Natural Sceptre

We’ve returned from our weekend in Colorado! I do believe a good time was had by all We drove down on Friday after classes. It was a nice road trip- relaxing, not too much traffic considering it was a holiday weekend. We saw Kimberley and Justin and kids at Hole n”the Rock (that’s how it’s written on the side of the cave/house on the way to CO). They were on their way home and we were on our way down- it worked out just perfectly. We arrived a bit late, but sat up talking for a little bit. Saturday was a busy day! When we woke up, John and I decided to wander around the property. 80 acres is a lot to wander around. It was beautiful weather, we walked down the driveway and down into the “fort,” a gathering of rocks that previous owners made into a fort. Hence the name. We climbed down the ravine and let Emma run around for a bit (it’s really her property, I found out) and then climbed up a cliff back towards where we started from. I was surprised at how good it felt to be out of Provo, and how amazing it felt to have that much space around me. AFTER THAT, I got to drive a tractor! I would have been just fine with riding along, but after some encouragment I decided to give it a try. It was a bumpy ride, but I didn’t hit anything! After the tractor adventure we fed the horses that live on the property.  Only then did the real work start. We needed to move some appliances up into the living space above the barn. It’s going to be gorgeous when it’s done- beautiful views! The next step was getting the kitchen stuff upstairs. The only thing- the appliances weren’t going up the stairs! Soooo….we used the front-end-loader on the backhoe (if that’s not the right way to describe that, please forgive me..still working on farm vehicle identification) to lift the refridgerator, stove, trash compactor, and dishwasher up into the doors upstairs. It was quite the workout. We eventually used a pulley system to try to make it a little easier for everyone, but I think everyone was exhausted at the end- and I distinctly remember dangling from the rope when we tried to get the stove up. I thought for some reason that the fridge would be easier because it was taller- and therefore would be easier to just “tip” onto the platform. Yeah. I was wrong. It seemed like a lot of work- but it was actually a lot of fun. The rest of the night we just played- went down to Farmington New Mexico for Hamburgers, a double date! The date ended the way our dates always end- a trip to WalMart. I had never been to WalMart in New Mexico before! Hmm…what did we do after that? Well, seeing as we were all EXHAUSTED we headed home. I think we all fell asleep in the car on the way home- except for John…who was driving. Easter was lovely We went to church where I was informed that John was quite the catch and met a woman who attended the same ward I went to in Scranton (small world, huh?). Back at home we had an Easter egg hunt and a VERY yummy Easter lunch/dinner and finished watching The Holiday- which made me homesick for Christmas. All in all, it was just really really nice to spend time all together- as John’s parents have been on a mission I’ve only met them once! I loved having a couple days to talk and laugh and get to know each other. I think there is a lot to be said for moving large appliances and looking for hard-boiled eggs together. It’s all about creative bonding.