Spokane reunion, fun on the lake

Jay and Brandon go for a fly!
Nancy glides through the waves!
Austin goes for a ride -- and then flies
Jay shows his macho.

Spokane reunion, river runs through it

Nancy gets a good shot of river and the skyline.

Rough ride down the wagon handle in Spokane riverwalk park.
Westwood siblings relive a happy childhood!

Spokane reunion, Westwoods ride 1907 carousel

Spokane reunion, mermaid JoAnn

During a break, JoAnn does some mermaid posing during Spokane reunion at Humbolt Lake.

Nancy ends a great ride

Nancy had a great ride behind Jay's boat! JoAnn did the filming. Humbolt Lake is beautiful -- and just done the road and no climb.

Spokane reunion, Jay to the Rescue

Our last reunion roadtrip stop was in Coure D'Lane Lake. It's huge -- maybe close to Flaming Gorge, but up in the pines and right next to the city! As we're walking down the "world's longest floating boardwalk," I asked Nancy to wrap the camera handle around her wrist so she wouldn't drop it into the lake. A couple of minutes later, she asked Jay to take a picture of the two of us. When she handed the camera to Jay and pulled her arm back, the strap was still around her wrist and the camer flipped out of Jay's hand and off Nancy's wrist and high into the air and landed about four feet out into the lake from the boardwalk. Everyone freaked out! We started arguing whether we should try to get it out. The water was maybe 10 feet deep at that point. Before we could come to an agreement, Jay had shed his shoes and wallet and dived in.
He came up with the camera in his first dive! What a man! Fortunately it was 95 degrees and not a lot of wind. They continued their walk around the boardwalk and we were able to recover the flash card out of the camera. All the pictures we've posted were from the camera lost in the lake! Yeah, Jay!
Jared has a camer just like ours, so we used his to download all the pictures into my computer when we got home.
Quite the adventure in Spokane! We headed back to Billings the next day and drove through Billings and saw the huge statue of Mary on top of the mountain overlooking Butte. But we didn't have a camera!
We arrived home Saturday, and JoAnn headed home the next morning!
Probably the most important part of the trip for me was getting to know Jay's three boys a little better. Brandon and I had some good times teasing and talking.
Hey, Brandon, what is DNA and E=MC2?

Spokane reunion, exploring hilltop homestead

After our visit with Michelle's sister and brother-in-law, we drove up the road to a hilltop homestead and a beautiful big red barn. What a beautiful view of the Core D' Lane Lake and city below. I would imagine a lot of deer and bear visit the area, not to mention the wild turkeys we spotted roaming among the homes down by Michelle's sisters home. She said the wild turkeys are always messing up and scratching her home's backyard deck. She also has chicken wire around all the trees because of the deer in the area. I don't know what they do about the deer -- unless that's how her husband sometimes gets his bear -- skin -- rugs!

Spokane reunion, Pioneer Sisters

We visited Michelle's sister in the hills above Core D' Lane. Michelle's sister was making a pioneer dress for Michelle and Jay's trek with the boys the following week.
The two of them looked like real Pioneers! We had a nice visit with the couple. Her husband is in the process of adding six feet onto the east side of their home to expand their kitchen and dining room.

On our last day with Jay, Michelle and family, we went north into the hills above Jay's home onto a plateau where it was all fields of grain. Then up another hill into an area of orchards. We stopped at two locations. At the first stop, I had a brownie ala mode and Brandon had an ice cream. We sat around on the patio and visited. Then we went to the next fruit store and bought some huckleberry jam and some lunch. We sat at the patio and visited. A nice little trip!

Spokane reunion, day at lake

Jay and Michelle took us to a lake less than hour away from his home in Spokane Valley. We stopped at a gas station to fill up, and I decided to get a drink because I thought we still had a drive ahead of us into the mountains. Instead, we drove through less than a mile through the housing and arrived at the lake -- like arriving at a park in the valley. It probably was as large as Jordanelle Reservoir in Utah. What a beautiful setting -- pine trees around the beach, a beatiful beach, and a beautiful pine-lined lake. There are lakes everywhere in the Spokane area. Everyone, except Austin and Lee, spent most of the day on the boat, as you can see in the pictures. It was a beautiful day on the lake and on the beach. I just relaxed and read several day's of newspapers, including stories about BYU football. We had a nice picnic inbetween the boat runs.

Spokane reunion, Radio Flyer

In our visit to the Spokane park Aug. 4, 2009, Brandon and Austin found a gruff friend. They were soon joined by JoAnn. Then everyone except the old gizzer enjoyed a visit back in time with a "ride" aboard a giant Radio Flyer. I was simply amazed by all the childish behavior by all the parents and grandparents in the group! You can tell by the typical Lee expressions, joined by Brandon's more sophisticated poses! Anyone notice the beautiful flowers!? They smelled incredible!

After our ride on the waterfalls gondola on Aug. 4th, 2009, in Downtown Spokane, we headed to the fountain in the park, which was the site of the 1974 World's Fair. It's a lot like the Salt Lake Gateway's fountain but even better. The Spokane fountain has water cannons and fountains that shoot out from the tall pillars around the ground fountains. Pretty cool! We then headed over to the restored 1907 Carousel, which included some great carousel music and magic.

In the late afternoon, Aug. 4th, everyone, including Jay's boys Sean, Austin and Brandon, went to Downtown Spokane and visited the riverwalk park area, which was the site of the 1974 World's Fair. The first event was the gandona ride over the waterfalls. The gandolas are enclosed and very hot -- about 100 degrees. Nancy said something that prompted me to pour a little water down her back. She tried to grab the water bottle away from me and we struggled over the bottle, smashing it to a twisted heap and spilling the contents all over Jay's lap! It was perfect, really! The waterfalls are really pretty and flow over lava rock. The whole area is built over lava rock.

On Tuesday morning, Aug. 4th, JoAnn, Nancy, Lee, Michelle and Jay all attended a session at the Spokane LDS Temple. We found out just two days before that we had to have all our white clothes for the temple because it's one of the new smaller ones that don't have clothes rentals. When we arrived at the temple, Jay still had to ask for a white long-sleeve shirt because he couldn't find his or something. It really could have been both Nancy and I who would have arrived and not had anything and would have had to go back to the hotel! The temple worker rounded one up a shirt for Jay -- I'm not sure how. We had a nice small session -- though it was so peaceful and calming that I did have times where I felt like I was dozing off. At least I didn't slow up the session! The temple isn't more than 15 minutes from Jay's. The gardens are beautiful around the front of the temple. Seemed like everything was on the main floor, except the baptistry. Even that you can watch from the main floor windows as the baptisms are done -- though none were being done while we were there.
After the session, we went to lunch at Olive Garden.

Spokane reunion, first night at Westwoods

We arrived Monday night in Spokane Valley. Jay and Michelle met us out our hotel and took us to their home three or four miles away in Spokane Valley. Nice split-level home, though a little warm for me. Spokane had been suffering a warm dry spell. It was 95 degrees that Monday. We had a great dinner, prepared by Michelle, and visited until late into the evening. Great fun!

Spokane reunion, Idaho Falls stop

Nancy's sister came up from St. George and we traveled to Butte, Montana, the first day. Dave, JoAnn's husband, was not able to come with us because of his health. We wish him well! We stopped and had lunch in Idaho Falls, taking time to visit the Idaho Falls LDS Temple, and the Idaho Falls themselves. It was a perfect afternoon for picture taking.

4th of July 2009 with Family

Parade spectator gets the Fredonia firefighters into a water fight!


Leif and Jakob leaving parade.

Grandma has cooled down Caleb and fluffed up his hair.

The rocket's bright glare over Kanab.

Oh, can we see the bright lights of Kanab!

Leift, Grandpa and Grandma Baron with Jakob at friend's home

overlooking Kanab and fireworks display.

Hummingbirds feast at Thunderbird Motel in Mt. Carmel, Utah.

Thunderbird Motel and Restaurant is decked out in flower baskets.

Jason and Hannah below arch next to the Mt. Carmel tunnels in Zion Canyon.

One of the few pictures on the trip that was taken by Lee.

Uncle Jared holds Caleb after hiking in Zion Canyon.

Doe a deer a blacknosed deer (mule deer, actually) spotted along the hiking trail in Zion Canyon.

Weeping Rock Falls in Zion Canyon.

Jason, Leif and gang on way back from Weeping Rock.

Jakob is all smiles with Doritos in both hands at picnic in Zion Canyon.

Everyone's enjoying a lunch of polish dogs, chips, broccoli salad in Zion Canyon.

Grandpa Hunt gives Jakob a bear hug. Grandma Baron

holds Jakob's hat of parade candy in Fredonia.

Spectator gives the firefighters a hosing at end of parade in Fredonia.

The water battle is on at end of parade in Fredonia.

Fredonia firefighters and trucks wrap up the annual parade.

Vintage red tractor plies the parade route in Fredonia.

Jakob gathers his loot tossed to him by passing parade participants in Fredonia.

Horsemen strut their stuff in the Fredonia hometown annual 4th of July parade.

Fredonia class reunion participants ride a float in parade.

Red, white and blue are the colors for horse riders entry in Fredonia.

Fredonia cheerleaders complete their routine along parade four-block parade route.

Four-wheelers are popular in Fredonia, including as parade entries for 4th of July.

Kids ride the parade route as part of the Fredonia annual Fourth of July festifities.

Cheer group does routine during the Fredonia parade.

Members of pageant school ride their float in Fredonia parade.

Girls do cheer at the start of the Fredonia Fourth of July Parade.

Jared, Grandpa Hunt, Lena, Grandma Baron, Hannah, Grandma Hunt and Jakob at parade, a half block from Baron's home.

Lee's in a summer trance at Lena and Leif's abode in Fredonia.

Nancy adds a smile to her repetoire at Lena and Leif's.

Cutest little baby, Caleb, explores the great outdoors in Fredonia.

Lee, Leif, Jared and Lena relax in the shade in Barons' backyard.

Hannah and Jakob play a little baseball.

Jakob's ready to make a home run in his back yard.

Flowers are in bloom in the desert oasis of Fredonia (Lena's garden).

Nancy and Hannah are ready for early morning breakfast on the Fourth in Fredonia.

Titer todor, bread and water -- look at Hanah and Jason go!

Nancy and her son Jason at Sand Hollow outside Hurricane.

Hannah and Jason ham it up for the photographer, Nancy.

Jared at Sand Hollow just can't help himself.

A self-portrait by Nancy at Sand Hollow.

Nancy's got her front-row seat and is ready for trip to Fredonia.

All the dogs are gasping for air in their cool doghouse van as they head to Fredonia.

Jared, driving his HM van, is all business.

Fourth Holiday in Southern Utah!

Nancy and I had a fun 4th of July Holiday weekend -- which came as a big surprise. Not that we had fun but that we had fun with so many of our kids!

We asked Jared and Jason what they were planning to do for the weekend, and they said they were planning a party with friends. Well, we guessed that would probably leave us out -- so Nancy suggested we go see Lena. When we told Jared Thursday afternoon that we were leaving Friday noon to go to Lena's for the holiday, he decided that sounded like fun and worked things out to go with us.

Then Friday morning when Jason and Hannah found out Jared was going with us, they decided that sounded like fun and decided to come with us. Then, because that would be five passengers, we decided to help Jared pay the gas for the HM van so we could all be comfortable.

It was probably the nicest ride to St. George I've ever had because we were comfortable and we changed seating so I could visit with Jason next to me and then Jared next to me. Plus we were able to talk with everyone in the van, too.

The boys wouldn't let me drive! Part of the problem is that it's really hard for me to get in the van! It's like a three-person job to get me into the back seats -- one pulling, one pushing and lifting and me doing as much as I can under the circumstances.

We stopped off at Sand Hallow State Park and took pictures. It was 100 degress at 6 p.m.

When we arrived in St. George, we met Leif and Lena for dinner at Red Robbins. The boys had stayed with Grandma Baron for the day so Lena and Leif had the day to play and shop.

Nancy and I stayed at the Parry Lodge in Kanab both Friday and Saturday nights. It's one of the original motels in Kanab and is where all the movie stars stayed. In fact, when I was checking in at just before 11 p.m., one of the hosts was vacuuming. He was dressed as a cowboy with a pistol strapped on. I asked him if his pistol was a replica. I proudly announced that it was a real McCoy -- 1917 (I think he said it was a) Remington owned by a Tcxas Ranger and given to him by his father.

I mentioned when I noticed several pictures of John Wayne that my brother reminded me a lot of John Wayne. The host said John Wayne always stayed there when he was filming in the area.

One summer, John Wayne was tired of coming back to the motel and wanting a refreshing dip in a pool, so he arranged with his agent to have a pool built at the Parry Lodge -- the same one still in use though refurbished. I suggested it should be named the John Wayne Memorial Pool.

On the 4th of July, we got up at 6 a.m. and got to Lena's by 6:30 a.m. for the Fredonia Fire Department Holiday Fund-raising breakfast about three blocks east. (Just a note: Arizona's time is an hour earlier than Utah's.)

After breakfast, we relaxed until 9:20 and headed down a half block east to the Fredonia 4th of July Parade route. The Barons and the boys put out some chairs for us right at the heart of the parade and in the shade. At 9:35, the parade started down the four-block parade route. We were in the middle. It lasted about 15 minutes and was a lot of fun. Jakob collected more than a hat full of candy tossed from the parade participants.

After the parade, we loaded up and headed to Zions where we found a picnic table just south of the Visitors Center at the entrance to the campground. We had a nice lunch and a mini-water fight with Jakob. He started with a water botton that spread a mist, then Jared turned the nossle so it spread a stream and then I tossed a half a glass of cold water on Jakob who then found pleasure in getting Grandma Hunt wet and also his Grandpa Hunt and his dad.

Then everyone piled into the van and car and headed to the Visitors Center. Everyone but me took the tram to the Zions Lodge, where they hiked the trail up to Weeping Rock.

I stayed at the Visitors Center and closely studied all the exhibits and then took in the 25-minute movie about Zions Park. It's very good. Then, as I was relaxing in the foyer, a Korean couple came up to me. They had been at the park where we ate lunch and had exchanged hellos.

The wife said they had been to Zions three times and had visited Bryce, Capital Reef and Arches. I told them about Cedar Breaks and got a map from the information desk and showed them how to get there. They seemed to be excited about finding something new to do. About then, the family got back from their hike and we headed back to Kanab.

We ate dinner and headed to Lena's friend, who lives above the city on the hillside overlooking the park where they do the fireworks. It was a perfect spot, including a patio area where we all lined up our chairs to watch the fireworks. The host even had rootbeer floats for everyone -- about 30 people I guess. The fireworks were as good as any we've seen and the best seating by far of any we've seen. We were looking straight at the fireworks instead of looking straight up.

The fireworks lasted at least 20 to 30 minutes, and the blasts echoed off the canyon walls, which made it sound like a thunderstorm or a war zone.

After those fireworks, Leif did his. It was fun for the kids especially. Jared did one massive firework called something like the Waterfall, which was supposed to last for around eight minutes. I timed it: it lasted 2 minutes but was fun, also.

We got home after 11 p.m., so it was a really long day -- and a beautiful 4th of July. Of course, we really missed Nathan, Kat, Heather, Ty and the kids.