A Place I've Never Been Before

Actually, there's a lot of places I've never been before. Not a very descriptive title but I'm going to let it stand.

For Labor Day Monday, we took a little drive to the Uinta Mountains and went on a little hike. Long Lake was the destination and as Brad said many times during the hike (mainly to annoy the kids), "This is a really looooong lake." We've been to the Uintas before but I'm a little surprised at myself that I never really have gone on any type of hike there. Driving and walking around to look at scenery yes, hiking more than a half mile, no. I should probably put in a disclaimer for Brad; I'VE never hiked the Uintas, HE has.

We took a picnic and enjoyed lunch by the lake. The kids learned that it is important to bring a jacket to the mountains. This lesson was especially evident when the sun went behind a cloud. It was all good for me, I got extra snuggles.



Contrary to what it appears like, Caleb had absolutely no intention of doing his sister any harm.

After our leisurely meal, we walked all around the lake (the Long Lake).



As I was hiking along, I heard Caleb and Brad yelling at me. I took their picture, but I have no idea what they were saying.
While scrambling along on the cliffs, Emma scraped herself up pretty badly. She thought it was cool and insisted I take a picture of her worst wound. Funny thing though, she thinks a fresh wound looks cool but she realizes that wounds will eventually turn into scars. Scars are not cool to Emma so she is diligently keeping said wounds clean and covered.

We had a serendipitous (Caleb's new favorite word) discovery when we came across a wild raspberry patch. It was here that I discovered that one could discern the personalities of the three kids by the way they ate the berries. Rachel ate them as fast as she could pick them (I don't think I am able to take a picture of her without her pulling some weird face); Emma carefully gathered her berries to enjoy at a later point (unfortunately she dropped them all when a bee buzzed by her and scared her) ;
and Caleb waited patiently for anyone to hand him a berry.

After the six mile hike, we drove down to Kamas and had a nice dinner at a diner. Contrary to what it looks like in the picture, we all had a great day. I think I'll hike in the Uintas again sometime.

Wow!

BYU 14.

OU 13.

Woo Hoo!

Oh Rise and Shout!!

Today is the football game of the season for BYU. They are playing Oklahoma University in Dallas in the Cowboys' new stadium. When kickoff starts, we will have many of Brad's family over at our house to enjoy the game. Hopefully the outcome will be a good one, I think BYU has a pretty strong team this year. But let me take this time to talk about another team.

This photo was taken in 1896. It is of Brigham Young University's (then known as Brigham Young Academy) first football team. They played University of Utah and won. The man on the last row third from the left is Arnold Daniel Miller, Brad's great grandpa. How cool is that? He left for a mission the following year. While he was on his mission, his mission president told him he needed to go home to get married and then resume his mission. A.D. returned to Utah and married his sweetheart Effie. Things worked differently back then.
Bert Miller is the first on the left in the middle row.

While he was home, he went to a BYA football game where they were playing the U. His younger brother, Bert, was on the team. During the game, things got a little heated between the players and a brawl began. Being the good big brother he was, he joined in the brawl. So here was this young missionary who took a break from his mission to get married brawling at a football game. Things worked really differently back then!

A.D. later moved back to Idaho where he ran a bank. At one point, his partner left town with most of the money in the bank and disappeared. Instead of just leaving the poor people who had their money taken to their own devices, he took out a second mortgage on his home and property and paid everyone back. It took him almost the rest of his life to pay off the mortgage. I am proud that my family comes from such a great heritage.

So you see, the love that the Millers have for BYU goes deep. Go mighty Cougars!!