Yes, the rocky cliffs are wet with rain. There was light rain on three of our six driving days from Montana to Utah and Arizona, returning through Colorado. With careful planning, we successfully dodged the snow storms in order to see nine more of our families in the final month of 2023. (At present count, we have seven sibling families, nine children, and five married grandchildren — so it is completely amazing to see NINE of our families on the same trip.)
Our first stop was Rexburg, Idaho, where we made the finest red thumbprint cookies with chocolate centers. Emily and Weston were all ready for our arrival. As we made cookies, Marty hustled to repair a tire which was not holding air. We travel a lonely road adjacent to Yellowstone Park, so we were truly grateful that tire did not give out on us in the middle of no where. We experienced the most snow and ice there in Idaho — in fact, much as we liked our motel there, we could not understand why the innkeepers made no attempt at all to melt the ice at the front entrance and parking area. Would ice melt have harmed their motel carpet?
We enjoyed a filling meal at Red 8 Asian Cuisine before returning with Emily and Weston for most of a game of Shanghai. These two kids are so very busy with college and work. We were lucky to see them at all! So very glad for the time we spent with them.
The next day we sailed along familiar roads into Utah, making a brief stop to see Scott and Louise in Bountiful, Utah. Most of their grandchildren were about to arrive for the annual cookie baking, so it was a happy surprise that I was able to transfer more than 20 GB of family photos, stories, and videos to Scott’s laptop. It took only about five minutes, because it was on a USB3 drive, which is a great deal faster than a USB2 drive. Part of this treasure trove was a digital version of my Dad’s family films, which he had transferred to VHS before he died. Louise was surprised to see footage of new baby Scott, as well as their wedding day, outside the temple. This was especially impressive as we set the videos to display on their big tv screen.
Our home base in Utah is usually with Julie and Bernd in Draper. They have been incredibly hospitable to us. We arrive with a large cooler full of my vegan food, and they make room for my blue ice in their freezer, as well as space in the fridge. Of course we played more games with them, as their grown children drifted in and out.
We spent most of the next day in Eagle Mountain Utah, with Joe and Ely and their boys. As luck would have it, both the younger boys were in holiday concerts at their schools! We had the pleasure of attending both concerts, near the very front row:
These are two very large elementary schools, so the concerts were attended by hundreds of parents. I bet Ely’s photos turned out better than ours… but it was just so fun to be there at these concerts. We miss way too many milestones in the lives of our children and grandchildren… (Please click on each photo to see the larger view. I have not yet learned to specify the display size of these photos.)
We went home to play Mario Monopoly, which the boys were happy to teach us. And of course we ended by playing Qwirkle, one of our all-time favorites.
There was a serious weather inversion, cutting off the tops of the mountains in every direction:
Last of all, we enjoyed Cafe Rio together! It amazed us to see how much these growing boys can eat. They are all growing up so fast…
Next morning I enjoyed a two-mile hike with Julie and Ember on the Lehi-Draper trail, which follows some historic railroad tracks above the freeway. After breakfast I did some Christmas shopping with Julie. She made so many thoughtful choices for her grown kiddos. It was totally fun running through Costco, Target, and IKEA together. As Grandma and Grandpa, we gave up Christmas shopping some fifteen years ago. We didn’t own a home; there was no room for presents; and our grandkids seemed a lot more excited to receive cash than presents. Our grown children each draw names and produce a gift for one family, which is much easier, given the size of our family. We enjoy time together, wherever we are at Christmas, without trying to keep up every old tradition.
Meanwhile Marty got new tires for our long winter journey. (These tires had been awaiting installation for several days at the Sandy UT Costco. It was necessary to order them the previous week because our home Costco did not have what we needed.)
Julie’s grown kids and their spouses met us at Bricks Corner in Salt Lake City, home of Detroit style pizza that was out of this world delicious. Alena was running a trivia game there, so we played as we ate. A good time was had by all, although we did miss having Sarah with us:
We were early to bed, so we could be early to rise. We looked forward to wonderful desert scenery en route to Arizona, but it was rainy and overcast. We didn’t even stop at Bryce Canyon:
Of course this convenience store in the middle of no where sells jerky made from buffalo and elk, and caters to tourists interested in the local dinosaur bones. The small sign on the middle post reads “Don’t feed the sasquatch.” We pressed on to Page, Arizona. While taking these photos, I saw floaters in one eye, for the first time ever. It looked like a giraffe stalking across my visual plane. It is half as tall, and half as annoying, these days. Nope, there were no giraffes on this desert land….
We had never stopped in Page before, but are so glad we did. Our motel with fridge and microwave cost $25, just a fraction of the usual price. It was a completely remodeled 1950’s room with all the comforts. A free community kitchen was also available, in which we could have baked treats. (Before the trip, I had actually spent two days making fudge bar cookies, which I shared wherever we stopped.) Anyway, we recommend Page’s historic street of motels, where we found bargain accommodations. It was a one-block walk through the rain to Safeway or two of the museums. There’s plenty to see and do here!
Just above are some dinosaur footprints. Major Wesley Powell’s float down the Colorado River all the way through the Grand Canyon is featured, plus exhibits about geology, flora and fauna, early explorers and Indians.
We came closest to encountering snow at Flagstaff, Arizona, but we pressed on to find family waiting for us in Tempe. We wanted to take them all out to eat at the buffet, but they already had coupons, so we had a fine meal, enjoyed going to Church with them, and played lots of games, especially Shanghai, Hearts, Big Uno, and a new Azul Master Chocolatier game board with beautiful tiles. Mike cooked and cooked and cooked, and we were spoiled rotten. They, like our Draper family, put us up in a wonderfully comfy bed. Yup, spoiled rotten!
Sunday evening we had our first ever experience seeing the Christmas displays at the Mesa Temple. We went first to the visitor center where I photographed twenty tables of nativities from around the world — which I am not even showing you here — because next we went outside in a slight mist of rain and walked all around these life-sized nativity scenes, which are overwhelmingly beautiful:
At each information board, Joey read the Christmas story out load to us. He is quite a wonderful reader. The last photo shows the Mesa Temple itself. This experience put us all in the Christmas frame of mind. Next morning, we had a lovely time opening presents. One big happy family!…. And then more games
This was one of our best ever visits to see Mike and Liza, Joey and his lizard, Josh and Kaytlyn… though we were missing Caleb, who was visiting elsewhere.
One morning I drove up to Scottsdale to see my one and only sister and her husband. She was delightful as usual to visit, though she has a great deal on her mind these days. I was not at all surprised to see her Christmas tree hung with various birds, fish, animals, and angels. And I finally got to meet Jesse James the dog, in person. We were not successful in getting Dad’s old family films transferred to her computer, but we did verify that her thumb drive includes everything else, so all is well. We hope to stay in better touch, but each of us tends to get busy with this and that… She sees our brother Scott more often, because he has grandkids living nearby. Visiting Alison was the pinnacle of my trip. Life just moves too fast!
Mike was on call, but the men were greatly motivated to tear out the lower bathroom, so they did:
The rest of us hauled pieces of sheetrock, sink and toilet out to the alley, where the city trash collectors expect to pick up discarded household items in addition to ordinary trash each January. I walked a couple of miles roundtrip to get my groceries. The backpack was heavy:
The next day we picked several pecks of oranges and grapefruit right off the trees, which we shared with our Colorado friends on the way home. I can still taste how sweet the ruby grapefruit was in my salad:
The second one is sweet potato, black beans, artichoke hearts, broccoli, quinoa, brewers yeast, mixed greens and spices. Yum, yum… never a dull moment when you’re vegan…
Our route to Albuquerque, New Mexico avoided the weather in Flagstaff. While I was still balancing breakfast in my lap, I was unable to grab the camera quick enough on the first bit of serpentine road which passed hill after hill covered in saguaro cactus — until suddenly the ordinary pinon took over, and then the real forest:
We took a memorable scenic route through Payson and Holbrooke before heading east on I-40. It always feels like home to dip down into Albuquerque, because Marty’s mama lived in that place longer than she did anywhere else. We were pleased to find our hotel before the sun set, and then stop at the nearby market. On Friday we made the long drive up to Longmont, Colorado.
We were so very happy to see Dan and Leslie’s home for the first time: they have an ideal yard in a lovely neighborhood. Longmont is a perfectly charming town. We explored a fancy rock shop while our Thai food was prepared. Yum, yum! And then we slept like logs after the long drive.
Next day we did our walking near the motel, and then walked even further in Dan and Leslie’s neighborhood. It was not the usual sort of bird-watching we do with them. Instead, we saw these local landmarks. Click on each to enlarge:
Take note of the interesting gadget which leads the rainwater down to a water bucket. This home is ideal for the resident cats and busy people, and the yard should attract some wonderful birds. We played Shanghai here as well, enjoyed the conversation and book recommendations, and left for them some citrus fresh from Arizona. Now we know the secret to a great visit with Dan and Leslie: Come on the weekend!
Sunday morning we drove up to the Windsor Ward, about 45 minutes further north, where we met Rebecca and Wendell, who have been our mission angels since 2012 when we first went to Prague to improve our Czech. Their ward was most interesting: we even met a returned missionary from Hungary who knew about Constantin, our friend who discovered the restored gospel while he worked in Czechia. Here is the incredible view of the front range from their meetinghouse:
We caught up on family news, watched “The Sound of Music,” as well as some football, as I recall. It was the first time we ever actually stayed overnight in their home. We appreciated their lovely hospitality. Becky gifted us some excellent homemade bread, and we shared our fresh citrus from Arizona. She was worried about whether her next job offer would ever come, but it did, just last week! We hope it is just the right position, for she is one incredible friend, wife, and mother, and we are praying for her and Wendell, always. They have made it possible for us to serve each of our missions. We are greatly in their debt. We were in the same ward, years ago, in Aurora CO.
Next morning we set out through Wyoming for home, right past the interesting clouds over the famous Cheyenne Rodeo stadium:
How thankful we are for this lovely trip, arriving safely in spite of ourselves, home again to enjoy our own tree, thankful to find our loved ones all well and happy. Christmas is love at home…
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