"...we hardly knew ye..."

Part 1: On a clear day in January 2016, a lone Scot stood in the cold and piped Amazing Grace to honor the passing of Jim Campbell.

Jim married Grandma LuAnn in 1999 and joined a clan that adored him as much as he adored us.  So we came to Salem, a smallish hamlet of Utah County.  Terisa, Grace and Alice bundled up against the chill.

Paul and Bethany, newly installed in a cute little house in Bountiful were able to be with us. Charlie is the green bundle in the middle, and Danny is behind in the stroller.

Here is Lauren, who may have forgotten how to button a coat, since she was moving to Phoenix the next week, and Alan and Creighton.

Longtime friends Frank and Lucille came to be with LuAnn.

And Todd shows that you can always count on family.

Jim's daughter, Cathy, and her husband, Herb, came from Pleasanton, California,

as did Liz and her husband, Joe.

Terri, the oldest daughter and unable to travel because of ill health, joined us by Facetime (see Cathy holding the phone, bottom right). 

Because technology.

The American Legion of Spanish Fork outdid itself, with over a dozen members present to give Jim, formerly a Captain in the Air Force, full military honors. Folded flag, taps, rifle and empty boots.

LuAnn read a poem she wrote for Jim, and all paid their last respects to a good man, too early gone from a world that desperately needs good men.

Part 2.  At the end of the January, Jim's daughters hosted a memorial/wake for Jim in Pleasanton, and invited all of us to come.  We did!  Part family reunion, part whirlwind getaway. A few highlights:

Here is Miss Addy, heading out to go swimming at the pool.  The hotel's outdoor pool was closed for the season, but Kit found a nearby community pool.  It was also outdoors, and though heated to a good temp for swimming laps, was a little chilly for us all.

Then there was brunch at Papa Bubba's, or Big Papa's or something like that. Terisa and I had French toast in Jim's honor.  It wasn't quite as good as his, but the gang was all here, anyway.

After breakfast, we enjoyed a California winter's day, also know as a Chicago summer's day.

There were games,

...and an excursion to old town Pleasanton. There was a cool museum and art gallery, and a bookstore, and a ton of boutiques. After hiking around main street, the expedition stopped to consider the next snack...

Ice cream was the unanimous choice!  There may have been a pizza snack later...

Apropos of nothing, here is Addy ready for the memorial, posing with Grandpa's umbrella. It was kind of fun having the whole family in one room for the half an hour it took us to get ready and go.

The main event that evening did not disappoint. There was a nice program with a written life sketch, and a slide show that included a shot of us all wrestling with the eight-armed octopus gazebo from $%^& at a family reunion. The main thing is that we got to see Jim's life and hear from friends and family from before the time we got to know him in 1999. He is a remarkable man who lived a life of integrity to principle, and service born of love.  I came away with the impression that I would have to work a lot harder to be as good a man as he.

When Addy got bored, I let her take some pics with my camera.  Notice the low Addy-angle. Her mother is a stunning subject.

And then, as fast as it started, it was over.  We sent Kit and Lynne and Addy and Paul to stay nearer the airport for their EARLY morning flight, and we went back to the hotel.  The trip home was uneventful, pretty much like the trip out, and everyone now gets to ease back into the quotidian.

But we are just a little bit better for having gotten together to honor a man whose life was love-filled and praiseworthy.  We couldn't aspire to much more noble. And to filch a line from an Irish song: Farewell Jim, we hardly knew ye...

Snow Canyon: All Geological Phenomena Crammed Into a Few Square Miles

When it is a special occasion, like a round-number anniversary--what do you do to celebrate?  You go camping, of course! (For example, our honeymoon, 33 and a third years ago was a camping trip to red rock country...) We chose previously unvisited Snow Canyon, near St. George. This is the view we woke up to, after arriving after dark the night before.

Our hikes took us through twisting paths of red rock. 

 Red rock has special stress-absorbing powers to repair the soul. At least it always works for us.

Terisa got some red rock therapy: rest for the weary sole.

We saw all kinds of strange textures,

...and classic formations.

We ate lunch in this little cave.

 

 Terisa crawled around in a lava tube,

 ...and we hiked into a dead-end slot canyon.

Some of the visually interesting things about the park are the lava flows which recently (27,000 years ago) engulfed some of the red rock formations. The lava we saw was of two types: the ropy pa'hoehoe lava, and  the chunky, broken a'a lava.  (This is a perfectly acceptable two-letter word to use in Scrabble(TM).)

We climbed up this steep cinder cone that looked like nothing so much as a pile of ash.

At the top, we peered into this depression/crater...

 

...and then looked out to see many more cinder cones in the immediate area. 

Mostly we got clear skies, but for one brief moment we had dramatic skies.  We may have endured a dozen or so raindrops.

In addition to red sandstone, there was one outcropping of white sandstone with bowls like this hollowed out.

This is a larger bowl, where capricious wind gusts sandblasted us, and the wisps of flying sand swirled up the surfaces like so much smoke.

So. Many. Textures.

On the way home we noticed the Mountain Meadow massacre site was close at hand, so we stopped and explored, whetting our appetite for more information about the atrocity.

And so as not to end on a low note, here are some photos from Addy's recent visit to Utah that haven't been downloaded until now. Miss Addy was very clear about what couches and pillows were for.

And what grandchild has not ridden the elephant at Great Grace's house?

It was a visually stunning weekend.  The hikes were short and easy, and even though it is close to civilization, there are almost no indications that a large metro area is nearby.  All things weighed, we want to go back, preferably with some of you.

Addy-Sitting, September 2015

Addy came to stay with us for a few days while her Mom and Dad went exploring in the orient. Lynne brought out Addy a couple of days early to acclimate.  So of course we went to Cafe Rio (here Addy is placing her order for a quesadilla, extra cheesy, please!),

and we think it is vital to have shopping experiences at a book store. Not that there is any danger in this family that we won't...

 

Addy quickly got used to the tea-party table we have for the littles, and served four stuffed bears several delightful snacks.

 

Then Lynne and Kit started out on their adventure. First stop for them: Hong Kong.  First stop for us when they left: Blue Lemon at City Creek.  Here Addy enjoys mac and cheese and the company of Grandma Terisa, Grandpa Gabe, Great Grandma LuAnn, and GGPa Jim.

 

Since we were in City Creek Center, we also played in the fountains. How could we not? The waterfall was so glassy we had to touch it for ourselves.

 

It was all very exciting.

 

We pretended we were magicians calling forth the little fountains to rise up. It worked so-so, but we got splashed enough.

 

 Addy warmed up to Grandma Lu and Jim, even though she gave him "the glare" earlier. That is, Addy gave Jim the glare.  Grandma didn't.

 

Then we went home and settled into a regular routine for a few days, though life at our house is not too routine under any circumstances. For example, the meals are reasonably predictable in timing,

 

 and menu,

but we like to spice them up with games and shenanigans. Here Addy give us her famous, "I can't believe you are such nerds!" look.  She also practiced her glare on us, but we all cracked up in giggles before it went too long.

 There was some shopping, for which Addy made sure she had a large enough shopping bag.

Of course we read books,

 

had more tea parties, sometimes with real cookies,

 

 

 and tried on Grandpa's cowboy boots. And headlamp.  And made Grandpa put on his construction knee pads, which turned out to be quite useful when crawling around on the floor with Adelaide Jane.

 Outside, Miss Addy helped Grandpa pick tomatoes,

though it is certain she ate her weight in cherry tomatoes when she thought she could sneak some.

 

We played in the neighbor's fort,

 

and on our swing.

After a big day, we just chilled on the back porch swing.

More playing inside, sometimes with Grandma Terisa's fuzzy puppet collection,

and sometimes with other toys.

On Sunday we went to church.  She was pretty good in Sacrament meeting, and liked nursery well enough, even though it is very busy.

Finally, at the end of each day, we got dressed in our zebra pajamas and brushed our teeth.  Nights have been pretty good and there is lots of sleep being slept by everyone.

Tending Addy has made us miss our other grandchildren, so here are a few previously unpublished pics of a bunch more cuties. Here, Addy chills with Charlie--yes, it IS possible to chill with Charlie!--at Grace's Baptism.

When they were in Utah last month, we practiced face-painting.  Here is Indian princess Grace (now a third-grader!)

And shooting star Princess Alice , now in pre-school.

And Dan'l Boone, frontiersman or raccoon. You decide.  Charlie is almost 3.

And here is a pic of the elusive Danny-fish.  It won't be many more years that all of us fit on this swing, but this year, we are just right!