House O' Sullivans

Oh ya!  I drove down to Springville last night with Sarah Gunnell, scarfed down a healthy hippie dinner at Ginger's Garden Cafe with some friends, had a sleepover at Erin DeLlamas' parent's house, got up at 4:30 AM to ride a bus to the top of Hobblecreek Canyon with about 800 other crazies, then ran a little over 13 miles this morning.  For fun.  My reward?  A bling finisher's medal (which I already bequeathed to Sophie and Hallee) and some French toast and Creamies at the finish line.  My goal was to run it in under two hours, and that I did at 1:58.  Done!

Let's just start by saying the obvious:  Zeke is the man!  Instead of tantruming and yelling "No!" at top volume (like any NORMAL two-year-old) when I ask him to take his diaper to the trash, he humbly, sweetly transports it to the bathroom trash basket after I change him.  Lately he's been combining a little work with a little play by executing the job with the dump truck that Grandma Sullivan gave him for his most recent birthday. The man in action. Casey captured this hilarious footage the other day and I couldn't resist posting it: This kid is unreal.  When he does (very occasionally, mind you) work himself up into a NORMAL two-year-old fit, he often desists, opting for laughter instead.  I think he realizes that tantrums are so far out of his personality's range of options that he cracks HIMSELF up with the hilarity.  We love you Zeke!

All of the prayers paid off!  It rained today!  Hallelujah!!  According to Casey, it hasn't rained here since mid-May.  Personally, I cannot remember the last time that it rained, so I'll just have to trust him.  All I know, is that I've been monitoring the forecast for weeks now and all I've seen is a steady stream of high 90's every day with 0% (or an occasional 10%-er) chance of rain.  Since it was cloudy, the Sullivan household was stealthed by mother nature and we all slept in until after 9 AM this morning.  THAT never happens.  When we rolled out of bed, we found the ground soaked and the rain coming down.  Not a downpour, but a steady rain that lasted until about 3:30 PM this afternoon.  What a miracle!!  With all of the fires burning around the state and the ground thirsting for water and the gardens wilting.  When the kids saw the rain, they quickly ran outside and stayed out until they were soaked thro...

This morning a couple of the ward young women came over, along with Ginny, and we loaded up the van in search of adventure and cooler temperatures up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We hiked to the donut-less Donut Falls, an easy classic--about one and a half miles round trip.  Zeke, Melissa (our backyard neighbor and trusted babysitter), Soph, Hal, and Camille   Camille! Ginny handling Mr. Zeke at the falls The Cold Feet Contest.  Who can stand to keep their feet in the frigid water the longest?   Melissa won. Mr. Z We followed it all up with lunch back at the ranch, complete with gourmet snow cones.  (Ginny has an awesome little snow cone machine.)

“Camp Floyd [near Fairfield, Utah] is one of the most miserable, disagreeable and uninteresting places that ever disgraced the earth.   It is built upon a dry plain, entirely destitute of grass, or, indeed, any vegetation, except sage, that flourishes where nothing else will grow.   There is no water here except a little dirty stream that runs near the west end of the camp, scarcely large enough to drown a mouse.”   (Utah, a soldier with Johnston’s Army, September 25, 1858.   From the plaque at present-day Camp Floyd State Park.) Went to the Lundskog family reunion at historic Camp Floyd this morning and despite it being a Saturday in late June -- had the place completely to ourselves.  Maybe everyone else in the western hemisphere had read the reviews and determined that that long dead soldier couldn't be that far off  and would leave "disagreeable" and "uninteresting" for a Saturday say maybe in late January. Well Sullivans ...

Zeke sporting the new climbing "equipo" Yesterday afternoon, we dodged the heat (I think the high in the Valley was around 97 F) and headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon with the kids and a couple of friends--Dave Robertson and Ginny Watts.  It was also the inaugeral outing for our new, ultimate, 25-point  kid harness, modeled here by Mr. Zeke.  We've taken the kids climbing a few times, but only as passive spectators.  The Beachball Crag, about a mile and a half upcanyon and right next to the creek, was the locale of the first ever climb for Sophie, Hal, and Zeke. Zeke did not want to take off his new gear, so he rode all the way up to the canyon in his snazzy ensemble:  <> </></></><>  </> </> Casey set up the climb Dave was a regular belay warrior After Casey and Dave did the route, Soph was next in the queue.  She easily went right up the climb and immediate...

Camp #1 at the China Meadows Trailhead on Tuesday night Last week we loaded our backpacks and headed for the high Uintas.  Casey conceived the epic family vaction plan several months ago.  Growing up, his family did many multi-day stints with the horses in the backcountry and Casey thought that Sophie, Hallee, Zeke, and I were ready (tough enough).  I was a bit incredulous that we could pull off a week-long back-packing trip with three little people, but Casey was determined.  Grandpa Doug agreed to provide the horses, packing equipment, and expertise and somehow Uncle Sean and Grandma Ilean got roped in.  Cousin Emory and Cooper (the dog) also got the green light.  The plan was to drive to China Meadows and camp for a night, then load the horses with all of the camping equipment and provisions that they could carry, while we hauled the rest bodily and hike a few miles to a high meadow where we'd spend a week in paradise....