Michael and Mallory

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Zion National Park

We left Grandma Clark's home early on Monday morning and began our journey to Nana and Papas house in Arizona. Madie was a happy camper and ready to go!

We saw some beautiful colors on our drive down. Hard to see in the photo.

At a rest stop, Madie was too scared to get out due to a 'tractor' (lawn mower), so she opted to play in the drivers seat.

It's always an adventure to turn on the car and see what has been turned off or on after she has played with it.

We got to the first entrance into Zion, which lead to Kolob Canyons. This was our first view. It was beautiful!

These canyons were very impressive. I wish we could have seen it in the peak of fall.

Finn is a frequent eater, so we decided to get out to stretch our legs on a trail.

We also got some lunch.

Caption this!

I love eating some Finn cheeks.

Happy Birthday Mal! This was her official birthday. What better way to spend it than to hit the trail of a National Park? That's the best I could do despite the long drive.

Finn was nice and cozy in the wrap.

Madie loves hiking. She is getting to the point to where she likes to actually hike, and not just sit in the pack on Dads back.

I think my favorite parts of the park was the drive from the Visitor Center through the East Entrance. I wish we could have spent more than 3 hours at the park. There is always a lot more to see and explore. I feel that we got a few of the basics out of the way though.

We will definitely have to come back one day and hike the narrows, see the subway, and hike angels landing.

Weekend in Utah

We got in to Utah and spent some time with Mallory's siblings. We also got some time to celebrate Mallory's 26th birthday! We went out to lunch, hung out, watched a movie at Alexa's outdoor theater, and just enjoyed being with family. We are excited to have Alexa (and Jake?) visit Maine in December.

Sunday morning we went to Temple Square. Our original intent was to watch Music & the Spoken Word, but we were shunned away to the theater because our kids are under eight years old. Disappointing, but it was still nice to visit.

Madie really liked the Christus statue. I think we went back to see it three times at her request.

Finn was a happy camper.

We spent Sunday night at Grandma's house and had a small reunion there with our relatives that live nearby.

Madie loved playing with the dollhouse that Grandpa made and loved talking to Grandma about her owie on her knee. Madie remembers this from when we visited in January for Levi's wedding.

Finn laying next to Conner, my cousin Derek's son. He is about 2 months older than Finn but weighs around 20 lbs! Finn is only at 12 lbs.

I took this picture for Mom. These were some vintage ice cream boats that Mom brought home from the High Spot when she was 16 or so. Grandma has kept them in pristine condition!

Madie has been wearing her cape everywhere, thank you Auble family!

Madie loved following around Grace (Derek's 9 year old) to play with the hula-hoops in Grandma's yard.

Goodbye, California!

We were sad to leave all of our great friends in Livermore last week. I can't believe we lived there for 2.5 years! I wish we would have taken more pictures our last couple of weeks...we said a lot of goodbyes to our friends that put on parties, dinners, and get togethers for us. Some friends even gave us some last minute gifts which included a cupcake hat and a cape for Madie!

Sister Savori was one of Madie's nursery leaders at church and gave her the cupcake hat.

This is Madie modeling it for us. She is more of a spontaneous performer and model....she doesn't do it on command.

After we shipped all of our stuff, we camped out on the living room floor for a couple of days.


We traveled to Utah all night on Thursday. The kids did as good as can be expected. We had to make a few stops for Finn. We were very relieved to make it to a flat bed to take a nap on Friday morning.

Special thanks to great friends that helped through the moving process.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Grammy Alexa

My maternal grandmother, Judy Alexa, passed away today. This post is so I will have a record of this in my family's history books. I have had both of my grandfathers pass away already, and although I miss them and still think of them often, it is undeniable I am closer to and know my grandmothers better. Maybe that's why I feel such a necessity to put something down.

Grammy Alexa needs to be put in the Guinness Book of Records as the most cheerful, uncomplaining woman in the history of Earth. She suffered through a case of rheumatic fever as a child that left her with a heart murmur, and dealt with various related issues since. She wasn't supposed to have children, and after having my Aunt Hope the doctors told her, "Okay, you pulled through one pregnancy, but really, no more." Then she had my mum two years later and the doctors took matters into their own hands to insure she wouldn't have any more. She mentioned to me numerous times how happy she was to have been blessed with "two wonderful daughters." Even in her last, very painful months (or perhaps years--did the pain in her legs ever end after it had started two or three years ago?) she always answered my concerned inquiries with, "Well, it hurts a little, but don't you worry, I'm doing just fine. And thank you for calling! It's so good to hear your voice!"

She was so excited that we were going to move back to Maine this year. She told me on the phone, "I am so tickled that you're coming. And I love it that Mike is the one who called me to keep me up to speed!" I think it made her feel like she had really gained another grandson the way Mike reached out to her. She loved her daughters and love her sons-in-law and loved her grandchildren and loved her great-grandchildren. And I guess that's what makes me the saddest: we are so close to being back in Maine--only 9 days away--and she died just before she got to meet Finnegan in person. I am glad that she was able to see him through the blessings of modern technology--video chatting is a blessing from God through the intelligence and inventiveness of men I feel every day--but she would have loved to hold him and see his dimples. And to see Madie and watch her with her new baby brother would have delighted her.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last.
~Kathrina von Schlegel, translated by Jane Borthwick

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Business Trip: Because Hiking Half Dome is Serious Business

Half Dome: the icon of mountaineering. It's embroidered as the logo for North Face & Sierra Designs products, featured by famous photographer Ansel Adams, was lauded by famous conservationist John Muir, admired by President Teddy Roosevelt, and climbed by hundreds of people from all over the world every single year. This mountain is so popular and dangerous that they had to install a lottery-permit system to limit the amount of people that hike it. The last 500 feet of the trail is literally up the side of a sheer granite dome with only cables to hold onto. A park ranger awaits at the bottom of the cables to check peoples permits before hikers summit. Now, they only allow 350 people per day to climb Half Dome. There have been some accidents and deaths which have propelled this system into what it is today.

I remember first talking about hiking it with Dad when I was a teenager, but we got too busy with life and didn't make it out. Coming back to live in the Bay Area after I graduated college almost ensured I would get up there at some point. In 2010 I set out to climb it with some friends. In 2010, you only needed a permit if it was a weekend or holiday, so we showed up to hike it on a Friday but they had so much snow that year that the park couldn't put the cables up yet. This was mid-June, too! In 2011, they required a permit 7 days a week all year. You had to enter the lottery to get a chance to climb it. I didn't apply for a permit, and my opportunity was lost.

Fast forward to 2012: I apply and win a permit in the Half Dome lottery! It also happens that they allowed my request for a party of 3. I was thinking "Who wouldn't want to climb with me? Finding someone should be no problem." I was thinking it could be a family thing with one of my brothers and Dad, but that idea dried up. Then I got a couple of really good friends who committed back in April. They ended up backing out for various reasons a few weeks ago (one within a week of the hike). By then, it was too short of notice for most people. And I was faced with this dilemma: Go alone, or don't go at all. We are moving to Maine in a few weeks, and I was NOT going to leave California without climbing this! I have been training for this all summer too (personal thanks to Madie for letting me haul her around on my back while I hike). So I went alone. This was my business trip.

I got to my camp at Crane Flat in the park at 9:00 pm on Thursday night, and slept in the car. I woke up to my alarm at 1:30 am, and was on the trail by 2:30 am. It was intimidating to go at night. You can't help but think about being stalked by a bear when you are carrying fresh fruit and beef jerky with you. It was pitch black, no moon. When I turned off my head lamp, I literally couldn't see my hand. The stars were amazing though. I made it to the top by 6:00 am. Not bad for 8.5 miles and climbing 5,000 ft! The cables were steeper than the pictures indicate. In all, I am so glad I was able to do this! Special thanks to Mallory for taking care of the kids and letting me cross this off of my bucket list.

And now good bye to Yosemite for a while. I regret not going to more National Parks while we lived in Northern California, but at the same time I don't regret a single Yosemite trip. That place is absolutely amazing and we will miss it.

My view from the top after summit.

Victory!

There were four German guys about my same age that were camping at the top when I arrived. It was nice to have someone to snap a few pictures for me.

Do you see me?

Where's Waldo?

The Germans and I all watched the sunrise together, which was one of the reasons I left as early as I did. It was really amazing to watch the rays beam through the peaks and light the surrounding scenery.