Utah, Tour of Provo, Snowbird, Hymas Wedding, Scouts & "The Garden"

Unnanounced Visit to Cheri & Bry. Last month we went to Utah for another one of "the neice or nephew weddings." In this case, it was Billy Hymas and Esther Gruwell's wedding. Dan had missed the last 4-5 weddings, so we decided long ago that we would hit the next one.  The present and imminent surge in weddings has produced some raucously fun times with family. It's like getting together just to hang...like the good 'ole days of yore. 

Most of the festivities were in SLC, and we knew we wouldn't have time to see hardly anyone else--so right when we arrived we dropped in on Cheri & Bry and family. Liza and Caroline are always fascinated with all their blonde haired cousins --- especially those of similar age, or a collegiate athlete like Kendy.

Tour of Provo. As we were driving around Provo and talking about various and sundry improvements and changes, the kids lit up, asking about the importance of each place. It donned on us that they knew NOTHING about Provo, yet were now at an age to be instructed as to the finer points of our noble homeland.  This means that all these years of sitting around with the family yakking about the good ole days have been mostly theoretical...a stunning realization.




So, we made what fleeting moments we had into a tour in earnest. In some places we stopped and took pictures, and it others we just paused (with our hands over our hearts).  In mostly one morning, we made the "Famous Doxey/Call Family Places & Moments Loop" ...  

A picture in front of Timpanogos - We were were engaged near Stewart Falls with a tree carving.
Timpview High - Alma Mater for both of us, and where we lockered next to each other.
Edgemont Elementary - Dan's  Alma Mater and where he was a janitor as a 16 year old.
7th Ward Chapel - Church of Dan's youth and where we "re-met" post mission.
Grammie's House - Now in stunning cleanliness and order, with an immaculately cared for yard, thanks to Julie & Kurt Frandsen.
Will's Pit Stop - Enough said.
825 East 1030 North & Soccer Park, Orem - Our old house and playland.
Trafalga - A round of mini golf always does the body good -- especially now that it's blacklit.
Picturesque Orem State Street - Just keep looking up at Timp.
Burned Out Provo Tabernacle - Deeply saddening.  Grammie's concerts, Messiah singing, etc.
Provo Cemetery - Visited Dad Doxey, Dad Gibson & Grandpa/Grandma Christensen graves.  Kids fascinated by Grandma Christensen's five little kids' graves. We're glad these important people are buried there and not someplace "far away" like Hinckley.

55 Park Avenue & Memorial Park. Julia's homestead. Boys were fascinated with the chain basketball net and wooden backboard their uncles used -- made uncles seem even more ancient.
Site of old 3rd South Allen's Supermarket. Hmmmmmm.
The Site of Jose Rubio's El Azteca Taco Shop - It's almost hallowed ground (or should I say floorspace?) lots of family lore in that building.
BYU Bookstore and Campus - A perennial favorite.
BYU Creamery and nearby New Communications/Broadcast Building. GREAT ice-cream, amazing facility.

Provo Temple. Lots of memories, where Julia received her endowments, where we spotlighted couples making out, etc.

THAT'S IT!!  Of course, we could have dragged them to even more memorable nooks and crannies of Provo, but this will have to do.
 
Skiing at Snowbird.  Dorothy and Tyler were absolute SAINTS in helping out with the boys as we skied Snowbird. We took them up the tram to 11,000 feet.  Jaws ... on ... the ... tram floor.  We were crammed so tight in there that I couldn't get a great picture, and the boys were amazed at "the vert" and the Norwegian family standing next to us on the way up.












The real reason we were there is for Nathan to finish some work on his Snow Sports merit badge.  For us, skiing in Utah is so much more convenient than other options--the boys LOVED IT, as did I.







When we got on top, I have to admit, even I was cold. We went in the warming hut for lunch, and then attempted to look at a map on where to go.  Of course, I insisted on pictures -- these pictures are serious "proof" to all the stories Nate and John are bound to tell about this adventure.





Dorothy stayed with Nathan all day, instructing him on the finer points of skiing. I had to remind him what it would cost him to have an ER Nurse, professional ski instructor and host from Deer Valley come train him at Snowbird.

Dorothy is all of that and much more.  Nathan is far more cautious of a skier, so her instruction was perfect as I was running in full defense mode with John.

The boys will forever remember that feeling of "being on top of the world" and looking down on Salt Lake City.  Since the last time we went skiing, they have written book reports about it, made presentations about it for school, etc.  This will give them fodder for years.

At the end of the day, I gave John the phone and had him call Julia...I was anxiously awaiting his recap of the day.

His story got better and better -- at one point he was going off jumps between trees, skiing moguls, I was just waiting for him to mention landing a backflip.  I mean, why not?

OK, back to reality ... 

I had John in a full home-made harness, aka a bowline.

John doesn't turn or snowplow yet. So, I'm basically water skiing in reverse--trying to stop the boat rather than be pulled by the boat.

This pictures is evidence of why at the end of the day John had boundless energy and I was tuckered out.

I spent most of the day in FULL "stop this train" snowplow mode.  And, when I wasn't doing this, I was trying to lift him up off the ground.

Man I was excited to hear his "spin" on things, because it was definitely better than mine! 

It was quite a rush when we started down the cat track and the tram came right over us.

Fortunately, Tyler was skiing backward and taking pictures.

Nate is getting pretty good.  The technical skiing terminology in the Snow Sports merit badge book took some time to understand, but once Nate was on the slope he did pretty well.

We're trying to get Nate to be less cautious, and John to be more cautious.  I think being on the tram made him 2x more cautious than normal.



Tyler was a freaking stud--a huge, huge help.  He schlepped gear, (dragged three pair of skis on to the tram for us), skied backward taking pictures, helped me get John up a few times when we were all in precarious positions on the mountain, helped John ski down on one ski when his binding broke, and stayed with us in the repair shop while we got John's binding fixed.  I told him, "Tyler, I'm sure you didn't come up here on a sunny, beautiful day with 683 inches of snow only to hang with John and I -- go on, leave us. We'll figure it out."  But, he stayed with us (well, lapped us about 4x). I can't thank Dorothy and Tyler enough.


Seriously fun memories. I reminded Nate & John that there were a lot of people who had never gone up the tram, even in the summer. We hope to be able to come back and go up it with mountain bikes sometime soon.

Billy & Esther Hymas ... the Newlyweds. This was definitely a wedding to remember. Very classy, very well done. Esther's family is wonderful. The Kentucky & Utah Hymas crowds and the Louisiana (Gruwell) crowd were in fine flair. It was so great to see many of the married grandkids in the temple together for the ceremony.

John, Faith and Nathan found some time to re-bond while exploring the Joseph Smith Memorial Building during the reception.

Faith caught Esther's bouquet and proudly held it for the rest of the night.

We were all amazed that there were numerous wedding receptions going on there at the same time--the kids couldn't get over the view of the temple, the U of U and downtown SLC.

Caroline was entranced by Esther's bouquet too!  She felt so special to get to hold it.

  The temple was radiant.  The more projects I undertake at home, the more stunning the Salt Lake Temple is to me.  This picture is the perfect ending to a perfect day.

This picture was actually really hard to get ... it was my +/-  17th attempt.  I was shooting through dirty glass, no flash, opaque curtains pulled behind me to block the backlighting incandescent glare from the Palmyra room, not "The Roof" angle. The lighting seemed just right.

The real novelty of the night was to get a shot with Esther and Billy. They are both top notch, and great examples.









2011 Meridian District Spring Camporee. The theme for this year was "A Scout is Hungry" ... so there were cooking skills taught, cooking competitions, and all the activities a kid would want--tomahawk throwing, shooting, troop relays, all the good stuff. Nate made some great peach cobbler!





A Serious Camp Kitchen for Hungry Boys. This is a group shot of all the boys working on some serious food -- Fajitas.  This is really a great group of boys.  All did the planning, cooking and clean up. I swear it is 10X easier to teach a bigger group than a smaller group--they all keep each other in check and make sure they are all doing the work and there are no slackers.  


Mark My Words. You'll want to take note and mark my words about one of these Scouts.  The guy on the far left with the florescent hat (next to Nathan) is Mahe Hingano...he is 14 years old and is 6'4" and roughly 220 lbs., and always has a football in his hands.  He will definitely play college ball someplace.   He was EASILY the biggest Scout in the camp.  Let's just say that he walks up to you and immediately commands respect.


The Tee-Pee Store.  Nathan was fascinated that one of the older boys in our group was running the Tee-Pee store, where snacks were sold.  I wonder if Nate and John could sell golf balls there next year?

I seriously lost Nate a few times, and guess where I found him?  Right here where money is being exchanged for treats.  He has an uncanny ability to sniff our this sort of thing and just observe, observe, observe.

The Garden.  Ever since we moved in we have not known what to do with this "massive" patch of land on the side of our house.

Until this last weekend, it has primarily been used for dubious purposes -- a place to eat all the treats you stole out of our pantry, a place to "see what would happen if", a place to get away with anything you don't want to be caught for, you get the idea.


Ever since John dug up the sprinkler pipes and gardenias as he wanted to plant a garden, he has wanted to give it another shot--so we now officially have a garden.  This is the "before" shot, complete with weeds and detritus from bygone play days.



This would be the "clearing the land" and improving the soil shot, complete with Caroline wearing 5 princess dresses.  You know, if one princess dress makes you beautiful, five would make you even more beautiful, especially if worn all at the same time.















The Prep & Planting Finished.  Nathan and John did a lot of the soil prep, Caroline helped plant it all, and Liza said she would harvest.

We planted summer squash, five different kinds of tomatoes, lots and lots of pumpkins, watermelon and a lot of sweet white corn and yellow corn. It's basically two 50 foot rows of veggies.  This fall should be really fun if we can get it all to grow big, and if we can keep the raccoons and tree squirrels out!

Julia and I and the kids are doing great.  We're super busy with life and church work, and are now addicted to reading at night before we crash. We never thought we would become such readers...it's just part of the nightly routine. We used to watch the news, but we're finding nightly news is old by the time it is broadcast. Call it a sign of the times.  Either we're getting more impatient and wise, or it's getting dumber and less relevant.

Julia is reading Mel Levine's "A Mind at a Time" and "The Myth of Laziness", Dennison's "Brain Gym-Teacher's Edition" and Hallowell's "Delivered from Distraction" (evidently she has really gotten into how different brain types learn lately), and I just finished the biography of Hugh B. Brown, and have moved on to the biography of LeGrand Richards.  It anyone is into swapping awesome biographies (old or new), I'm up for it.