Today was a slower morning! I got up and went running this time with Chris (Amber’s husband) and Jenell. Chris chose a really hard run—going steadily and straight up a hill! Jenell had to stop pretty early in the game. I ran it for about a mile and then I had to stop mostly because of the altitude—I just couldn’t fill my lungs! My body was fine but I just couldn’t breathe. Jenell caught up with me and we walked to the 2 mile turnaround and then we ran back. Chris passed us going down—ugh! I enjoyed it though, because it gave Jenell and I a chance to really visit and catch up with our lives! It was fun! We got back and got cleaned up and had breakfast and headed to Bluff to see the Hole in the Rock Pioneers Visitor’s Center. It was super interesting! We’ve been listening to the book The Undaunted on this trip, so we were familiar with the amazing story of these faithful pioneers who settled the area. We watched a video that told the story and then walked around all the cabins that have been rebuilt and/or restored from the originals. We enjoyed the gift shop and all the indoor exhibits because they had A/C!! We bought some homemade treats from the bakery—Katelyn got a sucker with a scorpion in it! Yuck!! I got a lemon zucchini cookie and it was really good! I shared it with everyone who wanted a bite. We got some group pictures after and everyone kind of peeled off from there doing their own thing. Jed is in the home MTC right now, so it’s been fun having him along! Bill and I decided to head back to camp, but Brooke and Katelyn went with Beckie, Greg and Kylie to the Mesa Verde Indian ruins which are really close to where we are. They had a really fun afternoon poking around there!
It was enjoyable to just visit with everyone back at camp! We fixed our lunch in the kitchen and Brooke and Katelyn got something with the Rasmussen’s. I held Amber’s cute little 3 month old Jackson. He’s so cute! Later, we ate dinner to the most crazy rainstorm I have ever seen or heard! Hail and rain were coming down in sheets—you couldn’t even hear the person talking right next to you! It rained like that for almost an hour and then heavy rain off and on (mostly on) for the rest of the night!!! Dinner was yummy—lasagna, green salad, honeydew and watermelon and garlic bread! The warm meal tasted so good because it was freezing cold with the rain and hail! We were going to hike up to a cute little outdoor chapel to have Marilyn and Jim talk to us, but because of the storm, we just stayed under the pavilion. It was hard to hear at times! Marilyn and Jim bore their testimonies and then invited the DeGraffenried’s (Jed first) to bear their testimonies. They all did and it was neat! I kept it together until Mary’s testimony for some reason—hers got me emotional! Then ALL the Freeman siblings in attendance each bore their testimony as well. It was such a spiritual evening and such a neat spirit that permeated the group! I enjoyed that! After, everyone hung out to visit because it was still pouring down rain and soooo COLD! (Again… I had shorts on and a hoodie that were not warm enough!) All the teenagers played night games and volleyball with our spotlight IN THE RAIN until late! (Katelyn accidentally left her phone out in the rain on the volleyball sand court. It’s acting very glitchy—I hope it eventually works right. We put it in rice as soon as we got home the next day.) It was a fun night. It rained hard almost the entire night and we slept to the pitter patter of rain on our metal cabin roof. (We found out that the Monticello Stake had fasted for rain due to the extreme drought. Well, I think the Lord answered their prayers this week!!!) It has been such a fun family reunion! I'm so glad we made the effort to come! I wish all of Bill's siblings would make the effort to come to these things. I enjoyed really getting to know everyone even better this time around! Now, back to the sweltering heat of Phoenix tomorrow!
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