When it rains it pours

I like water. I think it has nice qualities. I like to waterski in it and it is my drink of choice. Rain is especially nice, except when it is in my house. I've had two run-ins with rain in my house recently. The first involves my sunroom which has been leaking progressively worse in the past year. A few days ago it was raining hard outside, and just as hard inside. I showed our roofer, who had removed some rain gutter type of thing, and he quickly tried to make the rain shower less. The sunroom is now history, torn off by our neighbor Jordan this very day. He is building on a new room for us, hopefully leak proof.

Second incident - I was sleeping soundly at the cabin last Friday night with 21 other people - young women and leaders from our stake for a camp YCL work night. At 4:30 a.m. I awoke to rain in the cabin - in my bedroom. Since it was coming from the ceiling I quickly deduced the source - upstairs. I found the hot water pipe had blown from its happy copper home. Like the little dutch boy holding back the damn dam, I stuck the pipe into its home and quietly yelled a few people's names to get someone to come and help me. My pals Sarah and Callie came to the rescue and Callie held the damn while I shut off the water in the dark, outside with 1,000 mosquitoes. Then I turned the generator on to survey the damage. The carpet in the upstairs bathroom was soaked as was the carpet in the bathroom on the main floor, the carpet in my bedroom and the basement carpet, couch and pillow. And one young woman. We mopped up a little and went back to bed. I spent 5 1/2 hours drying things out the next day, including sheets, pillowcases, quilts and clothes from the main bedroom closet. I'm done with water. Really.

A fabulous weekend

I needed to get away. I hadn't taken a vacation since before I started working at The Daily Universe on BYU campus last August. Since there were a few days between semesters our family decided to go to Bryce Canyon. Our kids have never been there and Riley and I haven't been there since 1981. The stars must have been in alignment for us to take this trip. It was between trips for Riley - California, California and Mongolia; Andrea and Amy returned from Mexico and Belize at 1 a.m. the day we left, Brandy got time off from her new job and Jason had time too. So the six of us loaded up into two vehicles and headed south.

Everything was perfect. First, it was a free entrance weekend at Bryce so we saved $50 on entrance fees. Then we got the second to last camping spot in the park. We set up our three tents and made a fire to cook pigs in a blanket over the fire. The weekend we chose to go was an astronomy festival so we listened to lectures about planets and then we looked through enormous telescopes to see planets, nebulas and stars. It was fantastic!

Friday we ate omelets cooked in baggies. You break your eggs into a ziplock bag, add things like onions, mushrooms, peppers, cheese, etc. and cook in a pot of boiling water. The best part - no clean up. We hiked through Bryce on the various trails for six hours, going slowly to look at cool things, identify plants and birds and sleep and eat lunch in an out-of-the-way place we had to ourselves. We ate easy stuff life crackers, skittles and fruit. That night we made tinfoil dinners and cooked them in the fire. Again, no clean-up.

Saturday we woke to a little bit of rain. We broke camp and visited all the look-out points in Bryce all the way to Yovimpa point. We had thought about going to Zion and went back and forth trying to decide. At 1-ish we decided to head down to Zion. We were so glad we did. The entrance fee was waived again so we paid nothing to ride the shuttle into the park. We tried to hike the Shinowava area but it was raining. The rain stopped so we took pictures of our family in front of the Great White Throne. We hiked the Weeping Rock area and Brandy and Andrea hiked to Hidden Canyon. It was a wonderful, slow-paced, relaxing weekend with the five people I love the most. We didn't get home until 1 a.m. but it was worth it. We enjoyed our time together and we all came home rejuvenated.

29 years ago

Twenty-nine years ago tonight I was a nervous bride-to-be. I probably went to bed early so that my mom, dad and I could drive 2 1/2 hours north to Logan to meet Riley and his parents for our 9 a.m. sealing. I only remember a few things about that day. Another couple got in a car accident on the way to the temple. They were shaken but went through with their sealing. I cried through most of the ceremony and so did my mom. My dad and Riley's dad were witnesses and they were both beaming. None of my grandparents - Leah Wheeler, or Shirl and Crystal Poulson attended, probably because of distance. But my two brothers Brett and Paul, and their wives, Gayle and Kathy, were there. So was my bishop Gerald Jensen and his wife and Earl and Renee Olsen, good friends of Winston and Aileen, Riley's parents.

After the ceremony we took pictures outside the temple. It was windy and my dress kept blowing up. My mom would rearrange it so it looked nice. Riley had on a tan cordouroy suit. He and I rode with Winston and Aileen to Maddox in Brigham City for our wedding luncheon. There were many more people there, mostly Brigham City friends. We had a chopped beef dinner. We drove to Springville in Riley's mustang and went to my house. I think we must have changed clothes for a few hours before our reception at 6:30 at the center street church.

These are some of the details of the day and I could write more. But the important thing is what I got that day. I got a loving husband with a sense of humor. I married a man who honors his priesthood and loves the Lord. I began a life of church activity that I have grown to love and cherish. I got an exciting life of education and travel with a man who loves to learn, loves to teach and loves to see new things. In just 10 months I became a mother to a sweet little boy Jason. We added two darling daughters - Andrea and Amy within five years.

I love my life. I love the memories of a day 29 years ago that put me on an exciting, memorable path with a loving partner. Happy Anniversary Riley. Thanks.

A list for today

1. I'm glad I heard from Amy in Mexico and that she and Andrea got there OK. I hope they have wonderful adventures and come back safely on the 17th.
2. I bore my testimony today and cried. I can usually hold it in but I had a meltdown. Oh well, I think it actually helped.
3. I love the rain.
4. I had to turn my furnace back on and I'm wearing a sweater and fuzzy slippers. It's June 7.
5. Today is the day I received my endowment 29 years ago. What a tremendous gift.
6. I need a nap. So I'm going to take one. And never put it back.
7. I'm grateful for good friends whose shoulders I can cry on.
8. My little "grandbabies" Abby, Logan, Parker and Jane are hilarious and I love it when they come to my house. Their parents too. Especially when we play nertz. And eat good food.
9. I like it when one of my cats curls up with me. I'll invite them to my nap.
10. I'm hungry but fasting so a nap will help pass the time.
11. This list is pretty deep. I'd better stop.

What a weekend!

There have been a lot of major things building up lately and several took place this weekend. First, my mom had her 80th birthday. I've kidded her for several years that we were going to get the Springville High marching band to play at her birthday. Well this year it happened - they really came and played! About 16 of them plus a band major and 2 flag twirlers. It was probably the most memorable thing to happen to my mom in a long time. People asked how I got them to play for her. I just asked. It's a longer story than that but the point is - if you want to make something happen you have to just ask the right people. Thanks SHS for coming through for her! And I appreciated all the family members who came, brought food, helped with dinner and cleaned up. We had a great time together - one we won't forget for a long time!

Next, my siblings and I got together for a pow wow and to oil the cabin. These were both momentous events - we discussed lots of things that needed attention and we haven't been in the same place at the same time for a very long time so it was good to be together. We had a lot of fun kidding around but we tackled some heavy duty subjects too. Oiling the cabin was a MAJOR job but we got it done in about 5 hours. Brett, Paul, Kelly, Riley, Jan, McKade, Paul and Brian Ashton and I worked on putting the oil on the logs both by sprayer and paintbrush. It was a hot, sticky job. Andrea and Amy brought Grandma Wheeler to the cabin so she could see the happenings. She was possessed for a few minutes by the spirit of Dick Wheeler, and, wearing his hat and a grandpa sweatshirt, gave a short speech on how much he loved his family and that we were all doing a good job to take care of it. (My mom is crazy.) The cabin looks amazing and is good for another 5 years, or however long it takes to oil it again.

Now on to youth conference ...

Nine Mile Canyon

We had a ward trip planned for Nine Mile Canyon yesterday but because of rain, it was canceled. We decided to go anyway with friends Gord and Pam Oborn. We got rained on but we also had an incredible day. Nine Mile Canyon is near Wellington down by Price. The canyon is full of petroglyphs and pictographs, pictures made by pecking the rock surface and pictures created with some kind of paint. Many pictures can be seen from the car. The last bunch we saw we had to walk to and included a pregnant buffalo -- a picture of a buffalo with a baby buffalo inside. Many were discernable as animals or people. Some were odd shapes we puzzled over. It would be nice to know what the Fremont indians were thinking as they created these pictures more than 1,000 years ago. Was it a way to communicate or record history or was it ancient graffiti? Riley took many pictures and once I figure out how to post a picture with my blog, I'll put some up.

Very nice day with good friends. Don't ever let rain thwart plans to make a memory.

I love the cabin

Riley, Andrea and I spent the day at the cabin yesterday. The goal was to not have a goal. After many hectic weeks of covering a million piles of responsibilities, I wanted to do nothing. I got my wish. Sort of. I slept in (til 8 a.m.), read in bed until 9 a.m., had cereal (read - no pancakes, no work), and then started cleaning. A friend asked why I included cleaning in my day of nothingness. Because cleaning takes no brain power - it's cathartic in that there is a transformation from before to after, without hurting brain cells to do so. The day also included a walk to the cattails through an area of the property I've never been on. Riley and Andrea and I walked together and they pointed out various birds, insects and plants. Very calming and enjoyable. After an easy lunch of foods that didn't need to be prepared, I read some more and then fell asleep. I don't think I've taken a nap on a Saturday since ... I can't remember when. The day wasn't rushed, there was nothing pressing to get home to, I didn't feel stressed and I accomplished things I didn't even have on my radar. Nice way to spend a Saturday.