Animals, animals, animals. County Fair time again!!!!

Another summer, new animals & getting ready for the county fair.

                         At the fair:  cleaning the animals, showing them & selling them!!

Adventures with our Bluff Fort Friends

On July 15th Jed and I got to go on a ATV excursion.  It was quite the eventful day.  Following is Jed's summary of that experience.  At the end of his writing, are pictures of the day.  We learned some valuable lessons that day.

Thirteen Crossings 

On July 15 Dale and Bev led the Bluff Fort missionaries on an ATV excursion.  As the day unfolded, Candice and I began noticing comparisons between the events of the day, and the experience of the Hole in the Rock pioneers. 

We met on Blue Mountain near Dry Wash Reservoir and began unloading our machines.  I happened to be wearing a BYU sweatshirt and hat.  One of the missionaries, who will remain nameless in an attempt to minimize his embarrassment, asked if I really had to wear what I was wearing.  It was immediately obvious that this particular missionary had gone over to the dark side and was a fan of the University of Utah.  As mentioned, this well-meaning, but misled brother, will remain anonymous, but his initials are Jim Miller.  Jim and I gave each other as much grief as possible over the other's loyalties. 

As I reflected upon this experience, it occurred to me that the HITR pioneers were of a mixed background.  They had come from a variety of countries, had experienced different cultures and spoke different languages.  Like Jim and I, they had competing loyalties, but learned to work together cooperatively for the benefit of each another and the group as a whole.

   Early in the ride, one of the the side-by-sides experienced mechanical problems.  It soon became obvious that it could not keep up with the other machines.  Some of the missionaries were in trucks and they gave the couple driving the disabled machine a ride.  Later in the day, another couple on a four-wheeler, traded places and let them ride their four-wheeler.

This experience reminds us of the cooperation it must have taken for those pioneers to succeed.  It is unlikely that things could have succeeded without total cooperation and support among the pioneers.

During our ride on one of the trails, we came across three large trees that had fallen across the trail.  My first thought was that it was time to turn around and look for another trail.  Apparently, Dale and others, are not so easily dissuaded..  The area was overgrown and not easily traversed except on the trail.  There was no obvious way around the trees, but Dale was convinced it was doable.  It took some work to construct a makeshift detour, but with a little effort it was accomplished.  The task would have been easily accomplished with a chainsaw, or an axe, but none were to be had.

As we were trying to decide where the new route could be built, several people were heard to say, "We can do hard things," and "If we have enough sticky-ta-tudy, we cannot fail."  

This effort had obvious comparison to the Bluff pioneers.  They often came to places where there were no obvious routes or where their progress seemed to be stymied. They did not give up.  Neither did Dale.  He proved to be a capable leader who wouldn't accept NO for an answer.

The day became blustery with storms brewing.  We could see the rain all around us and often came upon areas that had recently experienced significant rain.  As the day progressed, these storms became more and more pronounced and widespread.  However, never did it do more than sprinkle on us.  At one point we came down a steep trail from Gooseberry to Cottonwood.  The trail was very muddy and slippery.  Often times we were at the mercy of gravity and mud  We had little control over exactly where we went.  It could have been much worse had it rained directly on us.  It seemed as if the Lord was aware of our situation and was watching over us.  It may seem to be a stretch to say our situation paralleled that of the pioneers, but I felt that we, like them, were protected.

As we began the last leg of the trip down Cottonwood I began to wonder what we would encounter in the numerous crossings of Cottonwood Wash.  The first few crossings were easily accomplished even though the wash was running a fair amount of water.  However, as we approached the next crossing it was immediately obvious that the situation had changed.  Somewhere between this crossing and the last, another canyon had emptied into the wash and the water volume had increased by several times.  This crossing was not to made as effortlessly as previous crossings.  Also, at this crossing we came across two county road employees whose job it was to do what they could to make the crossings crossable.  They had a pickup truck and backhoe. 

When Cottonwood floods, it brings with it a great deal of silt which builds up at each approach on either side of the wash.  One of the missionaries walked through the silt at this crossing and sunk up to his knees, or thereabouts.  It was apparent that we would not be crossing any time soon.

After a wait of a two or three hours, the water level dropped and enabled the county backhoe operator to clear the built-up silt from the approaches.  As he did so, we were able to see the depth of the water and knew when it was safe to cross.  We followed the same procedure at each of the next several crossings.  We would wait until the backhoe had cleared the way, and then we would cross.  without their help we could not have continued.  This reminded me of the assistance received by the pioneers from the community of Escalante, without whose help, the mission would almost certainly have failed.

As we continued on our way, one of the sisters who had driven a four-wheeler all day seemed to be at the point where she had had about as much fun as she could stand. I offered to drive her four-wheeler and let her ride in our RZR with Candice driving.  At first she declined, but later accepted my offer.  At that point Candice began driving our RZR, which included several crossings of the flooded wash.  She seemed a little intimidated by the task, but did not complain.  She just did what she was asked to do.

This reminded me of the story of my Great-Grandmother, Sara Williams, who though not even a member of the Church, offered to come to San Juan with her sister, Mary Ann Williams Perkins, and her husband, Benjamin, to help with their small children.  As they began the trek, she was informed that she would be driving a wagon of her own.  Never having driven a wagon before, she accepted the assignment and, I assume, became an accomplished wagoneer. 

We eventually came to the last crossing.  It was a raging river.  I had never before seen sand waves like we saw at that crossing.  It was rather intimidating.  In an effort to make a long story short, I will just say, after waiting several hours, the backhoe was finally able to make crossing possible for the pickup trucks, but not our ATVs.  Earlier, Candice and I had called our son and asked that he come to give us a ride thinking we would leave our RZR when we reached the highway, rather than drive on the highway.  When it became apparent that we could not cross the wash to get to the highway, I headed back up the road to find cell service to cancel his mission of mercy.

Before I could reach him, however, he, his wife and little boy arrived on the opposite side of the raging flood, or, as our little grandson, Mason, refers to it, "the muddy river."  When Mason saw his grandmother, he excitedly began waving to her on the far side of the wash.  After I returned to our side of the wash, he waved to me as well.  Unbeknownst to us, when they first arrived and he could see his grandmother, but not me, he asked his parents, "Where is grandpa?"  He kept asking until I finally arrived, at which point, he waved even more excitedly.  He was relieved that I was no longer missing.

As our son and daughter-in-law told us of Mason"s concern for his missing grandfather and kept asking, "Where is grandpa,?" it reminded me of the great reunion on the other side of the veil.  I don't want my grandchildren asking, "Where is grandpa?"  It gives me the incentive to live in such a way that there are no empty chairs at our eternal family table.

Eventually, the water receded sufficiently to allow the backhoe to clear the approaches and allow pickup trucks to cross.  A friendly forest service employee ferried us all across and we were given rides into town by our son, forest service personnel, a county deputy and the county road employees.  Otherwise, it could have meant a long, cold, hungry night.  

In conclusion, as the day progressed, there were many examples of blessings from the Lord.  While our situation was not comparable to the Hole in the Rock pioneers, the parallels were many.  We were watched over by a loving Father in Heaven.  He kept is dry, safe and provided us with the people and resources necessary to safely conclude our day.  The experience gave me a greater appreciation for the blessings poured out upon those amazing pioneers.  I am so grateful for the protection afforded them by the Lord.  I am grateful for their "sticky-ta-tudyness" and faith in the Lord.  And it is good to learn that we, like them, "can do hard things."

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Stopped at a scenic view along the way

                                           
                               The fallen trees and the decisions to "go on".

                                                  The Floods!!!

If you want to know how to celebrate the 4th of July, just come to Blanding, Utah!!

The 4th of July celebration in Blanding is a Big Deal!  It is crazy fun.  So many people come "back" to Blanding for the celebration that the town triples in size.  It is so fun to see friends, relatives and past acquaintances, and to meet new friends!!

We have a tradition to participate in the 5K first thing in the morning.  This year it was just Jed and I from our family. Erik and Jen Crandall's daughter, Emma, ran with us.  She beat us, of course!! Other years, there have been more of our family participate.  We run the entire way, but not very fast!!  I did not get pictures of us running it this time:(  

These little cuties are ready for the parade.

 As usual, we watched the parade from the lawn of the South Chapel.

 And with aunts, uncles, cousins, and family all around, we celebrate the 4th of July.

This horse is painted to look this way.  It was so awesome!  We thought this was its natural color!!

One of the most memorable things that we experienced is spending the day with Bastien and Julie.  They are from Paris, France and we had met them 3 days before the 4th when they came to Bluff Fort (we volunteer there on Wednesday mornings).  

The following is what Jed has written about our experience with them.  These are his words:

On  Wednesday, July 1 a young French Couple (Bastien and Julie) came to the fort.  They live in Paris.  I happened to speak to them and showed them around and shared the Hole in the Rock story with them.  Due to their fluency in English, I showed them the English film.  As I watched the video with them, I had the thought that I should invite them to spend the 4th of July with us.  I thought it was a rather random idea so I tried to dismiss it, but the thought persisted.  I began to wonder if it was a prompting rather than a random thought.  After the film, as we visited, I mentioned that my wife and I had been in Paris and enjoyed the visit.  They wrote down their names and email and offered to show us around Paris, the next time we came  there.  I asked where they were headed next and asked where they would be Saturday.  Their plans were to be in Moab on Saturday.  I mentioned that Saturday was the 4th of July, an important holiday for us.  They were aware of the holiday and asked what to do to celebrate.

I told them I knew the perfect thing for them to do.  I suggested they come to Blanding and spend the day with us, and promised to show them an all-American celebration.  I invited them to come and stay with us Friday and/or Saturday night.  They asked what was planned and we reviewed the day’s schedule.  They were a little noncommittal, but acted interested.  I gave them my cell number and suggested they call and let us know their plans.  Long story short, they called Friday evening and said they would come Saturday morning and spend the day.  We met them at the park and had breakfast and then took them home for a while and then to the parade.  After the parade we went to the park for activities there.  Throughout the day, they had lots of comments and questions about what was happening and seemed very interested in all that took place.  Of course we had lots of family around much of the time and they interacted with everyone.  Julie and our daughter-in-law, Heather, seemed to particularly hit it off and spent quite a bit of time talking.  Julie was quite interested in the fact that Heather didn’t work outside the home.  That apparently is unheard of in France.  Our youngest son, Josh served his mission in the France Paris mission.  He attends BYU in Provo and we hoped he could come and spend the day and interact with them and use his French, but he was unable to be here.

During the afternoon we wanted to give them a uniquely American experience, something they would not likely be able to do in France.  I suggested three possibilities:  1) riding horses. 2) riding four-wheelers and 3) shooting guns.  They had never done any of the three.  When I asked if they had ever shot a gun they said, “NOOOO.”  When I asked if they would like to, they both said, “YEEESSSS!!!.” So that’s what we did.  I think they had a great time and became quite competitive to out-shoot the other.  It was fun to watch.

They mentioned that parades in France were usually military parades so ours was interesting to them.

 In the evening we went to the melodrama.  It was quite eventful as a lightning and thunder storm came up.  The production was moved indoors, which proved to be a good thing, as we could then hear much better.  Even through much of the humor was somewhat local in its nature, like asking if there was a doctor in the house and a local doctor who was playing the part of the woman replied that he/she didn’t know any good doctors in the area, they seemed to enjoy the production.

All day long we suggested they spend the night with us.  They didn’t want to inconvenience us and would not commit.  They finally informed us they intended to go back to Moab following the fireworks.  They had a campsite in Moab where their tent was set up.  They told us the previous night had been rainy and windy and miserable and they had gotten little sleep.  As the evening wore on and there appeared to be a big storm a brewing, we kept telling them they should stay and sleep in a nice soft warm bed and have a shower in the morning.  Thanks to the storm, they finally agreed.

Due to the storm, we ended up watching the fireworks from inside the car and then went home to bed.  They left early Sunday morning.  We gave them a Book of Mormon in French.  They seemed quite impressed that it was in French.  We had gotten it from the missionaries.  They said they would read it.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day.  Watching their reaction to everything was fun.  I think the family and all its attendant craziness, was quite interesting to them.  We absolutely loved the day.  whether or not we will ever see them again, or if anything will come of the B of M no one knows, but what a great experience for us, and (I think) for them.

At the shooting range and then the Melodrama

Another successful 4th of July in Blanding, made more special because of our time spent with our new friends, Bastian & Julie.