4th of July Weekend

It cooled down about 10 degrees over the long weekend so we decided to take a trip to the Golden Spike National Monument at the north end of the Great Salt Lake. I can only imagine how miserable those rail road workers must have been working in this desert heat as the raced to lay the transcontinental track.

We arrived just in time to see both engine replicas brought together as they appeared for the photo session commemorating the rail road's completion.

Not quite ready to return home, we decided to take the short 1 1/2 mile hike along the old rail road bed to see some of the obstacles the 'graders' faced in this part of their effort. The two companies actually 'graded' parallel beds (they got paid for miles built) for 250 miles before Congress decided where the west and east would come together at Promontory Point. Here is the 'Big Fill' that the west bound crews built next to the wooden trestle that the east bound crews built. When all was said and done the 'Big Fill' route was selected as the safer route and the trestle was left to deteriorate.

If you look closely you can see where the crews drilled into the rock and placed dynamite to blow up the rock as they worked to build this cut for the track.

Barry & Diane Drop in for a Visit

     Every year for the past 15 or so years we have gotten together at the cabin with our friends from Texas and Nebraska. This year, because of our mission call, Dock lined up a time-share in Park City and both couples were planning to visit us in Salt Lake. However, Dock's office manager left the company for another job leaving them with no alternative but to stay home and look after their business.
     Barry and Diane drove up to Mizzula, MT for a few days of fishing and relaxation, and on their way home swung by here for four days of good visiting, laughing and telling tall tails (like how many fish Barry said he caught vs. how many he really caught).
    We got to show them around our 'campus' and explain every thing we have been doing for the past nine months (where has that time gone?) First we walked around the little Brigham Park and then across the street to Temple Square so they could see the temple cut away in the south visitor's center. For dinner we went to the Garden on top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and got seated next to the windows for a super view (looking right into the setting sun over the Great Salt Lake). On Sunday they drove down and met us for the Tabernacle Choir performance (Music and the Spoken Word) and walked around the Square until it was time for us to leave for our Sunday meetings.
     On Monday they drove back to Salt Lake for another afternoon and evening of touring, visiting and a nice dinner at Thai-phoon. After a rather warm walk back to Temple Square we took a horse carriage ride up to Memory Grove - what a neat way to spend an evening with good friends.
     On Tuesday we drove up to Park City in the afternoon and walked up and down main street of Olde Towne Park City. Barry treated us to a nice fish and steak dinner and then it was time to say good bye for another year. Hopefully Dock and Debbie will be able to join us next year - we missed them a lot.

Camilla Officially Adopted

We will let the family tell the story - they can do it better than we can:

Adoption Day!!! Special Day!!! Just before we entered the Judge's chambers we had a 5.0 earthquake. I didn't even notice--probably because I was giving Camilla a pony ride on my knees and it included a lot of bouncing and falling off the horse. The Judge, however, experienced some shaking walls and moving furniture in her office. When we walked in she said, " 'And the earth trembled.' It must be a sign." I looked up the quote later and found that the earth never trembled for joy--it was always a rebuke from the Lord. So, maybe it trembled because the court house is adjacent to the prison and the sign was for somebody else. We couldn't have felt happier to be signing adoption papers today. Isn't this Great Grandy's birthday? If so, then it was even more special.

We introduced the judge to our family. She knew us from our many court appearances. We signed the papers and Camilla signed, too. She actually wrote her name really well all by herself and with confidence. We took pictures and then presented four caseworkers and judge with framed copies of "The Family, A Proclamation to the World" in gratitude for helping us become a family. To conclude, our family and the Greenways (good friends who came) sang, "I am a Child of God." All were very emotional. Megan sang the most beautiful descant during the last verse. These women who see a lot of tough things, cried. I know they felt something and I hope that what they were a part of today, gives them strength and courage to use the law in favor of the children they work for.

In this county court system, there is much need for truth. I think those who work in it are trying to do their jobs well, but are less effective and efficient than they could be because they don't have the grounding influence of truth about the true purpose of families. Laws sway this way and that. Currently the laws make it very difficult to form a family unit through adoption. We feel so blessed for the miracle of getting to adopt and not "co-parent" -- the latest strategy in rearing foster children here. We know Heavenly Father loves His children more than we can possibly comprehend, but we can try to feel that love every day."

Miq & Family Pay Us A Visit

Miq and family have planned trips to Salt Lake several times this spring but something always came up to push it out to another weekend. She called last week and said that they were going to make a quick trip and would we be available Friday morning and could they take us to lunch at Crown Burger? When they arrived we walked over to Brigham Park for a quick walk around and then we went south on North Temple to Crown Burger - as always, it was more than we could eat but we gave it our best. We needed to walk off lunch so we went over to the South Visitor's Center to see the new cut away model of the Salt Lake Temple - as always, it was surrounded by visitors slowly walking around the model to take it all in. What a wonderful display. As you can see from the photo by the handcart statue, it had turned cold and was raining - Miq didn't pack any coats as it's mid-June and who would have thought that the temps would be in the mid 50s?! We made it back to our apartment to get warm and to visit before they took off to visit one of Doug's sisters. The picture of all the kids sleeping on the couch says it all - I'm cold, I'm tired and I'm gone......

Dinner Friends

We've been dining out together for eight months now. Each month one of us picks a new restaurant to meet at for dinner. All three of us came into the mission within a few weeks of each other and we've managed to build a very good friendship. All three couples - from California, Wyoming and Colorado - serve in the same mission but have completely different assignments (family history library, service missionary selection and language interpretation team management) and are officed in different buildings - and yet each couple feels that their calling is the best.

Trip to Logan

Would you believe two free Saturdays in a row?! Right after breakfast and a quick walk around the neighborhood we took off for Logan and Smithfield where Bill's family lived about seven years after his father was discharged from WWII service. We drove around Smithfield trying to find the old home but it had been torn down. As we drove around the west side of town looking for familiar land marks we stopped to talk to a lady working in her yard. Turns out she was the wife of one of Bill's old friends, Burke Smith, and she invited us in for a visit - and some homemade pie. We visited for about an hour and then headed for Logan and the temple. It is located on a beautiful hill with beautiful landscaping.

Free Saturday

We had a free Saturday for the first time is quite some time so, after we took Mom Foote to Sandy to catch her ride back to St. George, we drove out west of town to see Saltair. The last time I was here was when Matt qualified for his scubba diving certificate and I remembered the building and location being much more elegant. What we found was a building that has been turned into a concert venue - not well maintained, trash blowing all around and a parking lot that is one pot hole on top of another. The Great Salt Lake was very low so the mud flats in front of the building didn't help make for a good impression either. Too bad!