Sage's graduation was incredible. Oak also spoke at his fifth grade graduation as well. End of the year stuff gives me tons to brag about, as my kids truly do well in academics and the extra-curricular stuff that revolves around school. Anyhow, we have had a beautiful, and cool May. Sage's graduation was cloudy, and fresh, and cool. She was Salutatorian, and instead of giving a speech, she sang a quirky little song, that was pretty hilarious with Jaylee Whipple. It was awesome, she was beautiful, and so happy to be ending her high school career. My family attended as well with the exception of Jeff. Gary came a day early and helped me with a ton of stuff. He taught Wazz how to make a really good Salsa too, and bought her all of the appliances and supplies to do it with. Sage attended Senior Sunset and ended up with a ton of leftover taco supplies, and so with Wazz's salsa after Gary's instruction, it was a great and easy dinner. Also, because the fair pigs did not make weight we had a fly problem. It was getting pretty bad. The fly swatter kept disappearing, and so Gary told the kids that whoever found the fly swatter would be given a prize. Prize in my mind, might even be a hug and a pat on the back. But, a sucker, or a bag of chips would be going all out on the prize thing in my world. When Mo found the swatter, Gary took him to the store and Mo picked out a little motorized vehicle???? Yeah, when the fly swatter came up missing again, Ryan mentioned that he could not afford Mo's services. I will say that the little motorized cart has been around and around the house and property. Next time I will coach Mo to pick out a candy bar or something more reasonable for his services.
Sage started her job at Juanita springs, and has really enjoyed taking care of the trees and animals out there. She lost all of the chickens to coyotes though, and she was devastated over that. She has also continued with her Yoga training, and still plans to teach some yoga classes as soon as she is certified. She has been way busy inspite of the fact that school is out.
So...this month has been full of apricots, ranch work, and church stuff. The apricot tree at the ranch produced a ton, and even after sharing with Carol and offering to share with others, I literally did apricots from dawn until dusk for a week pretty much. Batch after batch of jam, and then baking under the sun as I dried them outside in the yard. At one point, I had a pile of pits and I encouraged the kids to go and bury a few pits around the yard. No one really jumped at that chance. Not long after, I was right in the middle of a batch of jam, when Dill kept coming in and out of the house, slamming the door in the process. Over and over she slammed, in and out. I finally looked up from the sink, to peek at what she was doing. She would come in, grab a handful of apricots, and throw them all over the lawn??? What in the actual heck? I asked her on her next trip what in the heck she was doing. She explained that she was planting seeds around the yard....ummm, no. That is not what I had in mind at all. She begrudgingly went and picked up all of the apricots that she had chucked.
Last week I begged Ryan all week to take us to the Manti Pageant. It is the last year that they are doing the pageant, and it just cannot be procrastinated any more. He thought about it, but not really seriously. At some point, he mentioned my idea to Cliven, who was really enthused with the idea. He even thought that he and Carol would just hop in with us, and we could all ride together. Ryan called me and told me to pack and get things ready. I am guessing that Carol was less than enthused with the idea of riding with all of us to the pageant, because Cliven backed out, but we still went. I am so glad that we did.
The Manti Pageant has always been one of my favorite things to do, for a ton of reasons. I love Sanpete valley. There is an amazing spirit there. Then, we have Lane and Rose, or Shad and Mindy that we can stay with, that makes a huge difference. We used to drive clear home after the pageant when I was a kid....that was when the pageant was three hours too. It was late and tiring, and then the turkey dinner. Those turkey dinners just cannot be beat. Half of the reason Ryan got excited to go was reminding him of the turkey dinner. Anyhow, I was way excited he finally decided to take us.
So, when I packed, I was aware that we would probably have Cliven at least with us. I was concerned about the kids crying, fighting, whining, and you name it...I did not want to subject Cliven to the normal shenanigans we deal with on our trips. I purchased a box of chips. I figured that chips would keep them happy because Ryan had actually banned chips for the summer. I have no idea why chips bug him so bad but they do. Chips are where its at in my book. Anyhow, he had also banned the tv and all other devices until after the Bundy reunion. I charged the battery on one of the tablets with the thought that I would only pull it out if I got desperate. Sometimes trips are just difficult as all get out. I wanted to make it as pleasant as possible.
We left early in the morning (of course not early enough though) and hit the road heading north. There has been construction on the gorge, but luckily traffic was light and we had no problems getting through that stretch. We stopped in Cedar City for fuel, and I about died when I got out to see if I could purchase some chocolate milk. It was bitter cold. Like, January cold. To top it off the gas station was out of chocolate milk, that made me frown for a minute. The kids piled in and out until we left and they were freezing too. I was glad we had packed hoodies, but I was thinking that I should have packed heavy coats and thermals. Being in the desert sometimes I just cannot fathom the cold weather.
We were making awesome time, and Dill began complaining she was hungry around Parowan. Ryan let her know that he would stop in Beaver at the creamery and buy her some squeaky cheese. Of course that is not what she wanted from the Creamery, and I began desiring some chocolate milk again. We stopped, and the creamery had nothing but the expensive chocolate milk that has a lengthy shelf life without refrigeration. Ryan stopped at a grocery store without me even asking, and went and bought me a gallon of chocolate milk ha ha! That meant a lot to me. After that, we were making good time in our travels again.
Somewhere between I-15 an US 89 Moroni got car sick. He did not tell me he was carsick, but the chips had been hit hard by the little ones, and they had found the tablet. I am sure a combination of my desperate measures were now coming back to bite me. Why does Ryan always have to be right on this dum stuff? He didn't even say that he told me so, but yeah, Moroni basically let me know that he had thrown up all over in the back. He did not have to explain it, because the smell hit all of us at about that moment. Seriously...no warning, just throw up. I-70 is probably heavily populated by deer because there was a high fence that ran all along the freeways blocking me from the river, and the opportunity to get stuff cleaned up. The smell was going to cause a chain reaction, and so I was begging Ryan to find a place to stop by any water whatsoever. He finally found a spot, and the water was running extremely high. He and I went back to assess the damage. He had managed to get our sleeping bag, a pillow, his clothes, and Chloee's book. I hauled all of this stuff down to the waters edge, and began scrubbing it all in the frigid waters. It was seriously so cold that my hands would numb in a matter of seconds. I was way happy to get it all cleaned up though. Moroni seemed fine, and we took the tablet, told the kids that they shouldn't eat any more chips, and urged everyone to watch the road for awhile. We had to stop in Manti to look at some corral panels, and at this point Moroni claimed that he was starving. I didn't really want to indulge him in anything for awhile. He was just going to have to be hungry for awhile. Wazz started making sandwiches and passing them around. I finally gave in and let Moroni have one. He was fine the rest of the trip.
So, we arrived in Mt Pleasant, and went straight to Lane and Rosella's house. Rose was talking to her sister Teela, and they were just getting ready to go hiking. Well, Rose had arranged for Dantley to take everyone hiking, and they wondered if we would like to go too. It sounded like a great idea. Once again, I was shocked about the cold wind and the storm clouds. Ryan and I had planned on sleeping on Rose's lawn in a sleeping bag. Ryan is like a heater, and so I figured he and I would be fine, but I was concerned about the kids and also about the fact that it looked like it was going to rain, and I had no tent or shelter of any kind. Ryan mentioned that maybe we would go purchase a tent, and then we followed the hiking party to their destination.
Dantley actually rode with us. This was good because he took us right to the spot. We have always been good friends with Lane and Rose, and Dantley used to spend all of our time together insulting Jerusha. I was happy to see that they were getting along well, and that no insults were being hurled. When we arrived, I bundled the kids in their warmest jackets. It was really extremely cold in my book. The hike we began on was through some heavy, dense forest. It also began an extremely steep incline from the very beginning. I was kinda impressed with how well my kids were doing, but I became kinda concerned because the ground was damp and a bit slick. I even voiced my concern about getting down if it happened to rain, which the sky was threatening. The hike wasn't particularly long, but it was extremely steep, and we all ended up at the top of a steep mountain which overlooked the whole valley. Towns always look beautiful and amazing from that high up. We stopped and checked out the view, and tried to decide if we wanted to wander around some more. Oak kept bugging me because he was eager to go back down the trail. I kept urging him to wait for the group. He finally disobeyed me and left with a few of Rose's boys. I was annoyed, and planned on cussing him out when we returned. Anyhow, it started to snow as we stood there. It wasn't a fluffy dry snow though, it was more of a sleet/snow. Yeah...my worst fear about this hike coming true. We started down the mountain, and the sleet increased. I heard Dantley urge us to be careful as he had just slid down aways. Right when he said that, my feet went out from under me, and I fell hard. I had Dill right behind me, and Teela's five yr old in front of me. I was trying to help them both stay on their feet, and now Dill was concerned about my ability to do that. It was switch backs, and steep. If you slid all the way to the bottom, there would be trees, rocks, and logs to do some damage to your body. I have been wearing the same boots since Dec. of 2015, and while I have marvelled at my boots and how long they have lasted, they have zero traction left. I was struggling to keep myself upright, and really struggling to keep both little girls on theirs. Dantley was a ton of help with Molly though. I finally could see that traipsing through the underbrush was going to be way better with more traction than the steep trail. I was urging Dill to follow me, and yet we were still slipping and sliding. Ryan finally caught up with me, and began trying to help little Molly. He was a complete stranger to her, and so she refused his help. Luckily she knew Dantley though, and he was helping her along. Ryan then turned to Dill, and put her on his back. He urged me to stay off the trail, and he took off with Dill because she was getting soaked and colder by the second. I hate to admit this, but I slid and fell, and grabbed onto trees, and struggled all the way down that mountain. I could no longer be mad at Oak, because he left before it snowed, and we all should have followed him. I had no idea where Moroni and Chloee were, but I was concerned, because I was struggling, and I worried about them getting hurt. When I finally reached the bottom, I was soaked, muddy, and freezing. Ryan had started the van and the heater, and had put Dill in it, he then went back up the trail to help anyone else that might need it. It wasn't long before he came down packing another one of Teela's girls. She was soaking, and freezing too.
It was at this moment that I marvelled again at the guy I married. I had a really difficult time getting myself off the mountain. When I did make it down, I was sopped, freezing, and I needed to warm up. I had a really hard time getting down that slick hill, so how in the heck did he climb back up it in those conditions to help others get down? His dedication to looking out for others always astounds me...and it seems like difficult conditions seem to bring out the best in him.
So, we all survived, made it down, and Teela's 17 yr old had slipped and gotten banged up pretty bad, but other than that, we were just sopping wet and muddy. So, we went back to Rose's and gave her all of our wet and muddy clothes. I am not sure if I have ever seen anyone pack a washing machine that tight. I have eight kids..six that were with us, and Teela had six with her too. So, she started washing everyone's clothes.
Lane and Rose have a popcorn machine in their kitchen. Noah began making batch after batch of popcorn and handing it out to all of the kids. Immediately, I appreciated Rose and the amazing woman she is. I do not buy popcorn very often because it makes a huge mess. Mess does not seem to concern Rose, and I envy her patience, and her ability to not sweat the small stuff. The kids love going to their place, and the popcorn machine is an iconic reason why. It smells like a movie theater in their house. Rose is also milking a cow, and Ryan went kinda nuts over the raw milk. He drank glass after glass as they were catching up. Rosella grew up on the neighboring ranch to Ryan's. They always worked well together, and she has always shown up when we needed her. She was at the standoff, and she was in Oregon for a time. She is like a sister to him. She is dedicated to the gospel, usually works several jobs, milks cows, butchers animals, and raises amazing kids. She never gets caught up in the ridiculous things of life. She could outwork almost anyone, and I just cannot say how much I love and admire her.
So, it was decided that we would all pile in Lane and Rose's van to go to the pageant. Because they were all in it, they could actually park in the parking lot of the temple. Lane would drop almost everyone off at the turkey dinner, and then a few would stand in line to save seats. I volunteered to save seats as long as Ryan would bring me a dinner. I took Chloee and Noah with me and we got in one of the long lines that were forming at each one of the gates. Noah had grabbed a large number of blankets, and he explained to me the strategy as we stood there. He told me that as soon as they opened the gates, we would hop the fence, run down to the front with our blankets, and save the seats that we needed for everyone. I looked at him kinda skeptically...I am no stranger to hopping fences...we do it all the time at the ranch, but I don't know if I expected some busy body to tell me that my behavior wasn't fair, and to go to the back of the line. Noah reassured me that it was done all the time, and the Talbot's have been in the pageant for the past six years...he should know what he's talking about. We did not wait long until the gates were open, and Noah hopped the fence and took off. He was right too, many hopped the fence. I could not see where he had gone, but I found a front row on the side that was ideal. Chlo and I began draping our blankets over the chairs when Noah came over out of breath to tell me that he had been unable to get front and center, but could get center a few rows back. I told him that I had found the perfect spot, and to bring the blankets, cuz where Chlo and I found just couldn't be beat. I also thanked him for urging me to hop the fence. That was the best idea ever that led to great seats.
Ryan had been way generous in the dinner he brought me. It was so good. I really love the turkey and taters they make. I ate some, and then piled the leftover "to go" containers on the ground while the kids wrastled around. We had hours to kill and I just wasn't feeling like trying to entertain them all. Jerusha and Dantley were largely entertaining themselves by getting pics with all of the cast and crew. They were also yelling random names to see who turned around to look, which reminds me of something my brothers and I would have done. Ryan wanted to wander, and of course he wanted to debate with the protesters. Why?? It is the same dum bs every year, and honestly, I just did not want to give them the time of day. Ryan, however, took all of their literature and discussed their stupid fault finding with them, I just could not help but wonder over and over...
why?? Why take time out of your life, to print literature, to make websites, to try to prove us wrong. Why do they even care what we believe? I was way tired as Ryan went the rounds with the protesters.
The pageant was so good. The spirit was so strong. I felt it when the member of the 70 said the opening prayer. Protesters followed Joseph around all of his life too. I was reminded of that during the production.
The whole thing had been shortened by about half. They had taken out some really key parts, but it was so cold, that I am not sure I could have stayed there another hour and a half. I was sad because Moroni fell asleep. I kept waking him up during the Captain Moroni parts, but it was kinda no use. He was just completely worn out. Dill wanted to know how they were doing it all. She wondered how they were lighting up the temple. She asked me if it was the "real Joseph Smith" and the "real Jesus Christ"....she wondered how they were making him ascend and descend from heaven...Dill could put on the pageant herself one day for sure. Dantley never did go get his costume on, and he recited the whole thing as he sat with us. Rose was a lamanite, so was Noah, Lane was one of Christ's apostles, and Corban was a Nephite. They were short a lamanite because Dantley wanted to watch for once.
When we got back to Rosella's we started making up beds. Dantley had pitched us a tent in case it rained or snowed again. Snow...yeah, snow because it was so cold. Lane, offered to let us sleep on their living room floor and I took him up on that offer, even though Ryan was all up for sleeping out. The older girls slept in the bunk house with Teela's girls, and Oak insisted on sleeping in the van. Mo, Dill, and Ryan and I slept on the floor, and I even got cold in the house...my skin has gotten way thin living in the desert. We all went to shrsh with Lane and Rose and then we hit the road. We got a call from my dad informing us that Sage had had car trouble. She and Whitley had taken one of the Cox vehicles to Canada, but Sags had left Dennette in Orderville, and was planning on attending church in Hatch then heading home. So, now we had to go home via 89, which is scenic, and we could see my parents, but it is way farther.
We stopped and visited my parents, raided their snacks, went on a ride on their new side by side, and then went to see about Saggers car. Unfortunately, Ryan thinks it is the engine, and we are still waiting on word as to what is wrong with her for sure. We left it at Duke and Shiree's, had a short visit with them, and then went around Cane Beds to get home. The road home was so long. Sage is not used to traveling with the kids and she got way angry and upset. We also got stuck in road construction in the gorge and because of that Dill had an accident, which was just a fiasco. There was no way of getting off the road to clean her up, and no one wanted her sitting anywhere near them for obvious reasons. I really kinda wanted to die for those last thirty miles.
One more last fiasco, was the fact that now Sage did not have transportation to her job at Juanita Springs. It is about 20 miles out that way, and I drove her out the first morning. She is not really on a set schedule, but it does take a certain number of hours to get everything done out there, and she prefers to go early and get out of there by two. She was being pretty impatient with Ryan. Ryan had decided Monday morning that we needed to go pick rocks out of the fields that they were getting ready to plant. I don't really mind doing that, but like usual, he never gives us much notice. Anyhow, I dropped Sags off and then stopped back at the ranch to help with rocks.
Jazz was throwing a fit because it was Rooshkie's desire to drive the Skid Loader while the rest of us labored. The last time we did rocks, Chloee struggled until Jazz loaned her a pair of glasses so that she could see the rocks better. Jazz is extremely thoughtful and sensitive, and I look up to her in a ton of ways. Anyhow, obviously Rooshkie would be way more help in the rock picking up program, than sitting on a tractor and as Wazz knows, the faster we get them picked up, the faster we go home. So, Jerusha began training Chlo on how to run the tractor. It took her awhile to get the hang of it, but she got the job done.
I had also gotten word that Jamie was being transferred, which made me way sad. She has made such a difference in the area she has served in, and she has been a powerhouse with Sister Christensen. They had a baptism Saturday...her first, and several others lined up. I still have not heard from her, and I just pray she is adjusting well to her new area and companion.
Just a few other things of note...Oak turned 12 this month. We took Bentlie and Montana and went to the trampoline park for that day. Oak also attended young men's camp. His leaders informed me that he was great, made friends easily, and is handy with his knife. It was also in Hatch, and so my parents went and saw him. Jerusha and Jazz also attended girls camp and had a great time.
