The New Year

Lots of things have been happening since the beginning of 2013.

We were able to spend a week in a condo at Bass Lake splitting the time with Jared and Clara and then Ashley and Kevin.  The day that they were there together we drove to Yosemite to give Elise and Jackson their first snow experience.  The two of them were SO cute in their little snow suits.  It was a great week for me and I am ready to go again anytime.  We found a lot of hiking trails and places to visit that I'd like to see in the summer months as well.

When we got back from the trip there was a large envelope addressed to Stephen and I with a return address from Salt Lake City -- our mission call.  We will be serving six months at Cove Fort in Southern Utah.  It is exactly what Stephen wanted, other than Nauvoo -- historical and short term.  We report to the Mission Training Center (MTC) on April 8th.

Now comes the hard part of going through things and packing up the stuff that we want but don't want used by anyone else.  The process would be simpler if I wasn't doing a long term sub job.  I've worked in the same classroom since before Christmas and it is supposed to go through March 1st.  It is fun to be teaching again, but it does limit how much time I have at home.

The other new thing is that I was offered a position with National University.  It requires 30 hours a month.  The interesting thing about it is that I turned the position down because I knew that I would be leaving, but they worked around my schedule so I will work three months, be gone for six, and come back to the same position.  That was very accommodating of them.

Jackson Hole Vacation 2012

Just got back from a week in Wyoming with Jenny and Matt's family and Cory and Suzanne and their family.  We made our first trip back to our condo in Jackson Hole in thirty years.  We had a great time visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, looking for wildlife, geocaching, and taking old-time photos. 

When we left we drove to Provo via the Handcart Visitors' Centers in Lander and Alcova.  They were interesting to see but VERY windy and cold.  Our plan was to stay and help Cory for several days but we received a surprise phone call from Ashley on June 7th saying that little Jackson was born that day -- 6 weeks early.  We decided that we needed to come home and help them with their move out of their apartment.

It was great having time to spend with our children and grandchildren that we don't get to see all of the time.  Hope they enjoyed their time as well.http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a49774d6a49344e446b3d0d0a&blogview=true

Stanley and the Leaf Cutter Ants

While we were in the canopy of the Monteverde Cloud Forest and at the Hanging Bridges in Arenal we found some very interesting creatures. They were very busy getting their jobs done. We were very fascinated watching them work.

Stanley at Playa Hermosa

Stanley spent the last two days of his Costa Rican vacation on the beach in Playa Hermosa which is on the Pacific side of the country. The beach is not a white sand beach so the water seemed rather murky. They were experiencing a red tide which killed some of the sea life. Friday morning we found over a dozen puffer fish washed up on the shoreline. We also saw other fish as well as a seahorse.



We were able to rent a boat and motor around the bay looking for animal life. We were able to see see turtles and snakes but no dolphins. Still it was nice to get off of the sand and to see some other things in the area. Stanley made friends with the captain, Luis, and with the first mate, Marcos.

Stanley Flies to Costa Rica

Stanley was up at 3:00 this morning (Saturday, March 31st) to be ready to get to the Fresno International Airport by 4:15. Surprisingly there was a line at the counter already. Our flight was on time. After posing for a picture with Stanley the pilot got us in the air headed for Los Angeles. We transferred planes and flew to Houston, Texas, and then on to Liberia, Costa Rica. Grandpa says to tell you that Stanley was very good on the planes. He didn´t even make a peep and people around him said that he was very well behaved for someone his age.

We arrived around 7:00 pm and spent the night in Liberia. The weather was great and we had a very pleasant evening.

Stanley Walks Through the Sky

This morning our group decided to take a walk through the canopy near the Arenal Volcano. There were about 20 bridges that we walked across including 5 long suspension bridges which were very wobbly especially when you had ten people or more on them. Stanley had his picture taken on one of those bridges as well as at the waterfall that was a little off the path.

We saw lots of birds and even a little red poison dart frog (that Grandma spotted). We were on our last long bridge when I looked up at a tree on the far end and saw three dark shapes -- they were monkeys. The group got excited about getting to see monkeys when Bro. Stokes turned to his right and saw a black faced monkey sitting in the tree closest to the bridge -- it was only about 6 feet from us. It was a great hike!


We spent the afternoon in La Fortuna looking through souvenir shops and checking out the local food. Stanley found a couple of things that he wanted so we bought them for him. Quiet evening back at the resort hanging with friends.

Ziplining through the Cloud Forest

Stanley wanted to go ziplining with us at Selvatura in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Unfortunately, he didn't meet the height and weight limits. He did a lot of tandem zipping with me but unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures of him because he was on my back.

Grandpa, as you can see, was flying through the tops of the trees on the zipline. He was at times more than 100 feet off the ground. He makes it look so easy.



There were 12 ziplines and one zipline where Grandpa and I rode the zip across an entire valley for almost a mile. It was a little breezy. Then there was the Tarzan Swing where you climbed a really tall tower and then just stepped off and swung out over the trees. It was easy to see how Jane must have felt as she clung to Tarzan.