We took Everett to the airport last Thursday to catch a midnight flight.  He was traveling to Palmyra, New York, to be part of the Hill Cumorah Pageant work crew.  I'm excited for him to have this opportunity.  He'll be gone for a month.  It's like serving a mini-mission with having an assigned companion, giving up his cell phone, not having access to a computer, and doing lots of volunteer work to help the pageant happen.  We did a lot to help him get ready.  We bought a bunch of very specific clothes, like dark T-shirts with no writing or pictures on them and dark jeans, in addition to some tools. We had to make sure we labeled everything because with 28 boys about the same age and size, belongings can get mixed up. We haven't gotten a letter from him yet but I'm looking forward to it and hoping it gets here soon. In the meantime, we'll have to be content with looking at the blog:  http://hcpworkcrew.blogspot.com/ I recommend clicking...

A little ago, our college student son said he wanted to have a high-adventure type outing like a long bicycle ride or backpacking trip.  So as my husband and I talked about it, we decided to make it a family trip.  We decided to make the same trip my husband made with a bunch of Varsity Scouts about four years ago near Capitol Reef National Park. So on a Thursday morning we left early and drove to Fish Lake with all our camping gear and a bunch of bikes.  We arrived shortly after noon.  We parked near some bathrooms (I love the security of being near a flush toilet) and Scott and my older children took off on their bikes.  The plan was for me to eventually drive down the road about 30 miles from the starting point, in my support vehicle role, to make sure everyone was doing okay.    Starting out on the big bike ride. Shortly before the accident... So my two youngest girls and I hung around the lake for a while and then I took a little nap i...

With my blog being called "Viewing Mountains", it seems appropriate that now and then I post some mountain pictures! I have a goal this summer of climbing Mt. Timpanogos.  I've never done it and I really want to do it before I get too old and feeble.  So recently, I did a training hike with my husband.  We climbed Squaw Peak.  It's about 7.5 miles round trip with a 3000 feet elevation gain.  The most memorable part of the climb was the mud--the trail was so muddy.  There were streams of water running down the trail at a few points. With our dry climate, we're not used to mud so it took us a little by surprise.  Fortunately I was prepared.  I had just barely bought some hiking boots--my first ever--and the tread really helped me out.  I didn't slip at all, whereas my husband, who was wearing some old running shoes, was slipping all over the place. Once we made it to the top, the view was really great. The hike took about...

For the last 9 months, we've had an exchange student from Germany living at our house.  He was asked to speak in church two weeks ago (although he is not a member of our church) and he shared with the congregation that we have a lot of rules at our house, focusing on how early we get up.  This got a good laugh from the audience. During the rest of church, we got a lot of feedback about that comment, with people wondering what all our rules are.  I was feeling quite embarrassed and maybe defensive about this and wondering if our rules really are over the top.  Certainly our children complain about them now and then.  (But what child doesn't?) Then today, a friend from church told me how she overheard a conversation back in April where my 14-year-old daughter was asked if we have a lot of rules at our house.  My daughter responded no.  She doesn't think we have a lot of rules.  How refreshing to hear that! As I...