September - December 2007

We love to go for drives, ride our 4-wheelers, and hike. We often stop just to appreciate the beautiful scenery. I bought some trekking poles this year which I really like on steep inclines and declines. Our hiking was a little limited this fall as both Reed and I had some foot issues. After canning fruit on our propane camp chef in the garage, Reed was dumping the boiling water out and it washed back on his feet. He was wearing Crocs with socks. He was burned quite badly and couldn't put shoes on for a couple of weeks. When we got back on the trails, one day we went from First Dam to Green Canyon and back. The following day we parked at the entrance of Millville Canyon and walked the trails along the deer fence into the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, the entire distance of Nibley Hollow Road, then Quarter Circle Drive and home. That was a killer! I ended up loosing my two big toenails. I also had a series of alcohol injections in my feet for neuromas. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the great outdoors. The first two pictures are from a hike in the Snow Basin area, the next five were taken on an ATV ride above Cinnamon Creek near Rosy's mine, and the last two are of Porcupine Dam in the fall.

Reed wanted to check out the North and East entrances of Yellowstone since he had only been through the South and West entrances. We were surprised to arrive at the Park to find an early snowstorm had transformed the area into a winter wonderland. The North entrance was closed due to the snow but would reopen as soon as they could get the roads clear. We went out the East side and stayed in Cody, Wyoming. We figured the roads would be open again the next day. Our plan was to go back through the East entrance and exit through the Northern route. No such luck -- both the North and East roads were closed. We went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center but we were too cheap to pay the admission fees so we headed home. It would have been a nice drive back except I got a speeding ticket. It was my first since the fall of 1972. I guess I was about due for one.

Reed and I completed our two year calling to serve as ordinance workers in the Logan Temple. We enjoyed being in the temple and the association we had with the other workers. It is a great place to be! When we were set apart as ordinance workers, the temple president was Vaughn J. Featherstone. I like this quote from him: "I promise you that all who faithfully attend to temple work will be blessed beyond measure. Your families will draw closer to the Lord, unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them, the veil will be thin, and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people." Following our temple service, we looked for a new opportunity to serve. We found it at: www.lds.org/csm. We received a mission call to spend 6 months (4/21/08 to 10/17/08) working with the Young Women of the Church at Heber Valley Camp. Check it out at: www.hebervalleycamp.org.


From October 20th to 28th we stayed in Herriman with Courtney, Hailey, Natalie and Kaden while Jill and Brandon were in Hawaii.

Granddaughter, Courtney Schvaneveldt, at Wendy's Restaurant.

Grandson, Kaden Schvaneveldt, at Wendy's.

Kaden in his skeleton shirt he made in Kindergarten.

Grandson, Miles Perry Hawkins, of Jenks, Oklahoma was blessed in Bountiful, Utah on November 3rd. Can you tell it was really sunny?

Granddaughter, Ashley Johnson, was in a play about Thanksgiving at an assembly at the Thomas Edison Charter School where she attends. She borrowed one of my "dress-ups" so she'd look like a pilgrim girl. In the picture she is on the far right. Ashley is wearing a bonnet and cream colored dress and her hair is in braids.

Grandson, Kaden Schvaneveldt, attended my CTR-5 Primary class the Sunday before Christmas. I let the kids dress up and role-play the nativity. Here is Kaden as Joseph with Paige as Mary.

Well, I can't end the year of 2007 without a pictures of the Christmas lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake.

August 2007

We did such a fine job making geranium cuttings in the fall of '06 that HJ would have been proud! The potted cuttings were put on a table in a window with a southern exposure and we tended them all winter long. We planted allium bulbs in the fall. In the early spring of '07 we potted begonia bulbs and germinated hollyhock seeds in trays. I wanted some hollyhocks like the ones Britzells had that grew through our east fence...the ones we used to make flower dolls. We took care of our plants and seedlings then planted them outdoors before leaving for China. We were pleasantly surprised at how well they did, and later in the summer we were rewarded with some pretty flowers. I wish I had taken more pictures.




Our vegetable garden produced well and kept us busy. On August 10th we had checked our corn and decided the next day we would pick it, shuck it, blanch it, cut it from the cobs, bag it and freeze it. The bean crop was dwindling after producing plenty for canning. We were picking beans when the phone rang. It was Jodi. She said the doctor was taking her baby that day due to some complications. She had been scheduled for August 21st and I had planned on going to Oklahoma to help, but this was only the 10th! We called Kim and told her she could have the entire corn patch. We asked for Bryan to mow the lawn. (It's nice to have someone in the family live close) We scrambled for subs at the temple, in primary etc. We threw some clothes in the car and took off. 9 hours of driving that afternoon and evening took us to Gallup, New Mexico where we stayed the night. It took 11 more hours to complete the journey. We went straight to the hospital where, thankfully, mom and baby were both doing fine. Miles was just an itty-bitty baby...much smaller than his big brother, Owen, had been at birth. Miles is our 15th grandchild. He broke the tie so now we have 7 granddaughters and 8 grandsons. Miles was originally scheduled to be delivered on cousin Tanner's 7th birthday. He ended up arriving on cousin Courtney's 12th birthday instead. Reed's main job was taking care of Owen while I tried to keep the house orderly and prepare meals. We stayed with Jodi and Ty for six nights and started the long homeward drive.




On the way home we stayed the first night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We visited the temple there.






The next day we made a detour to check out the Snowflake, Arizona Temple. We thought it was pretty. We liked the community and especially the area surrounding the temple.







We decided to make this into a sight-seeing vacation the rest of the way home so we drove to the Grand Canyon. After viewing the South Rim we drove to Marble Canyon to spend the night. The next day we saw Jacob Lake where Kim worked one summer. Then we viewed the canyon from the North Rim. As the crow flies, the North and South Rims are about 11 miles apart, but by car it is over 200 miles.






We continued on through Bryce Canyon, then up through the scenic route---Tropic, Escalante, Boulder and Loa. We saw some spectacular scenery. It made for a very long day, but we decided to head home to sleep in our own beds.

July 2007

Family Fun!!

In Attendance:
Reed and Kathy
Kim, Bryan, Riley, Ashley, Jayse and Brynlee
Jill, Brandon, Courtney, Hailey, Natalie and Kaden
Robin, Andrew, Ashlyn and Katelyn
Candace, Jory, Mason, Tanner and Landon
Absent:
Jodi, Ty and Owen

I bought white flag shirts for each of the grandkids. They wore them at the camp-out and also at Lagoon. We were glad that the Burkardts were able to come from Washington for the activities. Robin has to come at least once a year to thaw out. We were sad that the Hawkins family was unable to attend.

Milligan Family Camp-out
July 2nd - July 4th

I especially like family get-togethers in the summer when we can be outdoors and the kids can run, play, explore, be noisy and have a good time. Considering the dates of the camp-out, which were the only ones available all summer long, we had a great turnout. There were about 60 family members who attended. Some were able to stay the whole time while others were only able to come up for supper. We had lots of activities, crafts, a reader's theater, a piñata, face painting, geocaching, playing in the water, rides in handcarts, tasty food and good company. Unfortunately, my camera was in our tent for most of the time.





Conlin Family Lagoon Day
July 10th

We nearly had to take out a loan in order to purchase tickets for our whole crew! We all ate together at one of the pavilions. We went on some of the rides as a group such as "Rattlesnake Rapids," where we all got completely drenched. Later we split up. Jill took a bunch of the older kids with her and I don't think we ran into them the rest of the day. Reed and I took a few of the younger kids home with us in the early evening while the rest stayed until much later that night. It is too hard to take pictures while holding a hand of a grandkid, riding on a ride, or keeping an eye on the whereabouts of family members in a crowd. I know the young ones and the young-at-heart had a really fun time.

Candace and Mason

Landon, Jory and Tanner

Jayse, Kim and Brynlee

Robin, Ashlyn and Andrew

Conlin Family Bear Lake Day
July 13th
The day was perfect for Bear Lake...sunny and hot with warm water and sandy beaches. We took our boat and family members took turns knee boarding. The beach fills up fast so we had to put our pavilions up to hold us a spot.

The grandkids playing in the sand.

Natalie and Courtney smiling for the camera

The Conlin Girls and Brynlee

Jayse, Tanner and Landon

Ashlyn, Courtney, Hailey, (backs showing) Ashley and Natalie

Reed enjoying the shade in the gazebo

Brynlee, Jayse, Tanner, Landon and Kaden (clockwise starting on left side)

Ashley, Natalie and Ashlyn