Cabin Time

Kirk & Sarah Palin Hanging Out in Juneau

Well, O.K. they weren't hanging out together, but they were both in Juneau for the 4th of July. This first picture is the Governor's Mansion, where Sarah and her family will live for a few more days. Other than the excitement of Palin's resignation announcement, Kirk's fun was catching lots of fish. His annual pilgrimage to Juneau did the trick again this year - his stress all melted away AND we got lots of salmon and halibut for our freezer.

Family Time on the 4th in St. George

Adventures in China

Mike and Bri have been told that they can't have a blog page anymore while they are in China. So I thought I'd post a few of their adventures now and then. Last week they went camping by the Great Wall with a bunch of families from the branch and their neighborhood. You can see part of the wall behind them in the picture. Here's what Mike had to say: "We drove about one and a half hours up to a part of the Great Wall called Huang Hua Cheng. It is pretty out of the way and is a very "natural" section of the wall, overgrown with trees and plants in many places. We squeezed through the alley way of a main road through the town below the lake. Then we loaded up all the gear onto a ferry which drove us over to the camp site, which we had all to ourselves. The view from the campsite was unbelievable, with three different sections of the wall visible. We had fun with every one until it was time for bed. Then it was so hot that we had to leave the tent open for a bit of air. We still didn't sleep, with the boys tossing and turning, I started on the left side, then moved to the foot of the tent where it was a bit cooler, then I soaked my t shirt in the ice water from the cooler and used that to cool myself off, then I moved to the right side when Garret decided he wanted the foot of the tent. I finally fell asleep at about 2:00. I woke up at 5:00 and it was still so hot I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep so I took a hike up to a section of the Wall which was crumbling. The watchtowers were still mostly intact but were covered with trees and took a bit of technical climbing to get on top of. The view from the second watchtower was amazing, looking at the Wall descend into the lake below, rise 150 feet out of the water to another watchtower, then jog left back down into the water and up to another peak. Looking in another direction you could see one long section snaking up a mountain spine to a watchtower which was about 600 feet high. I wanted to keep going up but I knew the kids wouldn't sleep too much longer- With the one time zone it gets light very early in eastern China so it isn't exagerating to say it is getting light at 4:00 A.M. So I headed down and was back in camp at 6:30. Of course everyone was up, so we heated up our sausage egg and potato on the fire and ate breakfast. The kids had a blast and even though it was a ton of work we had a great time and will never forget it. "

Mike In Cambodia

Mike was sent to Cambodia for a conference and he was able to see the ancient lost city of Angkor Wat. It was a built in the 12th century as a religious shrine to the Hindu god Vishnu (Mike saw a lot of shrines to Vishnu in India). He loved being able to explore there.

"Sex, Wives & Videotape" in Florida

Kirk and I went to Ft. Lauderdale last week for the National Sheriff's Convention. Kirk was a conference attendee and a presenter. His workshop was listed as "Polygamist Cults: Your County Could be Next" —but he told the group that the real title was "Sex, Wives and Videotape." I went to the presentation and Kirk did a great job. He introduced me as his "favorite wife" and I think several there thought he was really serious - doesn't everybody in Utah have multiple wives? After he got his presentation out of the way, and in between his meetings, we had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale - what a beautiful city. We loved the ocean, and the water taxi which took us past the homes and yachts of the rich and famous. For Father's Day we went to the top of the Hyatt Regency because one of Kirk's friends at the conference said they were having a buffet there. For some dumb reason we all thought it was free to those staying at the hotel. After we were already seated and given our drinks, etc., we realized that, not only was it NOT FREE, but it was $65 per person! Needless to say, that was the most expensive Father's Day we've ever celebrated—oh well, its only money! The view was fabulous and the dinning area slowly rotated, so we got quite the view of the whole city, harbor, and beach. We were able to take a couple of trips into the everglades to see alligators and swamp critters. Kirk also did a half day of deep sea fishing. After the fish were cleaned, we took them right over to one of the restaurants on the harbor and they cooked it all up for our lunch—talk about yummy FRESH fish! It was a great vacation. Now its back to the grind.

Skype Kisses

Kirk and I love Skype! That's the only way we get to see Mike's family in China and Kenny's family in D.C. We also see Shellie's family on the screen now and then (even though we get to see them in person more often).We get to watch the grandkids grow up in front of our eyes. And, even though its not quite as good as being there - Skype kisses, shared songs, missing teeth, the latest bug catch, art projects, jam sessions, and baby's first steps look and sound pretty cool on the computer screen. How blessed we are to have such great technology at our fingertips!