Christmas is in the Air

I can feel it in my bone, see it everywhere I look, and smell it in my kitchen. I love the scents of cinnamon, sugar, chocolate, peppermint and whatever else happens to be around. Right now, we're enjoying the scent of pecan pie muffins. So tasty. Later I have some sugar cookie dough I need to bake.

I love this time of year with it's happy busyness and my bouts of creativity. Most of all I love it because of the general feeling of goodwill I feel everywhere I go. I love that because it really communicates why we celebrate Christmas and this time of year. It's all because a babe was born over 200 years ago. That baby is the Son of God. I know that is true.

We believe in Christ and we believe in Christmas. These videos are amazing portrayals of the happenings of the New Testament starting with the birth of the Savior. I hope you take a moment to check them out. Enjoy and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

One Step Ahead . . .

Lately that has been my goal, just try and stay one step ahead. Mostly it has worked, though as you may have noticed our blog has suffered. The last few weeks have been busy. We've had lots of doctor appointments, three birthdays over the past three months, work, school, and just all of the changes that Hannah starting school has brought. It really has taken an adjustment.

My day doesn't really get started until about 10 am, though I'm up at 5:30. I get up and do some scripture study and then Hannah gets up at 5:50. The other two kids follow her pretty quickly and then it's hurry and get ready. I get her on the bus and the other two kids and I go for a walk. I walk about 5 miles while Jonathan runs around with his friends, Ben and William. We get home between 8:30 and 9 and then by the time I shower and feel ready to go out if need be it's usually 10. It means my days go by really fast when lunch gets here and then naps and then the bus and then dinner and bedtime.

I find I'm not getting as much done as usual but I still feel really good about things. The kids are happy and learning a lot as we work on things at home. Charlotte is so happy and easy going. It's hard to believe my baby is 1. It's even harder to believe that in April #4 will be joining us. Life is fun and crazy all at once.


I have lot's of sewing to do between now and Christmas and then packing and planning and preparing for all the changes that April and May will bring with a new baby and graduation. I have a feeling these next 6 months are going to fly.


Hannah is doing great at school. Her reading has made amazing strides the last few weeks. She now tries to read just about anything she sees. It is so exciting. Jonathan is just loving being the man of the house. It kind of cramps his style when Hannah is home from school. He is a great kid and makes us laugh a lot. Charlotte is super sweet. She is an explorer and adventurous but will give anyone a hug that will give her one. She loves to laugh and the other day tried to run after Jonathan. I don't know if I'm ready for another climber though.


What blessings the Lord has given us. I am so thankful for our family and friends. I promise, you are all on our thoughts and in our hearts.

What I've been working on

[Caution: this is something of a technical post.  Feel free to ignore it if wish.]

For the last several years I've been working on the development of Apache Subversion, a version control system tool primarily intended for use in developing software.  While it isn't the only such system out there, Subversion manages to strike a balance between power and usability which works for many people, even those working on non-software projects.  I use it personally to manage source code, financial data, my personal journal and lots of other content.

Subversion also has the nice property of being open source software, meaning that anybody can look at and edit the source code.  In fact, that's how I first got involved in the project, as I started fixing bugs which concerned me a few years ago.  Since then, I've spent the past few year doing consulting or working for companies which provide Subversion services and products.  It's given me a lot of freedom to do interesting stuff, while continuing to pursue my PhD and other activities.

My primary Subversion-related work over the past couple of years has been working on the next release: Subversion 1.7.  It's been a long road, but I'm happy to announce that we've finally gotten there: Apache Subversion 1.7.0 was released earlier this week.  I'm sure there will be further improvements in the next few weeks as we find and fix bugs, but this is a big milestone for the project, and elicits a certain sense of professional and personal accomplishment.

So if you're into this kind of thing, feel free to download the new Subversion, give it a spin, and let me know what you think.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Today

I haven't been very diligent in posting so I decided I would try to do better. I also decided to apply the common axiom, "There's no time like the present."

I wish I had some pictures from today but alas, the camera didn't make it in my bags. It all started at about 4:30 when Charlotte started fussing. It was only intermittent and I was able to ignore her until 5:30 when I had set my alarm to go ff anyway. I got up and gave her a bottle and put her back to bed. I jumped in the shower only to hear a tapping on the door about two minutes later, Hannah. Needless to say everyone was up by about 5:45 this morning.

We got ready for the day and headed off to San Antonio following a brief hello to Hyrum. What was in San Antonio? Well we had a ward temple trip planned and there was babysitting at a church building nearby. With our family growing and all of our friends' families growing as well, it has become increasingly difficult to ask someone to watch the kids for 6 hours so Hyrum and I jump at whatever chance we get to attend the temple.

I dropped the kids off and proceeded to the temple where I participated in some work there. It was a good experience and it was so nice to be able to pick my kids up after an hour and a half instead of 6. I went to pick them up and we all ate our lunch and headed down the road to see some friends from my BYU days.

A little sidebar--It rained on and off all day. It was lovely. The kids were a little sad they were in nice clothes because they so wanted to jump in puddles when we got home. Thankfully this was one time they decided to obey me.

After getting a little lost and turned around--apparently Mapquest and Google both have yet to figure out the right way to Joe and Sally's house--we finally got there, only to find them away. I was kicking myself for not calling and telling them we were coming. Jonathan was almost hysterical which is kind of comic because he was only 14 months the last time we saw them. Lucky for him, as we were just finishing up passing provisions around for the ride home, who should pull up but Joe and Sally.

It was so fun to visit with them. I am always amazed at how there are some people I can meet up with again after ages and we don't seem to miss a beat. Caleb is one of my new best friends and I think Jonathan was quite happy we got to see our friends. Poor Ella was so tired and didn't quite know what to do with us. Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon. We got home late and just in time for dinner, baths, and into bed.

What a day but it was a good one.

Clarification

So, that is the last time I let Hyrum write a vacation blog post. I won't add a lot but I do want to say that Hannah has declared this, "the best family vacation ever." I am grateful for that because I found it hot, sweaty, and not very enjoyable. The great part is that my family had a great time.

The kids loved the water, the sand and all the interesting animals. I enjoyed the animals and the scenery, I just wish there had been shade and it wasn't blazing hot. The kids and Hyrum came away with 2nd degree sunburns. It was not pretty and we tried so hard to keep everyone sun-screened. It was a good thing we were only on the beach for one day. I'm not ready to go the beach again for a long time but I think we'll remember this as a good trip for a long time to come.

Camping at the Beach

Last month, it was getting hot in Austin, so we went to the beach.

We went to Padre Island National Seashore, where we set up camp.

In the morning, we saw the sea turtles swim to the ocean.

We spent most of the day at the beach, swimming getting sunburned.

Charlotte had a great time too, and enjoyed eating the sand.

The children enjoyed swimming in the ocean.

We saw many birds and other wildlife.

Heather made some good dinner, but the burn ban meant the s'mores needed some imagination.

In the end, we're glad we went.

On the way home, we stopped at the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.

It was a good vacation, and great family adventure.

When Little Girls Grow Up

Yesterday marked a momentous day in our family. Hannah started school. Last Thursday we visited her classroom and met her teacher Ms. Lampman. We dropped off the plethora of school supplies and she explored her new surroundings.

All weekend she kept asking when it would be Monday. She only got up ten minutes early, for which I was grateful. She wore her back pack around for about 15 minutes before we left for school. She got up and got ready really well. She was so happy to head off though I think Jonathan was a little sad. He gave her a few hugs and kisses before he would let her go.

We arrived really early because there is no parking at the school. So we sat in the car and talked for about 10 minutes. Then we made our way up the school, taking a few moments for a couple pictures.


Hannah found her cubby and hung her back pack up. Then she picked out her sticker and without hardly a glance said, "Bye mom." Then I sat around in the cafeteria for a little while only to hear the same thing I had heard twice before. I felt like I had kind of wasted my morning by taking her to school yesterday but it was nice to see her to her class.


I wish it had been as easy as that, however, we went to pick her up from the bus and it was not the "butterfly bus" we'd been told she should ride. There was a lot of traffic on the bus drivers radio so we couldn't find out where she was. So they told us to go to the school and they would take her back there.

We went and quickly. I knew she would be so upset when she got there and I didn't want to miss her. We waited and waited. Finally just as I volunteered to go check where the office people thought the kids (there were two other kids on the wrong bus too) may have gotten off the bus, the bus rounded the corner. Hannah slowly made her way off the bus, wide eyed and scared. All I could do was hug her and cry with her. I finally found my voice and reassured her that she was fine and I was grateful that she had stayed on the bus. The principal was out there along with her teacher by them and they too, comforted and did what they could to help. The principal brought Hannah in for a little snack and a drink before we left. By the time we got in the car I think Hannah was all better and we headed to the Library.

That afternoon Hannah called her grandma's and her dad and related the story of her day to them. She started each time by telling about her bus adventure. By the time Hyrum heard it when he got home from work I think she was over it and she just felt like it was a real school adventure. Today she was ready to go back and all was well. We've figured out the real bus for her to ride and today, I have no doubts I will see her walk off the bus at our stop.

All in all, I am excited for this experience. It opens up our world a lot and while that has it's challenges, I really believe it will help us all grow and be better people. I look forward to Back to School Night in a couple weeks where we can learn more about the curriculum and more details about her class.

And time keeps rushing by . . .

I just wanted to share a few pictures and tales of our July adventures.

July 2nd we had a picnic at church in honor of the 4th of July. It was fun. The kids especially loved dressing up in the shirts grandma sent. Jonathan asked Hyrum and I if we would match so we obliged him by wearing striped shirts as well.



About once a week the kids and I go for a long walk. We walk the bike and hike trail around the lake by our home. We recently discovered about halfway around just beyond our usual walk is a splash pad. We walk there, I let the ids play for a few minutes and then we walk back to the car. They're only damp by the time we get home and it makes it a little better experience for them with something to look forward to.



The 10th of July brought a huge change for us as far as church goes. The Stake President announced our Ward was being split and a portion of it combined with a portion of another ward to created the Zilker Park Ward. We were released from our callings since we are in the new ward. It is an exciting new phase for the Church here in Austin and we are excited to be a part of it. There is a lot of work to be done but we are glad we get to roll our sleeve up and take part. Hyrum has been called as the Young Men President and I am the Compassionate Service Leader. This is a picture of the Austin Ward Bishopric the Sunday before the split.


Charlotte has officially joined the crew. She spends most of her time these days with Hannah and Jonathan. Here they are all enjoying a picnic.


Charlotte's new favorite position is standing. If she can get up, she will. It is so much fun to watch her. She's great fun. She has two teeth and is now 9 1/2 months old. We are so glad we have her.


The 23rd we celebrated Pioneer Day (usually the 24th of July but it was on Sunday this year) which is the day the LDS Church celebrates the first pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. We celebrated Texas Style with fried chicken and baked beans, along with some singing and parading. The snow cones were great because it's hot.


The last week of July Hyrum was out of town and though I don't have any pictures we finally made it to the Children's Museum for the first time since we got here. The kids liked the trains and Hannah enjoyed the flying pig station. You put a parachute with a pig on it, in a clamp, with a pulley, moved the pig up to a cone which released the parachute and the pig would glide to the ground. Thanks Angie and Josh for sharing that with us.

It was a good month, a hot one but a good one. We are praying for rain continually and invite anyone who wants to join us to do so. We went swimming a couple times and enjoyed that. We are trying to make the most of this summer since in just two and a half weeks Hannah will be officially a school girl and family weekday playtime will come to an abrupt halt.

What have we been watching?

Hannah: "Jonathan you're the green jersey."

Jonathan: "Yeah, you're the yellow."

Hannah: "No, I'm the pink with sparkles jersey."

Jonathan: "Well, then I'm the yellow because I go fast."



Well If you haven't guessed, we've been keeping tabs on Le Tour De France. It's been a fun thing to check in with Hyrum everyday and on the days he's worked from home we even joined in watching the day's stage. All I have to say is that I'm glad Hyrum doesn't ride like those guys. They are crazy. I never thought of cycling as a crazy man's sport but it definitely could fit in that category. There were a few times I held my breath watching them zoom down a mountain, cutting the corners on the switchbacks so tight I was sure they would lose control and careen down the mountain head first. Not a pretty picture and I was glad that didn't happen.

Anyway, It was pretty sweet. The Tour officials better watch out though, because if Hannah has any say in the matter they'll have a pink, sparkly jersey next.

Books, Books and more Books

This is the pile of books on our piano, well half the pile.

Matthews Elementary School does a summer reading challenge every year and this year is no exception. They even invited the incoming kindergarteners to join them. Hannah is suppose to read 100 books this summer. Well she can't read but, I am allowed to read to her. We have been going to the library a couple days a week for the past couple of weeks so we can get this challenge done. I think we will probably continue even once we've reached our 100 books. It's been pretty fun. We've found some cute books and we've found some not so cute books.

One I particularly like was this one:

It is a cute little story about a little girl getting ready to go to school. I probably enjoyed it because of Hannah's coming entrance into the world of formal education. It was a good little book and this has been a pretty fun challenge. We're halfway through.

Friday Walk

Friday, we decided to walk around the lake with some friends. Walking with six kids is not a speedy process especially when we only had four seats. We also started out with two bikes. We only have a trike for our kids so after about 5 minutes I quickly ran it back to the car. It didn't work very well.


The kids walked quite a bit and followed Ben as he rode his bike. It was fun. Reianna and I got to talk a little bit bit there were a lot of people on the trail. We stopped for a bit and fed the turtles, grackles, and pigeons. There weren't any ducks until we left and there were only two. Maybe they don't like the heat either.

We saw this turtle on the edge of the trail. It was fun to watch the kids get really excited. I don't the turtle was too excited to be the center of attention.

Charlotte and Sam were good sports just hanging out the strollers.

Day with Dad

Last Week Hannah asked if we could go up and see Hyrum on campus. We finally decided that Thursday was the day.


We rode the bus from our apartment through the city to campus. The kids had a blast. They don't have to be buckled in and Jonathan was so happy not to have to sit on my lap. They enjoyed looking out the windows, counting flags they saw and seeing the capitol building which they remembered visiting with Grandma and Grandpa H.

We got to campus and enjoyed our picnic in the lounge near Hyrum's office. I was so happy Hannah consented to an indoor picnic. It's hot and humid here right now, not exactly wonderful picnic weather.


We then made our routine stop to the turtle pond. There was so much algae that the turtles just swam through, under and around it. I even saw a few take a bite and enjoy it for lunch. There were tons of turtles and they came right over to where we were standing watching them. Hannah and Jonathan just loved it.


We then headed back to the bus and we were homeward bound. It was a fun activity and it's always nice to have lunch with Dad.

Untitled

I don't really have a very good title for this so I'm just going to fore go it.

We are finally feeling better after over two weeks of sickness. It wasn't the flu (I almost wish it had been then I would have know it would been 7-10 days) but instead a cold that just went on and on. I started feeling sick over two weeks ago and then Father's Day Hyrum wasn't feeling well. Wednesday we went to his parent's and he had a 103 temp by that afternoon. He was the only one with a fever but over the course of the past two weeks, we have all had a terrible cough, Jonathan is taking antibiotics for an ear infection and I am still battling a sore throat. Apparently Charlotte has gotten through this unscathed and we hope it stays that way.

I have lost one of my dearest friends this past week. Their family moved away after finishing their doctoral work. It's wonderful to see them moving on and accomplishing this dream that we all share but I will miss Editt and all the things that her friendship meant to me. I am so thankful for telephones and skype. It will be great to see them again when we drive to my parent's house again because they are on the way. Look out, we're coming : )

It has been a rough couple of weeks but hopefully soon things will calm down and get back to some measure of normal.

More Data Please

Ever since I've been riding my bike, I've been obsessed with collecting data about those rides. For many years, I've had a cyclometer, usually a Cateye Mity 3, and most recently the wireless version of the same. They are great little devices, and do a wonderful job of tracking horizontal distance.

However, recently, I've been riding a lot of hills, and have been interested in other parameters. How much vertical climbing am I doing? What is my cadence like? How steady is my heart rate? What's the profile of the ride?

To really answer these questions, I needed a new solution, and so after several months of wishing, I finally broke down and used our REI dividend to fund the purchase of a Garmin Edge 500, including the ANT+ heart rate monitor and cadence sensors. While I haven't yet figured out all the functions, it is fun to track all kinds of data and learn more about my riding style and the terrain I ride over. Using Garmin's software makes visualizing the data pretty easy, and as I do longer rides, I'm hoping to use the data to actually improve, rather than just describe the kinds of riding I do.

Below is a ride I did Saturday evening down Loop 360. It actually turned out quite eventful, as I got a flat at mile 11.6, and didn't have any inflator cartridges to pump up my new tire. Through the kindness of strangers, I eventually got it inflated and got going again, but by that time it was dark, and I accidentally turned the GPS off during the biggest hill on the climb. Argh!

Hopefully future rides are just as data rich, but much less exciting.

Kindergarten Round-Up

Today I took Hannah to the elementary school she will be attending in the Fall. She was pretty excited. After being in the building, I must say that I am too. I think she will really enjoy it and have a good time.

I can't believe she is ready for school. She doesn't turn 5 until August but it is still so close. School will bring with it a new set of challenges and experiences but I am really excited about it. I think it will be a really positive experience for all of us.

Strawberry Picking

The day after I got back from Utah we drove as family to the strawberry patch. We had been planning on doing this for a couple weeks and it just kept getting moved. We finally fit it in and we were so glad we did. The picking wasn't great but the were decent and still on sale if you bought a lot. We certainly bought a lot. We picked 31.5 lbs of strawberries.


It was a perfect day. It got a little warm as the day wore on and we all came home a little pink. It was fun though. I am so glad Hyrum was able to join us. Hannah and Jonathan helped for about 30 minutes and then for the rest of the time made sandcastles and probably would have tried climbing the peach trees had I not stopped them. Charlotte spent most of the morning in the stroller and the last little while in Hyrum's arms.

We finished after picking for 3 hours and then enjoyed a picnic before the two hour drive home. Over the next few days we mashed, sugared, and jammed most of the berries. The best part was that everyone helped. Hyrum spent a bit of time helping my stir and measure in sugar and pour it in jars and wiped them clean for me. I love it when my family helps. We canned over 40 jars of jam and right now my freezer is bursting. We are so excited.

Rexburg or Bust?

My sister graduated from college the first weekend in April. There are a couple more things she has to do to get her diploma but she is done with BYU-Idaho. We are all so happy for her. It has been a long road for her and I am so proud of her hard work.


I talked to my parents as they were preparing to head out for the graduation and I was just so sad that I wouldn't be able to be there to spend the special day with my sister and see my brothers. My whole family hadn't been together since Hyrum and I graduated five years ago. I really wanted to be there. We talked about it and I thought and thought and thought and finally through a lot of praying and thinking decided I could give myself permission to go.


Hyrum's mom watched the kids for us since Hyrum has a crazy weekend that week and I flew out to Utah few days later. It was great. I met my parents at the Salt Lake Airport and we drove north to Rexburg, Idaho. It was snowing, a lot. Charlotte was with me and I was a little worried about how she would do, but she was a great little trooper.

We shared a room in Idaho Falls and surprised my sister Friday morning. We helped her pack and clean her apartment. Then we spent the day running errands and wasting time. We had dinner and watched the snow heavily fall outside. With so much snow we took Kallie home and headed back to our hotel. We enjoyed the Food Network while we were there.

Saturday was graduation, check-out, move-in and the drive back to Provo(again, in the snow). We got up at 5 to be ready to graduation and didn't get to Provo until 9 pm that night. Poor Charlotte was ready for bed. Sunday we spent the day with my brother, Nathan and for the first time in five years my immediate family was together. We missed Hyrum and the other two kids but it was so great to be with my family. I love them and miss them so much.


My niece and nephew loved Charlotte. Quinn just kept stroking her face saying, "cute." They were sweet. She loved it. I think she missed Hannah and Jonathan. Monday we visited Konni, and just hung out with my family. That night we had pizza at Nathan and Emily's. It was great fun. It was so hard to leave that evening.


I had such a blast. It was hard to leave knowing that I will never again be sure when the next time I will see my whole family together again. I am so grateful for the promise of an eternal family. I know that I have to live worthy of those covenants but I know it's possible. I also realized the importance of my own family. I am so grateful for Hyrum, Hannah, Jonathan, and Charlotte. They are such a blessing.

The real problem with federal spending

I have some fairly strong opinions about the way government ought to be run, but I usually keep them to myself. I don't know why this particular issue is blog-worthy, but it's something I've been pondering ever since the "Road Construction Ahead" signs went up outside my apartment complex last week.

I am a cyclist. I am a cyclist who commutes daily, often in an urban environment. I ride move than 10 miles on uneven potholed roads while competing for space with cars. About ¼ to ⅓ of the roads I ride on have bike lanes in various states of repair. They are a blessing to both the cyclists and automobile drivers.

The construction signs went up last week on the main street in front of our apartment complex. While it will be a bit of an inconvenience, I'm generally grateful for public works projects which improve infrastructure. However, I was curious what the construction was for. Were they widening the road? Resurfacing? Adding a sidewalk to the north side?

After a bit of searching, I discovered a couple of news stories briefly mentioning the purpose of the construction:

Cyclists in Austin will soon have more room on the road.

Thursday the city council approved a plan to create bike-only lanes along Lake Austin Boulevard at Lyons golf course.

Cyclists say the lanes will tie together pre-existing lanes in West Austin. They say they should also make the road safer for cars and bikes alike.

"Cool!" I think. This is a road I ride multiple times per day, and they are going to improve the bike lanes. What could be bad about that?

Then I found this little nugget at the end:

The lanes come at a cost of more than $800,000. Federal tax funds will pay for them.

And that's where I have a problem. Neglecting the fact that almost a million dollars will be spent on this project, it's the source of the funding that I really take issue with. Why in the world is the federal government paying for the 1¼ miles of bike lane outside my apartment? How in the world is this remotely related to anybody beyond my immediate locale, and why should they be funding this? If anything, the funding should be coming from city coffers, since it's the citizens of Austin who will benefit, and none of the other 300 million members of our democratic republic.

But you know what? The citizens of Austin probably are paying for this anyway! The city can't raise the money it needs to because of the onerous tax burden placed on its residents by Washington, so they have to get those same dollars by chasing grant money coming from Congress. Instead of keeping the money locally, where is it taxed and spent, it gets to go on a 3,000-mile trip to Washington and back, with dozens of people and organizations taking their cut along the way.

The end result is little accountability, and lots of overhead, meaning that a $800,000 project is probably paid for by taxing 2 or 3 times that.

And that, my friends, is the real problem with federal spending: the fact that the vast majority of it exists at all. It should be local or state spending, but not federal. Unfortunately, the little sentence known as the Tenth Amendment has long ago lost any meaning for the vast majority of American leaders.

(You may now go back to your regularly-scheduled programming. I promise not to wax political for at least a few more months. :) )

April Fool's Day Delight

April Fool's Day is an interesting thing. Most people really don't seem to like it. I'm not into the pranking aspect of it because frankly they generally seem a little mean. I do however love to have fun with food.


We had a silly April Fool's Day Dinner with a bunch of our friends. It was pretty fun to see and hear everyone's reaction to their dinner. We had meatball sandwiches, cupcakes, fruit skewers, and cinnamon rolls, accompanied by berry sodas.


One of the kids was so disturbed when his succulent cinnamon rolls tasted like a cheesy beef roll up that he wouldn't eat anything else. We laughed as the kids tried to suck their berry sodas through the straws and it was fun to have fun with our friends.


My kids keep asking when we get to have a silly dinner again, I think it's just because they liked eating their dessert first.

Camping Trip

We went on our annual camping trip. (Annual in the sense that we go camping about once a year.) The early spring and late fall are the best places to go camping around here because it is so hot in the summer. We camped at Buescher State Park and it was really pretty. We were almost the only ones there. It was funny because we found out the other group was a bunch of LDS homeschooling families from the Houston area. Come to find out we even knew one of the families as they had lived here when we moved in five years ago. Pretty crazy.


We bought fire wood and s'more supplies, along with all our other camping gear and headed out Monday just after lunch. We all slept on the way out except our trusty driver, Hyrum. We set up camp and went to play on the playground at the park. It was a beautiful day, if a little on the cool side, it was still perfect weather for camping. At this point, the only down side was that we couldn't use our fire wood due to a burn ban. For me, camping isn't camping without a camp fire so I was a little disappointed. It was a good thing we brought enough charcoal though so we were still able to enjoy s'mores, and enjoy them we did.


Tuesday morning I woke up early and definitely not bright. I had to take Hannah to the bathroom and felt a slight mist in the air. I was still optimistic it would burn off and we would have a lovely day. Well the mist got a little heavier and soon we had very large rain drops. It wasn't pouring or raining very hard but it rained for a few hours so things got wet. It let up late morning and the kids and Hyrum went for walks while I cleaned up breakfast and waited for Charlotte to wake up from her nap.


We went back to the playground and then ate lunch and mid-afternoon we went for a little walk. It was a little gray still but I hoped we had seen the last of the rain. As we started coals for roasting hot dogs It started to rain again. The only other people there had decided to rent the shelter to keep warm and dry. (You burn fire wood there) They invited us to join them so after eating dinner and cleaning up we went over there. It was nice and warm and because of chimneys, we didn't smell too much like smoke afterwards. We had a bit of excitement that required a shower for Hannah but we made it through the day without too much trouble and a little fun to boot. Everybody slept great that night too.


The next morning was freezing. The wind had blown all night and moved the front through leaving a lot of cold air around. I was grateful that the shelter was still rented and fire was still burning. I made breakfast and we headed over there to enjoy it while the morning warmed up. Hyrum had a couple of call for work that morning but we broke up camp around 11, headed to the playground for last time. We ate lunch there and headed home. We dragged our tired, dirty selves into our apartment about 3 pm on Wednesday afternoon. As quickly as we could we got things cleaned up and by the time everyone went to bed that night I really only had laundry left to do.

It was a good trip. It was nice to be able to spend time together as a family and watch Hyrum with the kids. He was a good help with them while we were camping. I look forward to next time and hopefully rain won't be in the forecast.