Wildflowers of spring & brilliant colors of fall

I am just about caught up on this blog since there is really nothing else to do here. I would rather be busy or head home. We had a charter school on the challenge course yesterday but no one is scheduled until the 10th and 11th of October. This weekend is General Conference so the camp will be closed. My big influx of new posts sort of mixes everything up. It bugs me that they are not organized in chronological order.

Pretty to look at but an invasive menace here on the mountain. Some missionaries spend hours spraying them. Others spend hours pulling them or removing the blossoms. I have garbage sacks and leather work gloves in the back of my 4-wheeler and I have been on thistle patrol, stopping to pull thistles when I spy the purple flowers.

Although the camp has some beaver ponds, I haven't seen any beavers. When we went around Legacy Lake we saw lots of chewed off aspen stumps like in this picture.

This picture of the backside of Mount Timpanogos was taken today. I didn't have the camera with the high-powered zoom. It is really hard to see, but there are some small patches of snow that still haven't melted. They look like tiny dots in the picture. We have wondered all season if last winter's snow would be gone by the time this winter's snow starts to accumulate. This weekend will probably usher in colder temperatures so who knows?

This picture and the remaining ones on this post were taken today. I have posted many fall pictures already but I had cabin fever and had to get out for a few minutes. I guess part of my problem is that for the past couple of years I have really wanted to be back in the New England states to see the fall colors about this time. The last two pictures were taken from our front door.

A trip home...

Last Sunday we drove to Cache Valley to attend my nephew's missionary farewell. Ben Milligan has been called to serve in the Eugene Oregon Mission and leaves on October 1st. After sacrament meeting Ron and Jodie put on a really nice and tasty dinner. I enjoyed seeing so many family members; I just wish I could have visited with each of them a little more. Good luck Ben! I hardly recognized him with his new 'missionary haircut.'

Jill and Brandon purchased a building lot on the Providence Bench. They are going to have a gorgeous view! They rented a storage shed for some of their belongings so our family room, backyard garage and workshop are a little more accessible. They did a lot of cleaning and organizing. We now have room for our ATVs. The building contractor says it will take just 4 months to build their home. I am planning on more like 6 months.

Candace's new baby's name is Brooklyn Kaye VanWagenen. That is a change from what I previously reported.

We were able to find an old washing machine with a stainless steel tub to use for a firepit. We have to disassemble it, however. We have made some of the special sticks to use to make camp treats over a fire.

Grandchildren, Riley and Ashley Johnson, appear to have grown 3 or 4 inches taller in the time we have been on our mission. Riley, 12, now towers above me.

It will seem strange to go back to the real world. Up here we don't lock our cabin door even when we leave for a day or two. When we go to the challenge course we leave the keys in the ignition of our 4-wheelers. I've even left my key in the 4-wheeler overnight. Once I left my camera strapped on my ATV all night. We don't lock the car or pickup doors either. I hope I don't have a problem as I'm out of the habit of wearing a seatbelt around camp. Since the bulk of the campers left I usually slow down but don't stop at stop signs.

Game bags

As our time winds down I am trying to wrap up some of our assignments. Today I went to Camp Snow and Camp Reeder to pick up their game bags to inventory and store for the winter. Inside these duffle bags are many props, game pieces, instructions etc. In the event that bad weather closes a challenge course, we take a bag into a pavilion to conduct games during the time that the participants would have been on the challenge course. Most of the games could be what you might play at a birthday party or family reunion. We stress teamwork, learning from mistakes, cooperation, planning etc. Some of the missionaries have purchased supplies to make game bags for themselves.

Sister Watson

One of our neighbors, Sister Watson, has served for two summers as the camp naturalist. She is 73 years old and has eleven children. She nursed along a tomato plant all summer. It is a lot cooler here in the mountains so I am surprised she had any luck at all. Often she left her porch light on hoping it would keep the deer away from her prized plant. As soon as a tomato would ripen Sister Watson would give it to a neighbor. After all the immediate neighbors had received 'the fruits of her labor,' Sister Watson said she was finally going to keep any remaining tomatos as she hadn't even kept one for herself. She also brought us some fruit from her trees at her home. What a nice person! The following two pictures are from Sister Watson's porch. She put the rest of us to shame.

Scripture Favors

I have made reference to the little scriptures I make. Here is one I made with the camp scripture on it. I cut some black cardstock and round the corners. I glue down the end of a thin, red satin ribbon. Two Hershey Nuggets in gold foil are glued down. Next comes the scripture page. The last step is gluing the red marker ribbon down between the pages. I have made these as handouts for lessons and have changed the scripture to fit the occasion.

Deer and moose around camp

More Challenge Course Pictures

Reed and I generally haven't taken any pictures of each other while here at Heber Valley Camp. We appreciate Elder and Sister Cole who have provided us with many of the pictures posted on this blog. For 15 years they owned and operated a camera store. Several of the missionary couples have purchased new cameras at Elder Cole's recommendation and then he gives camera lessons. Elder and Sister Cole lived in Corvallis, Oregon for 40 years and currently live in Newport, Oregon in the summer and Yuma, Arizona in the winter. They have four sons. We really enjoy their friendship. They will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary while we are on our cruise in February.



This is Elder Cole (Roger) sitting outside his motor home. He is from Franklin, Idaho. Though older than Reed, the two knew each other and obviously know many of the same people. Elder Cole is always in high gear. He gets up at 5 a.m. each morning and doesn't stop all day. He dusts and shines his pickup and motor home each day and washes the windows too. Elder Cole and his wife are the host couple for Challenge Course I.

This is Sister Cole. Her maiden name is Deon Fuhriman and is from Providence. The two of us know alot of the same people as well. Deon was a cheerleader at South Cache High School. She is very talented and a lot of fun to be around.

Following an activity on the challenge course, we take a few minutes to "process" the activity. We discuss what it took to accomplish the exercise, how we could compare various aspects of the activity to things in our life, and ask what spiritual lessons could be learned. This picture shows Reed discussing the Giant Swing with a group of leaders who came to our challenge course.

I am assisting in preparing Brother Horner to be 'launched' at the swing.

Left to right: Elder Conlin, Sister Conlin, Sister Spencer, Sister Cole, Sister Anderson and part of Elder Spencer. We are visiting while waiting for a group of participants to arrive on the challenge course. Depending on the size and dynamics of the group, there are usually between five and seven missionaries assigned to work each shift.

This is Reed on Challenge Course II. We were having a challenge course party for all missionaries so they could experience the fun and thrills just like the young women and families. Although having other assignments at camp, most missionaries are scheduled to work on the challenge courses too.

This is the 'high course' on Challenge Course II. We did this when our family came to stay. First you put on a harness and helmet then climb up the pole on the right side of the picture. Next, the participant walks across the log which is about 25 feet off the ground. When arriving at the other side, the helper in the 'crow's nest' takes you off belay and hooks you up to the zipline. You sit on a little platform and 'take off.'




Whe-e-e-e-w-w! Down the zipline you go. Another missionary functions as the 'ladder person' and 'catches' the participant on the rebound and guides them to the ladder to be unhooked.

Yearbook Pictures

Do these faces look familiar to you? Any guesses?

Jill created these on yearbookyourself.com using pictures taken this summer.

Dock of the Bay

Tonight we went to the "Dock of the Bay Restaurant." Out of all the places we have been to eat in the Heber City area, we like this place best. The restaurant doesn't open until 6 p.m. and we arrived about 20 minutes early. I took this picture as we waited for the doors to open. We took our next door neighbors, Conway and Pauline Clayton, with us. They are the neatest, nicest people you could ever meet. We couldn't have better 'cabin mates.' They live in Orem during the summer and St. George during the winter. They have been here at the camp for 3 summers. Before that they served as Conference Center missionary guides and also as missionaries at the historical sites in St. George.



"Dock of the Bay Restaurant" is at Deer Creek Reservoir. Here is a portion of their large deck with the water in the background. The Heber Creeper Railroad travels along tracks on the far side of the reservoir.

Wienie Roast

There is an activities committee who plans movie nights, pot-lucks, trail rides, parties, concerts and everything else you could think of. We don't try to be anti-social or party-poopers but we only go to half of them. Besides the activities every Saturday night and the Potluck Dinner every Sunday, there are mid-week activities. Who has the energy after a hard day of work?

We recently had a wienie roast at the waterfront pavilion. We decided to attend. I am actually in this picture in the center clear down near the end of the row.

After sunset we sat around the fire and played a game, visited, roasted marshmallows and watched the moon come up over the mountains. Reed and I are in the center of this picture in camp chairs.

I look like a real grump in this one. There were graham crackers, Hershey chocolate bars and marshmallows for making smores. I took the candy bar and enjoyed pure, unadulterated chocolate...forget the other ingredients.