Vacationing With Hobbitses - Part 1:Utah

  

Steve's sister Heather and here husband Steve, AKA Redneck, were not able to come to Utah when the rest of his family was here earlier in July.  They came for a visit last week and brought Sierra's friend Jessie with them.  They arrived on Sunday July 27th and stayed for a few days at our house.  Then on Wednesday the 30th we all left for a great adventure in the land of Idaho.  

On Monday Steve had to work.  The rest of us thought it would be a good idea to hike Adams Canyon.  We had never done that hike before, but I have seen beautiful pictures on facebook of friends who have.  It was a little more strenuous than I thought it would be.  And how fun for our guests who are used to breathing at an elevation of 545 ft. to start a hike at an elevation of 4,357 ft. and gain almost 1,200 ft in the process of the hike.  It took us a little longer to hike than what it said it would online.  Except for Zac, Emily and Tyler who flew through the whole thing and waited for an hour for the rest of us at the waterfall.  All in all it was a beautiful hike and we had a mostly fantastic time!  My hiking buddy, Addy, pretty much had the same expression in the picture below the whole time.  She did not enjoy this challenging hike!

The middle of our pack reached this smaller waterfall and we were ready to collapse in exhaustion.  We hadn't see the front or the back of our pack in quite some time.  We met a lady and her kids at this spot and asked her how much farther the large waterfall was.  She told us it was about 30 minutes farther and that it is a really hard hike the rest of the way.  She said they usually only go to this spot and then turn around.  A really hard hike???  What was that we had just been doing? 

We were all ready to give up, call the small fall good, and head for the nearest air conditioner and couch.  As much as I was ready to turn around, I just knew I couldn't let these kids give up after we had come so far and were so close to the goal.  I gave the kids a pep talk about how when things are the hardest, that is usually right before the big pay off.  I told them that if we turned back now, all that we had already been though would be for naught if we gave up right before the reward.  The pep talk seemed to do the trick and we all decided to press forward.  This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole hike.  

Pressing Forward

Finally!  We reached our goal and made it to the big fall!  Tyler was there waiting for us.  Zac and Emily were no where to be found.  Where were they?  Scaling the cliff above the fall.  If you look closely you can see a head at the top on the left side of the photo to the right of the tree on top of the cliff.

Zac, making his way down.

Redneck and Heather caught up!

Uneven ground makes Zac slightly taller than Tyler!  Aubrey decided to climb up this treacherous slope with Emily.

Now we could finally head for home!  We all decided it was worth the struggle!

Everyone crashed when we got home.  We had an American Ninja Warrior Marathon that lasted the rest of the day and into the night.

Zac and Tyler played the traditional Male Schmid Family Game of All Games.

On Tuesday the Hobbs went downtown to show Jessie Temple Square.  I had to stay home for a meeting.  Zac had some of his friends over.  The Hobbs got home in time for dinner.  We hung out at home the rest of the evening.  The boys had a battle, there was a lovely rainbow, and we all packed up and got ready for our Idaho adventure that would begin early the next morning.

Beauty All Around: Ogden Temple and Lunch in the Canyon

This morning we were able to go to the Ogden Temple Open House.  Temples are different from our regular chapels that our congregations meet in weekly.  The temple is a place where we go to make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father.  When a husband and wife are married or sealed in the temple, their family is sealed together for time and all eternity.  The phrase "Til death do you part" has no place in our temple ceremony.  We believe that families can be together forever, even after we leave this world.  Due to the sacred nature of the temple, once it is dedicated the only people allowed inside are baptized members who are qualified and prepared. 

 It was absolutely gorgeous inside.  My very most favorite part was these stunning art deco lamps in the celestial room.  The same style is repeated in the chandeliers throughout the temple.  I loved having my kids with me and being able to show them the different rooms and explain to them the significance of each room.

Of course we had to touch the temple.  We almost forgot, but Addy reminded us.

Our friend Caroline is here visiting from Texas.  She and her daughter in law, Michelle, and her grand kids were able to join us on the tour.

The Ogden temple is not new, it is a remodel.  Wondering what the old one looked like?  They only made a few changes:

 After we left the temple, Steve had to go to work.  The rest of us headed up Ogden canyon for brunch.  We parked next to Emily's future vehicle.  We had to hold her back so she didn't hop inside.

The weather was overcast and it was a perfect temperature in the canyon.

This is the most awesome restaurant.  I had never been, but my mom and dad went several years ago.  I had no idea such a gem existed.  We are always entertaining out of town guests and are always looking for fun unique things to do with them.  I have a new thing to add to my list!  I texted Steve and told him we should take all our guests to eat here from now on.

They have these patio/booth type things that are right on the water.  It was a beautiful place to eat.

This kid is crazy.  He ate this by itself and didn't even take a drink after.  He acted like it was no big thing.  Didn't even pull a face or anything.

It was such a fun day.  I loved going to the temple and I loved spending time with family and friends in such beautiful surroundings.  God is good!

Schmid Happens - Epilogue

 We had a wonderful time with Steve's family.  We are so thankful they were able to come visit us and help liven up our summer.  Steve's Dad and step mom Rhonda and his brother David stayed with us 4 more days after the Kentucky Schmids left.  In all we had visitors for 23 days!  Those days were packed full of fun and family!  Here are some pictures of the last few days of our visitors.  One night we had a storm followed by the most beautiful sunset.  The pictures don't even begin to do it justice.  We all stood on the back patio admiring the beauty.

On Monday of that week, July 14th, Aubrey and Addy started swim lessons.

That same day Zac and I were busy getting him ready for a 50 mile backpacking trip in the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.  I dropped him off for a haircut while I was running errands.  When I picked him up I was a little shocked to see him sporting a mow-hawk!  He left at 4:30am Tuesday morning for the adventure of a life time.  He said his goodbyes to grandpa before he left.

 On Tuesday Roy, Rhonda and I spent the entire day (until 9 at night) downtown at the Family History Library.  I had never been and with my latest family history obsession I felt right at home there and can't wait to go back.

 One of the things I spent my time doing while I was there was scanning pictures, old letters and documents Roy brought with him and uploading them to the Family Search website and tagging them.  Of all the hundreds of pictures this one is probably one of my favorites.

On Wednesday Roy, Rhonda and I went to the Bountiful Temple to do sealings for family names.  We had gone previously with Steve, once to do initiatories, another time for endowments and this time we finished it up with sealings.  Unfortunately Steve had to work this day and couldn't go with us.  It was a wonderful experience in the temple.  That night my mom and Sister Lauren came over and had dinner with us.

 After dinner I went with Emily to the church for a Girls Camp slide show.  After the slide show I was chatting it up with some friends and Emily and her friend got tired of waiting for me, so they sat in the van.  With the windshield wipers on.  I'm pretty sure this is why they really need to be replaced as I just recently discovered.  FYI, that trash was placed on the dashboard by the girls sitting in the van, I don't drive around like that.  I keep my trash on the floor of my van!

And then Thursday came around and it was time to say goodbye.  We enjoyed having Roy and his family with us.  It is the most time my kids have spend around Steve's dad and I am so thankful we had this opportunity to have him in our home and get to know him better.

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