Coincidence

In my post entitled, Stranger Danger?, Heidi and I ran into a little boy who asked if he and his sister could teeter-totter with us. He had a little water bottle with him and he made me smile -- cute round head, blonde, and tan as a five year old can get.

Now hold that thought.

When we went to Cedar City on that random roadtrip, Ashery showed Shanna and I the coolest park on planet earth! It was made entirely of wood. Businesses from around the town had donated money to build the park, and in turn, they got to place a bit of their business into the park - to be remembered by little kids for years to come.

My neighbor Chris told us of a playground that he helped to build here in the Logan area. It's called, Ryan's Place Park. He suggested we go there on a picnic one fine Sunday. Parks and a picnic. Excellent.

That Sunday comes around and we pull up to the park...and it totally looks like The Most Awesome Park in the World in Cedar City! Wahoo! I was so happy -- we have one in Logan too!

We enjoyed our picnic and then Heidi and I decided to go play around on the playground. We went to the swings that squealed horrendously and promptly hopped off and decided to try out all the slides instead. As Heidi and I were wandering over to a slide, we run into Original Boy who asked to teeter-totter with us!

He looks at me and Heidi and says, "Hey! I knows you guys!" I asked him, "Aren't you the boy who went teeter-tottering with us at the park with the yellow spinny thing?" He looked confused and gave me that dazed-child look, but he responded "Yeah," and ran off. Cute kid -- I knew it had to be him.

Coincidence. It made me smile. :)

Cedar City Road Trip!

Ashery was torn about whether to attend Weber State or Southern Utah University come this fall. She was really hoping for some moral support when she decided that she wanted to head down to Cedar City and look for a job and an apartment. I was happy to oblige...since I seemingly have no life!

Oh! And it just so happened that her friend Mitch was having his missionary farewell that same weekend.

And then Shananaba got recruited to come with us too! What fun! Can anyone say, "Roadtrip?" :)

So we packed our bags and left early Sunday morning to be to Cedar City by 1:00 PM. Ashery told Shananaba and I that we would be riding down in her mom's van because Ash's little red beater car needed to be inspected and fixed up. To be honest with you, I found blessed relief in this fact...Ash's car was sold to her for a whopping $250 (for good reason)...and has always been a source of uneasiness in our friendship...little does she know this. ;) But come Sunday morning, Ash pulls into my driveway in the Big Red Tomato. My dad looks at me. "Didn't you tell me she was driving the van?"...uh...apparently there has been a change in plans.

We load my belongings into the trunk of her car and make our way to Shananaba's house. When Shanna walks out the door, her dad is in tow. "You're driving the Red Bomb?" he asks. Ashery becomes rather defensive -- "My car is fine! My dad looked at it and it's ready to make the trip!" I know we all offered a prayer in our hearts when she said that.

"Movin' right along.

Footloose and fancy-free.

Getting there is half the fun; come share it with me.

Moving right along (doog-a-doon doog-a-doon).

We'll learn to share the load.

We don't need a map to keep this show on the road."

And thus we made it to Cedar City with an hour to spare! We pulled up to Ash's friend, Brooke's, house and knocked on the door. Brooke led us through her house to her backyard where her family had been so wonderfully kind as to set up a tent for us! We placed all our sleeping bags and belongings into the tent.

Brooke's dad warned us, "We have chickens that run around the yard, so you'll want to zip up your tent...otherwise, you may find little chocolates on your pillow." Shanna, always the optimist, smiles, "Oh! It's like room service!" :)

Storm clouds loomed overhead.

We hopped back into the Red Bomb to follow Brooke and her friends to the church where Mitch would be giving his farewell talk. The first speaker consumed the majority of Sacrament meeting with her talk, and we wondered if they would even allow Mitch to get up and speak -- not to mention still have the musical number (brought to you by Brooke, friends, and Mitch).

But everything followed through! The musical arrangement of, "Come Thou Fount," was absolutely beautiful and Mitch did a nice job. And I finally got to meet all the people that Ash had been telling me about for months!

We were invited to a luncheon at Mitch's house. Awkward. We knew no one. It was crowded. So we left.

Shanna wanted to go up to Cedar Breaks National Monument. And of the eight months that Ashley lived in Cedar City, she had never visited the place! So we went! And the Red Bomb made it!

Ashery and Shananaba

I adore Cedar Breaks. It's always been one of my favorite places to site see. I've been there a couple of times, and everytime I look out in awe and wonderment. Cedar Breaks is also where I discovered Columbine flowers...my favorite flowers of all time...and it is only here that I've been able to find that variety. I must say, nothing can beat wildflowers.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Columbine

Rain in the distance

We took pictures and followed a ranger around on a tour of the area. I was very impressed with all the stores of knowledge that she had in her brain. Lovely girl!

We made stops at the pull-outs and took more pictures. We took more pictures in the car. Picture here. Picture there. Snap. Flash. Click.

You can see Zion National Park from this view!

The Red Bomb

Then we arrived back in town. We ran back to Brooke's house, but we were a little shocked to discover our belongings had been removed from the tent. While we were away, there was a rain burst. The tent leaked and everything we owned got soaked. But Brooke's family was so nice as to move all our stuff inside and hang it all up to dry! I was becoming more and more impressed with this family by the minute.

We came in and watched "The Errand of Angels" while Sister Alldredge made dinner. And my, my...real food was certainly manna from heaven!

We stopped by the famous Light House landmark.

And as you are well aware of by now, I love and adore parks. So Ashley took us to an awesome park after dinner. It was by far, the neatest park I have ever been too. Everything is made out of wood, and it is pure creative genius in a woodchip filled box.

Sadly, my camera died right after this picture of the Cedar City sunset,
and I have no pictures of the Amazing Park.

Then Ash gave us a late night tour of SUU's campus.

When Ash, Shanna, and I came back, we came home to Sister Alldredge offering us beds. They had taken down the tent and were having us sleep in their daughter's room. It had a bunk bed and a twin. Three beds for three girls. My heart swelled with gratitude! We had comfy beds to sleep in. I slept so well. :)

The next day was Monday. Ash had an interview for a job early on in the morning. Shanna and I slept in. Our goal was to go to SUU's institute that afternoon. Eventually we rolled out of bed and got ready. But I had forgotten to lay my clothes out to dry the night before, so they lay folded up, sopping wet in my bag. I rewore my pajama shirt and my shorts from the day before...man, did I feel good. ;)

We had an hour to kill before institute. So we wandered Main Street and its shops and set out to look for a thank you gift for the Alldredge's.

- Soda Counter

- Book Store - Self-help and Motivation aisle

- Candy store!

- Red Neck Thrift Store

- "Breaking Wind" - a store of kites and whirlamagigs.

- The Shakespearean Festival Souvenir Shop.

Oh the fun, the fun, the fun we had!

And then we went to institute, but we did not attend a class. We talked with Ash's favorite teachers. :)

Saint George anyone? In an unairconditioned car? With no music (because when it gets too hot, the speakers stop working)? I get the back seat? Sure! Let's head.

We stopped and ate at a delicious place called, "Five Guys." *Yum

Then we went to the Saint George Temple and went through the Visitor's Center. I love the feeling of peace that can be found on temple grounds. We also had the opportunity to walk through an art exhibit of pioneer paintings. A sister missionary gave us a sheet of paper that had a list of stories that correlated to the paintings hung on the wall. The artist of the paintings portrayed their strife and struggle so beautifully. It was a very neat and touching experience that reminded me of the sacrifices that the pioneers made for their future generations. I have such a deep respect for them.

The wind that blew through the rolled down windows of the Red Bomb was nothing but hot, muggy heat. Shanna and I were dying!!! Logan does not get that hot! Ashery kept calling us babies, and was constantly reminding us that she liked the heat. Then when we returned home, Sister Alldredge asked us how it was, and Ashley replied with, "Hot." Shanna and I burst. :)

That night, the Alldredge's were having a barbeque for Family Night. Sister Alldredge works for the University and helps the international students -- she is a native of Spain herself. Pure Latin beauty! And she had invited her international students to join us and practice their English. Ash talked with all of her friends, but Shanna and I couldn't relate to all the inside jokes, so we made our way to the food table, where Brother Alldredge encouraged us to try some of the Korean food that one of the students had brought.

I'm a big fan of spicy food, and this concoction of cold, icy noodles and sauce had a kick to it! I loved it! So Shanna and I got talking with the Korean students -- Particularly a boy named Cedric. We talked with Cedric for a good half hour or more. He had only been in the United States for two months, and his English was near perfect! I was so impressed. Granted, he had learned to read and write in English all throughout school, but he says he's uneasy about the language. Bah. He's a natural! He told us funny stories and we discussed cultural differences of Utah and South Korea...particularly Seoul, where Cedric is from.

Cedric told us of his friend (who happened to be at the barbeque) and how much he struggled when he moved to the United States. One night his friend wanted some pizza. He dialed the number and struggled and struggled and struggled to try and order. He was on the phone for a half hour trying to communicate what toppings he wanted on this pizza. Finally, after this completely frustrating experience, he broke down and said, "Look. You bring me pizza. I pay you." And the pizza deliverer showed up on his doorstep with a pizza on hand. When we asked Cedric's friend about his experience, his friend looked at us and just shook his head, "Ugh...pizza..." :)

Ashley toured a house and felt really good about the area! It was rather exciting as the entire entourage of seven girls and one boy piled into the house to tour with her. By now Ashley had done a job interview, and had a prospective place to live. Hopefully things would work out!

Then we went to play night games at Mitch's. You must understand that Mitch is the current love of Ashley's life. Pure obsession and jealousy abounds in Mitch's little girl circle. He's a flirtatious soul...who drove me crazy. But Ashery (and every other girl) likes him, so I guess he's got some redeeming qualities.

It soon became quite, quite, quite clear why we were down in Cedar City. We were not here because Ashley had a job interview. We were not here because Ash was looking for a place to live come the Fall. No. We were here for Mitch's farewell...His farewell!!! He's leaving!!! In two days from that point! Gah...boys. The things we do for them: Like drive 300 miles to come say good-bye. Oy vey.

I hope Omaha, Nebraska does that boy some good. Actually, I should be hoping that he will do some good in Nebraska. Or better yet, hopefully it's a mutualistic relationship and both will benefit from each other!

And that is how we ended the night.

We got up bright and early in the morning and left the Alldredge home.

I have to put a plug in for that family. I have never met a more humble, and loving family in my life. The love they have for one another is strong and visible and it spreads to everyone. They talked with us. They tried their hardest to make sure we were absolutely 100% comfortable. They left all their boxes of cereal on the table for us to choose from in the morning while they were out swimming at the pool, they let us sleep in their home, they made us dinner, they invited us to events, they gave us towels, and hugs, and had us say family prayer with them each night. I had never met them prior to this trip. They had no reason to be so wonderfully hospitable. But they were! And I only hope that I too can be that way some day.

"Movin' right along.
We're truly birds of a feather,
We're in this together and we know where we're going.
Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.
We're storming the big town,
(Yeah, storm is right should it be snowing?)
(Uh, no I don't think so...)"

And we made it home to North Ogden four and a half hours later. :) And add an additional hour on to that, and I made it home to Logan!

It was a marvelous trip. It was funny, and ironic, and long...as is evident by the length of this post. But it was so memorable! I'm glad Ash asked me and Shanna to come along! It made for some great laughs and gave me a lot of great experiences to grow from!

(Side note: Ashley has decided to attend Weber State afterall...heh heh...oh brother!)

Reliving Months Passed

Mallory had a group interview for her education program early in the morning come Wednesday, so the plan was for her to come and stay the night at mine and Taylor's place...and bring Kelsie with her along the way!!! :)

Mini-roommate reunion!

In celebration of times past, we made tacos and had Taco Tuesday!
And you will recall my previous experience at Angel's Landing Park, and my vow to return as soon as possible...?

That was exactly where we were headed after running over to visit Mandy -- which resulted in a visit to Mike and Justin's (all of us lived in Rich Hall together).

Then off to the park we ran! This park has the ultimate spinny-toys. We all took a turn being pushed around in the merry-go-round and sitting in the "puke chair." We were sick to our stomaches and struggled with vertigo for the next few minutes after that.

Mallory in the "puke chair"

Kelsie and I struggling in the merry-go-round.

We played in the park until the dark hours of the night. Mallory and Taylor spent a few minutes teeter-tottering and talking about life, while Kelsie and I laid down on the "twinner slides" and also talked about life. I adore former-roommate bonding time. :)

When we were finally creeped out enough by the random girl who kept wandering throughout the park and who kept getting closer and closer to us, we finally made a dash to the car and made a late night run to Lee's Marketplace...just like the old times.

And of course, before we made it off to bed, we had to have our midnight cereal snack. Cereal always tastes better at midnight!

Hey Mallory and Kelsie? It was so good to see you guys! It's funny to think that this was an escapade that happened a couple of weeks ago, but so much has happened since then! Since then, Mallory has been accepted into the education program - her interview went well! And Kelsie is engaged to Alex - and will be sealed to him in August! I honestly cannot fathom time!!!

If I could live in a world without clocks, I would be serenely content.

The Fifth of July

The Fifth of July - the final day of the massive celebratory weekend.

We DIDN'T go boating that morning with Wally after all.

We DID plan to go to Pine View Reservoir with Shane and company.

We DID have to drive Bill's gas guzzler because his dad needed the hitch off the truck.

We DIDN'T spend the day at Pine View. We took too long. After all the waiting, and last minute errand runs that everyone had to make, we made it to the Valley, but it was time for Bill and I to leave. If anything, we had a lovely drive. :)

We DID make it back to Pleasant View for an appointment Bill had with a man who could give him the codes to Bill's work's radios.

We DIDN'T have to go back to my house and clean up because we didn't go to Pine View.

We DID make it to Bill's house, where we helped prepare for a barbeque.

I DIDN'T win the first round of Wii Bowling against Bill's brother Ben.

I DID win the second round of Wii Bowling against Ben.

I DIDN'T win any rounds of Wii Bowling against Ben after that.

Bill DID decide to unload old fence wood from his dad's trailer and load it into the truck so that we could use it for bonfires.

Bill DIDN'T have to unload all that old fence wood from the trailer because Bill  found out that Logan does not permit bonfires at anytime...and that would just be a lot of unnecessary wood.

We DID have a barbeque and it was beyond excellent food! 

We DID plan to go to Layton City's fireworks with Bill's friend.

We DIDN'T have to drive Bill's gas guzzler because the hitch was completely rusted together and was completely impossible to take out...(no hitchpin even required). Bill's dad would just buy a new one. ;)

 

We DIDN'T go to Layton City's fireworks because we decided it was just too late.

 

We DID get to see fireworks as we drove home along the freeway.

 
Bill DIDN'T think his truck needed oil after his dad reminded him to check it.

 

Bill DID need oil in his truck when we stopped at a gas station and checked it. :)
 

It DIDN'T turn out to be a day that we had expected.

 
But it DID turn out to be a day that was exciting!

The Fourth of July

On the 234th day of Independence...

I went to church.

And...

Loraine and Johanna, from the ward, got together and planned a monstrous barbeque to end our day of fasting. We had awesome and delectible food -- barbequed chicken, fruit salad, a green salad with delicious toppings, homemade maccaroni and cheese (yes mom, I ate maccaroni and cheese) -- and for dessert, we all scarfed rice crispie treat after rice crispie treat and ate homemade brownies with mint frosting! *Yum

And...

We had delightsome conversation after our meal. I admire people who have the abilities to tell stories and share information and make people laugh. I also admire people who have gone out and seen the world and experienced a lot of things that people are so naive about. Although I felt like I didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation, it was a conversation that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to because it ultimately inspired me. :)

And...

Then we went back to Bill's apartment. Chris and Bill (and later Ben) were conversing about computer stuff, and I sat down on the couch, which turned into laying down on the couch, which turned into closing my eyes for just a second, which turned into my taking a Sunday nap...dang...an hour later I woke up to Bill telling me it was time for ward prayer.

And...

We stopped by at my apartment after ward prayer so that I could change out of my painful Sunday shoes and then Bill spied the movie Stardust sitting on the coffee table. He got very excited about this and we decided this would be a good way to end the evening. So we took the DVD and went back to Bill's place, called up a bunch of people (as is the Sunday night tradition) and we all watched Stardust together.

That was my Fourth...alas, I did not see any actual fireworks on this day, but it was a very relaxing and enjoyable Sunday afternoon!...Just how it should be.

The Third of July

We (as in Bill and I) drove up to Grandpa's Mountain on Saturday to visit my family, my family who happened to be camping up there for the holiday weekend.

Upon our arrival, I was attacked by Fred with a giant hug, a hug that I always look forward to receiving. :) And we went to the trailer and found my Madre, along with Val Gal, and Jord. Pops was nowhere to be seen at the moment, the moment that would soon resolve itself when Pops walked through the door ten minutes later.

But prior to Pops walking through the door, Bill was exposed to the Sorenson love and quirk of making inanimate objects speak, inanimate objects such as Stan the pig and Chewy the koala bear -- Fred's favorite stuffed animals. (It's a good thing Fifi the poodle and Pierre the turkey weren't around, because I would have been forced to whip out the French accents, accents which I will spare Bill of until a later date.) We also enjoyed a healthy dosage of Reese's peanut butter cups and festive red, white, and blue gummy bears, gummy bears in which we bit their heads off and replaced with the head of a different color of gummy bear.

When Pops did walk through the door, he promptly walked back out to show us his new solar panel, the solar panel which caused much talk and mathematical reasoning the visit to the Mountain prior to this one. It was nifty. Go Pops! :)

Whenever I travel to the Mountain, it seems that I always travel in slightly overcast weather, weather that rains on everyone's parade. So the debate was on, on as in whether to travel down to Bear Lake as planned or to postpone the trip. As the parentals contemplated this subject, we the children, the children of Amy and Dale, along with Bill, played Ninja Destruction. I lost. Every time.

It was made known unto us that we would be traveling down to Bear Lake, Bear Lake, a place of fond memories, despite the weather, the weather that would usually rain on everyone's parade, the parade I caused everyone to actually miss in Montepelier that morning, that morning that I was cleaning the church and the morning that Bill was moving a piano. :) Did you catch that? Good.

So we drove down to Bear Lake. We stopped at LeBeau's and ate fine food, fine food that is accompanied with fry sauce...and a raspberry shake! And we laughed it up and caused Jessica, Jessica who is writing this post, to become majorly embarrassed due to remarks made by her mother, her mother who made a reference to grandkids in conjunction with the conversation concerning Florida and the Harry Potter theme park. Yes...I flushed bright red, red that you could blame on the sun, but was certainly not mistaken by Bill (nor my mother) as heat induced flushing.

Fred

Jord

Pops

We made it to the beach at last! Pops was able to drive through a large puddle, a large puddle that could easily be an impediment to any vehicle much smaller than the Subby, and we parked on the beach. It was cold. True. But we ran through the water, the water that was very shallow along the shore, anyway. I rolled up my capris and still managed to soak myself.

Val Gal

Bill and I played tic-tac-toe in the sand...many multiple times, multiple times that included me trying to remember the strategy behind that game with Jord and Bill coaxing and guffawing at me. ;)

Then Fred came in from the water and wanted to sit on one of the chairs, chairs that we brought down from the Mountain to lounge upon the beach with. I willingly gave up my spot and laid a beach towell across the sand, the sand that was wet due to the lack of much sun that day. As I sat upon that towell upon the sand, my pants soaked up the water that the towell soaked up from the sand. Then I decided that it would be good to rinse off my flip-flops. I walked over to the lake and all I hear is laughter, laughter from my family along the beach. I feel my bottom, my bottom that is now noticeably and thoroughly wet. How cute? Oy vey.

Soakin' bottom? Rock on.

Bill and I played rock soccer, and Pops tried to catch some sun rays, and madre stayed bundled up in her blanket, her blanket that Pops pulled from his suburban and uses in various circumstances, such as mom being cold. Mom was finishing the last chapter of her book and succeeded. Bill and Val started to play "Rebuild the Moat" and bring the water inland, inland...yes.

Catching the rays!

Madre all bundled up.

Reconstructing the moat that once existed.

Bill and Fred

On the way home from the beach, we saw Heather's and Martin's vehicle, the vehicle that indicates that the part of my family who are from Washington, of all places, are here in Bear Lake! We pull off to the side of the road and go on a hunt in search of the Chamberlain's. We found them! And there was much rejoicing and laughter. What are the chances of finding them there? Very slim and rather ironic. :) It was good to see them!

Bill and I had to be back up into Logan that night though, so we did not travel back with my family to the Mountain, the Mountain that resides in the completely opposite direction in which we needed to travel back home. On our way out, Bill and I stopped at the fancy pull-out, the fancy pull-out that is really more like a rest and tourist stop because you can look out and see the whole lake. It was a lovely view to behold.

Bear Lake

And thus we made it back home, the home in which I sit and write this account.

Dear Family -- I love you dearly. I'm glad that we are so close and can have a good time together. :) It makes my memories happy, memories that I record by writing onto this blog so that I don't forget and can be happy over for years to come.

The Second of July

Considering that the Fourth of July was on a Sunday this year, it was a long weekend of splendid celebration!

It all began on Friday night.

Logan City had a big celebration of singing and dancing at USU's football stadium, but it cost money to get in the gates if you wanted to see the event...and all I really cared for were the fireworks. Lucky for me, I had a splendid connection (aka Bill) who led a large group of us to the loading dock of housing facilities, which resides right above Romney Stadium...and exactly next to where they launch the pretty fountains of light. 

Our whole field of vision was filled with the light of fireworks! We were so close that debris rained on us - and even more so if the wind ever decided to shift. In fact, a lovely piece of cannister landed directly into my lap on one occasion. It was lovely! We were covered in ash and the frame of each of our bodies shook with the explosion of the fireworks. It was intense. And I would even propose the word beautiful.

Fireworks have worked their way to a whole new level of awesomeness. I love July.

Heidi and Steph

We two

Debris and ash. Yum!

Steph and Will

Loraine and I