April Busyiness and Adventures

One of the wonderful things about Doug being retired is having help doing yard and house work--some of the stuff I used to shoulder alone it seems.  The annual fruit tree pruning/ Spring clean up has been one of those tasks that Doug sometimes helped with, but I usually ended up doing most.  Not so this year.  It has been great to have us both out working on these projects, cutting the work load in half, and sharing in what needs to be done, etc.  Pruning is a daunting task, and as we relearned of what the tree should look like, and how to do it etc--2 minds are better than 1.  Thankful for that.  We now have the trees all pruned and ready for them to do their part in blooming and producing fruit.  I say a prayer over them, asking that they will give us the fruit we need and desire--mainly because I recognize we need God's help in everything.  I heard this statement Sunday--"Spiritually engaged"--a good thing to ask yourself--am I spiritually engaged and try to keep myself as such?  It is easy for all of us to go on without God in our lives--thinking we have it all under control, until something happens and our world falls apart--then we are looking for His help.
 April has mostly been a continuation of winter with short spurts of warmth and a hint of new life, color, growth, etc.  I keep thinking that this will be the day or the week when it will really turn over to Spring, only to have it snow, or rain or drop into freezing temperature--disappointed that we can't just have warm weather finally.  But I hope still. 
We headed for Goblin Valley Friday with Sean.  We were to meet up with Casey and family there as well as Beth and Roy, Kay and boys, and Tim and Lena.  The weatherman said it would be in the mid 60's Friday--leaving rain, and snow and cold temperatures in Salt Lake behind--we just knew it would be wonderful further South.  Not so.  Arriving in Goblin Valley at noon with a high of 49 degrees.  Disappointed again.  No one there when we arrived so we went and visited the Goblins with Sean (something he had not seen in a long time I think).

  Then we came back--still no one.  I began to worry.  Battling the cold and wind did not lift my spirits any.  This was miserable, and why couldn't it just be warm anyway.  Why isn't life nice all the time? Warm weather, blue skies, sunshine?  As I was feeling disappointed with how things were, as I had expected it to be so warm, blue skies and sunshine--unhappy as it were--it started dawning on me that these disappointments in life are constant--and I really did need to learn how to just take life as it happens even when the unexpected comes your way.  So I tried to keep warm, took a nap in the car, read in my Dad's history some more, all while we waited and waited for the others to show up.  About 4:00--Tim and Lena arrived.  That was good.  But still no Kay and Beth, who we were expecting at 3:00 or so.  At around 5:00 Casey and Helen and kids (and Emory) came back to camp, but still no Kay and Beth and Roy.  Doug and Sean got in the car and left to go do a search and rescue if necessary.  In about 20-30 minutes they came back with the kids right behind.  Kay had had car trouble in Price and it took 2 hrs to get things resolved.  So glad to see them--now we could start our vacation.  Plan B. Got all the tents set up in quick order. Had a lovely campfire that we huddled around  to keep warm and eat our dinners and visit.  And we didn't seem to mind the cold and the possibility of rain as we were surrounded by those we loved.

 

                              That evening as we prepared our meal around the campfire

                                   next morning gathered around eating breakfast

 Got in our tents to sleep, and it did rain a little during the night, but it was more soothing than being a storm, and the wind blew slightly, not really hard.  In the morning the clouds were starting to lift, and the sun starting coming out more and more--had a wonderful breakfast, took down the tents, packed up and headed for a hike in wild horse canyon.  It got warmer as the hike went on, and we had a marvelous hike up the slick rock to the twin caves and got to see wonderful vistas.

 

  And of course as I am looking out over the vastness of the countryside and seeing the spectacular rock formations, how much I was enjoying having everything perfect, because just the day before I had experienced some imperfection.  I could appreciate the warm and the blue skies because it was denied the day before.  Kind of like when you have had pain  and then are free of it--and how much you can appreciate the absence of the pain so--the comparison makes it all felt more intensely.  Of course, that is why God knew we needed the opposition in all things so we could prize the good when it came. 
We continued our trip down to Gallup to pick up Mom Tiede.  Tired and worn out and ready for a hot shower and a bed as we stayed at a Motel.  Got to visit with family and enjoy them for a short time before we headed back the next day.  Enjoyed having Sean to ourselves again--know that day will be coming to an end sometime.  Got to see some more remarkable things, chat and visit and just be together.  I am learning (slowly it seems) to take life as it comes and learn to appreciate the down days as well as the up days.  Loved the time spent with children and grandchildren and extended family.  It was a marvelous trip.