it their own...for at least a year. We had a great weekend and got to know Logan Utah and Northeastern Utah in the process. I'm sure we'll return again some day.

When we got back home in St. George it was still 98 degrees at 10:15pm. Yikes!!!!!

Annie and Brett's place. Very cute!

Annie's special touches

The beautiful and historic Logan Temple

Annie & Stan

Sue, Annie, and Brett

Just getting ready to go inside the cave...100 degrees outside and 40 degrees inside

Will, this really was a 'real" cave this time

Thermometer doesn't lie....brrrrrr 40 degrees in there.....year round

Me and the kids in front of La Beau's drive in....fresh raspberry shakes...mmmmmm good!

Sue and I near Bear Lake

Brett and Annie near Bear Lake

Fantastic food and atmosphere

A shot of Glenn Beck on stage

Family Fun on July Fourth

2010-07-19T11:19:00.001-06:00

Catching up on a family post from the Fourth of July. We've never said we're the smartest folks around...cooking smores over an outdoor fire when the temperature is over 100 degrees outside....sheesh...lots of fun though. Enjoy the photos...it was nice to have Amber, Lucas, and Ayla visit for a few days. Sorry I didn't get more pictures.

Nice family photo at Petroglyph Park in Bloomington

Nana showing us how to really get the job done

Even Lucas got in on the action

Bronson really got "into" his smore :)

Eli wasn't so sure about this smore thingy

Ayla is sooo cute!

Brinly going to town on a smore

Will documenting the insanity of roasting smores in over 100 degree heat :)

Grandpa giving Bronson some tips on the finer points of smore roastin

The Plumb Klan

Amber, Ayla, and Brinly

I sneaked this one in of Nana & Addy before she left

Heatin' Things Up in More Ways than One!

2010-07-15T08:50:00.001-06:00

I alluded to our life slowing down a bit in a recent blog post...well that couldn't be farther from the truth lately. I blew out my knee on Memorial Day and it's just now feeling better. The good news is that I won't have to have surgery just yet, but it is still inevitable.

Our company has been sold to an equity investment group and generally that should be a very good thing. You might imagine how busy work has been trying to get everything taken care of for the acquisition. We're not quite back to normal just yet but we're working on it.

We just had almost every one of our kids and grandkids in town for the last couple of weeks (we really missed Tina and Felipe and the girls), but enjoyed seeing Sherri and Addy, Annie and Brett, and Amber, Lucas, and Ayla. Of course, Kari and Will, Jimmy and Hollie, and Chris all live local and we were all able to get together at one time or the other while everyone was here. Lots of fun.

Jimmy recently had a scare with his eyes. When he went to get a new prescription the Eye Dr. found that the pressures in his eyes were very high indicating that he might have Glaucoma (undoubtedly inherited from me), but after a week of semi emergency care they believe it to ocular hypertension which is still better than Glaucoma. He will still have to take some type of eye drops for the rest of his life but hopefully it won't develop into full fledged Glaucoma.

We are heading up to Logan tonight through Saturday evening to visit with Annie and Brett and to see Glenn Beck live at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

I will try to update our blog on more regular basis. I haven't even been updating my Facebook page...I will do better :)

Recent Happenings

2010-06-07T16:21:00.001-06:00

Our life has slowed down just a bit over the last couple of weeks. It has finally gotten hot...over 108 degrees on Sunday. We had a nice quiet Memorial Day at home this year and had our great friends, the Kelvingtons over for a BBQ. We had a great day and enjoyed the time spent with Terry and Dana. It's been rare that we have taken the opportunity to take a photo together...so here's one for your viewing pleasure. Not only are Terry and Dana great friends, but Terry is also my 1st counselor in the Bishopric.

That same day I re-injured my right knee. This is the same knee that I blew out in 1981 and never had fixed...now it's time for a total knee replacement. I am going to schedule to have it done in late July or early August. It sounds like I will be down and out for about 2 weeks with a 3-4 month recovery time...should be just fine by Christmas time.

We had this cute little angel of a girl get baptized this past Saturday. It was great to see her family come together and support her. I told everyone that she looked just like an angel...because...that is exactly what she is. Her name is Julia...what a little sweetheart!

Enjoy these few photos until we get a chance to post some more. Hope all is well with our family and friends.

Sue and I with Terry and Dana Kelvington

The Bishop with Julia

A very proud Daddy joins us in this photo

Is this a great looking family or what!

Gracie's Dance Recital

2010-05-17T11:33:00.001-06:00

Gracie had her end of school year dance recital this past Saturday. As always she did a great job. She danced in 3 numbers plus a finale. She is so cute. After the recital Jimmy and Hollie had us over for dinner party to celebrate Gracie's show. Here's a few photos to peak your interest.

Golf with Will

2010-05-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

Will and I got a chance to get out on Saturday morning and play a round of golf at Coral Canyon. We had a great time together. Once again the course did not disappoint and there was plenty of desert wildlife out and about, including the biggest lizard I have ever seen outside of a zoo, and visit from a Golden Eagle overhead. All in all another great day!

Is that good form or what!

Will posing after another great shot!

This lizard was huge!!!!!!! Probably close to 2' long and VERY fat.

This little guy was hanging out by our golf cart...how do you spell "beggar"? Too cute

Yep, that's a Golden Eagle flying overhead

Golf With Chris

2010-05-07T10:17:00.001-06:00

I spent an afternoon with Chris celebrating his 32nd birthday by going golfing and then took him to dinner at Red Robin. We had a great time together and played some pretty good golf too. I love desert golf. You never know what little critter might show up. Have a look at some of the photos we took.

My best day golfing never has anything to do with my score (although that sure helps), it's when I get a chance to play with my sons and sons in law...it doesn't get any better than that for me.

Next up...golf with Will on Saturday morning...stay tuned

Handsome bugger!

California Adventure

2010-05-03T15:03:00.000-06:00

Sue and I needed a much deserved mini vacation so we decided to head to California for a few days. We stopped by Annie's house to pick her and Brett up and spend some time with them before they moved to Logan. This would also allow us a chance to see a few things along the mid coast area that Sue and Annie had not yet seen.

Unfortunately Brett had to leave for Philadelphia to earn some great cash installing security systems for a couple of weeks so Annie had to put up with me and Sue by herself. We missed you Brett!

We left on Wednesday got to Annie's house just in time to go to dinner at this great little Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio in Pasadena. Great food in a cute little area.

While Annie worked on Thursday, Sue and I headed to Burbank to do a Warner Brother's studio tour. It was really interesting. We got to see a lot of outdoor tv sets and indoor sound stages, along with a museum of cool cars, including the Batmobile, the General Lee, and host of other fun cars. We also got to see a collection of some pretty cool costumes and other memorabilia but we weren't allowed to photograph those things. We got a whole new outlook on what it takes to make tv shows and movies. So many sets were just facades, but a lot more were actual full size, if not stripped out, houses. Most of the houses had at least three different entrances and looks. We even got a chance to see the Perks coffeehouse set from friends. After the tour we ate at George Clooney's restaurant, Smokehouse. Lots of Hollywood types were in there eating lunch and talking movie business.

After we got back home we picked up Annie and headed out to Santa Barbabra to spend the evening and the next morning. We got a chance to walk along the main st at night to take in all the quaint little shops and found a nice little sports bar to have dinner, nothing special about the meal but the company was fist rate. We headed down to the marina the next morning and had a great breakfast at the Moby Dick cafe. Eating breakfast on the pier with a window seat to the harbor was great. We took a few photos of the harbor before we left and even got a couple of shots of a Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament that was taking place.

We then headed up the coast to Hearst Castle. If you have heard of it before check it out at http://www.hearst-castle.org/

Before we got to the castle we stopped at Pismo beach for a very short stop to check out the Pier...did I say how freezing cold this was...and...there were a bunch of idiots who were actually in the water.

Once we got to the castle, we were reminded of the immense nature of this place both in terms of beauty, money, and vastness. As far as architecture goes this is a must see with regards to American history. Talk about pomp and circumstance. The pools were pretty amazing, but I think the real story is how this all came about from basically a rags to riches story.

When we finished our Castle tour we headed inland for awhile while on our way to Monterey. When we got there we found a pretty cool boutique kind of hotel to stay at. We got in late but found a really good Taqueria that had some killer al fresco tacos. It also allowed us to take a nice walk around the downtown area before heading to bed.

The next morning had us heading straight to the Fisherman's Wharf and through the old downtown historic district. The Wharf was alive with the sites, sounds and smells of...well....a wharf. Lots of touristy places, but they all seemed to have that special "charm" not a lot of glitzy neon, but some really old buildings with that just had lots of character. And...what's a wharf without pelicans, seagulls, and sea lions? Yes Sea Lions....lots of them. You could hear them "barking" all over the place.

After we got our fill of the wharf, we decided to take the 17-mile drive on the coast through Pebble Beach Golf Course, the ocean, and the mansions, back up North to Carmel-by-the-Sea....a happening, high end touristy area with lots of cool shops and restaurants. The drive offered us plenty of spectacular ocean views along with some great views of Spy Glass, Poppy Hills, and of course, the venerable, Pebble Beach Golf courses. We stopped frequently along the way for some great photo ops. We even stopped so we could go out and stand on the veranda overlooking the 18th fairway and green of Pebble Beach.

We had a great walk through the streets of Carmel-by-the-Sea, checking out all of the shops and restaurants. We decided to have lunch at this really quaint little Italian restaurant, Nico's. The salads were outstanding. Annie and I decided to have their pizza which was pretty good, while Sue tried their Tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce....mmmmm good.

After a long day of checking this great area out it was time to drive home....a 6 hour drive home. The drive really wasn't all that bad and I think we got home around 11pm.

We decided to chill out on Sunday morning before we headed back to St. George. Annie got up and made these killer scrambled eggs for us for breakfast. After just hanging out and packing for a bit we decided to head up the road for a few miles so we could go and get Stanley with Annie before we left. Annie wanted to show up this really awesome little "granola" type town (her words) called Claremont....that place was awesome. It was really like a mini Carmel-by-the-Sea place with a really happening little farmer's market and lots of cool little stores all nestled in an old area of town that we totally old, artsy, high end. We decided tat we all needed a boost by stopping at this little hippy smoothie shop and just chillin out for a few minutes before partaking of some of the fruits of the farmer's labors.

We picked up Stanley and needless to say he was more than just a little happy to see Annie. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Sue and I decided to head out for the drive back home and finally got home around 9:30 pm.

Yes it was a long trip, yes it was a lot of driving, and yes, we had a BLAST. Time spent seeing some of God's great creations as well as some pretty fantastic American creations. Not to mention great time spent with family. This trip was not only much needed, it was awesome. I needed the time away, so did Sue. But you know what, it was really great to have had Annie along with us and spend some quality time together. These kind of trips are pretty rare. What a great way to reconnect and have an opportunity to let our relationships continue to blossom.

Please check out our complete trip photo album on my Facebook page where there are about 270 photos of the entire trip....enjoy!

Dinner at Il Fornaio

Pasadena street art

Pasadena

George Clooney's Smokehouse restaurant, where we had lunch after the tour.

The Warner Bros Lot

Friends sound stage

Yep, Friends "Central Perks" set

Friends Set

No Sue, don't touch....bad girl!

Ray and the new Batmobile

Downtown set of many movies

Set of ER

Santa Barbara Pier

View of the Volleyball Tournament

Santa Barbara Harbor

How do you spell cold?...."Pismo Beach" nuff said

Historic area of Monterey

Fisherman's Wharf Monterey

17 mile drive

18th green of Pebble beach

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Lunch at Nico's

Now THIS is a Greek salad!

Claremont

The Hearst Castle

Action Packed Weekend

2010-04-21T10:45:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was full of fun and adventure. Keri and Will and the kids went camping in Springdale (city just outside gates of Zion National Park), Sheri and Talon went up with them too as well as their young friend from Buffalo, Christina.

For those of you who know Sue and I, you know that we are not campers, so we stayed behind on Friday night and babysat Addy, now, that was a really tough job but somebody just had to do it :)

Sue and I went up Saturday morning to meet them so we could all go on a hike. We were expecting a few hikes that were pretty mild since all the kids were up there with us. But when we got there we all decided to do Angel's Landing......again.....for Sue and I that was pretty great. We've done that hike now twice in the last month. Everybody did great....even Eli...the 3 yr old. Kari was a real trooper by helping Eli the whole way. Seriously, she carried him almost the whole way back down...yikes! My pedometer showed that I had walked almost 13,000 steps (almost 6 miles). Now, I'm 6' tall, you can imagine how many steps Eli and the rest of the kids took with their short little legs. The kids were awesome though....really!

Kari and Will packed a terrific lunch for everybody and we ate at Scout's Landing right near the very top. Will and Talon went all the way to the top of Angel's Landing which is about another 400 yards, but it is a treacherous climb those last 400 yards so they were the only ones who went. I stayed to guard the "women folk" and chil'n (actually I think they guarded me :)

We took a few more pictures but this time we took most of our pictures with family....you can see our previous photos of Angel's Landing on a previous blog and on my Facebook page.

We left Koshari home for th trip as we was acting up a little bit and I think he may have even been jealous of Addy...not that we're focusing on her or anything :)

We also celebrated Brinly's birthday over the weekend too. We had a big honkin Butterfinger Blizzard ice cream cake that was, well, pretty fandamntastic!

All in all it was another great weekend in Sue and Ray's Zion Paradise!

Weekend with Sherri, Talon, and Addison

2010-04-12T11:10:00.001-06:00

Sherri, Talon, and Addy came to visit this weekend. We had lots of fun. Talon had never been to the Petroglyph site in Ivins so we went out there but took an extra long away to the site so we could have a nice hike with a little burn. All is all the hike was about 3.2 miles round trip with some nice up and down inclines. Talon, Sherri, Addy, and Kosahri enjoyed the Petroglyphs too. It was like taking Koshari back to his homeland so he could get in touch with his roots. The resemblance was very striking.

On Saturday evening, Talon, Will, and I went to Warner Valley to shoot some clay pigeons and some pistol target shooting....that is always lots of fun.

After church we headed over to Kari and Will's on Sunday where Kari cooked us a great dinner and then Addison wanted to play Rumikub...she's pretty good too. After dinner, uncle Talon entertained the kids by playing steamroller on the trampoline, fortunately this time the door was zipped close and nobody fell out of the trampoline.

On the way to the Petroglyphs

Daddy and Addy

MOM....DAD!!!!! Where have you been...we look so much alike....long time no see! Did I grow up in this neighborhood?

Koshari, how did you get in THERE! Hitchin a ride with Addy!

The Urick Family: Sherri, Addison, and Talon

Hanging out

Lunch break

My first attempt at a self timed portrait...not too shabby!

Grandma and one of her little pride and joys, Addison

Talon scouting things out

The resemblance is striking....I think this is a cousin

Talon showing good form!

I think the birds were pretty safe with me around

Will is just way too cool!

Mom, Dad, there is a straight right there! Can't you see it?

Too cute!

How big is Addison? Soooooooo Big!

Scout Cave Hike

2010-04-08T10:46:00.002-06:00

Scout Cave Hike was a really great hike that began just outside of Snow Canyon and uses the same trailhead as Johnson's Arch, which is now closed for the summer. The hike meanders through the lava fields that were left by a close lava dome from thousands of years ago. The trail drops down into a wash then has a steep climb through some amazing desert flora and fauna. During the hike we even saw our very first Desert Tortoise...very cool

The cave itself was pretty spectacular. It went into the mountain about 150 feet or so and was maybe 60 feet wide. It was very open and well lit. When we go to the back of the cave there was a opening all the way out that let the sun in. It was beautiful. We enjoyed lunch up there and even listened to Conference. As we headed home we actually got lost by missing our turn off to get back on the main trail. We were never really lost, lost, but we did have to hike almost 3 miles out of our way to get back to our car....sheesh....we walked a total of almost 7 miles that day. My little lady is a real trooper and is really becoming a professional hiker. We love doing these hikes together. They are a great way to get some serious exercise as well as see God's beautiful creations.

We will be moving our hike farther up North in the weeks and months to come as the area begins to heat up...but don't despair, the adventures of Grizz (Ray), Mountain Bunny (Sue), and Koshari (Kachina Boy) will live on...enjoy the ride!

Enjoy all of this hike's photos on my Facebook page.....Happy Trails!

Moth cocoons. Lot so larvae inside

Beautiful desert flora

It's amazing what grows out of basically nothing

Koshari still getting a lift....that's Scout's Cave in the background...not too far away now

Sue wanted me to take this photo especially for Talon and Will...yes...she's becoming a little risk taker....bad girl :)

Koshari wasn't too hungry, but he did love General Conference....good Kachina

Mom and Koshari enjoying a break, some lunch, and just listening to conference.

Your truly at the mouth of the cave

Koshari, what are you doing up there...and HOW did you get there....bad Kachina... bad

Koshari, get your butt down from there...right now!

Sue showing us her rock climbing skills

He was a pretty good size Tortoise

Our first glimpse of the Tortoise

Koshari took one look at the Tortoise and hid behind a bush. Tortoise are herbivores you and he didn't want to become lunch :)

yes that is a very steep step area...doesn't Sue look like a great hiker? She just looks great too :)

Koshari got tired and need to hitch a ride in my backpack...he's got such short legs you know, it's hard for him to keep up :)

Far away view of Scout Cave with steep stairs

Larry the lizard

Bowling with Koshari

2010-04-06T12:36:00.001-06:00

Sue and I had a great date night on Friday. We went a real nice restaurant in Mesquite then went bowling. As usual, Sue kicked my butt. We had a really nice time and got a little exercise too. It kind of prepped us for our big hike on Saturday.

Koshari mostly just watched, but he seems to be a fast learner and tried his hand at bowling...not sure it's his game though....that ball could really hurt him :)

Not only does Sue kick my butt...but she looks great doing it!!!!!

Too bad my score isn't as good as my form....I really sucked....big time!!!!!!! :)

No Kosahri, Bad Kachina...get off that ball and stop playing around. Nobody ever said you were the sharpest Kachina in the shed :)

Koshari, don't get behind the ball, it's going to roll over you!

That's better...now PUSH!

Koshari likes it when mom whips dad's butt!

Easter Fun

2010-04-06T10:43:00.000-06:00

We had a great Easter Weekend. Lots of exercise and fun at the house. I smoked a brisket and did some dutch oven potatoes, beans, and black forest cake while we watched General Conference. Kari, Will and the kids came over and spent the day with us and we had lots of fun. Jimmy, Hollie, and the kids came over later in the evening and had fun time with them as well. Lot's of Easter egg hunting going on. WE hope everyone had a fun and special day. Please check out last year's video on our blog from Elder Holland, I feel that it is so special that it will remain a permanent part of our blog.

Angels Landing - Zion National Park

2010-04-02T14:30:00.002-06:00

So... Angels Landing is the little one... Right?

We can do that!

It looks easy!

Piece of cake...

Ooops!

Can't say cake.. focus on healthy... hiking.... we can do this!

Warning! STEEP CLIFFS

The trail guide says:

Round Trip: 5.0 mi. 4.0 hrs. Ascent 1488 ft

Strenuous - Long drop-offs and narrow trail.

Not for anyone fearful of heights.

Last 0.5 mi follows, steep, narrow ridge;

chains have been added. May be snow covered and icy.

Ok, maybe I am afraid to climb a ladder to the roof..

and I like to stand back to look out over high places...
but I think I'll be ok... won't I?

Where is Koshari!?

OK. I admit it... We stopped "several" times to catch our breath!

Amazing View!

Koshari! Get down from that wall!

No you may not scratch a picture onto the rock!

Half way?

We stopped to catch our breath & take pictures with a bunch of nice guys on spring break from BYU.

Finally to the base of the chains!

Koshari get down from that sign! No you may not run ahead! This is dangerous!

...Koshari ran ahead

He has some amazing rock climbing skills!

He wove his way in & out of the crowd of people inching their way along the chain!

Ray yelled "That's my boy!" as he crawled along on his belly clinging to the chain... trying to catch up to Koshari!

As we lost sight of Koshari I decided to quit the "chain gang". So many people trying to get up & down hanging onto the same chain... single file! I quickly realized that competing for a grip on that chain was not worth risking our lives!

As the tension in my body increased, waiting for Ray & Koshari, I remembered why the Lord blessed me with girls & not boys!

View from the top is breathtaking!

It was amazing to us how many people risk their lives for a good picture by leaning over the cliffs for the "best" shot!

On the way back down...

Depth perception is horrible in this picture, but the rock in the center of the picture is pretty much free standing. It looks like it is leaning to the left... There is a very narrow path that leads to it with many foot prints of people who have risked their lives to get a nice shot from on top of that edge!

Nice view from above of "Walter's Wiggles" the switchback trail near the top.

You wouldn't believe how many idiots "run" down the trail. If you over shoot a turn or slip on the sandy trail it's literally 1,000 foot drop!

Yikes!

Interesting to see trees growing out of rock!

I can't believe we did it !

We did it!

There it is over my shoulder...

Now..

Which trail did you say you want to do next?

I'm ready !

OOPs !!!

Ok, enough for one day...

You shouldn't have run all the way back down

Ray stopped to take this picture for Brett & Annie in the town of Springdale..

On our way home we stopped to have a nice Mexican dinner at the Bit & Spur just outside the park in the town of Springdale. Delicious way to end the day!

The sign says: Warning! STEEP CLIFFS The Trail Guide says - Round Trip 5.0 mi - 4 hours - Ascent 1488 ft. Strenuous - Long drop-offs and narrow trail. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Last 0.5 mil follows steep, narrow ridge; chains have been added.

Meet Koshari Salley

2010-03-30T18:56:00.006-06:00

We fulfilled a desire to adopt a new son into the family
after watching a movie together Friday night....
Can you guess what we watched?
Meet Koshari Salley.

He fits right into our little family.
We took him on his first outting Saturday to Zion National Park.
You will be seeing more of Koshari as we do more traveling.
He looks quite natural in these Southwest surroundings...
I wonder how he will look on the beach in Florida in May?

Great Weekend with Family

2010-03-23T10:42:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful weekend this past weekend. Brett and Annie are in town and we always have wonderful time with them and all of our family that that we get a chance to spend time with. I took Friday off so it was extra special.

I took Friday off work and Sue and I took Brett and Annie to a really cool kick butt 5.5 mile hike that took about 5 hours to complete. This was basically off trail, semi back country hiking in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. We trekked across scrub filled desert, climbed rocks, explored mini caves, picked up our geocache, and generally had a very fun day that was definitely invigorating. For a couple of middle aged "fogeys in training" we can still get out and move our butts and challenge our minds and bodies pretty good and don't embarrass ourselves around the younger fit relatives...at least hey make us feel good anyway :) We were rewarded with a really cool isolated overlook into a hidden canyon that was well worth the effort. Sorry I forgot my camera...thanks Annie I stole a couple of your shots. Kari, Will, and the kids joined all of us for a a lasagna dinner and then an action packed game of Trivial Pursuit...90's edition....it was such an exciting game....NOT...who in the heck picked that game anyway :)

After getting a very good night's sleep, Annie, Brett, and Kari went skiing on Saturday morning. Sue and I decided to spend most of the day with Jimmy, Hollie, Gracie, and Preston searching the Ivins area for Petroglyphs as they had never seen them before. We enjoyed the moderate hike to the Petroglyph site and everyone enjoyed climbing around this huge boulders that have all of these 1100 yr. old Petroglyphs form the Anasazi Indians that lived in Southern Utah so long ago. We love taking family and friends to this site and never seem to get bored or tired of going there. The kids were great and really enjoyed the fun. We briefly took them to the Art Village at Kayenta, where they had never been before which is an upscale art village in a very upscale desert subdivision (it really was a potty break are for all of us though). After our brief pause for a very good cause, we decided to head over to Pier 49 Pizza which specializes in pizza made with sourdough crust. It has some really good and slightly different pizza. Sue and I really enjoyed our time with the kids as we don't see them as often as we would like too. I think Jimmy and Hollie enjoyed themselves too.

Sunday was typically busy as church and as always...a great day. We visited Kari & Will for dinner and Kari put on quite the spread. Thai curry chicken, salad, and a sweet coconut rice and fruit dessert. Mmmmmmmmmm GREAT STUFF! After dinner we need to relax a bit so Sue and I took our cue from Brett and joined the kids on their trampoline. Sue was obviously an old pro at this. I thought what better time than now to overcome my fear of "breakmybuttaphobia" ....I think the condition is pretty self explanatory. While I'm not sure that I got any air between my feet and the trampoline, I just may be ready for a few forward or backward rolls the next time I get on. It really is amazing that I didn't take out any of the kids and do them any great bodily harm. Thanks Kari for the photos, we stole them form you too....great fun....seriously!

We really did have a fantastic weekend and it doesn't get any better than that for us....unless of course Sue and I are sitting on a secluded beach in Hawaii watching the waves gently role in, sipping some virgin island drink, with our Lotus parked behind us....sorry kids...we love you but it's hard to compete with that one :)

Love to all!

Brett trying to act like a rock climber

Brett and Annie finding our geocache!

Jimmy & Hollie posing with our ancient history

Hollie & Preston high above the Santa Clara River

The Salleys and Grandma Sue

Great Family Photo

Grandma & Grandpa taking one for the team!

Ok...that was fun, now PUHLEEEAAASE let us out....NOW! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! :)

Ward Pancake Breakfast

2010-03-18T11:50:00.000-06:00

We had our second annual "Breakfast with the Bishopric" pancake breakfast last Saturday. The Bishopric cooked the pancakes and the activity committee did their usually fantastic job in organizing, setting up, and cleaning. The event was very well attended by over 100 people. We were hoping to have it at the outdoor pavilion but the weather would not cooperate so we held it in the cultural hall. A good time was had by all.

It looks like the ward survived another one as Sacrament attendance the next day was fine....except for maybe one of our ward members...ruh ro :)

Here's a few fun photos of the event...enjoy! Check the rest of the photos on Ray's Facebook page

The Bishopric in action

The "chefs" in action

Terry and Dana Kelvington with their brand new grandson, Wyatt

The Broadheads and Sister Hamblin

The Eaves family!

Sister Williamson our wonderful Relief Society
President

Brother Hansen, just making sure everything tastes good
before we send the food out to our ward members.
Thanks for taking one for the team!!!!

Our fearless Activity Director, Sister Hansen...everything is

under control!

Bros Bateman and Renel getting things ready

Spiritual Experiences

2010-03-16T10:57:00.004-06:00

Last night was a very special night for Sue and I. We had an opportunity to visit an elderly lady who was in the hospital with some continuing health problems. This good lady has very little family, and those that she does have have for all intent and purpose, disowned her. Our ward, is basically now her family. What a blessing it has been to assist this sweet woman in her time of need. It was great walking into her hospital room and seeing her eyes light up. We enjoyed our conversation and prayer was offered in her behalf. This good woman has been inactive for a number of years and is coming back to church. She asks us for nothing. The Lord is working through our ward members to bless her life and bless the lives of all those who serve her.

After we visited this good sister we went across the street to a rehabilitation center where an elderly member of our ward is recovering from a quintuple bypass. It has been a blessing to see this faithful man and his sweet wife go through this journey together. He is almost 83 and the recovery process has been a long and hard one, but it appears as though he has reached a point where he is doing quite well and he may even be able to return to his home in the near future to continue with his recovery. Many of our ward members have visited him regularly, and they await the time where they will be able to serve him and his sweetheart on a more personal and regular basis when he returns home.

Our last visit for the night brought us to a great little casual restaurant to eat dinner, but also support a former member of our ward who was playing in a band. We also met his parents who are still member of our ward, his wife and new baby, another family that lives in our ward, and finally ran into a single mom and her daughter who recently moved form our ward. We enjoyed the music and the great company.

At this point we thought that the night had pretty much ended on a high point....and...it really was a great night....doing what we're supposed to be doing, seeing some friends, eating some good food, and best of all, spending the time with my sweetheart,

We started heading home, but just after entering the highway at exit 4, I almost immediately saw the brake lights of everyone in front of me frantically coming on with tires and brakes screeching. Whatever was happening was happening about 8 cars in front of us. As e got closer to what was going on we could see large car parts strewn all over the road. Their was a very small car in the right hand emergency lane that had it's front end completely smashed in. Everyone slowed down except for another car and just kept on going....seemingly no one willing to stop and help. I immediately told Sue that we needed to pull over and help. I got out of the car and ran to the destroyed car, not knowing what to expect....were they alright, were they hurt badly...heaven forbid, was someone killed. By the look of the car, any scenario was in play at that point. When I got to the car a young woman was covered with blood...so much so that her long dark hair looked like it had pancake syrup in it. She had blood covering her head, face, hands, and it kept on coming, not gushing, but coming. It was also apparent that she could not move her lower legs because of either broken ankles, legs, or both. Then I saw that there was a very small baby probably 2-3 months old at most in the backseat. Thankfully the baby was in a rear facing child seat. She was alert but not crying or moving around...all this while the horn was stuck wide open. The young lady (Adrian) was hysterical at this time and obviously very concerned about the baby. The other people who had stopped to help were good people but they seemed to be lost as to what to do. They did call 911 so help was on the way. I felt immediately impressed to treat Adrian like my daughter. I was able to talk to her, comfort her, and let her know that her baby was awake and looked pretty good with no evidence of injury. After about 5-6 minutes the police and rescue arrived, but while they were assessing the damage and what to do, I asked Adrian if she was LDS...she said no. I then told her that I was an LDS Bishop and asked her if she would like a blessing....she said emphatically....YES. I looked around at the other people who were there and while I felt they were very good people, I could also tell that they either were not LDS or were not worthy priesthood holders. I then anointed her with consecrated oil that I ALWAYS keep on my keychain, and then sealed the anointing and gave her a blessing. I stayed with her while the workers were checking the baby out to keep her calm.

She asked for my phone so she could call her parents. I dialed the number for her and she talked to them for all of 10 seconds and gave the phone back to me. I continued to calm her down for another minute and told her that I was going to leave and that she was in good hands and that she and the baby would be alright. I then started walking away and realized that her parents must be terrified since she only talked to them for seconds...what were they thinking? I dialed the number on my phone and got Adrian's mom. She was hysterical as well as I don't think she was told very much. I got her calmed down and reassured her that it appeared that her daughter would be fine with no apparent life threatening issues with her or the baby. I asked her if they were LDS and they said no. I told them that I was an LDS Bishop and that I had given her a blessing. They said that was great and they were very thankful.

Sue and I then went home, Sue was very shaky and I was calm, but emotional because I felt that I had just been a part of the Lord's plan. I told Sue that we could never deny this church or it;s Gospel.

I just got off the phone with Adrian's father this morning at 10:30. I explained to him who I was and this good man was so very thankful that someone was with his daughter and grandchild. We talked for about 5 minutes and found out that she indeed had fallen asleep while driving. If she had done that just another 100 feet she would have gone down a steep median and either rolled her car or gone head on into oncoming southbound traffic. Adrian suffered a broken ankle, a broken nose, and a few cuts and bruises, but the baby is perfectly fine. She will be out of the hospital in two days.

NOW, I want to be clear about this. This evening was not about me in any way shape or form. This was about being in tune to the Spirit AND following it. Both Sue and I feel that we were placed in this position to help others come unto Christ. I know that we were supposed to visit all of those good people last night and be there for that sweet young lady. Who knows what will happen, but it probably was as good a missionary opportunity as one could have. The church is true! This is the Lord's church, and HE is running it....if we all stay worthy we can all be along for the ride....hold on tight because its a heck of great ride!

To my family members who are Priesthood holders, always keep yourself worthy and open to the promptings of the Spirit. Carry consecrated oil with you AT ALL TIMES...you never know when the Lord will need you. Always treat your spouses better than yourself and put them first in your own life. Did you know that our spouses are the only other people other than the Lord that we are commanded to cleave unto....not our parents, not our siblings, not our friends, not even our children....our spouses. I have a wonderful wife in Sue. We tell each other how much we love each other daily, we pray together, and many times we serve together.

Please enjoy the following talk given during a BYU devotional by Dennis B Neuenschwander of the Presidency of the 70 in 1998, and published in the September 2002 Ensign

From a devotional address given at Brigham Young University on 19 May 1998.

We need to ponder our spiritual experiences, learn from them, and be strengthened by them.

As we read in Alma 30, Korihor had made many untrue allegations about the Church and was brought before Alma, who listened but was not challenged by Korihor’s claims. Alma recognized the allegations to be false—not only because he knew the doctrines of the Church and the history of his people but because he had unshakable confidence in his own personal experiences with the gospel.
It is a good thing for us to know what we believe. We should know and be familiar with the doctrines, ordinances, covenants, and teachings of the Church and its modern-day prophets. Equally important, however, to knowing what we believe is believing what we know. Believing what we know has to do with recognizing, trusting, and learning from our own spiritual experiences.
Deeply personal spiritual experiences are granted to us for our own edification and occupy an important place in our education. Such experiences will always be in harmony with the doctrines of the Church and the teachings of its living prophets.
I am passing through the same educational process you are. Along the way I have made a few observations about learning from the experiences the Lord has granted me. I would like to share a few of my observations with you.

1. We can know some things without knowing all things.

When Nephi desired a confirmation of his father’s vision, the angel asked him, “Knowest thou the condescension of God?” Nephi’s answer was, “I know that he loveth His children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Ne. 11:16–17). Nephi seemed satisfied to permit his knowledge of some things to expand his faith and give him confidence in areas where his knowledge was not quite as complete. We would do well to nurture this understanding. President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught that “faith is based on past experience. It is not blind obedience, even without total understanding, to follow a Father who has proved himself” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 59). For example, each time the Lord answers a prayer, my knowledge that He does answer prayer is strengthened. This knowledge expands my faith and confidence into those times when His answers do not come as quickly or when His timing is far different from my own.
In an academic setting we understand this principle of not knowing all things quite thoroughly. We are comfortable with the idea that we must take basic courses before we move on to more advanced work. The absence of complete knowledge in a discipline does not hinder us in knowing some things about that discipline. In fact, our pursuit of additional knowledge is driven by our understanding that we do not know all things.
Learning takes time. Though we understand this in our secular lives, we are often impatient in our spiritual development. We sometimes feel that the Lord ought to reveal more than He does in order to remove some of the discomfort we experience when we realize that we do not have a ready answer for every question. In Primary, however, we memorize the ninth article of faith, which teaches us that more is yet to come: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” [A of F 1:9]
Alma teaches that spiritual growth takes effort as well as time: “If ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
“And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, … by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, … and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst” (Alma 32:41–42).
The people of Alma’s day did not immediately understand how to plant and nourish the word in their hearts. Alma answered by giving them three basic steps: pray in all circumstances, read and understand the scriptures, and believe in the Son of God (see Alma 33). In this progressive revelation of spiritual knowledge by virtue of our diligence, faith, and long-suffering, we can surely know some things without knowing all things.

2. Spiritual experiences are very personal and may not be understood by others.

The Lord cautions us to exercise great care in how, where, and with whom we share our spiritual experiences. We cannot expect a basically unbelieving world to understand experiences of a deeply personal and spiritual nature.
A most interesting example of this is found in the ninth chapter of John: “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth” (John 9:1). Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and then told him to go wash. “He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing” (John 9:7). What was the reaction among the people to this miracle? Did they accept it as a confirmation of their faith? First his neighbors didn’t even recognize him. “And they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?” (John 9:8). “Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he” (John 9:9). They asked him, “How were thine eyes opened?” (John 9:10). He answered their question very simply, surely anticipating that they would accept his response and take joy in his good fortune. “A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight” (John 9:11).
His was a simple explanation and testimony of a deeply personal spiritual experience. The neighbors, however, could or would not understand, so they brought him to the Pharisees, who also asked him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see” (John 9:15). The reaction of the Pharisees is also insightful. As the miracle was performed on the Sabbath, some said, “This man,” speaking of Jesus, “is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them” (John 9:16).
Didn’t the Pharisees completely miss the point? They pressed the blind man again, not to gain understanding of the miracle but to determine his opinion of him who had performed the miracle. “What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thy eyes?” Again, a simple answer: “He is a prophet” (John 9:17).
“But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
“And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
“His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
“But by what means he now seeth, we know not” (John 9:18–21).
Even his parents failed to appreciate the miracle in their son’s life. Because they feared the Jews, the parents simply said, “He is of age; ask him” (John 9:23). Again they called the man who was blind and again pressed him about Jesus, saying, “Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner” (John 9:24).
I suppose by now, after several explanations, the man was growing increasingly impatient, which is felt in the terseness of his reply. “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). No amount of explanation, however simple and straightforward, would help others to understand and accept what he himself had experienced. After all the explanation and testimony, they reviled the recipient of the miracle and said, “Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples” (John 9:28). The man answered them again, “Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes” (John 9:30). They answered him and said: “Thou was altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out” (John 9:34). In the end, no one accepted the miracle, the doer of the miracle, or the recipient of the miracle. No one even seemed happy that the blind man could see.
The spiritual experiences the Lord grants to us are extremely personal. We should share them only selectively or not at all. If we do choose to share them, it should be only with those who can understand and appreciate such things and will hold them as sacredly as we do, as a confirmation of their own faith.

3. Spiritual experiences not understood by others will often be rejected, but their rejection does not change the experiences.

Joseph Smith writes in his history that he shared his experience of the First Vision among the professors of religion, which caused great persecution towards him. In his reflection, the Prophet compared himself to the Apostle Paul in his defense before King Agrippa. The Prophet writes that Paul “related the account of the vision he had when he saw a light, and heard a voice; but still there were but few who believed him; some said he was dishonest, others said he was mad; and he was ridiculed and reviled. But this did not destroy the reality of his vision” (JS—H 1:24; emphasis added).
The Prophet continues: “So it was with me. I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it” (JS—H 1:25).
If others do not enjoy spiritual experiences, it does not mean that we do not. I am reminded of an experience in New York as a graduate student. I was serving as a seventies stake missionary. The bishop called one evening and told me that some members were involved in a discussion with a group of what we would now call born-again Christians. The members were challenged by the conversation and had called him for help. He asked me if I would be available to enter the discussion, which I did. Through that evening, it became clear that my new friends rejected the idea that Joseph Smith could have had a vision. My response was a question. “What is the highest and most sacred personal experience you could have?” Their answer was: “A revelation of Jesus.” I answered, “Why then would you deny another that same blessing?”
This leads to a closely related fourth observation regarding our spiritual experiences.

4. As others may reject our spiritual experiences, they will often try to dissuade us from believing them.

There will always be those who are not content to simply reject your spiritual experiences but will do all they can to convince you to deny what you yourself have experienced. One of the most interesting examples I could find in the scriptures relating to this principle is the reaction of the Nephites toward the signs given at the birth of the Savior. Samuel the Lamanite had come among them only a few years before the signs were to be given. He made clear predictions of the signs they would witness. These would not be simple things. The sun was to go down, but there would be no darkness through the whole night. “A new star” would appear, and there would be “many signs and wonders in heaven” (see Hel. 14:3–6). Such would be their amazement that they would all fall to the earth (see Hel. 14:7).
It seems to me that such occurrences would be hard to miss. Yet when all happened according to the prophecy, many people found them hard to believe. “And it came to pass,” we read, “that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen” (3 Ne. 1:22).
Surely we have undergone spiritual experiences in our lives that have amazed us. We ponder them and wonder about them. Satan will always be there to whisper in our ears that they either did not happen as we remember them, or he will try to persuade us to deny them altogether.
Referring to pondering and reflection leads me to a fifth observation.

5. Sometimes only upon reflection, or when someone else points it out, do we recognize what we have experienced.

The experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day of the Lord’s Resurrection exemplifies this. He appeared to them and questioned their sadness as He spoke with them along the road. They rehearsed the events of the last few days. The Savior took the opportunity to teach them from the scriptures concerning the prophets and Himself. When they came into the village, they invited Him to stay with them. He ate with them, took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them, and at that point their eyes were opened and they knew Him, but He vanished out of their sight. Only upon reflection did the disciples understand what had occurred. “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32).
This is a common experience for all of us. It seems to me that we often do not immediately recognize the importance of what is happening to us.
Many of us have served full-time missions. Every successful missionary teaches the investigator to recognize the Spirit. At the height of a wonderful gospel discussion, a missionary will ask the question, “What do you feel right now?” It is a difficult feeling for the investigator to describe. Usually, phrases like “I feel warmth” or “I feel peace and comfort” are heard. What they feel is something they have never experienced in quite the same way. It is then that the missionary explains what is happening and what it means. So it is often with us. Only with good teachers may we sometimes begin to understand that which is occurring in our lives. Knowing this, the Lord has told us continually to ponder His word in order that we may understand.

6. Trusting our spiritual experiences will help keep us from deception.

A most revealing experience regarding this principle is that which occurred to Moses (see Moses 1:1–13). “Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain” (Moses 1:1), where he saw God face to face and talked with Him. The glory of God was upon Moses so that he could endure His presence. God showed Moses some of the workings of this earth. When this marvelous vision was complete, God withdrew from Moses, and Moses was left to himself. Satan now came, tempting and commanding Moses to worship him. Moses queried him, asking: “Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?” (Moses 1:13). Moses, because of his previous experience with God, understood the deception that was being offered to him. “For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?” (Moses 1:14). Moses then commanded Satan to depart. Moses’ knowledge and trust in his first experience most assuredly kept him from the deception of his second experience.
On 2 August 1913, the First Presidency published a statement, which bears the title “A Warning Voice.” Their statement embodies a basic principle that, if followed, will keep us from deception: “In secular as well as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divine guidance and revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Church covenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts, demonstrated truths, or good common sense” (in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [1965–75], 4:285–86). Those who fall away from the Church generally struggle with this principle. Recognizing and understanding our own spiritual experiences within the gospel framework keep us safe from deception.

7. Spiritual experiences confirm our testimonies and help us to endure moments of doubt and uncertainty.

President Kimball has said that “faith grows through spiritual experience” (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 76). When I was a mission president, I would ask missionaries leaving the mission field to write down for their final interview with me the major lessons they had learned through the course of their mission. What I heard most often was: “I learned the importance of prayer,” “I learned that God answers prayer,” “I learned the importance of regular scripture study,” or “I learned to appreciate hard, disciplined work.” Never did I hear anything that related to the goals of the mission, the number of baptisms, or number of hours worked. After reviewing what they had learned, I returned their written accounts to them with the counsel that they keep them in a safe place. I told them that a time would come in their lives when matters would not be so clear as they had been in the mission field. It was then that they were to retrieve and read what they had written about their own spiritual experiences.
You may know that before one is considered for employment at BYU, an interview with a General Authority is required. Not long ago I interviewed a brilliant individual for a position. His training was in a discipline that could possibly pose some challenge to his testimony. I asked him whether he had ever wavered in his faith or, in the course of his study, ever lost his testimony. He answered the question candidly and told me, yes, he had. His integrity was impressive. I asked him how he had overcome the challenge. The answer was simple. He said, “I went back to my missionary journals and read them in order to rediscover what I once knew to be true.”
Spiritual experiences are granted to us by a loving Heavenly Father. They are meant to strengthen us and educate us in His ways. We need to ponder our lives that we may comprehend our spiritual experiences, learn from them, and be strengthened by them.

Love to all!

mes taught that anyone can receive guidance from God: “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
Spiritual influence begins with the Light of Christ, “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things” (D&C 88:13). This influence “is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16; see also Moroni 7:14–19). The Light of Christ is a powerful influence for good; it is sometimes manifested as our conscience.
In addition to the Light of Christ is the Holy Ghost, who is a personage of spirit and a member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost teaches and testifies of truth and can strengthen all honest seekers of the truth. The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ lead people to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
A person is capable of receiving spiritual guidance before being baptized and confirmed. On the day of Pentecost, many individuals who were not members of the early Christian church felt the Holy Ghost.
Those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are given the gift of the Holy Ghost soon after they are baptized. This spiritual gift enables a faithful member of the Church to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost as a constant blessing and guide.

The Apostle James taught that anyone can receive guidance from God: “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
Spiritual influence begins with the Light of Christ, “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things” (D&C 88:13). This influence “is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16; see also Moroni 7:14–19). The Light of Christ is a powerful influence for good; it is sometimes manifested as our conscience.
In addition to the Light of Christ is the Holy Ghost, who is a personage of spirit and a member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost teaches and testifies of truth and can strengthen all honest seekers of the truth. The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ lead people to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
A person is capable of receiving spiritual guidance before being baptized and confirmed. On the day of Pentecost, many individuals who were not members of the early Christian church felt the Holy Ghost.
Those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are given the gift of the Holy Ghost soon after they are baptized. This spiritual gift enables a faithful member of the Church to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost as a constant blessing and guide.

T things, which giveth life to all things” (D&C 88:13). This influence “is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16; see also Moroni 7:14–19). The Light of Christ is a powerful influence for good; it is sometimes manifested as our conscience.
In addition to the Light of Christ is the Holy Ghost, who is a personage of spirit and a member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost teaches and testifies of truth and can strengthen all honest seekers of the truth. The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ lead people to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
A person is capable of receiving spiritual guidance before being baptized and confirmed. On the day of Pentecost, many individuals who were not members of the early Christian church felt the Holy Ghost.
Those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are given the gift of the Holy Ghost soon after they are baptized. This spiritual gift enables a faithful member of the Church to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost as a constant blessing and guide.

e Apostle James taught that anyone can receive guidance from God: “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
Spiritual influence begins with the Light of Christ, “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things” (D&C 88:13). This influence “is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16; see also Moroni 7:14–19). The Light of Christ is a powerful influence for good; it is sometimes manifested as our conscience.
In addition to the Light of Christ is the Holy Ghost, who is a personage of spirit and a member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost teaches and testifies of truth and can strengthen all honest seekers of the truth. The Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ lead people to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
A person is capable of receiving spiritual guidance before being baptized and confirmed. On the day of Pentecost, many individuals who were not members of the early Christian church felt the Holy Ghost.
Those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are given the gift of the Holy Ghost soon after they are baptized. This spiritual gift enables a faithful member of the Church to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost as a constant blessing and guide.

Geocache Hike and Hiding Spot

2010-03-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Yee haa....Sue and I finally hid our very first geocache. It's pretty close to our home, but not really. You'll have to log on to the geocachng.com website and look for the "Holy Hill" cache. It should be listed in zip code 84780...probably within 10 miles

Here's some pictures to in tempt your senses. The hike is beautiful. We went way back this time and found all kids of animal prints and scat. The hike could have a lot crawly critters within the next month or so, so be careful where you step and put your hands. The hike is 3 miles round trip from our house. You can do it in 1 1/2 hours if you just go there and back...but...once you are there, you'll want to stay and explore. Plan on 3 hours and about 5 miles of hiking. Definitely worth the time and effort.