Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Wyoming

Before I met Harold I had never been to Wyoming. In my mind I pretty much had no conception of what WY would be like. H invited me to his aunt and uncle's cabin in August of 1994 for a family reunion and off we went. It was at that reunion that I met some of the most down to earth, wonderful people I know.

This past weekend we visited with two of my favorite people: Mike and Kathy. I love M&K because they are so easy going, friendly, and super nice! I always feel at ease with them. We went for a visit because every time we see them we talk about visiting, but we NEVER visit. It was WAY overdue for us to get in the car and make the 2 1/2 hour trip.

We got there around 5 p.m. on Friday and left pretty quickly to go fossil hunting. That was fun. Kathy showed us what to look for and off we went. The funniest thing about the fossil hunt was that literally everything I picked up was pretty much just a rock. I didn't find anything that was remotely a fossil or Indian remains. The kids, however, were quite successful. I'm thinking its because they are closer to the ground than I am? Anyway, Savannah even found part of a broken arrowhead. Its pretty sweet and she was thrilled. Harold even found some sweet rocks with what looks like clam shell imprints on it. I NEVER knew that WY was once under water.

I am not much of an outdoor person, but this weekend was so enjoyable. We didn't have to pay any money to just roam around and enjoy the scenery and fossil hunt.

We also enjoyed a campfire with hot dogs and smores (MMMM)as well as some sloppy joes (I love sloppy joes, and I don't eat them nearly as much as I should, but Kathy had a homemade recipe with stuff I have on hand, so I am going to start homemaking them instead of those dumb packets that I usually buy!)

And for the first time we went to Ft. Bridger with M&K as well as Brent and Collette, et al. Their kids are super cute by the way. I was hoping I could win Bridger over, which I never did, but he looked my way a lot. :) The fort was interesting, and reminded me a lot of the park up in SLC with the old homes of Brigham Young and his family. The weather was cooperative, a little warm and we got a little sun, but nice and breezy. I could live in WY just for the constant breeze. I love wind, I do!

On to personal matters: We are still gearing up for our home visit to get ourselves licensed to foster. We bought first aid kits as well as a fire extinguisher (we have two, but they aren't big enough). I am starting to feel extremely nervous about the prospect. Every time I talk to Harold about it he insists we keep moving forward, so we are. Faith is a difficult thing, isn't it?

Sav gave an excellent lesson last night for FHE on fighting our own Goliaths. Her lesson was taken from the most recent issue of The New Era. We talked about how small David was, and how big Goliath was. We talked about having the Lord on our side and how that makes all the difference. Faith in the Lord. A constant internal struggle, despite evidence that supports faith at every turn.

8 comments:

Hamblin Family said...

Sorry, it's been a long time since I commented. Fun to see what you guys have been up to. Bummer we missed you in WY last weekend.
PS I hope the Family/Friends column includes us. If so, it's Angie and Blaine, not Blake. Don't worry, I won't tell him!:)

Abbie said...

Not to make light of a serious situation but did you mean to say that you needed to buy a fire extinguisher instead of a fire hydrant? :)

Jeff said...

Gee, I had never been to Wyoming either until I met H!!! Sounds like you had a good time. I know that there is an outdoorsy girl deep down inside you just dying to get out!!!

mom/Janet said...

It has been ages - - like since I was a little girl - - since I've been into the Fort Bridger. I'll have to make a point to go there. Too bad the kids are all grown but hey, Bill and I could have a good time. Nothing like a Wyoming girl and Kathy is a great one to get you out in the outdoors. So glad you could make it a part of your weekend.

Anonymous said...

And I hate the wind! That is precisely why I think Colorado is paradise compared to Wyoming. Whenever I would complain about the wind blowing in Colorado (which it does, but it is NOT constant), Ross would say to me, "What do you care. You grew up with the wind." To which I would always reply, "Yes, but there it was a way of life. Here (in Colorado) it is an imposition!" AMEN.

Also, visiting at Mike and Kathy's was one place Ross always enjoyed going. He liked their company, liked the fossil hunts, and we always said we should go more often. What I really liked the best, though, was being there one Sunday morning and hearing the same kinds of hassle going on with the MK Hamblins as the Nichols experienced every Sunday morning, too. I knew then we weren't alone in that frustration of getting the family ready for Church.

Holley said...

Sounds like a great weekend. But how soon you forget. You realize that 18 years ago this coming September, we trekked across country in my little Geo with Brien in our laps and we were in Wyoming for about an hour. I guess it didn't make an impression on you then huh?

Good luck with the inspection stuff!!

Erin. said...

We just got home today from a family reunion that was about 10 minutes away from Ft. Bridger....it's a small world after all.....

Erin. said...

We just got home today from a family reunion that was about 10 minutes away from Ft. Bridger....it's a small world after all.....