Back to Evanston

If you were at the Evanston rodeo Monday, you may have seen Leah and cowboy Carson. They spent the day at the parade and rodeo, and visiting homes of people Carson served and loved. He wants to move and live there forever after college. He loves the people, and he also loves the beautiful outdoors. For 20 years, Evanston was a city we drove through to get to Utah, but we never stopped there. We had no idea it would become such an important and endearing place to Carson. I'm so grateful for the Evanston people who welcomed and loved him - both on his mission and on Monday.

Racquetball Tournament

Dan and Colby played in a racquetball tournament this weekend which lasted many hours as they played 14 games. They had fun but didn't win, and their old bodies are sore now.

Desert Creatures

I saw this lizard outside a museum where Paige works on campus.

Yes this was a dead rattlesnake, which was gruesome but also fascinating because we could get very close and really look at it. It was huge.

I saw my first Gila monster on a walk with a friend. It's rare to see one. Fun fact - they're venomous but move too slow to attack you unless you're trying to be attacked. 

And for this next creature, you need to know I finally bought lights for the backyard. We were loving the first night with them, sitting outside as it got darker. With the new lights, our yard was no longer pitch black. 

And then in the soft glow of one of the lights, we saw a tarantula in our yard. !!!! I quickly ran for a flashlight because I did not want to lose sight of where it went.

Dan was going to nicely scoop it and relocate it, but the moment he touched it, that spider ran sooooo fast up the wall.

It climbed the mesh part that keeps snakes out but definitely not spiders, and then it climbed down the other side and went off into the desert.

This is what a tarantula looks like underneath. I wish I didn't know. I want all desert creatures to stay outside of our walled-in backyard.

First Day

Montezuma Castle

On our drive back to Arizona, we stopped at a place called Montezuma's Castle. These are the ruins of a five-story cliff dwelling that was occupied from 1100-1400. It was 90 feet above the ground and had around 20 rooms.

This is a replica to show what the inside looked like. For the most part, visitors haven't been allowed in since the 1950s.

A lot of it has crumbled and disappeared, or was looted and vandalized back when people were allowed to climb and explore it.

Carson's Dorm

Carson's staying at Heritage Halls. His five roommates have all returned from missions this summer and like sports and the outdoors. 

Carson left a lot of clothes and shoes at home and brought minimal belongings instead. I know he'll accumulate more things during his college years, but for now it was so nice to fit everything in easily. He decided if he needs more of his shoes and clothes, he'll get them at Christmas break. 

His roommate has the left side of this picture:

Carson has a great view from his bedroom window.

There are two full bathrooms with sinks in the apartment, and another big sink area in the hallway.

He wanted a dorm with a kitchen, since he's already been grocery shopping and cooking for himself for two years. 

Leah's Room

One of Leah's roommates moved out, so Leah took her big bedroom which also has a large closet and its own bathroom. It's her last semester of her Master's Degree, and it's nice to have more space for the next four months. This was the easiest move. She had to be on campus for a few hours, so I deep cleaned and moved furniture around and then brought in all her things we had packed away and stored in the living room. I had most of it organized by the time she came back. 

Japanese Church

As we drove around Utah, Carson would point out places where he served, or tell us fun stories. This is the church where the Japanese branch meets, and it was his last area. It's closed for renovation, so we couldn't go inside, but he showed us pictures of a beautiful mural in the chapel and unique architecture and even a fireplace in the lobby. I wish we could have seen the inside. This steeple was very beautiful and unique. I love the details.

Temple Square

We saw the new Temple Square Visitor's Center that has a replica of the temple.

Close to busy downtown SLC is a small pioneer family cemetery where Brigham Young and some members of his family are buried. I never knew it was there.

Gilgal Sculpture Garden

In Salt Lake City near Trolley Square, there's a unique sculpture garden hiding between buildings. I found out about it a few months ago and thought we'd try it, but I didn't know much about it.

How do we feel about Joseph Smith as a Sphynx? We weren't expecting it. The man who owned this property, which was all his backyard at one point, was an active LDS member and this was done as a tribute to Joseph Smith. It still seems a little odd.

It was an interesting place and some sculptures were creepy.