Grandma's Hands

Last week the Hazlett's grandma, Betty Hazlett, died. Ivy wrote this beautiful poem about her:

When I was little, I wondered what happened

to Grandma's withered hands.

They were wrinkled and shaky, and seemed so, so frail

but time helped me understand

that a life full of love takes a toll on one's hands

and wrinkles are merely the signs

of loving support, of change and of work

of lives touched and intertwined.

Those hands soothed a baby time and again,

they created soft blankets and things for a friend.

They were gifted with cooking good things to eat:

Slush, okra, grits, and other tasty treats.

We all loved Thanksgiving at Grandma's place

thought her hands played Shanghai with cunning grace.

She was proud and warm when applauding a child

but cool hands detected a temperature mild.

Those hands finished puzzles 1,000 pieces strong

and helped little fingers put things where they belong.

Now Grandma's hands no longer shake-

her failing body's gone

Now her hands hold those she's missed

for so very long.

Although her wrinkles are smoothed at last,

I know this is for sure:

No one will forget Grandma's hands

and her love that is so pure.

~Ivy Hazlett~

Conversation with Matthew

The other day Matthew (my 5 year old brother), started talking to me about my birthday (in another 5 months). He said, “Maybe I’ll get you a movie, like Wall-e or Star Wars. How much money is a movie?”
“I dunno, 10 bucks?”
“Oh. Well, Mom can get the movie and I’ll wrap it.”
Joseph chimed in, “You’re not supposed to tell him what you’re going to get him for his birthday Matthew,” Matthew gave me an embarrassed glance and commented, “Oh, yeah. Well, you’ll forget – won’t you Christopher?”
“Uh huh.” I say. A few moments later he asked, “What am I going to get you for your birthday?” I say with mock confusion, “I don’t know…”
“A movie! Remember?”
“You’re not supposed to tell me!”
“Oh yeah, oops.”

Kings Peak

The second day of our backpacking trip, Joe and I decided to climb Kings Peak, the highest peak in Utah at 13,528 ft. From our camp it was 10.5 miles, so we started at 4:45 a.m. the next day. We sped up to Anderson Pass, the base of the mountain, in about 5 hours!



From there to the peak was another 6,348 ft, and the trail disappeared into huge boulders we had to scramble. At the top we rewarded ourselves with a freeze-dried ice cream bar and 2 chocolate Reisens.

On the way back, we were sore and exhausted. Joe's like, "I know how we hiked here so fast. It was the oatmeal we ate for breakfast. I had three packs of that stuff." I looked up and grinned. "I had five." Later we stopped to take a look at Joe's foot, it was killing him (he forgot the insoles to his hiking boots). As he peeled off his sock he yelled in pain. You can see why:

At the end of the video, it's shaking because I'm laughing so hard.

We rolled into camp at around 4:30 p.m. after hiking 21 miles, and I didn't even bother to take off my stinky sweaty clothes. I crashed until it started raining later that night. Despite being very strenuous, it was one of the funnest hikes I've been on.

Backpacking

The first week of August our priest group went backpacking in the High Uintahs. We hiked about 7 miles to Bear Lake, where we camped.

Logan, me, Toby, Greg, and Joe.

Moon-set and sunrise over Bear Lake.

The fishing was terrible, we only caught 2 "32 oz" trout in 4 days.

The second day Toby and I climbed this. Don't pay attention to the dates on the pictures. :P

I wanted to climb it mostly for the huge snowdrifts at the top.

Mexico

There is way too much stuff to type about my trip to Mexico, so I'll just post a couple pictures and videos. If you want more info, see my Facebook album.

In Tulum. Gorgeous beach, huh?

Body surfing baby!

Backflipping at a senote. It was 180 ft. deep and had little black catfish swimming around.

Piramide de Luna in Teotihuacan.

This was at the Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe.

Catching an iguana.