Celebration of Pioneers and Rain

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice."  ~Meister Eckhart

Kourtni, Grace and Ally

 We had a "memorable" summer reunion at Panguitch Lake this year over the July 24th holiday.  Cori & Jesse came up from Phoenix, Damien & Danielle came up from Hurricane, Arianne and her little boys came up from Enoch, Brittany and Cori came from West Point and Ray and I from Elk Ridge.  E & M, T & B had to cancel at the last minute (did you have a premonition it was going to rain???)  We had a lovely large group campsite where the kids could ride bikes to their hearts content in a fairly quiet area.

A few of our beautiful grandchildren . . . translates - lots of cousins to play with

Grammie and Eden

Our plan was to cook lots of Dutch Oven meals . . .but upon our arrival, we found out that not only campfires were not allowed, but charcoal was outlawed as well!  We were so grateful to have the trailer and our campstove to cook on  and with a little finagling recipes and a little black on some edges, most of our meals turned out edible and some were right down delicious!
We got everyone's campsites set up Friday night and it rained . . . we hung everything out to dry Saturday morning . . . and it rained.  The sun came out, so we headed down to the lake . . . and it rained.  I have been camping for sixty years and never remember a time when it rained so much!

Eden, Grace (doing her comedy routine), Grant (doing push-ups) Ally, Ashton and Kourtni

 Since it was raining most of the time . . . we got to spend lots of time with the grandkids in the trailer - it was  never dull!

We tried our hand at fishing at Panguitch lake and a few of the kids put their toes in the water

Damien, Jacob, Danielle and Mason

Jacob working on some Scout merit badges

Cory, Sydni, Kourtni, Ashton and Damien

A Berenstain Bears moment . . .And now Cory will demonstrate what you should not do in a canoe . . .

Eden and Jesse

 I loved this photo of Eden in action . . . it looks like she's got a great arm there . . . maybe a future softball champ?

Sydni

 "Rain, rain go away

Come again some other day . . ."

 It was lovely and sunny . . . for a few minutes . . . and then it poured . . .  but we made the most of the sunshine moments in between . . . we went on bike rides, canoeing, fishing, played a few games, hiked a little.  On Sunday, when we went to church, we felt a little guilty to hear all the prayers of gratitude for the rain, that was such an answer to their prayers.  Well, I am (somewhat begrudgingly) grateful for the rain as well, I grew up on a farm and know how much it is needed!  But on this trip I felt even more thankful for the sunshine in between!

 Deciding to get out of the rain for a bit, we drove over to Bryce Canyon to do a little hiking . . .  Bryce Canyon is beautiful and is one of my favorite places to visit. We hiked the Navajo Trail down to Wall Street and on around to the Queen's Garden and back up to Sunset Point.  

The views are breath taking !

Grace, Charlie, James, Hunter, Ashton and Grant

Our Jr. Rangers all got their badges . . . they also were able to see a rattle snake curled and defending his territory. I felt most grateful for the kind gentleman who pointed the snake out as he was hiding just behind a bench we were sitting on and in a place where children would naturally love to play.

 We hiked back up to our cars and had a picnic . . . and it rained!  So we finished eating, (in the rain) then decided to drive on through the park.

Ray and I  at Natural Bridge

Eden, Grace, Ashton and Grant

Grace and Charlie

One of the views at Rainbow Point

Papa Ray with Charlie, Hunter and Grace

Grace, Hunter, Charlie, James and Ashton

 Thanks to Jesse for all of these photos from Bryce Canyon . . . my camera got caught, yes you guessed it - "in the rain" and was drying out in a bowl of rice.

All of us at Rainbow Point

"And there's so much to be thankful for . . ."

We got back to camp and celebrated birthdays!  Damien, Jesse, Sydni, Cory, and Irene all have birthdays this week!  By Monday morning everyone was a little tired of damp, cold, wet, soggy everything . . . so we packed up and headed to the condo in St George, to warm up and dry out.  We stopped in Enoch on the way to help Arianne and Will pack up their U-Haul for their move up to Salt Lake. Oh, the warmth of the St George sunshine and a warm shower~ that is one camping trip that we will laugh about for a long time!

Shakespeare Festival ~ yes!

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." 

~ Polonius in Hamlet, William Shakespeare

 Delightful is the best way I can describe our annual retreat to the Shakespeare Festival.  These lovely women are so interesting and so much fun to be with; we stay up talking and laughing until the wee hours each morning.  Our fifth annual trip, it is something I look forward to for months!

Jeffrey Lieder in the Costuming Seminar with the muslim mock-up, at left and on the right,
 the actual dress of  Queen Elizabeth 1 in Mary Stuart  

 We not only get to see some wonderful plays: Les Miserables (I'm still singing!), To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my favorite books, I want to read it again,) Merry Wives of Windsor and Scapin (laughing the whole way through) were our choices at the Shakespeare Festival this year.  We also enjoy attending the seminars they have before the plays.  The Costuming Seminar gives an interesting and inside look at not only how costumes are made ~the hours of planning, budgeting, shopping, designing, and sewing the costumes, but also how a costume brings reality to the actor who is playing that character and adds to the experience of the audience as well.  Jeffrey mentioned during the seminar how a rehearsal changes once the actors are in costume and the actors really take on that role.  Last year, for one of the plays, Noises Off, they showed us an apron that one of the characters wore in the play.  That one apron actually was several aprons and as the show and the rehearsals go on, the apron becomes more tattered and faded.

 We attend the Play Orientations and Actors Seminars, and learn so much about each play.  We always find ourselves wishing we had tickets to every single play!  Maybe next year!

Paula, Stephanie, Carolyn, Patti and Ann at the Play Orientation

 Waiting for the Play Orientation to begin ~

Dinner plate Dahlias

 We saw these lovely flowers on our way to The Pastry Pub.

Paula, Ann, Sandy, Carolyn and Patti

 There are a couple of restaurants that are our annual favorites!  The Garden House on 164 S and 100 West is in an old home and is comfortable and cozy.  The food is beautifully presented and delicious to eat.  Another favorite is the Pastry Pub on West Center ~ they have great salads, pasta and sandwiches.

Paula, Ann, Stephanie, Carolyn and Patti

The beautiful quilt at the entry of the Garden House

 The Green Show, held in the quad, is lively and fun.  Costermongers, in period costume, come round selling delicious pastries and freshly roasted cinnamon almonds while you watch the show.

 Some of the beautiful herbs in the gardens at SUU ~ this one was particularly fragrant and I am still wondering what it is.

 While at the Shakespeare Festival, we try to take in one of the Neil Simon Plays at the Neil Simon Festival as well.  This year we went to see Proposals at the Heritage Theater.  The play was well done, but we were a little disappointed.  The past few years, the audience has been seated right on the stage  - so it was theater in the round.  This year, they had us sitting right down in the normal auditorium seats, and it wasn't as much fun!  I guess I enjoyed it because theater in the round gets you so close to the actors and the action!

Patti, Carolyn, Stephanie, Ann, Paula and Sandy

Saturday afternoon, after Proposals, we drove back to St. George and picked up Tiffany from the SG Airport.  She joined us for dinner and the evening trip to Tuacahn.  Another highlight of the trip was getting to see another dear friend, Renae H.  She met us at Basilla's restaurant and we so enjoyed our visit with her.

The set for Hairspray at Tuacahn

 That evening we went to see Hairspray at Tuacahn. High energy, great music and fun acting ~ it was an enjoyable way to end our Festival trip.

Carolyn, Ann, and Tiffany waiting for Hairspray to begin.

Thank you ladies, dear, sweet friends, for another memorable year at the Shakespeare Festival.

"Thy friendship makes us fresh." 

Charles in Henry VI