31 May 2026

Helen shared photos from her off roading adventure in Moab with Riley, Alex, and Gareth.

 

Moab is a national treasure.

More Moab.

Abe also went camping with friends for Memorial Day.

Joining some Hondurans at a nearby campsite for a dance party started out as a dare and ended up being a highlight of the camping trip.

Abe and Cece attended a session at the newly dedicated Lindon, Utah temple.

Back in Oregon we attended a Memorial Day program at the Veterans Cemetery in Eagle Point. The cemetery is always moving and the thoughtful program of remembrances and music added to the solemnity of the day and the location.

We finished painting the guest room. It took us some trial and error to find the restful color we were looking for. Benjamin Moore calls this color "Covington Blue" but we call it sea glass.

School was a little bananas this week as seniors finished classwork. Some students really can't be bothered to complete work until it is literally the last day possible. Construction Math finished a surface area project at Craterworks. The assignment was to create a desk organizer with a surface area less than 55 square centimeters. Students cut their designs out of birch plywood using the laser cutter. They could also use the laser cutter to engrave designs on the organizer. The projects turned out very well.

The student who made this organizer showed an excellent eye for design and patience for painting with precision.

Becky hosted book club on Thursday. We read Ruth's book, Influence, the first book in her Modern Jane series. Ruth joined us on FaceTime to talk about her book.

We had a fabulous evening learning about Ruth's process as an author, her feelings about writing, and learning what she has planned next. After the book club, a friend texted that Ruth is "a sweet, smart, ambitious, and personable woman" which we agree with 100%.

Becky relied on her party crew to make the night happen. Abe, Sofi, and Brandan helped her sort out the tech. Snacks are a big part of book club and Sofi nailed the perfect menu using the bachelorette party Ruth wrote about in Influence for inspiration: nachos, chocolate cake, and ice cream. These are different choices than Becky's typical go-to party foods and felt very celebratory. The night was one of those great events where you set the stage and then magic happens beyond your expectations.

We hiked Upper Tablerock on Saturday morning. Lots of elementary school classes hike the Tablerocks with forest rangers in the spring, and there were new informational signs along the trail as a result. This sign is practically an encyclopedia entry about turkey vultures.

Except for one addition by the author, "Don't play dead by turkey vultures." Good advice!

We loved this detailed explanation of why dogs are not allowed on the trails. And the illustration of a dog chasing a very large squirrel is adorable.

Becky has started calling this time of year "Maycember" because the number of parties and celebrations rivals December. We attended two wedding receptions on Saturday night. One of the receptions had friends driving golf carts to ferry guests from the parking area to the reception. It was a less than 10 minute walk, but it was also fun to ride on the back of a golf cart.

24 May 2026

We got a bonus call from Gibson this week on Thursday morning! It was such a treat to see and hear from him for a few minutes and a great start to the day. In other news, Becky was diagnosed with iridocyclitis, a type of uveitis, this week. She was prescribed steroid eyedrops and antibiotics which cleared her eye up in about a day. Unfortunately, she can't wear contact lenses for a month until she is finished with the eye drops.

 

It's a fun time of school, with and students working on end of year projects. In Construction Math, students made square pyramids with a volume of 192 cubic centimeters. Students chose the base dimensions and then calculated what the height would be. One students decided he wanted a base of 1 square centimeter. This is the paper he started taping to the wall before he realized that his pyramid needed to be 576 centimeters tall (18 feet 10 ¾ inches) -- taller than the ceiling! 

He changed his base to 4 square centimeters and ended up with a manageable, although not quite pyramidal, shape.

Another student decorated his pyramid to look like the one on the back of a dollar bill. Interestingly, of the approximately 80 students who completed the pyramid project, this is the only student who decorated their pyramid.

Math in Society is finishing a cryptography unit by hiding messages. One student, knowing Becky dislikes rodents, sewed their message inside this stuffed rat.

This is another example using homemade invisible ink. Becky is loving the students' creativity and the absence of AI in the final product.

Brandan planned a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail for Becky's birthday. The PCT is a 2650 mile long trail that reaches from Mexican border in the south to the Canadian border in the north. We hiked about 6 miles of the trail near Ashland.

We could see the snow covered top of Mount Shasta in the distance.

Part of the trail went along the edge of private property where the homeowners installed a refill station for hikers.  

We tried out Xerxes, a Greek restaurant in Ashland, for lunch. We both ordered falafel bowls, which were full of colorful roasted vegetables.

We put primer on the walls in Gibson's bedroom. The primer will help the darker color that is on the wall now from showing through the new, lighter color we chose.

17 May 2026

Brandan was so excited to keep researching his family history on Friday morning that he opened his family tree as soon as we got home from running. Over the past two weeks, and with divine guidance, he identified some family members who were missing temple ordinances. This has been a very rewarding experience for him.

 

Becky took a weekend trip with friends. From the left are Erica, Andrea, Becky and Angel. We dove south to Lassen Volcanic National Park, about 4 hours away in Northern California. This was the first trip to the park for all of us. Becky has been friends with these women for between 7 to 15 years. This is the first time we've taken a trip together and we had a wonderful weekend.

The centerpiece of the park is Lassen Peak, a volcano that is the southernmost end of the Cascade Range and part of the Ring of Fire that makes up the Pacific Rim. Lassen Peak last erupted in 1921, but has a long history of volcanic activity. This is a photo from inside Subway Cave, a very large lava tube that formed by a lava flow 20,000 years ago. The outside of the lava cooled first and the hot lava inside the tube ran out, leaving a tunnel of rock behind.

We all brought snacks to share for our lunch.

Erica wanted to buy an annual parks pass instead of paying for the one time entrance fee. She was a dismayed by the card design. She bought a sticker at the park gift shop to cover (and improve) the right third of the card.

We took a short interpretive nature walk called the Lily Pond Loop and enjoyed a 4 sense experience (no tasting), with lots of things to see, hear, smell and touch. The trail crossed the Chaos Jumbles, an area covered in volcanic rocks that were blasted out by explosions of steam about 300 years ago. The explosions caused avalanches that carried the rocks for miles at speeds over 100 miles per hour.

The trail highlighted the many varieties of large conifers that grow in the park. This is a Jeffrey Pine which is known for smelling like butterscotch. The smell is strongest in the crevices in the bark which is why Becky has her nose in the tree in this photo.

We saw countless snow plants, a very unusual plant that was completely red and grew straight out of the forest floor. These plants do not have any chlorophyll and get their nutrients from fungi that live on the roots of conifers underground.

After the Lily Pond Loop we walked around Manzanita Lake which had stunning views of Lassen Peak.

We stayed at the Tall Timbers Bed and Breakfast located in the forest near Shingletown. Our hosts made us very comfortable and Martha cooked delicious, hearty breakfasts for us.

On Saturday we returned to Lassen National Park and drove as far up the road as we could. May is the end of winter here and the entire park won't be open completely until July. We parked at the Hat Lake parking lot and hiked up to Paradise Meadows at the foot of Lassen Peak.

After our morning hike we drove north on the highway to Burney Falls. Becky was the only one of the group who had been to the falls before. This photo was taken along the trail to the falls.

Becky remembered the falls as being beautiful, but they were even more impressive and majestic than she remembered. The 129 foot falls pour over basalt columns, pounding into a 20 foot deep pool at the base. Over 100 million gallons of water flow over the falls every day, year round. The MacArthur-Burney Falls State Park began a reservation system the day before we visited to help manage the crowds of people who typically arrive in the summer. The new system meant we had a lovely, crowd free experience.

The trip was super refreshing and low key. Becky enjoyed the short adventure very much.

Helen and Lily are enjoying the Kilby Block Party this weekend. The block party is a musical festival for all ages held in Salt Lake City every May.

10 May 2026

This is another photo from Abe and Cece's trip to Southern Utah. This tiny chapel in Pine Valley has been featured on our blog more times than seems likely for such a small chapel and a similarly small blog.

Sofi finished L1 this week and celebrated by taking a field trip to the American Museum of Tort Law, which commemorates such memorable court cases as the pinto car bursting into flames and overly hot coffee at McDonalds.

The Crater Foundation celebrated 100% of graduating seniors (who apply) receiving scholarships. Becky got to meet our scholarship winners. This is Adam who plans on studying forensics.

And this is Clarissa who wants to become a speech pathologist. Overall, the foundation awarded over $400,000.

Becky covered for another teacher during her prep this week and walked into a basic life support class of about 15 freshman. Becky didn't even know this was a course offered at Crater, let alone as a freshman elective. The students practiced using defibrillators and performing CPR on their dummies.

Abe drove up a canyon with friends to roast hot dogs.

They've been to this location a couple of times and it feels like their secret spot/

Abe's longtime friend and roommate, Ashton, got married the end of April. This is a photo of Ashton and Abigail dancing at their reception.

We're updating the boys' bedroom into a guest room that Gib can use when he comes home from his mission and we can use to host family, friends, symphony musicians, speed cubers, youth conference attenders, etc, in the in-between time. This week we tried out some paint samples. We're looking for a restful, blue-green color. The current winner is the paint on the far left.