For the Beauty of the Earth and a little dog sledding...

“Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.”

-Thornton Wilder

This quote was in my inbox the day before we left for Yellowstone this month.  We went down for our usual snowmobiling trip with Vision Source.  It was fun.  The weather was good, a little foggy to be able to go to Two Top, but we still had fun, were able to snowmobile a lot, and in a new twist, we both got stuck at different points in the day.  

This quote is from "Our Town", a play by Thornton Wilder.  I imagine Emily is saying it as she looks down on her town after she dies.  She realizes how great the earth is, what she had when she was there, and what she is missing now that she has passed on to the other side.

My first thought when I read this is how beautiful and wondrous the earth is.  I can't help but utter a prayer of Thanksgiving when I am out in Nature.  At times I am close to being overcome by the Earth and her MANY facets.  Each beautiful in its own way.  In fact, one of my favorite instagram accounts is usinterior!  Each day I get at least one amazing photo of this place we call Earth, and the diverse beauty of it.  One of the best examples of our gorgeous world is Yellowstone National Park.  Unfortunately, this year, I really didn't get any good pictures, so I stole from my archives for this post.  The great thing about that is the sights are still there, still breathtaking, and barring some volcano or other natural disaster, will be around for a long time.  

The Snow Giants

The falls of the Firehole River - Yellowstone National Park

One of the many geothermic features at Yellowstone National Park

So, yes Emily, Earth is to wonderful for us to realize...in so many ways!!  I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves us so much, He sent His son to create this wonderful planet for us to live on.  Yes, it has its problems, (although, I'd say the majority of those are caused by the inhabitants, and not the planet itself) but, everyday, I am grateful to be here, in such a lovely place to live, to love, and to prove I am up to the challenge of living in such a way so I can return to that same Heavenly Father, whose daughter I am, someday.  That is what life is all about.

Now, on to less weighty matters...

The day after snowmobiling, we got to try dog sledding!  That was a great experience!  Definitely a new one!!  There were two rules.  1 - Hang on.  2 - Don't let go!   You have to hang on because the dogs LOVE to run!  They are bred to run.  As soon as they realize it is almost time to go, they bark, they jump, they whine, they can't contain themselves until they get down to the business of pulling the sled!  So, should the driver not be able to step on the brake, they will take off down the trail!

Well just let me say in my defense that it is really hard to steer the sled, and at one point, I leaned hard into the turn, and thought we were going over!!!  I broke rule #2.  Luckily, our guide, Moffet (is that the greatest name for a sled dog guide?) was in the front of the sled and jumped out, and stopped the sled.  Who knows where John would have ended up otherwise??  I ran fast to catch it, but would have been toast if not for Moffet.

John was a much better driver, to say the least.  I was happy to turn over the proverbial reins when we got back to the start, and he had another successful run with the dogs.  He did not break Rule #1 or Rule #2.  He is a good listener!!

At the helm of the dog sled.  (Do you hear the foreboding music???)

Yellowstone take 2

 In 2011, John and I went to Yellowstone National Park to snowmobile with the Vision Source group from Southern Idaho.  They have adopted us, and invite us each year, so we left Thursday and made our way to West Yellowstone, Montana to begin this year's adventure.  Here are a few pictures to document our weekend.  The weather was perfect the day we went snowmobiling.  It was also pretty nice the day we went into the park - not freezing but just cold enough to remind a person why there is still snow on the ground.

On top of the mountain.  When I saw this picture, I caught a glimpse of my little girl self in my face.  That was kind of a weird moment.

I love this picture of the snow giants.  See that brilliant blue sky?  Beautiful!!  When I see this picture, the phrase "I think to myself, what a wonderful world" immediately comes to mind.

This was the picture hanging above our bed in the hotel.  It cracked me up!  The caption reads, "Always willing to help".  I'm so glad I didn't have to wear hose and a hat to see the attractions of Yellowstone!!

We saw more than our share of bison.  It is really hard to believe they were so close to being wiped out at one point.  Its also hard to imagine them covering the plains prior to their near-extinction.  

This coyote had his chance to have goose for dinner, but seemed more interested in just exploring the land.  The geese were pretty worried though.

Our destination was Old Faithful.  We pulled into the parking lot of the visitor's center about 10 minutes before it was supposed to erupt.  It kept us guessing and was even a few minutes past its 10 minute +/- time frame.  I got a kick out of the snowmen welcoming us to the geyser.  I only thought of the "song" (you know which one I mean) for a few minutes and was grateful it didn't stick in my head.  

Our guide told us it usually tops out at about 135 feet, and the eruption we saw went up to 140 feet.  I guess that extra time helped build up the pressure.

I think my favorite part of the tour was seeing the geothermic features. Part of our tour included the Fountain Paint Pot tour.   This picture is of Silex Spring.  Its beautiful color is a result of the minerals found in the spring, namely Silica.

Red Spouter is a bubbling mud pot.  

The Fountain Paint Pots

The Firehole River Falls.  This was another favorite spot.  The river never freezes because of the hot water from the geothermal features that feed it.

John and I took advantage of a popular photo spot in front of the falls.  (Here is a funny thing.  As you can see from the other Yellowstone blog post John and I are wearing the same coats in it!  I guess we both really like our winter coats!!)

And because we seldom take a really good picture together, I included this one.  Not the best picture, but look how much fun we are having!!  ;)

In other family news, congrats to Kristin who qualified for Deca Nationals this weekend.  She has decided she won't go this year, but what a great thing to qualify your first year!  Congrats to her!!

A baby blessing and a long drive home

 Earlier this month, Chelsie had her tonsils out.  Yep, just a month after having a baby!!  She came home for a week so we could take care of her and Carter and Dallin could get caught up on things in his life.  At the end of the week, we took them back to Seattle, and were able to be present for Carter's blessing.  What a treat.  Even though we couldn't hear what Dallin was saying because they didn't turn on the mic, it was great to be there.  The really exciting moment came when we weren't sure we were actually going to make it in time.  Being a pro-baby, Carter decided to be very unpredictable and some of us, including the guest of honor were very late to Sacrament Meeting.  In the end, we made it and it was lovely.  After church, we headed to Jeff's (one of Dallin's brothers) house and enjoyed a meal and lots of conversation with lots of Dallin's family.  It was really nice to catch up with some of them who we hadn't seen since Chelsie and Dallin got married.

I do not know why this is such a poor quality picture!!

The real excitement, though, came on Monday when it was time to head home.  We knew the night before that the weather could possibly close the pass , but we were hoping for the best.  As it happened, it was closed when we got up so Trevor, Dallin and John headed to the bike store, Kristin and I headed for a shopping center and Chelsie and the baby stayed home for some quiet.  After a few hours, when I was very tired of shopping, I checked my phone and yes! the pass was open! We rushed back to the apartment, got our lunch made, packed the car and headed out.  Much to our dismay, in an effort to avoid some traffic delays, we took a different interstate than usual, and yes, we got lost!  We missed the turn, and ended up backtracking and losing at least 20 minutes, maybe a little more!!  Shoot!!

By the time we got a little over a mile before the summit, the pass was closed again!  They had to clean up some cars that had spun out, and also do some avalanche control.  The picture below is the view we got to look at for TWO + hours!!  We couldn't believe it.  TWO + hours of just sitting, occasionally listening to the AM radio station that broadcasts the traffic report.  Listening to it tell us it would be at least two hours before they would open the pass again!  What could we do but sit?  So we did.

We were ever so grateful when the traffic started to move, slow but sure!  Seeing the Exit sign below let us know we were making progress.  

You can see that the road is just slushy and wet.  It would have been fine had there not been cars to clear out!!

We got a huge laugh out of this sight as we went by.  Someone used their time to have a little fun!  I wonder if they sang "Do you wanna build a snowman?" the whole time they were building it.  Sadly, although that is a great song, my mind can't stop playing it once I hear it, even if hearing it means I just started singing it in my head, which is exactly what happens whenever I now see a snowman!  (And, yes, it is playing in my head even as I type!!  Stupid earworm!!)

What began as a 5 hour trip ended up taking 8 1/2 ish hours!  So long, but what can you do?  If the pass is closed, the pass is closed.  We were grateful to make it home safe and sound.

We did think of a few positives while we were sitting there

- Had we not gotten lost, we may have been in the spin outs and/or an avalanche

-The pass opened eventually (it was closed much of Tuesday)

- We had food, water and electronic devices to keep us busy

And unrelated to our very long car trip is this picture.  Trevor has been shopping for a bike (with much research and advice from Dallin) and found this at the bike store in Seattle.  He took it for a test run on Friday to some jumps off the walking path.  He only crashed once (over the handlebars, thank you very much) but came out of it unharmed.  He is a happy boy!  (He took it on a small ride up the street earlier in the week and a puncture weed found its way into his tire!  Liners and slime seem like a really good idea!)

And in other unrelated news, Amber informed me tonight that there are only 88 days until she leaves for her mission!!

This week's recap

Friday I was finally able to donate blood.  I tried 2 weeks ago - my iron was too low.  I didn't make it back the next week to try again.  The Monday after that, I went to the donation center and tried to be a walk-in.  They were busy and it would have been a long wait.  I signed up for the LCSC blood drive the next day.  I found a parking spot, no small feat, found the SUB, another big accomplishment, found the donation location, and was told the computers were really slow, and would I be able to wait?  I could for a bit, so I settled in with my book on my iPhone.  15 minutes later, they shut down the drive.  It was just going too slow!!  Arrrgghhh!  So...I went to the donation center yesterday as a walk-in again.  They had a spot for me, and they took my blood sample.  The first one was low, but they tried the other hand.  Success!!  I was in the range, and soon was hooked up to a bag collecting my blood!  Yay!  I have set a goal to donate 6 times this year, and I was running out of chances!!  So glad it worked out.

Its been snowing!  Thursday night it started, and we woke up to a blanket of white.  It stopped during the day, but this morning, we woke up to a fresh layer of snow.  John and Trev went to the Klondike Derby (winter campout with competition built in) and they had plenty of snow at the campground.  They got home safely with all of their fingers, toes and ears.  I knew they would be okay, but I was a bit worried they might get a little frostbite. In the end, all the scouts made it home, safe and sound.  Kristin has had some good driving in snow experience.  The sad thing for this mama is that in the past, we have dropped everything to make sure we take advantage of the snow, and get ourselves out to sled down the hill.  You can see from the picture that there is not a track to be found in our snow!  Sigh!!  Trevor was gone, and Kristin wasn't going to go without him.  Yet another sign that my kids are growing up!!

Speaking of which, it was Kristin's birthday this week.  Sweet sixteen!!  We had her family dinner Thursday.  The usual for her - Bulgogi, potatoes (two kinds), corn, crescent rolls from a can, jello and green pie (two this year)!!  Friday, I threw her a surprise party!  She said she was a little suspicious, but I think the girls popping out from behind the dining room table and out of the kitchen still surprised her.  Pizza + the Frozen soundtrack + a lot of noise + cell phones = a good time.  They didn't even want the hot fudge sundaes I had ready to go, they were enjoying themselves too much.

Guess who was Student of the Month for January?  So proud of him!  He is keeping up the tradition of being a great kid at the Jr. High.  You will note the name of the Jr. High.  Their mascot is the Braves.  Someone from the tribe proposed that the mascot should be changed, so it went before the school board.  Don't know how that went, I will be interested to see.  Apparently the mascot used to be the Savages, which I can see might be negative in some people's opinion.  I actually think Braves is pretty positive and not derogatory in any way.  It is surely not as un-politically correct as the Orofino Maniacs, so named because the Idaho State Mental hospital was located there for many years.  No one has ever complained about that???  Hmm...

Our son-in-law, Brandon is in Dubai for a training meeting sponsored by his employer.  Kristin knew about this man made island off the coast so we told Brandon to get a picture of it.  Little did we know he would actually be staying on it!  What other adventures are in store for him?  Who knows???

This little guy just keeps growing.  We are looking forward to him and his mom visiting for a week.  Chelsie got her tonsils out, so she'll be here with Carter while she recuperates for a  few days.  Such a sweetie!!

December top ten or fifteen or twenty

Christmas came, Christmas went.  Amber, Allison and Ryan came then they went too.

There were MANY things going on during the holidays, and I didn't take time to blog.  I was having too much fun with my family.

Here is a quick rundown in picture form since it will be nigh unto impossible to catch up any other way.  (It is taking me forever to get them in order, so I'm just going with how they are.  Sorry for any confusion that may cause)
So here goes...

The kids in their matching Christmas Eve jammies.  Kristin was good to demonstrate the flap in the back!  :)

Welcom to the world, Carter Joseph Dance.  Born on January 5th.  Here he is the floor model for the the quilt I made him (top) and the one Grandma Sollenbarger made (bottom) Such a cutie!!

Google hangout waiting for Amber to open her mission call.  I love that all the girls, near and far were able to participate!  Technology is wonderful!!!  Couldn't have done it without Ashley.  She knew just how to get it done.  She received her call on January 15th.  Just 11 days after she turned in her papers.

Last year, John and the kids had fun putting together a puzzle.  This was John's Christmas present from Chelsie and Dallin.  A very fun puzzle!!  It went together pretty quickly, so John and a few of the kids went out and bought another one to work on.

Amber's first day home was a SNOW DAY!!  The kids made a VERY tall snowman, Tiki style, you may notice.  So good to have her home.

If you are wondering where Amber is going, here is the answer.  California, Rancho Cucamonga Mission, reporting May 21st.  She will speak English.  She is excited and we are thrilled for her!!  (Here is a funny RC side story...As you may or may not know, Payton Manning calls out "Omaha" many times during a football game.  The other day, John saw an interview with him about that subject.  To paraphrase, Manning alluded to the fact that Omaha is a lot easier to say than Walla Walla or Rancho Cucamonga!  Two cities that are very meaningful to our family!)

I promised Trev I would take him to the walking path today so he could take his bike on the jumps out there.  Kristin came and ran the trail, I walked.  It was good to get out even though it was cold, and as you can see, foggy.  Sadly, Trev's jumping experience was cut short when his rear tire came apart from the frame.  He had to walk his muddy bike all the way back to the car.  :(  A happy thing - as we were walking back, we saw this Christmas ornament hanging on one of the trees with a dedication stone at the base.  It is not very clear on the picture, but there were little bits of ice hanging from the star.  It was COLD!!!

We took a quick trip to Seattle the day after Christmas.  We went to the Seattle Center and spent a long time looking at this train village!  It was very pretty and Trev especially loved it as the train is the same kind as the one Grandpa Rietz handed down to him a few years ago.  

You would not believe how many times I had to re-take this to get everyone jumping at the same time!  I'm sure people walking thought we were a little weird!! I think Alli and Ryan won the highest jump award, and Chelsie gets high marks for effort as she was a day over her due date!!!

We are on the steps of the Experience Music Project.  As I was getting ready to snap this picture, a woman asked me if I wanted to be in the picture, so I jumped at the chance.  John and I get the boring award.  No one told us we were supposed to pose!!!

This is one of my favorite places to take a family shot in Seattle.  I love the water and the island in the background.  A very nice man with an English accent offered to take this for me.  He didn't know how to change the focus on my camera and was pretty much shooting blind. :)

This was Ryan's first trip to Seattle, so of course, we had to take him to Pike's Place Market.  He is clearly amazed by the gum wall!  :)  It was our first experience with the gum wall as well.  Not sure we need to go back!!  Disgusting!!

This has to be a favorite shot of Carter.  He is reminiscent of a sloth, hanging off his dad's arm like he is!  Look at that head of hair!!  I thought that Carter favored Dallin when I first saw him, but that was confirmed to me when Chelsie showed me a picture of Dallin as a baby!  Except for the nose, he is the spitting image of his dad!!!

One evening while I was in Seattle after Carter was born, his other Grandma, Julienne, came to visit.  Chelsie took advantage of a photo-op and snapped a few pictures with both of us, Carter, and the quilts we made for him!  What a great moment!

A quick picture with Carter the day I was going home!  It didn't take long for me to wish I could turn around and head back!!

Their first family picture!  Sadly the quality is not very good.  Totally my fault because I don't know how to use my iPhone camera very well yet!!!

The winners of the New Year's ping pong tournament!  Amber attributed her success to that fuzzy cape!  :)  

Another shot by the water in Seattle.

We loved this building in the Train Village.  Especially appropo with a future dentist in our family!!

Of course, I love this picture because Chelsie and Dallin are in it, but I also love the fishermen on the top of the restaurant.  I find them enchanting, well maybe not enchanting, but fascinating.

It was a busy, fun Christmas break.  Some of the other things we did that aren't represented by a picture were...
-Frozen at the movie theater.  Do you wanna build a snowman?
-Gym time at the church to burn off some extra energy.
-Grandma and Grandpa Rietz visiting right before everyone left.
-Ryan getting to Skype with his missionary brother from Peru on Christmas day.
-Yummy authentic Mexican food made by Allison and Ryan.
-Several family movie nights - Despicable Me 2, Ephraim's Rescue, Man of Steel, The Great Gatsby
-Our now traditional Aloha Chicken Quesadillas while we watched BYU get beat in their bowl game
-Allison and I worked to make a dent in the thank you notes from their wedding.  I think they still have miles to go.

 Of course, we missed our Aussie family a lot and if it weren't for them having some great experiences themselves, we might feel really bad!!  
-Ashley and Brandon spent a few days before Christmas on a holiday a few hours south of Perth.  They had a great time.
-Talmage celebrated his 5th birthday at an animal park in Perth, complete with koalas and all animals Australian.  A more perfect day couldn't have been had for an animal lover like him.
-Ashley and Brandon are wrapping up a weekend in Melbourne after attending the Australian Open.  They were able to watch Serena live!  An opportunity of a lifetime.
We can't begrudge them for not being with us.  

And now everyone is back in school, I am home from Seattle, and we are back to real life. I did have to remind myself of Dr. Suess's quote about smiling because it happened, not crying because its over.  I was pretty sorry to see everyone go back to school.  Carter was a very good distraction!!!
But of course, all in all, Life is good!!!

a few random things...

Kristin's wallet went missing at the DECA trip last week.  No trace to be found.  Lost - money, her driver's permit, school ID, and library card, as well as at least 2 gift cards.  We don't know for sure that someone stole it, but we don't know for sure that someone didn't steal it.  Disappointing anyway you look at it.

We woke up to a broken heater on Sunday morning, right in the middle of the cold snap we are having.  Last night it was 2 deg. at one point and the high yesterday was only about 18 or so, if that much.  We had the repairman out today, he diagnosed and fixed the problem quickly, and we are back in business.  Luckily, we had one warm side of the house yesterday, and spent a lot of time there!!  And, who knew 3 hours of church would be so welcome??  Needless to say, we are grateful to be warm again!!

Our Rexburg co-ed is also in the middle of an Arctic weather pattern, and all of Rexburg and surrounding areas were without power for most of Wednesday.  She and much of the rest of BYU-I spent the day in the one building on campus with a generator, so was able to stay warm and no doubt, get some serious social time in to boot!

We got our tree on Saturday and started decorating it and the house on Sunday.  This poor wise man lost his head. Maybe this is what would have happened to the real wise men if Herod had gotten a hold of them when they didn't go back to see him after seeing Christ.  My elf who dropped this felt incredibly bad, but as with other Willow Tree statues that I, myself, have broken, it was easily put back together, and none the worse for the wear.  For as many years as we have had that nativity set, its pretty amazing that this is the first broken piece!

John and Trev also put up the lights in the front, which was no small feat, given the weather.  I can't remember the temperature exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was in the teens!!  Yikes! The front of the house looks very festive when you come in the driveway!  Lovely!

Saturday, I also made caramel corn.  It was a thank you for the people who performed at our Ward Christmas party on Friday.  And, yes, now that you ask, the popcorn popper is from the 80's!  John and I got it for a wedding gift, and it dutifully pops corn for me every December so I can make this treat.

It may be old, but like many of us, is still very useful!

Butter, brown sugar and light corn syrup.  Notice that little gem of a rubber scraper, spatula, whatever you call it.  It is from Williams Sonoma.  It came in a set of 3 and I use them ALL the time!  One of the best kitchen purchases I have made in the last few years.

The finished product!  Crunchy and buttery and yummy!!!  See the recipe below...

Oven Caramel Corn

6 quarts popped corn (one of those big tupperware bowls that used to be so popular), old maids removed

2 sticks butter (1 cup)                                         1 tsp salt *

2 cups brown sugar                                             1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup light corn syrup                                       1 tsp butter flavoring (optional)**

In a large pot (at least 3 quarts) boil butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Remove from heat and add 1 tsp baking soda and butter flavoring, if using and mix well.  (The mixture will foam up)

Pour over popped corn and stir to coat.  Place in 2 greased 9 x 13 pans and bake at 200 deg. for 1 hour.  Stir every 15 mins.
Let cool and store in airtight container.  I put mine on large baking sheets to cool.

*I didn't add salt on Saturday and didn't miss it at all.

**I did add butter flavoring, and thought it was a great addition.  I usually don't have any, therefore don't use it.