The Christmas holidays were here, and I’m back in Utah for the season, surrounded by family. Between family gatherings, dinners, parties and all of the general chaos that comes with this time of year, I decide to try and find something I can take all of my nieces and nephews to. I want to build…
Tag: little Hope
Another Fruity Family Gathering
Another quick trip to Utah this summer to see the family. We gather up at the Fruitland cabin, another little oasis of peace for me in this world. Seeing my nieces grow and blossom with their funny personalities, as well as the rest of us getting older, but not really any wiser. Time spent on…
Xmas 2021
I’ve been writing about our family Christmas get togethers on here since 2008. To think that someone one day will go back and look at our family history is doubtful, but I carry on nonetheless. The traditions we have kept over the years, the growing children as our family expands and changes. Loss and joy,…
Family Reunion 2021, back to Fruity
I would assume that my family still gets together most Sunday afternoons for dinner, so when I say that it’s time for our family reunion, what I really mean to say is that I’ll be a part of the gathering. I have time to fly up to Utah for a weekend in July, taxi over…
Christmas 2020
The weeks flew by since Thanksgiving, and just like that I find myself on the road back to Utah on Christmas Eve. It’s 5:30 a.m. and the sun is rising over the desert as I get out of town and start the long journey back for the Holidays. The calendar has aligned itself to allow…
The strange return home for Thanksgiving during a pandemic
I leave Zion National Park early in the morning on Thanksgiving, four hours until I see family. It’s been a year since I saw anyone. I’m a little nervous and apprehensive about the whole ordeal, as I want people to feel safe. My parents come over to my brother’s house, but only for a few…
It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away
I was seven, maybe eight years old when I saw Star Wars for the first time. It was 1977, or perhaps early 1978, and the movie was still in its first run in theaters across the country. Our Dad took my younger brother and I, and I can vividly recall the smell of the theater…
DJ, Jenny & Hope in the AZ
My youngest brother made it down to Arizona last month with his new wife and their fourth expectant child, as well as his third daughter Hope. My other two nieces from his first marriage stayed home in Utah with their Mom. I’ll take whatever family time I can get. We made the most of our…
Glacier’s Trail of the Ancients
It’s our last evening in Glacier National Park. The wildfire smoke is being blown out by a late summer storm. Rain patters the car as we find the trail of the ancients…. I carry my bear spray on my hip pocket like an old gunslinger as we make our way along the old growth forest….
Hidden Lake
The smoke from the surrounding wildfires has half of the park in an eerie haze, the other half is full of blue skies. We wake up early and drive the Going-to-the-Sun road, making our way to the top of the National Park for our first hike. We decide to try the Hidden lake trail. The…
Lake McDonald
It was easily ten degrees warmer than normal due to the surrounding forest fires. The smoke was reeking havoc on my sister-in-law and her asthma, as well as the little ones lungs. Regardless though, we wander around Apgar village for a place to rent some paddle boards for an afternoon on Lake McDonald. The surrounding…
Welcome back to Glacier…
As I landed at Glacier International Airport last August, I couldn’t help but think about the last time I was in this area with the family, which was in the summer of 2004. We drove up here from Utah, and had one grand kid at the time, and she was two years old. Fourteen years…