Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Trip to Lagoon

Shane and Brenda invited us to go to Shane's company Lagoon day. All we had to pay for was parking, so that was nice. Grandma Weaver came with us. We played in the water at Lagoon A Beach for while. I was surpised that Joseph, Matalyn, and even Jacob, had a great time going down the water slides. Spencer is still a bit water-shy so he only put his feet in the water.

After the water, we starting going on the rides. We were surprised at how much the kids enjoyed the rides. Joseph and Matalyn even enjoyed some of the big rides (such as Tidal Wave). Jacob did not like the rides that went up in the air, but he (and Spencer!) really enjoyed Speedway Jr. (little cars) and Baby Boats

We were all tired when we got home, but it was a fun day.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Spencer's First Birthday

Spencer celebrated his 1st birthday while at Grandpa and Grandma Crofts house. We celebrated the day with playing blocks, with Katie's cousin Aaron, . . . . . . .



. . . . . . . and then having cake with fresh strawberries on it, which he loved.


Friday, July 20, 2007

Hiking in the Wind Rivers

This past week I got to spend hiking in the Wind Rivers with our Priest Quorum. This is the first hike of this magnitude that I have ever attempted - so I was a little apprehensive. We started early Monday morning and drove to the Scab Creek trail head in the Bridger/Teton Wind River Wilderness area. We donned our packs and embarked on our 14-mile, 6.5 hour hike to base camp at South Fork Lake.

We camped, hiked, and fished. Seven of the nine participants took fishing poles (including myself). Over the course of the week, those seven fishermen caught a cumulative total of more than 400 (yes, that's four hundred) fish. Guess how many of those I caught? I wopping 4 (that is 1% of the total). I was using the same lure as everyone else, and fishing in the same lakes, but for some reason I did not have much luck.

I did, however, have one good catch on Wednesday at Bob's Lake. One of the priests, Robert Howlett, was fishing a short distance away from me. Somehow, on one of his casts, his fishing pole came apart and his line broke. Lo and behold, the top half of his pole was floating precariously about fifteen feet from shore. One of the other priets tried to snag it with his hook, but succeeded only in dragging Robert's pole under the water (so it was no longer visible). Not wanting to miss the rest of the week of fishing, Robert decided to go in after his pole. He jumped into the water ... and quickly discovered that alpine lakes at 10,000 feet above sea level contain very cold water (even in July). The temperature of the water and his inability to see his pole thwarted his rescue effort. Since I was not having any luck catching fish, I decided that I would try fishing for his pole. I stood on the same rock he had been casting from and started casting and reeling. I aimed each cast just beyond the spot we last spotted his pole and then reeled slowly so as to allow my lure to sink near the bottom (hopefully without catching a snag myself). To our surprise, my endeavors were successful - I somehow hooked his pole and was able to reel it to shore. He was able to reassemble the pole and continue fishing. So, while I did not catch many fish that week, I was pleased that I caught his pole :).

With all of our hiking, we figured that each of us hiked over 60 (sixty) miles that week. If you multiply that by nine people, that was over 500 miles hiked! There were times that I wondered if I would make it home, but I prayed for strength and was blessed accordingly. On Friday morning, we broke camp and headed back to the trail head. The same 14-mile that took us over 6 hours on Monday was traversed in 3.5 hours. We averaged over 4 mph all the way back.

Despite my initial apprehension, I did enjoy the trip. I enjoyed being with the boys and getting to know them better. I enjoyed the beautiful wilderness. I am glad that I went.