2 August 2026

Becky has wanted to hike Mount Timpanogos in Utah for a few years, since Abe started attending BYU. The mountain is a prominent landmark in Provo. As we planned our trip to Utah and Idaho this year, she realized there was enough time to set aside a day to complete the hike. Her plans became even better when Helen, Cece, Abe, and Brandan decided to hike with her. We slept at a campground across from the trailhead on Sunday night in order to get an early start on an all day hike.

 

It turns out the hike is one of the most scenic hikes in Utah. We started out on the wrong trailhead, which added two extra miles to our hike. The entire side of the mountain was covered in lush vegetation, including countless varieties of wildflowers.

Emerald Lake, fed by melting snow, lies at the edge of the tree line at the base of the final climb.

Brandan and Becky decided this was a good turnaround spot. We enjoyed resting on level ground and watching the mountain goats, an unexpected surprise.

Helen, Abe, and Cece hiked up another mile to the ridge of the mountain with views of Provo and Utah Lake. This is a photo of Helen and a mountain goat.

Here are Abe and Cece.

Hiking down was much easier than hiking up. Until the last mile or so when everything hurt. Brandan and Becky hiked 14.7 miles, our longest hike ever. Helen, Abe, and Cece hiked 16 miles.

On Tuesday morning we drove to Pocatello to visit Becky's dad, Larry, then on to Carey to visit Sarah and Joe. We made it to Sun Valley in time for the end of an outdoor symphony and then enjoyed dinner at the Village Station.

Sarah and Becky went for a walk near Silver Creek on Wednesday morning. This horse is using an irrigation sprinkler as a drinking fountain.

Sarah bought two blanket kits so we could learn how to add a crocheted edge to the blanket. Becky's mom, Patricia, made many blankets this way.

During our visit with Larry, he expressed a strong desire to move to an assisted living home for senior citizens and suggested Twin Falls would be a good location. He also said he wanted to move as quickly as possible and would let his kids take care of the details, including selling his house and car after he moved. This was a big surprise to us, but we all agreed the move would be a good idea. Since we would only be in Idaho for a short time, we had to move quickly. Brandan, Becky, Sarah, and Joe toured Bridgeview Estates in Twin Falls on Thursday and secured an apartment for Larry.

On Thursday afternoon, Brandan and Becky drove to McCall, Idaho to meet Brandan's siblings for a family reunion. Road construction added two and a half hours to our drive.

We spent all day Friday at Payette Lake.

A man in a yeti costume was promoting mental health on the beach. Walking around in near 100 degree weather in a furry costume was probably not great for his physical health.

From the left are Aaron, Dallin, Niko, Halie, Parker, Maks, Sasha, Brandan, Becky, Emma, Steph, Logan, and Wade.

Several people played disc golf together on Saturday morning.

Aaron, Brandan, Niko, and Wade typically got around par on each hole. The rest of us did not. At the 7th hole, Logan's disc landed at the base of the hole and Becky's landed on top.

We went to the Farmer's Market in downtown McCall.

There was also a classic boat show along the beach. The boat show included one bright red Ferrari.

On Saturday afternoon we tried out bumper cars in an ice rink. From the left are Amber, Becky, Brandan, and Maddie.

From the left are Brandan, Becky, Maks, Sasha, Parker, Aaron, Niko, Becky, Logan, Nate, Jon, Dallin, Amber, Emma, Maddie, and Halie.

In the evening, we went to ice cream alley, McCall's most famous ice cream shop.

The line was long, but the shop is used to crowds and we didn't wait long.

From the left are Martha, Dan, Parker, Brandan, Halie, Sasha, Maks, Dallin, and Niko.

Parker boosted Maks up so he could write our name on the brick wall.

It was a fantastic reunion at the end of a fantastic vacation. We are feeling thankful for the time and means to make the trip and reconnect with so many people we love.

26 July 2026

Becky started a quilt this month.

The red and white squares are sewn into heart blocks that looks like traditional Danish paper hearts. Sarah shared the pattern and fabric. The quilt is fun to make: bright and sweet at the same time.

We drove to Utah on Thursday. On Friday, Becky drove from Salt Lake City to Mountain Home, Idaho, for her Uncle Monte's funeral. She got to town early and walked around for a bit.

Mountain Home hosts an Air Force base and there is a military plane mounted in the city park.

The funeral was held at St. James Episcopal Church where Monte was a member for decades. The church has a historic building that is used for special occasions and a more modern building (with air- conditioning) next door.

Monte is Larry's brother. In the photo from left to right are Larry, Gary, Ty, Sarah, Bob, Stacy, and Gage. Gary and Bob are brothers and Larry and Monte"s cousins. Ty is Monte's son. Stacy is Bob's daughter.

Here's a view of the other side of the table. From the left are Gage, Joe, Kolter, Keri, Hayden, and Larry.

Monte was the warden for the church for many years. The assistant warden gave us a tour of the historic church. The church was first built in 1888, but burned in 1895 and had to be rebuilt. This stained glass window was one of a few pieces of the original church that survived the fire.

This is the original cross that was on top of the 1888 church.

The church is small, but beautiful, built in the Gothic English country church style.

The original organ also survived the fire. We didn't know Monte very well, and liked learning about the work he did as the church warden, supporting the current congregation and maintaining this historic building.

Meanwhile Brandan was at a family reunion with his aunts and cousins in Hooper, Utah. Becky met up with them for the Pioneer Day Rodeo in Ogden.

The rodeo started with three skydivers landing in the arena.

And ended with a drone show. In the middle we enjoyed an excellent rodeo. 

There were lots of Hulls at the rodeo. We sat with Lily, Helen, Abe, and Cece.

On Saturday we met Abe and Cece at the Taylorsville temple. We do not take the privilege of attending the temple for granted anymore. Attending with Abe and Cece was a special treat.

After the temple we met Helen and Riley at a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. We enjoyed talking together until the restaurant closed.

19 July 2026

Our stake hosted the Utah Valley Children's Choir for a concert on Tuesday night. The choir has about 150 members who travel with about 50 chaperones. After an impressive concert, 5 of the group stayed at our house. On the left are chaperone Becky and her two daughters, Ruby and Genevieve. On the right are chaperone Lindsey and her daughter, Kynlie. The girls and their moms were delightful guests. 

 

Our bishop invited all of the choir members who were staying in our ward to swim at his house.The girls loved meeting up with their choir friends and swimming and we loved having an easy way to entertain them on Tuesday night.

From the bishop's backyard we could see a plume of smoke from a fire about 20 miles away. Sadly, this fire has continued to spread all week, threatening homes in the Evans Creek area and creating unhealthy air quality conditions for the entire valley.

Our temple is closed for the summer for major repairs and we miss being able to attend weekly. The temple recorder asked for volunteers to help ensure construction workers stay in baptistry where they are assigned to work. Becky signed up for a few shifts and enjoyed being back in the temple, even in a limited way. 

The Crater boys soccer team hosted a World Cup soccer watch party on Wednesday. Becky decided to check it out and enjoyed an exciting game between England and Argentina while catching up with a friend.

On Thursday, several women from our ward drove up to the Willamette Valley temple together. Driving two and a half hours to the temple is not far based on global and historical distances, but it felt like a long trip when we are used to driving less than 5 minutes to the temple. We enjoyed the session and getting to know each other better on the drive. From the left are Sue, Angel, Becky, Renee, and Janeil.

Becky is cleaning out our closets this summer. This jean quilt was in our front hall closet. Becky made it in high school with jeans from Sarah and Joe and work pants from her dad, Larry. The quilt has been well used for almost 35 years.

Many of the seams frayed apart. The thick seams and the knots of yarn created uncomfortable lumps in the quilt. At the same time, the quilt has a lot of family connections and the denim material still feels like it would easily last another 35 years.

Brandan helped Becky disassemble the quilt. She threw away the backing (which had holes melted into it from campfires) and the batting (which had mostly disintegrated) and made plans to sew a new quilt with the denim squares. For now, she moved the squares to a different closet while she finished the current quilt she is working on.