Good Times, Moab!

We usually stay home conference weekend, but conference after conference of not being able to get much out of them, we decided to road-trip it and listen to it on the radio while all are strapped in their car seats.

The first item of the weekend...Fisher Towers. We hiked and hiked and had a great, whine-free time. Clay wants to climb "Ancient Art", which is the tallest point below (the top looks like a corkscrew). Looks pretty exposed for my taste, but you go!

Behind Will and Lucy is what's called the Cobra. Yea, that's what I get for marrying a crazy OCD climber-dude. He knows the names of all the rocks and what they're made of. Pretty cool, though.

We then headed down the road to this deserted "house". I guess this prospector back in the 60s was sold a fake deed to some land just outside of Moab. He spent years and years constructing this hole in the rock, and one day was found by some BLM worker, who told him to vacate the premises. Poor guy. He had this winding staircase up to a second level, with electrical outlets, water pipes, chimneys, etc. Great place for lunch and rock-throwing contest.

Lucy found a cactus and wanted Dad to suck the water out of it. Clay was game. I guess he was, as always, thirsty. Next, we went to a bouldering area where Clay, forgetting one of his climbing shoes, decided his Crocs would do just as well.
Nate was pretty serious about working in the sand with his trucks.

Peter had a blast sliding down all the boulders, with the following as proof, with his underwear looking just as fabulous!The next day, we headed out to Corona Arch where we got rained on, but still, so fun.

Persistence

There isn't much that I get more excited about than when someone tries and tries and tries and doesn't give up on something that is hard, and then actually DOES it!! This is our nephew Hayden. He just wouldn't quit!

What a poser! You are a stud, Hay-doh!

Oh, and Clay let go of the rope this time. Hang ten, sweetie!

What a fun day at Pineview! Thanks, Martin, for making sure we floated! Why is it that things seem to break only when you're around? We love the Dorrances!

Why I love the Wasatch Front

One end ...

And the other! This is what I get when I walk out my front door. Are you jealous? Thought so.

Dr. Jason to the rescue

So, what do you do when your husband buys your six-year-old a scout knife and allowes him to whittle?

You make sure your awesome neighbor Dr. Jason is home to make emergency house calls to sew up your son. Five stitches and the knife is now stored safely in a locked closet in the basement to be used when Will is 40.

Dr. Jason is our hero!

Blame it on the Boogie!

I was at Costco yesterday and had an impulse buy (I know that surprises you). I was browsing the music section and found the "Essential Michael Jackson" and as the title implies, it was essential that I buy it.

Today we had a Watson Dance party. We had to have it without daddy. (That was okay because I wouldn't want Clay's moves to rub off on ANY of his children - they have enough teasing points with the red hair and freckles!) We listened to MJ and danced all morning. I admit I used to dance every chance I could, especially when I was alone.

Here are some of Lucy's Elaine Benice moves.

The "Thriller" album really is fabulous. I can't believe I didn't have it before. Just gotta "Rock With You!"

Summer of the dead

Some of you know at the beginning of the summer we decided it was time our little family got a pet. Will has been begging for years, and we finally gave in and got a RAT! Many of you are wondering why? I was asking myself that same question. But, my sister talked me into it. One of her son's elementary school teachers had a classroom pet every year, and I guess had every kind of small rodent/pet there can possibly be. Out of all of them, she liked the rats the best. They are kind to children, not nipping too much, tolerate being held, are fairly easy to keep, and actually are pretty smart and can be trained (to a point). (I wasn't paying attention when my friend Jeana told me how much poo can come out of a little thing like that.)

Well, my kids (minus Peter) were so excited and played with it all the time. After about three weeks, Lucy had it outside on the deck while I helped her clean the cage. I guess RAT took a dive off the table because all the sudden Lucy comes in the door and says "Mom, we need some tissue because the rat has a bloody nose." Uh-oh. Then she said, "Look, Mom, the rat is playing dead." Double uh-oh. I took the poor rat from her and it was convulsing and bleeding all over the place. Then, after a minute of that, it started spewing foam and stopped moving. Lucy and Will were in hysterics for what seemed like forever. I guess it is good to learn the lesson of life and death. But, even if it is just a little rat, as opposed to a family member or friend, it still SUCKS.

We buried it in a corner of our front yard and had a prayer over RAT (or "Mint" depending on who you're talking to). It was a sweet moment until Peter got up off his knees and ran off saying "I didn't like the rat anyway." I guess we show our grief in different ways, or maybe it is that the rat grossed him out like it did me.

Thanks, Amy and Lily, for bringing flowers to the grave. They are still there.

And if one dead animal wasn't enough for that spot of ground, Will found a wounded sparrow in the street and took it home to care for it. He didn't want another animal to die. But it did. Now "Spirit" (as they named it) resides besides RAT. And if that wasn't enough, Will found ANOTHER injured bird and brought it to rest in our small animal cemetery.

So, if you have a small rodent or pet you would like to dispose of, please feel free to bring it to the NE corner of our driveway. There's still some room left. We'll find a rock to place on its head and say a prayer for it (and you)!

Maybe there's hope for Clay

Those of you know that the boat was my idea. Clay went along with it, reluctantly.

To encourage Clay to like the boat, we invested in a wake surfer from our friend Matt Smedley who builds his own boards in Texas. The concept behind wake surfing is that you weigh the boat down so that there is a big enough wake for you to surf on it. The videos on YouTube are pretty cool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTY8mrwhOTQ

So, we headed out to Utah lake one Friday night to try it out.
Unfortunately, Clay tried, and tried, and tried, and messed up his back, but couldn't get up this time. Clay wasn't too discouraged, though, and said, "You know me, Rosanne. I don't give up easily on fun." Phew!

The kids had fun playing on it anyway.

And after a few tries at the end of the night, Clay got up on one ski and had a glorious run. So, maybe there's hope for Clay after all!