Author: Angela

I write so my family will always have letters from home.

Goblin Valley and a hike through Ding and Dang Canyon

Richard and Mark were the advance party for a trip to Goblin Valley for the Young Men, traveling there a day early to claim a good campsite. Because they did this, there was an established camp ready when the young men arrived, making it possible to do a long hike before dark.

Mark and Richard spent a night beneath the bright stars together before the others arrived. It sounds pretty ideal.

Richard introduced the group to the hike through Ding and Dang Canyon. It was a challenging hike, and the boys had a wonderful time. It sounds like a successful campout. Well done, Richard and Mark!

Wintering

I read an interesting book by Katherine May recently. It was a memoir of a time of severe health challenges that forced her to “winter” for a while. She used examples from nature to describe the necessity of winters, plus strategies to get through a season of darkness or change. She discovered that there was wisdom and a new life to be found as she faced her winter.

Transformation is the business of winter.

The loose communities that we find in spiritual or religious gatherings were once entirely ordinary to us, but now it seems more radical to join them, a brazen challenge to the strictures of the nuclear family, the tendency to stick within tight friendship groups, the shrinking away from the awe- inspiring. Congregations are elastic, stretching to take in all kinds of people and bringing up unexpected perspectives and insights. We need them now more than ever.

But if happiness is a skill, then sadness is, too. Perhaps through all those years at school, or perhaps through other terrors, we are taught to ignore sadness, to stuff it down into our satchels and pretend it isn’t there. As adults, we often have to learn to hear the clarity of its call. That is wintering. It is the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can. Wintering is a moment of intuition, our true needs felt keenly as a knife.

In our winter, a transformation happened. We read and worked and problem- solved and found new solutions. We changed our focus away from pushing through with normal life and towards making a new one. When everything is broken, everything is also up for grabs. That’s the gift of winter: it’s irresistible. Change will happen in its wake, whether we like it or not. We can come out of it wearing a different coat.

Here is another truth about wintering: you’ll find wisdom in your winter, and once it’s over, it’s your responsibility to pass it on. And in return, it’s our responsibility to listen to those who have wintered before us.

All quotes are from Katherine May’s Wintering: the Power of Rest and Retreat during Difficult Times.

how it’s going

I think that my current anxieties about getting the right clothing for Mark’s mission are because I know that these are some of the last tangible things that I can do for him. We are moving into a different phase where my help shifts almost completely to intangibles. I am crying every day, as one does at such a time.

He has clothing for Arctic temperatures and rain and a lifetime of other preparation. We now have just a few minor things to purchase.

All I need to do is look outside to see my annual “missionary sunflowers” (which first showed up when Daniel left on his mission) for a reminder that God is taking care of everything for Mark. And He allows me to do the very motherly thing to shop for the right coat.

Weber 2024

Today we go back in time a few weeks for a post about our Sanchez family reunion.

The theme this year at the Weber cabin was Wogworts, our version of “Hogworts” from the Harry Potter books. We did this theme in 2017, but the younger kids asked us to do it again so they could participate.
There were many magical classes offered. Here is the potions class, ready for students.
There was a sorting hat that “spoke” the assigned house to each child.
My sister planned an escape room for the older kids while the younger kids had little classes outdoors.
My job was to run the wand shop. The kids decorated wands and wrote down spells (things they could say) that would make people happy.
There were enough wands for anyone who wanted one. My dad carved about half of them. 🩷
Cousins of all ages here. Tim is being a good sport playing Duck, Duck, Goose.
It wasn’t possible for the entire Ross family to be present for the family portraits, but that’s okay. These representatives are awesome.
Our woodworker Mark spent a lot of time carving more wands.
Daniel and Mark harvested some fun boulders and rocks from the Smith and Morehouse River to bring home. This big one is now in our front yard.
This is the moment that Mark met his nephew for the first time. 🩷
We couldn’t stay all week, but Mark stayed several days longer than the rest of us. He relished the time with his cousins and grandparents.
Here is something on the smaller scale that represents the Weber experience, the tiny hot cocoa mugs which have been on the table at the Weber for 50+ years. Each can hold a few sips of hot cocoa and there is just enough room for one big marshmallow.

There is so much I could say and show from this cabin experience. Not pictured are the big family portraits, the Virginia Reel, tubing in the river, the duckie races, etc. I simply don’t have photos of everything. As always, the experiences live in memory and take on new qualities with time.

Weekend in St George

Quick stop at the Beaver Creamery
We took a day trip with Richard’s parents to Cedar Breaks. We stopped at the Bristlecone Pines, which they say are 4500 years old.
We are enjoying our audiobook, Tolkien’s The Two Towers, and this ancient tree fits right into that world.
The Virgin River Valley with Zion National Park in the distance.
Cedar Breaks
Tailgate picnic
Tim also happened to be in town with TPM for an employee weekend, so he stopped by to say hello.

Autumn display 2024

I read someplace that people who change their decor each season have a cleaner house because the process exposes dusty corners and reminds you of things you are storing. Thus, you are dusting and reevaluating your belongings often.

Hmmm. I usually associate redecorating with a big mess. It takes me all day to switch out decor in the kitchen with boxes and tissue papers strewn everywhere.

I redecorate for the seasons because I like the change. I am a little spare in my autumn decor this year because I need something simple to view.

Mark was sad to see the summer decor taken down. I reminded him that in a few years when he returns, I will still have the summer things that he has loved while growing up.

“You’re going to go, but you are also going to come back, and this will all be here waiting for you.”

I could say this about the objects, but not about his childhood. I think we both knew he wasn’t really mourning the loss of the little baseball players and ferris wheel. He knew that this was the last summer display of childhood, and he won’t be the same little boy who loved these things ever again.