Fall concert at Eastmont Middle School

Rachel plays well!

Rachel and Mike!

Rachel and Grandpa!

Rachel and "OOPS!"


Hey!  I don't know who these students are, but they were sure good!

Thanksgiving Day in Springville

Thanksgiving Day in Springville!

Today's temperature tied an all-time high - 65 degrees.  I remember the other time, so many years ago.  It was so warm that I took my little family to the outdoor courts at Bellview and shot some hoops.  

Anyway, we entered the home and "sho nuff," Sherry was happily making final preparations. 

The table was set, and everything was ready to go.  Notice the wall displays on either side of the table.  Interesting photos of both sides of the family hang, almost as if they were enjoying the meal right along with us.

After a great meal, two turkeys and barque ribs plus everything else you would expect to eat on this important holiday, Grandma played Christmas music with the grand-kids.  They are going to be playing these songs on the church organ for December worship services.

Matt

Rachel

Jenna

Erin

To cap things off, on the way home, we were treated to a glorious sunset.

The day before, I took the following photo from my front porch in Sandy.  I used the 'fisheye' effect on my camera.

The real champions

The real champions.

The huddle.

The pass.

The tackle.  Oops, where is the ball?

The defence is ready.

MCKEA zeros in on the runner.
By the way Matt caught a pass for a touchdown conversion.

The game is over.  We won!

Picture time.

Players get ready for 'Coach talk.'

Everyone listens.

"Like life, football is about focusing on priorities, goals, and preparation." 

It's now time for team photos.

What a gal!

Awesome photo!  Matt's team went undefeated in 2017.  11 - 0!

Beetdiggers win

Beetdiggers beat Cottonwood for the right to play Park City for the championship!

Erin enjoys the early morning sun's warmth.

Rachel was cold but not her smile.

Some great footage was taken.  These guys are serious about it.

The coaches want their team to remain undefeated.

Matty is giving out some good advice.

Matt has a good stance.  Beetdiggers win this game convincingly.




.  

Moenkopi Formation

Lee lives in one of those little white specks at the base of Porcupine Rim. His house is in the Moenkopi Formation. 

Above the Moenkopi is the Chinle formation.  The cliff at the top is called the Wingate formation and just at the very top of it is the Kayenta.  FYI - most of the arches in the area area are formed from the Wingate and Kayenta. 




The Moenkopi is widespread in the four-corners region and is sometimes called the Chocolate Cliffs.  As Lee showed me around the grounds, I picked up a fist size rock.  He called it quartz, but my fingernail left a scratch mark in its surface.  I called it calcite, and later found out that gypsum (calcite) is common to this formation. 





Looking eastward at the butte across the valley , the chocolate colored Moenkopi is easily seen. Above it is the Chinle, and the Wingate forms the Priest and Nuns at the top.

Okay, most of you are now bored with the previous information, and you have probably clicked off.  Only the curious are still reading this stuff, but it is very interesting.  With this knowledge you can drive for hours in canyon country and actually identify scenic formations, and those in your vehicle with either think you are crazy or they will think you're really smart.  Ha.

  

Within walking distance, just south of Lee's place is Round Mountain, a very prominent volcanic plug.  In the background is the totally igneous La Sal Mountain.  The road you see actually loops around it and ends up in Moab.

I would venture to guess that most of the folks that live in Castle Valley don't know that they live in an anticline.  A huge salt dome lurks way below the valley floor.  Over millions of years it pushed upwards.  The previously discussed formations slowly ruptured and eroded, and "viola" we now have a nice place to ride mountain bikes.

Okay now.  Can you identify the Moenkopi, Chinle, and Wingate all by yourself?

Behind this pioneer house is what looks like a whitish cow pie.  This particular outcropping is probably Cedar Mesa Sandstone, as it underlies the moenkopi. 

The three massive arches of Natural Bridges National Monument are of the Cedar Mesa, and the Anasazi cliff dwellers south of Blanding found it suitable for their homes.

Thanks or visiting this posting, and remember that God lives.  His creative love is manifested in all things.

A giant scenic adult playground

On this trip we encountered a lot of road work on the state highways.  Most of it involves adding lanes, which is good.  As the word gets out as to how scenic this area is, tourism will continue to steadily increase.  The face of Moab has totally changed since Grandma and I last visited.  The only thing we recognized was Charlie Steen's house, which is now a restaurant. 

Anyway, we moved north out of Monticello past Peter's Point down into Dry Valley.  We call the following formation, Church Rock.  It is nothing but eroded Navajo Sandstone.  Notice the door opening at the base.  Lasal Mountain  is in the background. 

Church Rock

Just past Church Rock is what we call Turtle Rock, another Navajo Sandstone structure. 

You can see the turtle's neck and head protruding out of it's shell.

Turtle rock

The next structure on the road is Wilson Arch.  This is massive.  Look closely and you can see a couple of people standing on the bottom left under the rock covering.

Wilson Arch

A good friend of ours, Lee, had recently moved to Castle Valley.  I had some books and papers of his to deliver.  The valley is located 20 miles east of Moab, just south of the Colorado River.

As we entered the valley we were greeted by a priest and his nuns. 

Priest and Nuns


They were located right next to Castle Tower.

Castle Tower

This whole area is infested with lizards and bikers, ants and four wheelers, scorpions and motorcycles, rattle snakes and river runners etc.  

You get the picture, right?  It is a wild place - a giant scenic adult playground. The more adult toys you have the more fun you have.

Rock hounds have fun too, so in my next posting, I will explain some of the geology of Castle Valley.    

Our first home

It was 50 years ago when we moved into our first home.  It looks much the same today as it did in 1967.  It was red back then and is now beige.  Cement steps are now in place instead of the wood ones, and a dish adorns the east side of the house.  Otherwise the place looks the same.

The house next door now was exactly like ours, but now has a second level - a great improvement!

Front.

I taught music at both the high and elementary schools.  I was really impressed with the "small town" kids - so well behaved and so intelligent, eager to learn and delightful.  Sure there were moments of distress, but in all, teaching was a great experience. 

Back.

Back

Grandma taught at the elementary school - 5th grade.  She also enjoyed the kids and was impressed with their knowledge of life.  You see, they were all raised around farms.

Front

Sherry and Mike were born in the San Juan hospital.  Five days after Mike arrived, we moved.  Grandma did great through all this, as his was an easy delivery.  

Several years later we took our kids on a camping trip.  We camped in a tent on the backside of Blue Mountain.  The stars were brilliant as we gazed with wonderment at the night stars from a quilt spread on the ground.  We even spotted the "northern lights."  It appeared as a little, white curtain high in the sky.  No color but very beautiful.   

One highlight of that camping trip was our cleansing time at the town swimming pool.  (Please note that we used the showers before diving into the water)  I remember the local kids in the pool didn't quite know how to take us as we made our entrance. 
We were the object of quiet stares as we began to play in the water.  After what seemed like forever, they continued doing their thing.    

Now, back to the present!  Haha.

Monticello has really improved in appearance over the years.  Now the streets have curbs and gutters, and the town's only stop light, (It blinked yellow in all directions for the 2 years were lived there) has been updated to a modern, working system. 

And look!  Modern street lights now adorn new sidewalks!  Wow!

  I think the addition of the temple was maybe the inspiration for the new motels and general upgrading of the town, as people need a nice place to stay when they come from far away places to visit. 

We invited our friends to dinner.  PJ's was open, so that is where we ended up.  

We found that Blue Mountain Foods had moved to a new location - the old Jensen Food Market building.  We found a friendly clerk in the store who brought us up to date on all the town's people we previously knew and loved.