Fourth of July
It was an interesting weekend that I had this weekend, so I thought I had better write a little bit about it. The fourth of July weekend started for me on July the third, despite my earlier attempt of writing about the second of July.
I, of course, worked on the third of July. I did leave work a little bit early so we could work on getting our kids up to my parents cabin. My kids are the only ones in the family who have never slept over at the cabin, and that is our fault. Of course, there isn't plumbing in the cabin, so its a little porta-pottie that must be used, and there aren't any showers or modern conveniences (other than electricity which was added in the '80s).
Anyway, we had the kids eat a meal before going up and they had packed for this event. We then headed up the canyons after taking care of a few minor things at home. It's a beautiful drive up to the cabin, and we really did enjoy the drive. The roads weren't as packed as we thought they would be (probably because of gas prices which is just over $4.00 a gallon), and it was pleasant.
When we arrived at the cabin, we found that Tyler and Shannon were there, as well as Austin and Andrea (with their little baby - I think his name is Chase). Ryan was also there. Austin and Andrea was a surprise to us because we weren't aware that they were coming in from out of town. We stayed around for a little while and watched the kids play some card games. We only were staying for a little while so when my Sharons family and Glens family showed up, we pretty much left. Scott and Anita would be bringing up my mother. Over all, there were about 25 people to sleep in a little A-Frame cabin. It would be crowded.
On the way down, my wife and I turned off the radio so we could enjoy the scenery. We went up over Guardsman Pass, and then down through Big Cottonwood canyon. It was breathtaking beauty. We did decide that we would go through Draper to look in on my wifes friends old home which had had the fire. There were people out by it so we couldn't just sit there and gawk, and besides, it was the home across the street from them that had had the problem (which we didn't know at the time). I knew that Ann lived somewhere around her old house, so I told my wife that she should call her and see if we couldn't just drop in. My wife was a bit scared to call, and besides we didn't know the number. I told her I would get it and called 1-800-free411 (which will give you phone numbers free of charge after listening to a couple of advertisements). There, we now had the phone number. She was still a little nervous calling her.
I sat there (on the side of the road) and waited for her to call. She finally did. Ann told my wife that her house was messy, but we could come on over. She gave us the address, and we were on our way. It wasn't very far away from where we were either. We got a noisy greeting by her three shelty dogs. They took awhile to calm down too. We went in and sat down on the couch. I was a bit nervous that some asthma may take me over and was pleasantly surprised to find that I only had a slight problem with my breathing (I didn't even need to use my inhaler). My wife and Ann visited from around 6:00 in the evening until around midnight. I was mostly an observer, though I did say a few things while we were there.
Ann has had a bit of a difficult life for the past (around) 15 years. Her husband has had an auto-immune disease all of this time. When we had visited in the past, he has always been in bed, and this evening was no exception to the rule. We talked about his problems, and how they related with some of the symptoms of my wife with her fibromyalgia. We also talked to her about my oldest brothers scleroderma in relation to her husbands illness. We all kind of concluded that they all must be related somewhere though we don't know where that would be.
Ann holds a very dear part in my wifes life and because of what she did, also in mine. Ann is the one who reactivated my wife in the church. She got my wife to graduate from Seminary (they met when my wife was in the twelfth grade) and had a lot of family vacations with my wife attending. For this, my wife will forever be grateful.
They also talked about current family problems, as well as some of the problems with various types of relationships. They came to the conclusion that there are times when we have to simply ignore the problems in these relationships and continue to move forward. Anyway, as I suggested, it was a late night. They did talk about keeping in touch with each other, and hopefully, this time they will. Ann did say that she thought about calling my wife on her birthday, but though she had the phone in her hands, didn't do so.
Well, since we had been up so late the night before, we woke up quite late on the fourth of July. We still had to go to the store and pick up a few items to head up to the cabin for lunch, so we did that. We arrived at my parents cabin (for the second time) at around noon. Traveling to the cabin twice in two days is kind of crazy at the prices of gas. It probably amounts to around $30 for our vehicle just to do that (the price we'll pay to have our kids sleep over, huh?).
By getting up to the cabin late, we missed the painting of the two porches on the front of the cabin. All of the boys were helping to do this, and a couple of the older girls. There were also the wives of some of the men. They teased us about our timing and were told that this was the reason we had kids, and of course they told us that our son had been a big help in painting the cabin (he always is).
Well, we ate lunch and then they decided to go for a hike over the rocks. That is one of my favorite hikes. It's fun to go over these boulders (they are huge) up to the various lakes (there is kind of a pond that is closer) and we have enjoyed some wild raspberries in the past while on this hike. My wife decided to go, but soon into it decided that she had probably made a mistake. It was hard on her. She made it all the way though, and we took the dirt trail (if you can call it a trail) back down from there. She was completely worn out from this and is still recouperating. We left soon after that to come back down from there. Our kids had a good time but our son wasn't so sure that it is great sleeping over with all of them there. There was Glen who snored, Zoe and Ryans feet kept on getting into his face all night long, one of the little girls had a nightmare and screamed, and then some of them were afraid to go outside to take a potty break. I wonder if he will ask to go up again next year. Wall to wall people doesn't excite me.
After coming down and showering, we headed over to the in-laws for some more fourth of July partying. Pam and Anne came a little bit later. We threw together the things that people had to eat and then chowed down. We then spent awhile watching some of the fireworks that we had bought for this occasion. It was a good night.
Our son and daughter went home with Pam and Anne, and we headed home ourselves.
On Satuday, we were able to sleep in again, and then we got up to do a couple of things around the house. We headed out to Pam and Annes house around 4:00 so we could pick up our kids and have some shish-ka-bobs while we were there. We had a good visit and then came on home.
I thought I was supposed to teach the Deacons quorum lesson on Sunday because when we got home early on the morning of the 4th, I had a message telling me I had one. I was told just before class, that my lesson would be next week and here is what it is on (which isn't what I had prepared the first time). Oh well, there goes the time I spent in preparing that lesson. I also had to get up a little earlier for another meeting with the Young Men presidency.
About five minutes before Sacrament meeting started four of the men in our ward got up and sang A-Cappella "The Star Spangled Banner", so we all stood and enjoyed this wonderful rendition. I don't think I have ever seen that done in a ward, and it was refreshing. Other than that, everything that happened today was about the same as every other Fast Sunday.
I, of course, worked on the third of July. I did leave work a little bit early so we could work on getting our kids up to my parents cabin. My kids are the only ones in the family who have never slept over at the cabin, and that is our fault. Of course, there isn't plumbing in the cabin, so its a little porta-pottie that must be used, and there aren't any showers or modern conveniences (other than electricity which was added in the '80s).
Anyway, we had the kids eat a meal before going up and they had packed for this event. We then headed up the canyons after taking care of a few minor things at home. It's a beautiful drive up to the cabin, and we really did enjoy the drive. The roads weren't as packed as we thought they would be (probably because of gas prices which is just over $4.00 a gallon), and it was pleasant.
When we arrived at the cabin, we found that Tyler and Shannon were there, as well as Austin and Andrea (with their little baby - I think his name is Chase). Ryan was also there. Austin and Andrea was a surprise to us because we weren't aware that they were coming in from out of town. We stayed around for a little while and watched the kids play some card games. We only were staying for a little while so when my Sharons family and Glens family showed up, we pretty much left. Scott and Anita would be bringing up my mother. Over all, there were about 25 people to sleep in a little A-Frame cabin. It would be crowded.
On the way down, my wife and I turned off the radio so we could enjoy the scenery. We went up over Guardsman Pass, and then down through Big Cottonwood canyon. It was breathtaking beauty. We did decide that we would go through Draper to look in on my wifes friends old home which had had the fire. There were people out by it so we couldn't just sit there and gawk, and besides, it was the home across the street from them that had had the problem (which we didn't know at the time). I knew that Ann lived somewhere around her old house, so I told my wife that she should call her and see if we couldn't just drop in. My wife was a bit scared to call, and besides we didn't know the number. I told her I would get it and called 1-800-free411 (which will give you phone numbers free of charge after listening to a couple of advertisements). There, we now had the phone number. She was still a little nervous calling her.
I sat there (on the side of the road) and waited for her to call. She finally did. Ann told my wife that her house was messy, but we could come on over. She gave us the address, and we were on our way. It wasn't very far away from where we were either. We got a noisy greeting by her three shelty dogs. They took awhile to calm down too. We went in and sat down on the couch. I was a bit nervous that some asthma may take me over and was pleasantly surprised to find that I only had a slight problem with my breathing (I didn't even need to use my inhaler). My wife and Ann visited from around 6:00 in the evening until around midnight. I was mostly an observer, though I did say a few things while we were there.
Ann has had a bit of a difficult life for the past (around) 15 years. Her husband has had an auto-immune disease all of this time. When we had visited in the past, he has always been in bed, and this evening was no exception to the rule. We talked about his problems, and how they related with some of the symptoms of my wife with her fibromyalgia. We also talked to her about my oldest brothers scleroderma in relation to her husbands illness. We all kind of concluded that they all must be related somewhere though we don't know where that would be.
Ann holds a very dear part in my wifes life and because of what she did, also in mine. Ann is the one who reactivated my wife in the church. She got my wife to graduate from Seminary (they met when my wife was in the twelfth grade) and had a lot of family vacations with my wife attending. For this, my wife will forever be grateful.
They also talked about current family problems, as well as some of the problems with various types of relationships. They came to the conclusion that there are times when we have to simply ignore the problems in these relationships and continue to move forward. Anyway, as I suggested, it was a late night. They did talk about keeping in touch with each other, and hopefully, this time they will. Ann did say that she thought about calling my wife on her birthday, but though she had the phone in her hands, didn't do so.
Well, since we had been up so late the night before, we woke up quite late on the fourth of July. We still had to go to the store and pick up a few items to head up to the cabin for lunch, so we did that. We arrived at my parents cabin (for the second time) at around noon. Traveling to the cabin twice in two days is kind of crazy at the prices of gas. It probably amounts to around $30 for our vehicle just to do that (the price we'll pay to have our kids sleep over, huh?).
By getting up to the cabin late, we missed the painting of the two porches on the front of the cabin. All of the boys were helping to do this, and a couple of the older girls. There were also the wives of some of the men. They teased us about our timing and were told that this was the reason we had kids, and of course they told us that our son had been a big help in painting the cabin (he always is).
Well, we ate lunch and then they decided to go for a hike over the rocks. That is one of my favorite hikes. It's fun to go over these boulders (they are huge) up to the various lakes (there is kind of a pond that is closer) and we have enjoyed some wild raspberries in the past while on this hike. My wife decided to go, but soon into it decided that she had probably made a mistake. It was hard on her. She made it all the way though, and we took the dirt trail (if you can call it a trail) back down from there. She was completely worn out from this and is still recouperating. We left soon after that to come back down from there. Our kids had a good time but our son wasn't so sure that it is great sleeping over with all of them there. There was Glen who snored, Zoe and Ryans feet kept on getting into his face all night long, one of the little girls had a nightmare and screamed, and then some of them were afraid to go outside to take a potty break. I wonder if he will ask to go up again next year. Wall to wall people doesn't excite me.
After coming down and showering, we headed over to the in-laws for some more fourth of July partying. Pam and Anne came a little bit later. We threw together the things that people had to eat and then chowed down. We then spent awhile watching some of the fireworks that we had bought for this occasion. It was a good night.
Our son and daughter went home with Pam and Anne, and we headed home ourselves.
On Satuday, we were able to sleep in again, and then we got up to do a couple of things around the house. We headed out to Pam and Annes house around 4:00 so we could pick up our kids and have some shish-ka-bobs while we were there. We had a good visit and then came on home.
I thought I was supposed to teach the Deacons quorum lesson on Sunday because when we got home early on the morning of the 4th, I had a message telling me I had one. I was told just before class, that my lesson would be next week and here is what it is on (which isn't what I had prepared the first time). Oh well, there goes the time I spent in preparing that lesson. I also had to get up a little earlier for another meeting with the Young Men presidency.
About five minutes before Sacrament meeting started four of the men in our ward got up and sang A-Cappella "The Star Spangled Banner", so we all stood and enjoyed this wonderful rendition. I don't think I have ever seen that done in a ward, and it was refreshing. Other than that, everything that happened today was about the same as every other Fast Sunday.
posted by Craig's Blog at 11:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home