Memorial Day Weekend Getaway

We're used to things going fairly smoothly, but once in a while we run into a flat tire.  This time it was literal.  We left home to drive to Flaming Gorge to spend Memorial Day weekend (we thought of loved ones, but didn't visit any graves--we'll have to do that in the near future).  When we got nearly to Morgan, the tire on our boat trailer blew. It not only blew, it shredded.  We pulled over and Roy changed the tire.  I stood at the back of the boat to give oncoming cars a little more to see so they would move over a lane and give Roy a wide berth.  Most of them did, but a few made us a little nervous.  After the tire was changed, a quick examination of the remaining tires helped Roy decide to see if we could replace them all before we continued on.  It was one of those tender mercies that we found a tire place nearby with exactly 5 of the right tires--just what we needed.  We got the tires changed and went on our way.  Since we were delayed by a couple of hours, we decided to get a hamburger rather than wait and eat at the cabin and we were glad we did, because when we started putting our food away, I quickly noticed that there was no power to the refrigerator.  I then had the chore of emptying the freezer and anything perishable in the fridge.  I threw away at least $300 worth of food.  Another examination helped us determine that it wasn't the fridge that was broken, but a breaker that had failed.  Thankfully, because this was a much cheaper fix.  After cleaning up that mess, we went to put the boat away and noticed another problem.  When the tire blew, it was intense enough that it destroyed the u-bolts that attach the wheel securely to the trailer,  So, it was an eventful trip to the Gorge, but at least no one was hurt.  Well, at least no one was hurt until Dallin made a judgement that he could make it up a certain hill on his dirt bike.  That turned out to be a rather poor decision.

Dallin and Caitlyn and Jennie and Jordan met us at the Gorge and all of them made it without incident.

Not deep enough for stitches, thankfully

We enjoyed getting to know Foster a little better.  She's a very happy and active baby.  

Flaming Gorge has many many trails for Roy to drive on.  He, Jordan and Dallin had a good time taking some trails on Saturday (until Dallin got hurt).  Caitlyn, Jennie and I drove the truck to the lake with the kayaks in tow.  We arrived at the lake and, as the raindrops began to fall, we decided that it was on the cold side for kayaks.  We drove back to the cabin and took a nice walk instead.

Side X Side Rides:

  

While we were in Europe, we missed out on most of the end of year activities that our grandchildren were involved in.  I was able to go to Ila's t-ball game, and we got a picture of Beverly at her pre-school graduation festivities.  We missed some of Ollie's ball games (he plays so many we'd never be able to see them all), and we missed Avie's pre-school graduation.  We got home in time to hear Gunnar and Ollie play in their piano recital.  They did very well, even playing their pieces without music.

This is taken from the Costco parking lot.  I finished shopping and walked out 
to beautiful storm clouds complete with rainbow.

Harvey with his teacher and Bevy at her pre-school graduation

          Ila loves playing t-ball.  She wants to do everything her brothers do;  Todd listening to music.

Ollie & Gunnar, piano recital

I enjoy getting letters from my some of my siblings nearly every week.  This week Philip shared some thoughts about hard work after noting how hard his grandchildren worked to help him get his pool ready for the summer (I think there was some motivation there).  He made some comments about hard work that I think are worthy of repeating:

Hard work is one of the legacies that our parents, grandparents, and more distant generaatons left us. My Grandmother and Grandfather Cook raised their family on a dry farm in northern Utah. I can’t think of a harder way to make a living, but they wanted their children to learn how to work.  

My Grandfather Clyde believed in work as a religion. I agree with that as long as there is balance in life.  Our parents worked hard throughout their lives. I would often hear my mom in the laundry room very early in the morning – 5:00 or even earlier. My dad’s third career was real estate investment, and up to age 75 he was managing his own properties, often doing the work a young maintenance person should have been doing.

I’m grateful my children know how to work and that they are teaching their children how to do likewise.

Work will win when wishing won’t. And as I’ve quoted before, “Even if work were not a financial necessity, it is a spiritual necessity.” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, quoted from my memory, which may not be exactly as he said it but is essentially correct.) 

Christine also shared a great quote that is worth sharing:

Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other; when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.  Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings, having patience with someone who has let us down, or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped.  Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting the best of each other.  –Marvin J. Ashton