Black Hills- Day 4

This was the last day of the trip.  We were only in South Dakota for a few hours before we needed to head home.  We decided to do two things. We went to Cosmos Mystery Area and to Dakota Stone's Rock Shop.


Cosmos is a place where they 'claim' the gravitational pull is off. There, we were shown all sorts of experiments to dazzle our minds, and confuse our senses.  There we say water run up hill, people change height right before our very eyes, and no one was able to stand up straight.

R was used for an experiment, and was told that if he lied, it wouldn't work. He was then asked a series of questions, one of them being if he had a girlfriend.  He said he did, and we were shocked.  Later that day he recanted everything he said.

We stopped at the Rock Shop for R. He is our rock hound.  The kids were able to look at all sorts of rocks, and even 'pan' for gems. 

S and R 'mined' for gems, 1T and 2T were too cool to do it, so they just browsed the shops.  S and R each ended up with a bag full of gems. It was a gold mine for them.

On our way home, we drove by Devil's Tower.  It is quite interesting that mountain is just out in the middle of nowhere. 

I think we had a good trip, and wore the kids out. 

Black Hills- Day 3

We attended church at a local ward at 9am.  When we walked into church, we recognized a family, and they recognized us.  They had attended our ward in Wyoming the week before because their cousin was graduating from high school.  I also had someone ask me if I knew someone else in Wyoming.  The person they were inquiring about happened to be my home teacher.  It is kind of funny that you can meet people you have a connection to where ever you go.  The church is small.


After church we went to Mt. Rushmore.  We took a lot of pictures there. 

We also ran into the LDS family we meet at the water park.  While we were there, we went on the Presidential Trail.  This takes you around under the monument.  If you are to go, make sure you start the trail on the left of the observation deck.  That way you will be going down a lot of stairs, not up them.  I learned why those four presidents were chosen to be immortalized on that mountain.  Washington was put there because he was the first president.  Jefferson was chosen because of the expansion that happened while he was the president (Louisiana Purchase).  Roosevelt was in charge of development, such as national parks.  Lincoln was responsible for keeping the nation intact.

S thought is was amazing that they could make something so big out of rock.  DSH felt very patriotic and grateful for the things those presidents did for us.  R liked the rocks, and 2T didn't know what the thought about it. He was too busy checking out his muscles in the viewfinder of the camera.  He actually said it is amazing to see what people can do.  1T, who is my artist, thought it would have been interesting sculpting on that scale with the tools they had available to them.  He felt like it would have taken a long time.  But, he also commented that it was a lot smaller than he was expecting it to be.

While on the trail, S dropped her water bottle behind the rail.  I had her jump over an get it, but we have proof that she was trying to litter at a national monument!

While leaving Rushmore, we went up Pigtail roads. They are named that because they corkscrew up the mountain. They were kind of fun to see. We didn't go all of the way up, and now looking on line at the pictures, I wish we would have. There are tunnels that face to Mt Rushmore, and give you a fantastic view.  Something to remember for next trip.


We then visited the Dinosaur Park. It was established in 1936 and is on the National Registry of Historic Places.  The life size dinos are on the top of the hill, and can be seen from around the city.   2T decided that he needed to conquer one of the dinos.  So with 1T's help, he was able to get up to the T-rex. After 1T allowed 2T to stand on his back, 2T got stuck.

 They had to do some maneuvering to get him out of that tight spot. 1T then helped 2T down by allowing himself to be used as a step stool.  We all had our pic taken on the Stegosaurus.  S wouldn't scoot back anymore though, or she would have slid off the back!  

We also visit the Chapel in the Hills.  This is an exact replica of one of the Stave churches in Norway.  It was fun to visit and learn about.  There was an outside court to protect the church from the elements.  I needed to remind the kids to be respectful, because it is used as a church.

The last thing we did this day was go to the park to play frisbee.  When we got to the park, imagine our surprise when we saw this in the parking lot.

We had to explain to the kiddos what it was, and why they really did want their picture taken by it!

Then we had some fun at the park.

Black Hills- Day 2

The second day of our trip we left Lead for Rapid City.  The first thing we did was visit the local stores. Where we live there are no stores, so when we get to a place that has shopping we get the things we need. 2T needed new running shoes, 1T needed underwear because he forgot to bring any,  S and DSH needed swimming suits, and R needed new pants.  I guess I was the only one who didn' t need anything. 

After shopping, we went to an indoor water park called WaTiki, because it was still raining.  We had a great time going down the slides, and taking pictures of each other.

While we were sitting in the hot tub, I noticed a family that looked to be LDS.  They were with another family that looked to be LDS too.  I went and asked one of the women if she was a local, She said that she was from Colorado, Castle Rock to be specific. The only person I knew from Castle Rock was an Elder who served in our ward, so I asked if she knew him.  She said that she knew his family through church. BINGO! I was right! It is amazing how you can pick out the LDS people.  It is a small world.  S's favorite part of the water park was when she and I rode down the tube together, and when we hit the pool she rocketed out of the tube into the water.

Later, we went to downtown Rapid City to look at all of the little tourist shops, and see the President Walk.  In downtown, they have a statue of every president of the USA.  They are all positioned on a different street corner, so when you come to and intersection you can see 4 different presidents.  We walked up and down the streets looking at the statues, deciding who we wanted to have our picture taken with. We couldn't bypass George, Abraham, or Ronald, 

and  I had to make a stop to see George W.  I so needed to tell him about the secret crush my friend has on him.  By the way he responded, I think he gives the idea a thumbs up!

While looking at the statues, we also stopped in a few shops.  One of the stores was an antique store.  I was looking for sleigh bells, and saw some in the window, so the family went inside.  As I was looking at something, I heard a crash, and DSH say, "Well, I guess we bought that."  There had been a frame setting on the floor leaning up against something. As R walked past it, he kicked it and knocked it over, then stepped on it while trying to recover.  R was in tears, and DSH was very calm, and told him not to worry about it because it was an accident. Unfortunately for us, it was a $200 accident.  And what did we get for our $200? A water damaged print in a broken plastic frame with a beer add on it.

Later DSH told R about knocking a whole display of ceramics over in a bible book store while on his mission.  I think it made R feel better.  We didn't buy anything else that day.

Black Hills- Day 1

We decided to go on a quick family vacation over Memorial Day weekend.  Because the Black Hills aren't too far from where we live, and no one but me has been there, we decided it was the perfect place.

The first day we stayed in Lead (pronounced Leed). Lead is a gold mining town that was built in a canyon.  The homes go straight up the hill.  It is pretty impressive. It is a beautiful town, built right in the forest.  It rained the whole time we were in Lead though.  The first morning we decided to go up Spearfish Canyon to Roughlock Falls. We decided to hike to to falls that were about a mile away, even though you could drive right to them.  We only saw three other people on the trail. 

Not those three.  We saw some beautiful flowers, beaver dams, a pond, meadows, moss covered rocks and a small pine tree that someone had decorated as a Christmas tree.

We would have missed all of these sights if we had decided to drive up to the falls. Once we got to the falls, there were a lot more people. I guess the rain scared them away from the beautiful walk.

I think the kids enjoyed time to just be themselves.

After the falls, we went to Belle Fourche ( pronounced Bell Foosh).  We went there because it is the geographic center of the nation.  They have a small museum there, and they let us all in free because DSH had served in the military.  The actual site is located on private property, so they have a monument in town.

Yes, it was still raining.  Because we hadn't had enough outdoor activities in the rain, we decided to go to the fish hatchery.  The fish hatchery had three ponds with three different sizes of fish.  2T bought $2 worth of fish food and all of the kids fed the fish.

This was the kids favorite stop thus far.  They loved watching the water "boil" when they threw in a handful of food.  The ducks would try to get the food, but with the large fish, the ducks would back away and let the fish get the food.

We finished off the day by going to an all you can eat dinner buffet.  They were serving snow crab and prime rib. That was our kind of buffet.  An all you can eat is the way to go with hungry teenagers.  We have never taken our kids to something like that, so it was a real treat for them.

And it didn't hurt that my favorite food is snow crab. What a great way to end our first day!

 

New Friends

Moving to a new town affords one many new experiences. One of which is finding new friends. This has been a difficult experience for me.

I lived in my previous town for 16 years.  I gave birth to 3 of my 4 children there. I have friends there who have lived half of my life with me. They know me and my children well. They have seen my children grow and succeed. They have helped me through my ups and downs.  They are friends that will never be replaced.

That being said, I am no longer near my friends, and have had to venture out to make new ones. It is difficult for me to remember how my friendships were in the beginning with SS, FH, JG, CP, KV, MM and MW. In my memory they have always been as strong as the day I moved. My expectations are not realistic on my new friendships. I want ones that are as strong as the ones I left, but I know those take time.

I have started a few relationships with women in my ward. They are in the beginning stages, but I think they have promising futures.


This is RJ with her son.  She is the first person I had a real conversation with. She brought me dinner the day I moved here. She is from Idaho, and even lived in Pocatello.  Growing up, she even knew KV's family. Her husband moved here months before she did, just like me and Joe.  We have a lot in common. I felt and instant connection with her because of our similar experiences.

This is TR. It was her husband who taught me to make opals.  Their family has been very friendly to us, welcoming us into their home.  They are the family we stop to see on our Sunday afternoon walks. Her personality just seemed to mesh with mine, and her husband's with my husband's. They are our first couple friend.

These women are CW and KR.  CW is the Bishop's wife, and my visiting teacher. She has always been very friendly. We have talked about starting a book club here. She is a  no nonsense kind of person, and a little sassy. She reminds me of my former bishop's wife, KV. KR invited me to breakfast on my birthday. I didn't know anyone yet, and was so sad because I was missing my friends. KR got a group of women together so we  could go out.  I am still so touched by the gesture.  It is exactly what my friends back home would have done for me.  Later, I found out that she too lived in Pocatello, and we know some of the same people.  That gave me another reason to like her.

Camera Fun

For my birthday last year, DSH bought me a very nice camera. Ever since then, I have been trying to learn to use it.  I have been having a lot of fun dabbling in photography, pretending like I know what I am doing.  Here are some of the fun pictures that I have taken.

 This was taken on the desert near our home.  It is a vent for an oil well.  They vent natural gas, and it burns as it vents.  At night, in certain places, these little roman candles can be seen dotting the desert.

This picture wasn't actually taken by me, but they are my flowers, and my camera. It was taken by an Elder who was messing with my camera while eating dinner at our house.  I love it though, so I put it here. I love that the sunlight is shining through the petals of the tulips.

This picture actually turned out really neat considering what it is.  I was walking home from an activity at the church, and this was water running down the gutter with the moonlight shining on it.  At the time, there was a large construction project going on down the street, and they were running a lot of water down the road.

This photo was taken coming back into town from a ride in the desert.  I would still like to edit it a little, and take the city lights out, all ten of them.



A Date!

DSH and I decided we needed a date. We needed away for a while. We decided to leave the children alone all day, and slowly drive up the valley, stopping at little stores along the way, and ending at the Walmart that is an hour and a half away. Sounds fun huh?

We started with lunch. We ate at a little diner, in a little city named Greybull.  They have the reputation of having the best food around.  The reputation was correct.  I haven't had such a great burger in a long time. DSH couldn't even fit it in his mouth!

DSH then indulged me, and we went into to a few antique stores.  There was nothing worth looking at, but we looked anyway.  We hit the road again, and found ourselves in Cody. We decided to go to the Buffalo Bill Museum and see what we could learn.  Unfortunately, the part of the museum about Buffalo Bill was closed for renovation. Instead, we looked at western art, and about 2700 different guns, that I couldn't tell apart.





DSH stood on a map about the location of our house, while I posed next to a polar bear. . . and why shouldn't there be a polar bear in a wild west museum?

We also took a picture of Cedar Mountain, which lies west of town, in between Cody and Yellowstone.  This mountain is special because it is a main 'character' in S's favorite book series Tennis Shoes Among the Nephities.

The caves in this mountain are what make time travel to ancient America possible! Best to have a picture of it.



Prom- Take Two

Sunday, the day after prom, I received a phone call from SS. She said that she had had a dream that I came to visit her, and brought 1T with me.  She then went on to tell me how 1T's senior female friend had not been asked to Prom which was in one week.  SS's idea was for 1T to ask said female friend to Prom at the high school 1T used to attend, and to double date with her son.  How could I pass that up? 1T called, asked, and arranged.

By the end of that week, I had taken a day off of work, and we were headed back to the town we consider home for Prom- take two.

Because we didn't have much time to plan, SS and I decided we were crafty enough that we could make the corsages and boutonnieres. It only took us 2 days to find the flowers, and about 2 hours to make the corsages.

We decided that we were talented enough to make them, just not efficient enough to make money doing it.

Unfortunately, 1T's date did not go with a hot pink dress, so we had to go with the old black tie and cummerbund standby because of lack of time.  1T's date looked wonderful though in orange.

We took pictures in his date's backyard. It was sunny, so there were shadows being cast. It was difficult to get good pictures, but being the innovative mothers we are, we came up with something.

We got some cute pictures. . . with no shadows.

1T took this sweet girl to her first prom.  They had a great time, and 1T got to spend some time with one of his life long friends.

We only got to stay for the weekend, but it was great to see everyone again, and spend time with my soul sister.