Eggs and Testimonies

 

I don't remember many details about Easter this year. Which I guess is okay because there are always plenty of things to think about that have little to do with events and circumstances, but even so, fading memories have to be one of the saddest of things of this life.

One thing is for sure...

There were hidden eggs.

And happy children.

And testimonies shared of the Savior and his resurrection.

I have pictures of the eggs. Different kinds for different kids.

And of the happy children.

But not of the testimonies.

Which makes sense because a testimony isn't tangible like a plastic egg. You couldn't take a picture of it even if you wanted to. In fact, often it's difficult to know if it's there at all because sometimes it hides in the shadowy corners of your soul.

Sometimes it feels discouraging when you search and search and search for it in the deepest of places but still come up empty handed. 

And it's even more discouraging when everyone else seems to be finding that theirs are hidden in plain sight.

So you sit, discouraged, on a chair, knowing there is more out there for you but not knowing where else to look.

But that's when the most magical things happen. The family rallies together - each individual with his or her own basket full (for the moment), and they begin to search the corners for the colors meant only for you. And when they find your colors they do not shout out the exact location, but they lead and guide and steer you to the place so that you can find them yourself.

Because families care about each other.

Whether it's about hidden plastic Easter eggs or hidden testimonies... maybe there isn't much of a difference.

Malm’s Visit

Our favorite Swedes came to visit! So I took them to Werly's mine.

Actually, I don't think it's technically named Werly's mine. But the Werly's are friends of ours and they own it and we've just always called it that. I see the words 'Old Eldorado Mine' up there on that sign... so that's probably the actual name. Details.

Taking the tour through the mine is well worth your time if you're visiting southern Nevada. It's the oldest, richest, most famous gold mine in southern Nevada.

But even more fun than the tour itself is just walking the acreage around it. The Werly's are self proclaimed hoarders, and the things they hoard are really amazing. They have been extremely successful at opening their home and their land to movie crews looking for backdrops, famous pop-stars looking for photo shoot locations, and tourists who just want to 'come see'.

During this visit we stayed mostly at the cars (which, in my opinion are the coolest), but I have loads of pictures of many, many, many other incredible things.

If you can believe it, this is the inside of a bus that they hollowed out and made into a home. They have several of these on their property and many of them still drive.

It's a fun outing for sure.

Another fun outing was hiking Owl Canyon.

I love it when the Malms come to visit because they are always up for outdoor adventures. 

We didn't pick the right time to go to the canyon (it was the very middle of the day so the light and the shadows didn't make the canyons look very spectacular. Plus, it was hotter than we were expecting), but we still had fun.

And in between the hikes and the mine were lots of beautiful conversations and, of course, lots and lots and lots of swimming.

Thanks for coming, Malms! We love you!

Bonus post - RV Trip

Oops. Not sure how I missed these pictures in my camera roll, or how I forgot about an entire day of our trip… probably because I’m digging in the dregs of my memory trying to document March when it’s now August. Whose memory lasts that long anyway? Not mine. 

Anyway, we did have another day on our vacation. And this time it was in beautiful, snowy Bryce Canyon.

We were pretty tired after having hiked all day for the previous three days, but we decided to at least hike around the rim. Something about hiking along paved trails makes my kids exceptionally whiny… dirt trails are fun, paved trails are not. It’s as simple as that I guess. Thankfully Eliza had some pretty fabulous hair to keep us distracted from the whining. 

Along our mile stroll we had several people stop and admire our cute little puppy. And every time they did the kids found new vigor to keep going. External validation is powerful stuff.

At one point we saw some hikers in the far distance hiking down into the canyon and we wondered how we could get ourselves there. And at another point we saw a sign pointing the way. The signs were clear that you couldn't take a dog on anything but paved trails (so they wouldn't attack the wildlife or destroy any fauna), but we figured that if we carried Maisy like a little child it would be okay. And down we went.

Or started to go anyway.

As we trekked down, the people who were trekking up were mumbling and grumbling and one after another after another after another was covered in mud up to her knees, or his hips, and one guy had mud caked all the way up to his neck. When the third well-intentioned person stopped their upward progress to warn me (pointing to my boot) that I would not be able to make it due to a giant mud section not to far away, I started to listen and decided that maybe this hike wasn't the one on which to test myself. I don't actually like to be caked in mud and I wasn't sure how I'd clean out the boot if it looked like all the others' muddy feet passing by. So I decided to turn back while the rest of my family continued on. 

Which I didn't mind one bit because of how much I love to be alone with my camera.

 

Turns out they didn't make it much further than I did. They walked down to the muddy area and decided to turn back instead of fight through it.

Which I was not sad about given the difficulty of cleaning up something of that sort when you're traveling around in an RV.

RV Trip to Moab and Bryce Canyon - Post 3 of 3

The last hiking day of our trip was a bit somber for me. It kind of happens that way sometimes. I start thinking about how wonderful my life feels when I'm outside in the dirt (or sand, or lake, or ocean, or jungle). 

The limited social pressures to combat, the limited physical stuff to take care of, the ample freedom. 

I feel like I can breathe and love and see my family so deeply out there... and then I remember that I have to go back home.

It feels sad to me.

And then I feel sad that I feel sad because, in my hardest moments, I start to question myself and wonder why I've allowed myself to settle in a place and build a home that I feel sad about returning to.

And then I start to think about what I could do to change things, and all I can come up with is:

Gather my family close, sell everything and start all over.

Seriously... when I picture an ideal situation, I'm living in a temperature controlled hut-like structure with plenty of natural light in a forest near a clean, warm river that flows calmly into the Atlantic Ocean. I'd have my family, my marked-up falling-apart old-smelling beloved scriptures, a notebook of lined paper, my favorite colored pens, my phone, my Apple watch and my computer, clothes for 7 days, tennis shoes, Teva sandals, a swimming suit, my piano, my bike, and a really, really comfortable mattress with two amazing pillows. Everyone else in my family would have a comparable list of things that were important to them, and everything else? I could sell it all.

There is something that happens to me when I immerse myself in nature. I don't think I'm alone in this, and I think many people would nod in agreement, so maybe it's okay that it's difficult to explain and even more difficult to explain in writing... 

But it's something about alignment. Spending time outdoors aligns my head with my heart and then aligns my head and heart with God.

Kind of like magnetizing a nail. If you rub a non-magnetic nail in a single direction with a magnet, the nail becomes magnetized because the electrons in that nail begin to shift their orientation. They start to align. And as they align, the metal nail actually changes one of its physical properties and becomes magnetized itself.

In this metaphor, I am the nail. Nature is my magnet. Of course, I could be totally disproved by science, but all I know is that breathing in nature aligns me in such a way that I, too, feel physically changed. Ordered. Calm. Capable. Strong. The world makes more sense to me. My priorities are more clear because the dissonance between my head and my heart evaporates. (My head usually tells me that dishes and home improvements and vacuuming and Oreos are the main priorities, and my heart usually tells me that family games and walks and scriptures and long talks are better. (And Oreos. They both believe in the importance of Oreos.))

Anyway. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I tend to like myself and my results better when I'm immersed in nature. I did try to convince everyone that we should take a year and RV around the country, and I wasn't even kidding. No one else seemed as excited about it as I am, but I'm going to figure out how to do it. Because even if they don't admit it, the kids and Brian and even the dog are happier out in nature, too.

RV Trip to Moab and Bryce Canyon - Post 2 of 3

Arches National Park was fun, but we decided on day two to take our 'car-house' full of family to a more dog-friendly part of town. We were halfway to the Corona Arch trail before we recognized the irony of hiking to the Corona arch during the Corona pandemic. Ha.

 

For most of us, this hike was the favorite!

The trail was interesting and diverse with sand here and rock there and even a set of chains and ladders to scale some more intense areas. And hiking with Maisy really did make it even more fun.

It was her first hike (of course), and she's still learning vocal commands, so there were some moments of frustration as she wanted to explore every. single. little. thing along side the trail. But she was just so cute and little it wasn't a problem to pick her up or coax her along. 

And by the end of the two solid hiking days she got to be pretty good at it!

We traveled through some desert areas.

And some weather-y areas.

And some rocky areas.

And eventually found ourselves nearing the end.

I love that Miles's hair blends right into the rock. He's such a happy kid these days.

This was the toilet bowl. Not sure if we saw the name somewhere or if we just made it up, but it really did look like a giant toilet bowl. 

And here is the Corona Arch:

The sun felt amazing up there, and Brian and Eliza went to bask in the warmth under the arch for a while.

We unpacked our lunches and ate in style, watching the rain in the distance move through the mountains. 

This McKenzie. How I love hanging out with her. She is funny and confident and smart, and she's always up for an awkward selfie.

We stayed at the base of the arch for a long time, but eventually it was time to go back.

Can you spy Timothy on the rock?

I got lots of comments going up and down about hiking in a boot. People seemed to be impressed but, honestly, I'd been so immobile for so long that hiking at all felt absolutely amazing. I think people looked at me and saw the limitations that the boot put on me, but it my head the boot was giving me freedom. I think there's a lesson in that somewhere...

I did need help sometimes, though. Like, whenever an ankle would be necessary. Going up and down steep grades (or even low grades) was difficult because my ankle couldn't twist or bend to accommodate the terrain. But thankfully I had a strong helper by my side.

This girl. Every time I see a picture of her I smile.

She was an amazing hiker. 

After the hike we found another picnic spot and some beautiful light. And, since it happened to be my birthday (did I mention it was my birthday?), the kids didn't even squak when I asked if I could take some pictures of them.

Can we pause for a moment and note this handsome kid? He's growing so incredibly fast these days.

That night as I was snuggling the littles before bed, they both wanted to take a selfie because it's your birthday, Mom! So, here we go. And Eliza made triple sure that her braid was highly visible in the final product because, braids are amazing.

Perfect birthday!