Summer Happenings

River Rafting

This isn't us. . .but it looks a lot like us in Satan's Cesspool on the South Fork of the American River yesterday.  Our friend Jared offered to guide us, along with his boat owner buddies Nikki and Paul--and Levi declared it was "his best day ever!"  Of course, he's not one who fell in the river!  (He and the girls willingly dove in at one point--and even in August, it was chilly FREEZING!)  Luke and Eliza missed the party--opting to stay and fill job commitments.  Mark, Denise, Marta, Tess, and Levi had a grand adventure on the Class 3+ rapids.  We'll have to try it again sometime. . .and see if it's only Mom and Dad who end up in the cesspool!

Tomatoes Galore

Other events of the summer include coming home from our Houghton Wyoming Reunion to a garden bursting with ripe tomatoes.  This is one day's harvest (after a bunch went to work with Luke and Eliza)!  Luke, who was left tending the home fires does not like tomatoes, so we didn't have to battle him for the bounty!  We've been enjoying these beauties on sandwiches, in new and inventive side dishes, and with the opportunity to share with friends and neighbors.  Maybe Dad's investment in six-packs of five different varieties wasn't wasted after all!  Thanks to Tess who planted, irrigated, helped-keep-them-upright, picked, cleaned, sorted, and helped use these babies, even though she doesn't even like them!

HP 7.2

On the evening of July 21st, the Houghton house was abuzz with preparations for the premiere of the historic final Harry Potter movie!  Tickets were in hand and a teenager party was in process, with chocolate-covered frogs, butter beer (LDS-standard), acid pops, several varieties of edible wands, and the hit of the evening, "Olivander's Do-It-Yourself Wand Kiosk," complete, with "Faux" Phoenix Feathers (courtesy of the girls in the Chicken Palace)!

As midnight showtime approached, the Houghton crew (and a couple extras) madly assembled their themed costumes, to become The Seven Horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows:  Eliza as Voldy's pregnant mother, Levi as Harry, and Luke as Tom Riddle and the Diary (black hair on Levi and Luke courtesy of Eliza).

Marta as Charity Burbage with Nagini the Snake, Tess as Hepzibah Smith with Hufflepuff's Cup, and Mark as, of course, Dumbledore with the Ring/Resurrection Stone.  

(Denise went as the Invisibility Cloak--really--but as you can imagine, that was somewhat difficult to photograph!)

Mt. Whitney

At 14,000+ feet, Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous U.S.  During the last week on July, Mark and Luke and eight other scouts/leaders headed from the western side of the Sierras on a 50-mile trek that would end in a day that climbed to the top of Whitney and ended on the eastern side of the mountain range.  The whole trip had been in jeopardy until a week before the adventure because of unusually high snow pack levels.  But with the go-ahead that the route was passable, they embarked on Monday and made challenging but good progress for the first four and a half days of their journey.  On Friday most of the group made it to the peak before noon, and were beginning to head down as thunderheads gathered and electricity sparked in the air.  Mark stayed behind to shepherd the last of the group along.  Luke, at the front with five others, ran down the trail amidst thunder, lightning, M&M-sized hail, rock slides, rain, and flooded trails.  With the help of prayer and the "fry-chef" from the eatery at trail's end who guided several groups to a detour around the flooded trail at the bottom of the hill, he made it to a warm shower and hotel bed by midnight.  Mark, on the other hand, was stranded by flooding, with one scout up above the tree line.  He ended up helping other stranded hikers--reported in our local paper (here: http://www.uniondemocrat.com/20110803104338/News/Local-News/Scouts-rescue-imperiled-hikers).   They did make it home by Saturday night, but Mark's feet were blistered and bruised, and his ankles looked like he was nine months pregnant.  Deservedly, he slept most of the way to Wyoming on Sunday!