Escalante

Last week we took a trip to Escalante, Ut. They have an annual Plein Air Art Competition. We try to do this every year. Jared usually sells a painting and wins a prize which more than pays for the trip. Escalante is a beautiful place with lots of hikes and Indian ruins to explore. This year we decided to take both the kids. We left before the sun was up early Monday morning. We wanted to do most of the travelling while the kids slept in the car and we also wanted to get there early enough for Jared to scout out some places to paint. They stamp his canvas' as soon as he gets there so they know he painted them on location. Then he has four days to paint. We drove over the mountain to get there. The leaves had started to change and it was a beautiful drive. When Kendi woke up she was really excited to be in the mountains. Then she noticed the "Bird Lines." I asked her what bird lines were and she told me, "Bird Lines are for birds to sit on. They're like this...straight. Birds need somewhere to sit when their eggs hatch."


Aydri woke up and was hungry just as we were getting into Escalante. Jared immediately started looking for somewhere to paint. We couldn't check in to the hotel yet so we went with him. Jared found something to paint right off the road about five miles out of town. We parked by a sand hill that was as big as our house. Kendi played for four hours straight. She didn't want to leave when it was time to go. Aydri was bit cranky. She wouldn't eat much and had a hard time falling asleep. Looking back I think she may have been sick with possibly a sore throat. Not very fun when your stuck in a car. Once she finally fell asleep she stayed asleep for a while.


The weather was really nice. One of those cool autumn days where the sun is shining, but there's a nice breeze. I had to keep Aydri warm in the car and Kendi from getting sunburned outside. Jared got burned to a crisp. I got nothing and Kendi got very tan. We all have very different skin. Aydri was able to sit in her bouncer that has a canopy on it that finally came in handy. I realize that I should have taken more pictures. Anyone else hate packing a camera around and then get home and kick yourself for not taking more pictures?



Here is Jared's first painting. He scouted the hills for about an hour. While he was gone, a three point buck came trotting down the highway like it was on its way somewhere. It ran right past Kendi and I. It was the strangest thing. When Jared got back he was disappointed to have not found anything to paint. I pointed out this rock structure right by the road and he decided to paint it. Unfortunately, it became his least favorite painting of the trip. He won't even show it to anyone. Good thing he wasn't very fond of it because just as he finished and came over to eat lunch, he set it down by the cooler to look at it and Kendi stepped on it. There is currently a little footprint with sand smashed into the side of it.

Jared painted five paintings during the trip. This one he did in the Devil's Garden is my favorite. He painted it early with the morning sun shining on the rock structures. It reminds me of early morning sunrises at Lake Powell when the wind and the water are really calm. To see and read about the other paintings go to his art blog HERE.

The kids and I hung out at the hotel whenever Jared went out to paint. He would paint small paintings in the morning and then work on one large painting for the competition every evening. Our hotel room was small, but we had packed enough food and activities to keep us from going crazy. Kendi thought that we had moved and we were going to live in the mountains now. She was quite excited about it at first.



Somehow we had cell phone reception at the hotel and she was able to call my mom. The conversation went something like this: Kendi: Grandma, can you come get me? Grandma: I don't think so sweetheart. Kendi: You just go around a turn and go a long, long way and then you come to number 17. Grandma: I'm afraid your too far away it would take me all day. Kendi: That's okay.



I couldn't convince Kendi that we didn't really live in Escalante and we were going home in a few days. She kept asking, "Is this our home?" "Is this our bed, our TV?" She was really funny about it. One night I laid down by her before she went to sleep and I was asking her if she missed our home. She said, "I miss my bear, my dolls and grandma Jackie." It was sweet.



There wasn't anywhere to go with the kids near the hotel so we would take walks in the neighborhoods and look at the old houses. There is something charming about really small towns, especially old ones. There was the sweetest lady at the local grocery store. We went in there almost everyday. This lady would come right up to us and take Aydri. She would show her to all the other customers in the store while we shopped. Aydri smiled at everyone. It was fun to get to know some local people. Everyone we talked to knew someone that we knew.

There was an elementary school that we would visit every night after Jared was done painting. We met some really nice people there. There were not a lot of kids in town. The young couple we met said that there was only one other couple there age. Crazy. We told them to move to Cedar and live by us. They said they were considering it.



One night we went to eat at Georgie's Corner. Someone suggested it to us. I probably wouldn't have considered eating there if they hadn't. They were a little eager to decorate for Halloween already. They had excellent Mexican Food. I would eat there again. It was in one of the oldest houses in town. I love 19th century houses.

There was a fire pit at the hotel where we roasted marshmallows every night. Since I'm the most experienced marshmallow roaster, I did all the roasting while everyone else did all the eating. Kendi got to where she would just eat the mallows out of bag.

We got to meet most of the other artists and the Artists' Reception Wednesday night. We realized that we were the only ones with kids. I was surprised at how many artists came to this competition. Most of them were friendly.



Jared had to finish and turn in a painting on Thursday night. Somehow we forgot to bring frame for the painting. We ran around in a panic trying to find a generous artist with an extra frame. You'll have to ask Jared about a creepy and extremely strange house someone took him to to find a frame. It was so weird that I don't dare write about it. They left the house before they could find a frame because it was so weird. Thankfully, local artist, Lynn Griffin had an extra frame at his house. He is probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Of coarse everyone we met in Escalante was especially nice.



We had to go home Thursday night so we didn't get to stay for the awards. It was probably a good thing because of what won. Frankly we were disappointed with the pieces. They were abstract. What does abstract have to do with Plein Air? Enough about that. We also missed out on the Chautauqua they were having on Friday. They brought in relatives and experts to discuss the Everett Ruess case. If you've never heard of Everett Ruess click HERE. It is fascinating and tragic. The art festival has always been in conjunction and a tribute to Everett Ruess Days. I used to think it was silly until they claimed to have solved the mystery and I dug a little deeper about it. I have a copy of his wilderness journals that I started to read a few years ago when I came with Jared by myself, but I never finished it. I might go dig that out.



As we started to pull out of town, Kendi asked where we were going. When we told her we were going home she said that we were going the wrong way. She even started crying when we insisted that we were really going home. She truly thought that the hotel was our new home. If you ask her about our trip, she will tell you about "when we lived in the mountains."



We had tons of fun. Even though it was a strange sort of vacation. Kendi and I had lots of one on one time exploring and playing. Aydri was really good except for that first morning. I even learned how to knit while we hung out at the hotel. I show you what I made as soon as its done. It was worth the trip even though the competition was a disappointment. Jared has some really nice paintings.



Kendi took some pictures. I should let her do all the photography. They are way more fun to look at.

Now go read Jared's Blog.

Skyfest

We went to the Skyfest last week and it was a lot of fun. We had to wake the kids up early, but it was definitely worth it. Here's a groggy, but content Aydri.

The sun was just coming up as we got there.

Here's Kendi just after rolling out of bed. She wouldn't let me fix her hair. Oh well.

This is pretty much how Aydri enjoyed the whole thing.

We waited a while for the balloons. I think they were waiting for the right conditions. Kendi wasn't entirely patient. She wanted to play on the playground more than anything. But when they started blowing up the balloons she was fascinated. I had never seen this before so I was excited too. The balloons were HUGE.

Kendi's favorite was the clown balloon. Some of them had to take off really fast to clear the other balloons that were still on the ground. It was so much fun to see them lift off.

Aydri can sit up on her own, but for some reason she just chooses not to most of the time. Its funny to see her sitting forward in the bouncer. She has also figured out how to make it bounce. Something I never saw Kendi do. She really gets her feet swinging.

Kendi loves to play with her. She pretends to read her stories. Sometimes when Aydri is being fussy for me and I've tried everything, I just put her down by Kendi and she lights right up for her. They have a special relationship. Lets hope they stay that way.

Stay-at-Home Summer

We haven't got out much this summer. With all the sicknesses going around and having a new little baby we have mostly just stayed home. We've still been having fun though. One of Kendi's favorite things to do is get the crib mattress out and watch movies on the floor. We were waiting for Dad when I took this picture.

Kendi had her first friend sleep-over. Her friend was moving and her family was still packing. They spent the night at my parents house. When we left they were both pretty wired. I thought my mom was going to have her hands full, but surprisingly they were really good.

We've been experimenting with sleeping arrangements lately. Aydri is a noisy sleeper. So we put Aydri in her crib which is in Kendi's room and let Kendi sleep on the couch. By morning Aydri was back in our room because she kept getting hungry. We started her on cereal the next day and that seems to be helping.

It only took her a few minutes to get the hang of it.

Aydri has been rolling in every direction. It is harder for her to get to sleep now because she rolls onto her tummy and then cries. I roll her back over and before I leave the room she is back on her tummy. Now I know what those wedges are for. She finally fell asleep on her tummy and I had to take a picture. She's so sweet. Even in her sleep. I worry to much about her getting enough air so I rolled her back over. Taking the picture woke her up anyway.

We rarely have a picture of all of us together. I need to be better at that.

Where were you?

I can't believe that it has been eight years since the attack on the Sept. 11, 2001. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a senior in High School. I was a student aid in what we called the "woods" shop class. We had just taken roll when a freshmen student came in explaining why she was late. She had said that the United States was under attack. I seriously thought she was crazy. I was so ignorant. Then the Ceramics teacher came in with a very concerned looked on her face that I will never be able to get out of my mind. We turned on the TV and watched {LIVE} as the second plane hit the building. I sat their wondering why the media could get in position to catch the second plane and no attempt was made to stop it. I know there's a lot that I don't understand still.

I also remember thinking about Jared. He was in the Missionary Training Center at the time. I wondered how he would feel and how it would effect his mission. Later he told me that he hadn't even been told about it until that afternoon. He was told over the intercom by the president that there had been an attack on the World Trade Center. They didn't say much more about it. The language teachers were told not to talk about it. So he was left with very little information.

Later that same day, my Humanities teacher, Huck, had us write in our journals. I thought about digging it out, but from what I can remember writing, it would just sound silly because of what has happened since then. My thoughts on war have change and then changed again since then. I remember some friends didn't even know what was going on when I saw them in between classes and when I tried to explain what had happened they acted like it was just another tragedy. No big deal. That also made me realize how numb we were and still are to war and violence.

It always bothers me when I go to a movie and they have a "war" part where they show soldiers fighting and refugees fleeing. It feels wrong to sit in a theater enjoying my popcorn and watching terrible things for entertainment when I know that somewhere there are people all over the world living out those circumstances in real life. I've asked real soldiers how they feel about it when they see movies like this and some have said they wish it was portrayed more realistically.

Another teacher I had in sixth grade had told us that nothing historically significant had happened during our lifetime. We thought we were going to live in the "golden years" forever.

Its crazy how things change and will always continue to change. Jared used to joke about being an artist. People were always fascinated by his occupation. He would say, "When the economy goes to poop, art will be the first thing to go." I used to roll my eyes thinking that will never happen. What will the next eight years bring?

Does ANYONE have a sewing machine?

Update #2: I have no more spots left.

I'm looking for two people who want to make a free charm quilt for yourself. Actually, it might cost about $2, but I can help you with that if you need me too. What you get is 72 four inch quilt squares to do whatever you want with. I'm thinking of making some of these skirts instead of a quilt with mine:
Aren't they adorable? My girls are so far apart in age that the only way they will ever have matching outfits is if I make them myself. Also, I won't have to scrounge up batting or backing for the quilt. The hardest part about participating in this is that you need to find four other friends that will participate as well. And you need to be able to send each of them two purple quilt squares (I can help you with that). If you want some free quilt squares please leave your name and mailing address in a comment. I promise I won't publish the comments with addresses in them. I need to do this within a week.

August Ensign

Did anyone notice what was on page 56 of the August Ensign? We know who really reads their Ensign by who notices when they use Jared's art.

A few days ago Aydri was having a hard time falling asleep. I picked her up and rocked her and she was still struggling. I've noticed that she actually prefers to be down where she can move and play. She will even fuss if she's been held too much. So when she was getting squirmy I put her down by her toys and she rolled over and fell asleep. Funny girl.

One of Kendi's favorite things to do is go to the school playgrounds. She especially loves the slides. Kendi has been bored a bit this summer because we have stayed home with the baby a lot. We usually wait until evening to get out of the house.





We've gone up to Panguitch Lake to fish and cook dutch oven while everyone else mountain bikes down Buncker Creek. My camara died before I could get pictures of everyone.