Saturday, May 29, 2010

April and May

The Wiley family is leaving in 2 days for an amazing and much anticipated vacation. Taking 4 kids on a week long trip, especially one that involves air travel, results in a great amount of needed preparation, most of which has fallen to Sarah.
So, in order to help her out, I thought I would get this blog up to date, so that it no longer has to weigh on her conscience.

Here we go -

The last few days of the kid's spring break found us on our way down to Southern Utah. St George? Lake Powell?

Nope.
Bluff, Utah.
Go ahead, Mapquest it, Ill wait. Yeah, that's right, it's waaaaayyyy out there. By the way, the picture above - that's downtown. that is not a joke. that IS downtown Bluff.
Brenden had to do a report for school on one of Utah's counties, and he chose San Juan county. Sarah's ancestors, the Decker family and also the Wood family, were early settlers of Bluff Utah and Hole-In-Rock Pioneers so we went down to learn more about them and San Juan county.

Here is Brenden at the Bluff Fort monument.

We stayed at the Decker House Inn, which is now a bed and breakfast but was the original house built by James Decker, Sarah's great great great grandfather, for his family. So that was pretty cool, plus they had the greatest bread ever. Yeah, not sure why it was so good, but man oh man, I had some serious helpings of bread for breakfast.

We saw many petroglyphs while in the area, which were really interesting and also allowed Oli to show off his impressive mandatory 7-year-old-boy-camera-face. (in case you are interested, I could also send you about 87 more pictures from this trip which feature either that exact face, or something closely resembling it)

oh yeah, Huck was there.

I know! It looks just like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland! Those Disney guys owe the folks of Bluff a serious shout out.

We did not, however, encounter any runaway locomotives.
We did see the Bluff cemetery and the Decker family plot.


We also did not get to see Four Corners, the place where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. It was closed. No, I don't fully understand how you can close a meeting of state boundaries, but none the less...

Sarah's mom joined us for our second day of San Juan County exploring. We found the Hyland Hotel in Monticello, known previously as the Wood home. When the Wood children were older, Joseph Henry Wood moved his family north about 45 minutes to Monticello, so the kids could have the chance to go to college there.

Sarah's mom remembers visiting this home when Sarah was just a baby.

As we were leaving Monticello, and on our way Northward toward home, Dorothy's car broke down about an hour south of Moab. Very unfortunate for her, but the kids sure did enjoy having her to ride the rest of the way with them. At that point we were pretty much through with them anyway, and it was getting more and more difficult to ignore the constant screaming and crying.

That last part was a joke. It wasn't hard at all.


Here are two of the 37 pictures (37, seriously 37) that the boys took of themselves on the drive home.



Oh yeah, Huck was there also.



I like to call this next series of photos 'June is awesome'

You may notice the headset microphone June is sporting in that last photo. On the trip she discovered a new favorite movie which featured some singing bugs who did kind of a backstreet boys thing. Anyway, a coat hanger and a little black fabric and Sarah was mom-of-the-year.

In more recent news, Huck learned how to crawl. I wouldn't say he is completely speedy yet, but he gets himself around, in fact, as Ive been writing this he got himself around to the flower pot and ate more than a few bites of potting soil! I'm sure he'll be fine.




The weather has been a bit strange. This next picture was taken May 24th.


This video was taken the very next day, May 25th.




The Spring has brought with it our plants and flowers.


In Brenden sporting news, the baseball season has arrived at long last, and I'm here to tell you, there is not much that is more entertaining than a little league game. Especially one where Brenden makes a double-play and is awarded the game ball!


Brenden also ran in the school track meet. He is in line third from the top with his hands on his knee.



Sarah's parents live right across the street from a great park, so we have been spending a lot of time over there. Huck is demonstrating some great form for such a swing rookie.



He's still a lightweight when it comes to staying awake in the car however. This time, in a show of solidarity, June joined him.



This may sound cruel, but this picture kind of makes me laugh. Cmon, what could possibly warrant that kind of drama??


Well, let's see, I think that's about it for now. I guess in the interest of journal keeping, a few other details:
Sarah and I are on a big 14 week diet/exercise plan laid out by these guys. After 6 or 7 weeks, or however long its been, I still look like a fat loser and Sarah still looks like a skinny model. I will say, however, that we both have lost a significant amount of weight, and I am desperately in need of a smaller belt and some new pants. And new shoes while your at it. and maybe some of those Bose noise cancelling headphones for the plane.
I got made part of our Ward's Bishopric, which seems an ill-conceived plan on someones part, but I'm doing my best and hope to serve well.
Oliver Brenden and June hit the Seven Peaks waterpark this morning for the opening day. Never mind that it was 57 degrees and windy, those kids were lined up in their bathing suits 15 minutes before. Needless to say, they pretty much had the park to themselves.
We celebrated our 13th anniversary on May 24th.
Sarah is on committee to promote downtown Provo. She has been working hard on a concert series that will try to get people out and experiencing downtown.

Alright, I'm off. Hawaii, here we come!