Great Basin National Park

An alternative title:  That post with a million pictures.

(National Parks are photogenic.)

Adam and Mark and I went to Great Basin National Park on Saturday.  To say that I went under duress would be overstating things but to say I was enthusiastic would be inaccurate as well.  I was somewhere between those two.

Because of Lehman Caves.

I don't like caves.

And we were going to one.

"But, why?" I (possibly) whined.

The drive was beautiful.  Here's a shot taken while driving through Delta, UT, home of the Rabbits.  (Adam knows small town Utah high school mascots because of refereeing basketball.)

The scenery across the desert was lovely and stark and dramatic.

Here's our first peek of Wheeler Peak (see what I did there?):

The first thing we did at the park was go to the cave which was a good idea because I wanted to get it over with.

Here we are waiting outside for our tour to start:

Do I look stressed out?  Because I was stressed out.

My shirt said happy on it and I told Adam and Mark that after I died in the cave, I wanted them to look at my shirt and think, "There.  Are you happy now?"

I wore my Nevada necklace because we were in the Silver State!

For a lot of the cave, I just concentrated on breathing and not freaking out.  It was also amazingly beautiful.  When we walked through some of the more narrow parts, I would walk behind Adam with Mark behind me and I figured if I died, at least I would be sandwiched between two people I love.

These pictures are ones Adam took in the cave:

This picture gives me anxiety.  It is looking up when we were in one of the narrow passages.

After we were out of the cave, under the blessed sky, I told Adam I was glad I had gone in the cave and appreciated him for pushing me outside my comfort zone.

He asked, "Would you do it again?"

No.

We ate our picnic lunch and took pictures of the beautiful surroundings:

It was a little windy...the good news is that now I know what to dress as for Halloween, Sam the Sheepdog.

"Good morning Sam."

"Good morning Ralph."

We hiked to the Bristlecone Pine Grove.  Every Nevadan worth their salt knows that is the state tree but I had never seen one in person maybe because they grow so high up mountains.  (Liberty's boyfriend, who grew up in Winnemucca, came to dinner last night.  We were showing them some pictures from our trip and he said, "That's the state tree, right?"  I immediately loved the kid.)

It wasn't a necessarily long hike or even that steep but we were over 10,000 feet and felt the lack of oxygen.  Also, the trail was super rocky and had lots of tree roots across it so you had to be careful not to turn your ankle.

Mark clamored ahead of us as we slogged along behind him.  He kept telling me encouraging things and I kept wondering how important bristlecone pines were anyway.

When we got to the top and Mark saw the sign indicating we had reached our destination, he ran ahead.  I told him, "This is why people don't like you, Mark."

It reminded me of when we walked the Freedom Trail in Boston and were all exhausted.  When we got to the Boston Commons, Mark ran across the grass to go climb on the playground.

No idea where he gets all his energy.

But the bristlecone pines!  I loved them!  Definitely worth the hike.

I could have taken pictures of their sculptural textured beauty all day.  (I know what you're thinking...it looks like I did.)  They were pretty amazing.  They are the oldest living organism--some of them are over 3000 years old.  Since they grow in such harsh conditions, they grow really slowly and they are really strong.  Even after they die, they stay intact because the wood is so hard.

I love this beautiful varied world we live in.

On the drive off the mountain, Adam stopped so I could take pictures of the orange and red aspens.

Why are some of them orange and red instead of just golden yellow?  Adam said, "Isn't it because of the sugar or something?"

"But why?  Did they eat all their Halloween candy at once?"

In case it isn't already clear, Adam and I are pretty much botanists.

We pulled over at the state border so Adam could check what was rattling in the car.  If there's anything that man can't abide, it's a rattle in the car.

Eying the sign for slot machines, he said, "Here's the last chance to take a chance."

We didn't take the chance, just headed home.

In every little town we drove through, Adam asked if we wanted to stop for dinner but Mark wanted to press on until Cracker Barrel.

So we did.

I drove the rest of the way home from Springville and Mark made a playlist (like he does).  It started with Uptown Funk followed by Mexican Radio, followed by REM, Gypsy Kings and Frank Sinatra.

Sometimes I just love everything about Mark.  (Even when he runs ahead when any decent person ought to be exhausted.)

I also love Adam and the adventures he infuses into our lives.  He always wants to take the scenic route and I love being by his side.

Grateful Friday

A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.

Carl Sandburg

When Braeden read on my blog that Enoch was coming to stay, he texted to request a dinner together.  (This is what comes of first teaching your children to read and then writing a blog.  They know about your plans and they want in.)

As the day progressed, I heard the happy news that Jennifer and Boston were coming too.  Boston is my newest little nephew I had yet to meet!  Happy day!

Except it got better because sweet Savannah was coming too.

They were nice enough to meet us in Provo so the busy college kids wouldn't have to drive anywhere far for dinner.  We enjoyed the evening together and before Braeden and Emma hurried off, I snapped this picture:

so much cuteness in one small picture

Back at our house, I ruined Enoch's night by mentioning I wanted to paint my kitchen cabinets.  I like painted wood and Enoch doesn't.  I think it has to be like a Mariners/Red Sox thing.  I think we will just have to agree to disagree.

Enoch fully applauded my idea to replace carpet with wood floor but I did make sure I let him know that I was going to cover the wood with an enormous rug.

Sometimes when you know what will bug your little brother, it's hard to resist saying it.

I did enjoy chatting with them though--hearing about the adventures of their kids and life with a newborn.  They're quality people, all of them and I'm just grateful to be related.

I sat in a chair the next morning and held Boston until he went to sleep while they ate and got their things gathered together.  I told Jennifer I would gladly just sit in that chair all day and hold him and she said, "Good, then I'll go get back in that bed."

Mothering a newborn doesn't exactly mean a good night's sleep.

They headed on their way all too soon and I headed on my way, off to school.

It was a happy few hours to spend together.

Enoch is driving the U-haul for Tabor and Katie and their menagerie as they move to Oklahoma.  In addition to their three darling girls, they are taking 5 horses, a dog, and a cat.

Maybe another thing I'm grateful about is that I'm not moving.

It is not for the faint of heart.

School pictures

I had Adam and Mark step into my closet and peruse my shirts and see what I should wear to school the next day.  It was school picture day and this picture would be on my lanyard that I will have to wear all year.  They really could care less what I wore but they gamely picked a shirt.

We all knew that my un-photogenic self would feel self-conscious about the pictures and therefore look self-conscious bordering on scared.

Sigh.

Before school, Mark posed me how they would pose me--shoulders to the side, head facing forward, slightly tilted.

We took a few "practice" school pictures:

my sweatshirt I've had since college--it's my early morning uniform

After seeing how well those turned out, I felt nothing but confident.

Once I got to school I realized things were a little different.

I saw a second grader with bright red lipstick (also high heels).  A lot of little girls had carefully curled hair and big bows on top of their heads.  A lot of little boys had on button up shirts with collars...and basketball shorts.  Evidence of negotiations and compromise.

As I waited in line in the gym next to the other teacher aids, we lamented about how much we hated school pictures, then and now.

I chatted in line with a second grader who was standing in front of me.  She told me that her grandma hangs her school pictures on her wall.

Not to put too much pressure on her, but my school pictures from 2nd grade are still on my grandma's wall.

Those school pictures, standing in a gym in front of a backdrop, have way too much staying power.

(This school picture is not ending up on anyone's wall.)

An up and down sort of day

In the kind of brief time I was home yesterday, I told Alexa to play me songs by Mozart because it was that sort of day and I needed some soothing tones.

During my lunch break, I tested the theory of whether or not I could make it home and back to school in 30 minutes because I forgot my lunch (it was a failed experiment).  Mostly because I made the rookie mistake of turning on 200 South and going by the high school.  At lunchtime.  Am I insane?!?

I heard some very good news.

I said good-bye to Tabor and family (they're moving to Oklahoma!).  We're already hatching a plan to go visit them.

I met up with his family and Ammon's family and Ammon recognized who I was talking about in yesterday's blog about my (ethnically confused) curly hair.

I did something that felt sort of brave.  I feel a little freaked out and a little excited.

I talked to Enoch on the phone and he is coming to stay tonight.  At first I thought Jennifer and new baby Boston who I have yet to meet were coming too.  When I realized that wasn't plan, that it was just Enoch, I told Enoch that Boston was who I really wanted to see and I was just tolerating him, he told me too bad because I had already agreed and couldn't back out now.

And I'm not sorry.  I'm looking forward to seeing Enoch.

One of my favorite parts of the day was maybe when I was about asleep and I heard a small voice, "Mom?  Mom?"  It was Emma.  She said, "Dad said you had just gone to bed."

She was in the neighborhood visiting Fiona and stopped by.  She stood next to the bed and even though I couldn't see her in the dark, we talked.  I told her about my day and she told me about hers and I told her about a time in the day that I wished I had acted differently and she said, "I would have acted the exact same way."

Even though I still wish I was different, it's nice to feel understood by my sweet girl.

Daughters (and brothers) were a good invention.

When people are delightful

Here's a recent conversation I had with a man.

"You got your haircut!"

"No...."

"Oh, I guess you curled it."

"No, I don't curl it.  It's just like this."

"Really?"

"Yep."

(sounding confused) "Where did you get curly hair from?"

"My dad has curly hair."

"But...where is that from?  Like South America or something?  You're pretty white..."

**

*

Emma loaned Freja $45 because her debit card wasn't working and Freja paid Emma back in cash.  Emma was lamenting to me earlier that she put the money in her pocket and went to the store and then the money was gone.  Rats.  Lost cash is just lost, you know?

Except when you are a BYU student.

Someone found it and put it on her ward's Facebook page and Emma never checks Facebook but her roommate told her and Emma's $45 in cash was returned to her.

I love people.

**

*

Of course I have a school anecdote to round out these tales.  There's a kid who I told Adam was straight up a Herdman (as in from the Best Christmas Pageant Ever).  He's just mean.  Every time I turn around he's being mischievous and naughty.  At recess one day a kid fell down and the Herdman kicked the fallen child's ball far away.  Just because he could.  Also, one day in class I was picking up paper scraps and recycling them and he said, "I hate recycling."

Who hates recycling?  I mean, why?

One of his classmates got legitimately hurt at recess though.  This boy has a lot of struggles, health and otherwise and the Herdman?  The one I thought was so mean?  He was one of the first boys to come running.  He was concerned and helpful and compassionate.

There's a lot to be happy about in this world.  Even people with the worldview:  curly hair stems from South America (?) and white people don't have curly hair are sort of lovely in their way.

My three boys

Last summer Marianne and Robert gave us a gift certificate for the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City to thank Adam for helping with their relay.  We finally put it to very good use.

Friday Adam and Mark and I drove to Cedar City.  I was exhausted and couldn't follow the podcast we were listening to.  Were they speaking English?  Adam was following it just fine so I think it was just me.

Since I was too tired for a podcast, I thought the play would be a struggle to stay awake but it is hard to be sleepy when you are laughing that hard.  We saw The Foreigner.  Adam and I had seen it years before at the Village Theater in Everett and we had loved it.  We told Mark all about how great it was and then I worried that maybe we'd oversold it, but he laughed just as much as we did.

We stopped by the grocery store on the way back to our hotel for hot chocolate k-cups, because there was a Keurig machine in our hotel.  They are fun to use and we wouldn't use it nearly enough, since we're not coffee drinkers, but we still sort of want one.

Saturday morning Adam and Mark swam in the hotel pool and I read my book.  (A winning combination.)  After that, we walked around the SUU campus some.  It's a pretty place but we wondered where all the students were.  They sleep late?  There just aren't that many of them?  I don't know.

At lunch I had to take the french fries away because Adam and Mark were starting to catapult them at each other using a long spoon.  I also stopped them wrestling in the hotel room.  Sometimes I feel like I have two sons with me when those two are together.

(Adam said he wouldn't really do any of that stuff, he just likes to get a reaction out of me. Hm.)

**

*

In our absence Braeden, who is having the busiest period of his life, came for the weekend and did homework. He is working this semester and taking a full course load and volunteering for a political campaign and facilitating a Better Angels event.  It makes me tired just typing it all out.

After dinner we went grocery shopping and Mark, happy to have his brother back, talked non-stop.  They laughed about memes we didn't know and vines we didn't exactly understand (and I'm OK with that) and they also like to speak in Star Wars prequel quotes.

Sometimes it's a lot to listen to.  At the grocery store, when I couldn't think straight because of their banter in my ears, I said, "Stop, just stop."  They took a few giant steps away from me (because that's the only way they step) and carried on.

**

*

Adam and Mark left earlier than we did for church on Sunday and before I even mentioned that I was feeling insecure about the dress I was wearing, Braeden said, "Mom, you look really pretty."

"Really," I asked.  "Because I feel like the circus is in town and I am the Big Top."

Braeden said, "That's the style right now, Mom.  Ever since my mission, dresses don't have a waistline, they just go shwoop."

So I shwooped off to church.

These boys--how I love them.  I feel like I'm in a constant battle to make sure they're staying civilized but really they are pretty gentlemanly (even giving me fashion advice).

For one thing, with those three around, I never carry anything heavy.  They wouldn't stand for it.

Grateful Friday

Yesterday two kindergartners were arguing at recess about whether or not fall and Halloween were the same thing.  They asked me to intervene.  (Braeden said I'm the Christopher Robin of recess.)

I tried to explain that fall was a season, spanning several months and that Halloween was one day in fall.  They both thought that validated why they were right and with all the righteous indignation two children under three feet tall can muster, they argued.  And argued.  I went to the other side of the playground.

Christopher Robin was tired.

Somedays I go home from school rejuvenated and in love with my job and sometimes I go home depleted.  Yesterday = depleted.

The struggles some of my students have worry me and break my heart a little and also push my patience to the brink.  Sometimes I want to bring them home and give them cookies and ice cream and sometimes I want to bring them home and put them in time out.

It's hard because the more I get to know them, the more they matter to me and the more I care.  The more I care, the more capacity I have for frustration.

Sigh.

I felt further disheartened when I learned that Adam's flight was going to be delayed and he'd be home a few hours later than scheduled.

I did what any smart girl would do and I texted our kids and asked them if they wanted to have dinner together.

Emma clarified, asking if I meant meet somewhere or if I was cooking.

Ha!

I was NOT cooking.

We met at Noodles and Company in Provo.  Braeden wrapped his arms around me and said that seeing me was just what he needed because he was having a hard day.  I said, "No, I'm having a hard day."

Emma assured me that she was happy and would bolster me.

Braeden smiled his charming smile and said, "We can cheer each other up."

And we did.

(Although now that I think about it, I did way more venting than anyone else.)

I told them about the ups and downs of my day.  They laughed or murmured supportively in all the right places.  Braeden put his arm around me when I teared up (and that wasn't even a bad part of the day--it was when I was telling them how nice some kids were to their classmate who was hurt and having a really terrible time).

I thought that what I needed was those three and sure enough, what I needed was those three.  I felt lighter after dinner and ready to go back and try again.

Money can't buy you happiness but it can take your kids to dinner and that is kind of the same thing.

leaning against the car and chatting in the parking lot before parting ways...also Emma and I dug in our purses for quarters so Braeden could do his laundry