9 August 2020

Sofi came to visit this week along with three of her friends, Nelson, Erik and Emma.  All three of her friends are from Utah and attend the University of Utah.  Emma is Sofi's roommate.  Nelson and Emma came to visit last fall and we were excited to have them return.  This was our first time to meet Erik.  For our Come Follow Me lesson on Sunday we made a roller box movie of the story of Moroni and Zerahemnah from Alma 42-43.  Abe drew this funny picture of Zerahemnah looking "exceedingly wroth."  From the left are Nelson, Helen, Gibson, Abe, Sofi, Erik and Emma.

Brandan didn't realize he was in Doctrine and Covenants 43 instead of Alma 43 so his pictures were a little different than the others.  This is a picture of the lightnings streaking from the east, calling on people to repent and making all the ears tingle (D&C 43:22).

Brandan had the week off of work and we enjoyed tagging along with Sofi and her friends on some of their southern Oregon adventures.  On Monday we went back to South Umpqua Falls for our third visit this summer.  This is a photo of Sofi going over the falls while Erik is standing at the top.  The warm, beautiful weather made the cold water bearable.

Brandan helped Helen put the trucks and wheels on her longboard.  It's almost finished.  In the photo Brandan is using Abe's longboard to mark the alignment of Helen's wheels.

On Wednesday we drove out to the coast.  We stopped at a gift shop along the way and spotted Bigfoot (Gibson).

We then drove to Stout Grove in the Redwoods.  We spent a couple of hours exploring and admiring the trees.  From the left are Gibson, Emma, Helen, Sofi, Erik, Nelson and Brandan.

This is a photo of Nelson, Erik, Helen and Gibson climbing on a fallen tree.

Here Emma is standing next to a tree with Sofi, Erik, Nelson, Helen and Gibson underneath in a hollow space.

Here's Helen climbing out from their hiding spot.  Even with 5 people under the tree, they said there was room for 5 more.

The Jedediah Smith River runs next to Stout Grove.  This is Helen and Gibson.

Gibson and Helen waded out to rocks in the river.  This is Gibson.

And here is Helen.

Brandan skipped rocks on the river.

We got to the coast in the afternoon, just as the clouds burned off.  We enjoyed looking for creatures in the tide pools and some of us got in the water, even though it is freezing.

Brandan had bishopric meetings Wednesday evening so Brandan, Becky and Helen headed home early, while the others stayed longer.  We took a quick photo before leaving.

On Friday morning, Sofi and friends drove up to Crater Lake.  We met them in the afternoon and rafted the Rogue River.  Abe was working most of the week so this was the first outing he joined us for.  No one fell in the river this time, but we all got splashed.  Our week with friends flew by quickly and now the kids are back in Utah, getting ready for school to start.  We're so happy they came and that we got to show them some of our favorite spots.  And there are plenty of other great places to explore which we didn't get to see and which will hopefully entice them back!  From the left are Emma, Becky, Erik, Helen (sitting on the front of the raft), Abigail, Nelson, Abe, Sofi and Gibson.