Valentine's Weekend in Zion Canyon

Karen and I spent a romantic weekend down in Southern Utah at Zion National Park.Okay, so maybe romantic isn't quite the word. As you can see, we had our three children in tow.Zion is a place of immense, incredible beauty. So this post is going to be picture-rich.

We stayed at the aptly-named Majestic View Lodge. The majestic view from our balcony:And from the parking lot:Zion is a very arid environment, very hot summers and not lots of precipatation. There is a river that runs through the main canyon of the park, and we're standing on it's bank here. Since it is February, there is some snow around. Very strange to see cactus with snow on it.The snow made for some beautiful scenes. It's a stark contrast against the red cliffs towering hundreds of feet straight above us.I have no idea about the expressions on their faces...The snow and ice made hiking a bit slickery sometimes, but breathtaking as well.It also made the snow accumulate on Emily's shoes. She has an open area carved into the sole of her shoes, and the snow would pack in there and build up as she walked, until soon she was hiking in high heels.We hiked over a snow packed trail up to an overlook that gives an incredible view of part of the canyon.Up at the top of this ridge, about in the middle of this picture below, just above the still forming arch, is where we were standing when we took the previous pictures.The girls enjoyed being able to play in the snow a bit.It wasn't too much that we were kept from a hike, but enough that you could enjoy it.I thought I'd turned off my cell, but alas I didn't. Wouldn't you know it, those Verizon commericials are right. They really are everywhere.I'm trying to bask in God's glorious splendor and I get texts and calls from my colleagues back home about arrangements for Sunday. I really should have just left the phone in the car. Aargh.Take a breath. Look around. Ah....that's better.

A quick snap Karen took of herself and Jenna. Had to include it. They're just too adorable!

A fabulous, restful, awe-inspiring, glorious weekend away. Yahoo!

The House That Jack Built

During December, those of us on staff at our church usually have a Christmas party together. However, as December usually is, it was a very busy month so we decided to postpone our Christmas party to Martin Luther King Jr day instead. We figured by that time we'd all have recovered and recuperated from the holidays and be ready for a get-together with our eight families.

Brilliant idea. I think all Christmas parties should be moved to January. But then I guess that would kind of just make January like December is now, so that probably wouldn't work.

In any case, our party was way fun. And one of the activities was a family talent show. Each family was asked to bring some sort of entertainment; it could be a family performance, or just a couple from the family, or even just one. And it could be anything. There were feats of flexibility, stories told, dancing, even "Name That Tune" by a two-year old. Our family decided to perform a poem in Smith family style...

This was at our house, of course, but we did just as well at the actual party. We rock!

On a completely different subject, Anya has drastically changed her looks. She's gone from this hair:To this hair:Quite a change! She's been wanting to do it for quite a while. Mom and Dad were dragging our feet...just couldn't imagine her without her long hair! Finally made the appointment and we all LOVE the results! C'est magnifique!

X-Country Skiing

One of Karen's favorite things to do is go cross-country skiing. And given all the snow we've had (as evidenced by this shot taken on our back porch last week after that deluge)she decided it was prime time for hitting the trails!

She and her friend Karla and Karla's daughter Jessica headed up to Sundance to their nordic center to take in the beauty and give those x-country muscles a work out.Perfect day! Perfect snow! Perfect choice!And all this grandeur only 20 minutes from our front door. Gotta love it!

So long, Mr. Bush

As we prepare to say goodbye to President Bush, I found an article the other day. It's kind of a summation of the man and his presidency as we end our 8 years together.

What I appreciated about the article was it's lack of stridency and cynicism. It seemed to me to present the George W. Bush that I'd always sensed, but rarely saw. And it's by an Associated Press writer (wonder of wonders).

And while I admit I often cringed at his massacre of the English language, and I laughed at Letterman's regular inclusions of him in "Great Moments In Presidential Speeches", I respect him as our President, and have always believed the best of him, that ultimately he made choices by a motivation to do what he thought was right. I can't say I believed that about all those who've served as president in my lifetime.

And incidentally, while I don't agree with most of President-elect Obama's postions, I do respect him and also believe he makes the choices he does for similarly positive reasons.

In any case, click here for a link to the article about President Bush.

Sledding fun

We've had a lot of snow over the past few weeks, and it's been beckoning to our girls.

Armed with new snow-skimming equipment, our fearless trekkers headed out in bitter cold (well, it was below freezing) to trudge wearily to the far away destination (okay, so they ran for about 30 seconds to get to the park a few doors down) before climbing the treacherous mountain (um, alright, it's a ten-foot hill ) to face certain death as they plummeted down the slope at breakneck speeds (hey, they could have broken their necks!).



Made me want to go sledding, too!



After their heart rates returned to normal, Karen snapped a few shots with our wondermutt, Shelby, and Sadie a little dog we're watching over the holidays.Of course, we had to get the mountain in the shot. Have I mentioned lately how breathtakingly gorgeous it is here? Just in case you non-Utahns have forgotten.

The photographer for the day managed to get in one of the pics this time.Looking fabulous, I must say.

Emily is holy...er, hole-y

One of Emily's Christmas gifts, this one from G'pa, was the privilege of getting holes poked into her earlobes. I believe that in biblical times, such an activity denoted enslavement to the one who did the piercing...I'm not sure if Emily realizes what she signed up for with that, but I digress.

Karen, G'pa and lovely Emily headed down to the pain production center, oh, excuse me, the ear piercing counter to pick out her lovely studs and have them forcibly harpooned into her lobes. To be fair, Emily said the actual piercing hurt much less than the pinch to her ear that Mom used to demonstrate about how much pain it would be. I can't imagine that. Seems to me that if someone stuck a sharp needle through the dangly part of my ear, it would smart. A lot. But then, that's why my ears are still unholey.In any case, Emily now has lovely sparkling flowers poking from the bottoms of her ears. They do look great!

But I still say it had to hurt.

Ouch.

Christmas Racing

Probably the favorite of the assorted gifts under the Christmas tree this year was the addition of three new games to our Wii family: Mario Kart, Cooking Mama, and Lego Indiana Jones.As you can see, there was much excitement. I think their favorite was Mario Kart.For you MarioKart virgins, it's a racing a game, with the Wii remote functioning as a steering wheel while you drive your car, cart or bike through various race courses. You can play alone or up to four of you can race at once. Highly entertaining.

And the unique twist that our girls put on is that, unlike boys who simply race and trash talk each other while they attempt to win, they identify the relationships of the twelve different characters who drive the vehicles. You know, who's married, who's dating, whose child is whose, who's the evil brother, who's someone's pet. Because, for a girl, it can't just be about winning; it always comes down to the relationship.But they still manage to get pretty intense during the races, here with G'pa joining in the fun.

By the way, all the games are big hits with the fam. Cooking Mama uses the Wii remote as various utensils and actions as you prepare meals in the kitchen. Doesn't sound like much, but it's strangely fun to chop, grind, stir, dice, crack, sizzle, coat and cook as the lovely french accented voice says "ecc-sell-ent!" or, if you're pitiful "ooo, not mine!"

My favorite and easily the most addictive is Lego Indiana Jones. The characters are Lego versions of the movie icons, and your task is to solve puzzles, defend yourself, and find treasures along the way. We're still working our way through the story (we're only part way through the first movie...we're at the part where Indy and the guy fight by the prop plane). You move on to the next scene whenever you've solved the puzzle in that area that allows you to continue. And you of course, in Indy fashion, get to punch, or use your bullwhip on, the Lego Nazi's and watch them disintegrate into little Lego pieces, as well as swing through the trees on your whip while you rescue Marion from danger. Very satisfying. Way too easy to lose an hour or two of your life as you become Indy, but totally fun while you do.

All in all, a very Wii Christmas.