Utah or Bust

We headed to Utah last week to attend our newest grandson, Owen's, baby blessing (kind of like a christening). We decided to give ourselves a week so we had time to play with grandkids and visit with our older children. 

Our first whole day we spent just hanging with David and Sariah's kids.  

Sometimes it just nice to relax and read a book together.

And, just share a little love!!

We had some laughs playing the barnyard game.

Spencer showed off his culinary skills with some yummy made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches.

It was fun to watch him! 

The finished product and it comes with a smile! 

Later that day we headed to West Jordan to see John, Amy, and their boys.  Grandpa got to meet little Owen for the first time. 

Callan is an awesome big brother. 

Callan and Aiden had fun at a splash pad while the adults chatted about life.

Friday was a fun day. We went to Mount Nebo where we drove the loop trail, found a cool little wheelchair accessible hike and a Payson Lakes!  

This is Devil's Kitchen, it is like a mini Bryce Canyon. 

Some people do NOT like their picture taken! 

Cutie Joanna, had fun finding painted rocks.

My hiking buddies, Joanna and Leah! 

I always enjoy the flora! 

I love beautiful mountain lakes with green trees around.  

Spencer enjoying the sunshine.  

Should they jump in or not?

Of course!!

Callan was my hiking buddy on a walk around the lake. 

What a funny crooked tree.

Andrew brought his cool hammock. It was very comfy! 

Friday was a busy day.  After our trip to the mountain we went to a Lego exhibit at UVU. 

We saw some cool things built with lego's, like this aircraft carrier.

Complete with sailors. 

And a waving American flag. 

There even was a lego picture of the Christus made completely out of Lego's. 

This is the famous Rainbow Road from Mario Cart. 

We all went out to dinner at Good Thyme Eatery in Provo. It was yummy and these two sillies had fun! 

Saturday, Mike and I started the day at the Provo Temple with David and Sarah.  It is a beautiful temple.  We wish we lived this close to a temple and could go more often. 

That evening we went on a date with David and Sarah and had some fun laughs at Dry Bar Comedy!  

Sunday was Owen's blessing day. I was able to sit in church with some of my grandchildren. A rare but delightful event!  

Uncle Evan and Owen.

Sweet sleeping baby Owen. 

Monday morning was time to head home.  As we drove through Cedar City, the new Cedar City Temple up on the hill beaconed us closer.  We had a little adventure finding it.  It is still under construction, but looks beautiful.  I love the dome on the tower.  

We took a little break to visit Kolob Canyon, the northwestern part of Zion Canyon National Park!  It was incredibly beautiful.   I don't know why we never visited before. 

This canyon was just calling to me to explore, but it was very hot and not accessible so will have to wait until another time! 

We decided to spend an extra night in Las Vegas on the way home to visit with one of our favorite people, Aunt Delma!  She is just delightful! 

We decided to drive up to Mount Charleston to give Aunt Delma a break from the over 100 degree temperature of Las Vegas.  

We enjoy the 80 degree sunny weather and the beautiful trees and rock formations. 

And of course the company was fun.  Aunt Delma has lots of great stories to tell.  There are times I look at her and just see and hear my sweet mother-in-law Viola, her older sister.  We all miss her! 

We always love visiting our family and the bond we have together! 

Uphill

Sometimes, life goes uphill.  And. It. Is. Hard.  Our uphill travels bring us strength.  And, sometimes we only get strong when we do the hard part by ourself.  

Last evening we went to the Grover Beach boardwalk.  It is one of our favorite places to take a stroll especially on warm summer evenings.  There is a rather big incline that Evan likes to do all by himself.  Sometimes people look at us, like we are the meanest people in the world, because we don't help Evan up the hill.  We don't help him because he wants to do it by himself.  He knows it helps him get strong muscles.  Sometimes, people just encourage him and say, "Great job! You can do it!"  Usually, I walk backwards facing him, and chat with Evan as he rolls his way up hill and Mike is usually trailing behind him.  

Do you see that man in the blue hoodie down there talking to Mike?  Well, he stopped and said to Evan,  "Do you need some help?"  And before Evan could answer he said, "Oh, I see what is going on.  You must be strong willed. I see what you are doing.  That is the most touching thing I have seen!"  He was surprisingly very emotional about it.  He said.  "I really want to help you, but I see you need to do this!"   Mike stopped and talked to the man for a while and Evan and I just kept going to the top!  And then what a view!  

Life is that way too!  There are hills to climb, some are very tough.  We need to continue our uphill battles to get strength.   We meet people along the way, sometimes they really want to help, but they know we will only gain the strength as we work things through on our own.  But, we are really never alone.  There are people here to encourage us.  Sometimes, it's parents, sometimes friends and sometimes just strangers! 

Heartbreak and Joy

My family history research lately has been descendancy research.  I come across little Marie Anna Pintal yesterday while researching a 3rd cousin of mine.  She died at age 1 month due to spina bifida.  I was shocked to see those words spina bifida on an 1889 death record!! What mixed emotions I felt!  I am so sad for this family. I am just heartbroken especially for her mama.  There was no treatment available for spina bifida back then, no surgery, no antibiotics to be prevent infection.  Mostly likely Anna suffered a slow and difficult death. I wonder if her mom got to hold her and nurse her.  I wonder if little Anna had hydrocephalus also.  I hope her passing was peaceful and not painful.

On the other side, I feel joy.  Joy because when I heard the words spina bifida as a diagnosis for my son, I lived in a day and age of the miracle of modern medicine.  Without surgery when he was infant Evan would NOT have lived very long, just like little Marie Anna,  I feel Joy, because I was able to spend time with Evan today and watch him enjoy the great outdoors on his handcycle.   He lives a full and busy life and is a just a delight!  We are very blessed!

Rolling on the Bob Jones Bike Trail

I also feel joy for the Pintal family. Gideon and Emmerance had 15 children. Some died young, some lived long lives, some I don't know how long they lived. However, I know that they can be a forever family.  And, what great joy they will feel to be together again!!

Source:  "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWQ7-F45 : 10 December 2014), Marie A. Pintal, 23 Jan 1889; citing Lowell, Massachusetts, v 401 p 121, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,241.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWQ7-F45?from=lynx1&treeref=LRR6-MQ9

Friday Hike

It seems that Friday is the day that Mike and I take a nice hike somewhere on the beautiful Central Coast.  We had to be in Morro Bay today to meet a Make-A-Wish family and decided to hike up Black Hill.  We had not been up here in ages.  While the view is still gorgeous, it was so sad to see all the downed trees. 

 The view of "The Rock"!

This is looking south at the bay and marshlands. 

The trees up here just snapped in half.  They didn't fall from the roots. 

I love the monkey flower that is growing all over.

This is a view of Los Osos and Baywood Park. 

Panoramic view from the top.  It was a beautiful day with pretty cloud formations.  

My try at a selfie!  I need more practice!! 

Architecture Graveyard

Today we went on a most unusual hike to Cal Poly Canyon.  It was so beautiful with vivid green hills and water softly trickling down the creek.  We have lived in this area literally for decades and heard of this hike but never taken opportunity to go before this morning.  After hiking about a mile you come go through a large stone arch.  This is the beginning of the Architecture Graveyard.  They are just old student built projects.

There are some very unique structures among the beautiful green hills.  

The bridge was built the year of our marriage 1973.  It's not even an antique yet!!

The structure was call The Flower.  Can you see it blossoming?

This lovely recliner offered superior firm back support!

This just yells out "CLIMB ME!"  We were obedient!  I thought the amphitheater inside was unusual.

I thought this was a bridge at first but it the bow of a water vessel!

Where is the water?

This Modular House said this was a private residence!  I really don't think the rodents minded us exploring just a little.

The opposite side of the house was very colorful!  I am not sure if that was original or not!!

The Shell House was interesting.  We are not sure when this was built.

Straight ahead was kitchen!

This was the remanent of some project.

This sculpture looks like it could take off.

This yucca plants are just quietly standing tall over everything.

This was another interesting home.  The dome on the right of the top picture and left of the bottom was an outhouse type building, that included a shower.

It was hard to photograph the inside of the fancy outhouse.   I especially like the little chimney-like things coming out of the roof! It made it seem whimsical. Like maybe little gnomes would live here!

This is the view is you were sitting on the patio.

The pictures do not do the beauty of our green hills justice!

I love how the thistle is growing in the streams.  There is the ship in the back ground.

Walking back down the canyon we stopped to listen to the creek flowing and the birds singing.  It was a lovely morning.

One more unusual thing, a folding card on the creek bottom.  We could not even figure out how to get down there!!

I want to come out here and explore again, soon!

A BERRY GOOD DAY!!

About 12 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  Thank you, Mom AND Dad, it's in my DNA!   I have been casually keeping an eye on it through the years.  Exercising and watching what I eat to control it without meds seemed to work for the most part.  For the last couple of years my A1C has been slowing getting higher and higher.  I was told over and over again that as you get older you will be unable to control this without medication.  I am very reluctant to add yet another med to the three I am currently taking to control blood pressure and cholesterol.   Well, in late November with an A1C of 7.1 (that comes out to about an average of a 157 blood sugar) , I asked my doctor to please refer me to a diabetic nutritionist!  She sent me see Kris Dilworth, who I actually saw when I was first diagnosed.  She spent almost an hour with me in January and gave me suggestions on how to eat better and take control of this disease.

She ordered me a new meter and I took to testing my blood sugar at least twice a day!  I thought I could cheat once in a while and one evening had a blood sugar of 215!!  Well, that scared me!  And, I decided then and there, no more cheating, I am taking this disease seriously.  Certain foods are just going to be poison to my body!!  I started eating a low carb, high fat diet or ketogenic diet! I know it sounds weird.

After two months, today I went back to see Kris and guess what?  The low carb/low fat diet totally worked for me.  My A1C was 6.0 which means an average of 125!  And, I lost weight!!  She said I made her day and she was impressed with my motivation!  Of course, I hugged her and thanked her for her help!!  Below is the little note that she sent home with me!



Sometimes, it is hard to eat this way. Especially, in social situations where high carb food is the norm and many times low carb foods and not available. That can be awkward at times. What is more important my health or being socially appropriate?  Besides there are lots of delicious low carb foods that can be easily made at home.  Have you ever had cauliflower pizza?  It is actually very good!  Yummy BERRIES are on the list along with DARK CHOCOLATE!  What more could you need?

I only have one body!  I know that high blood sugar can cause damage to nerves and kidneys and eye sight and on and on!  So, I am going to keep on moving and eating healthy for me!  The support of my family has been very appreciated.