Lagoon

I took Nathan, Joy and Sam hiking on Tuesday. I meant to go to the Battle Creek canyon but mistakenly went to the Grove Creek canyon which we hiked anyway. I am so out of shape! So on Thurs, we tried again. Everyone but Sam wimped out on me; the two of us hiked to the waterfall at Battle Creek. It’s not very long and fairly easy—lots of moms and kids were hiking it. At 11 am, it was still cool and there’s lots of shade on that hike. The water’s running a lot higher than last year. But the last couple hundred yards are pretty steep and I was spent so I didn’t go right up to the top; before I could stop him, Sam scampered up farther and I couldn’t see him anymore. I didn’t know what was up there besides a roaring river and a 40 ft. cliff. I am guessing the trail ends there. Thirty seconds after he disappeared, I was wishing I had some big kids to send after him and worrying that he might fall in and come crashing down the waterfall. Thankfully, he came back down after a minute or two. Raising six boys is teaching me to just stay calm. And the view up there is SO gorgeous of the valley and Utah Lake below. We are so blessed to live in this beautiful place. Next time, I’ll take pictures. Driving back home (a whole three miles to our house), Sam said, “You are the best mom in the whole world!” because I took him hiking.

Yesterday, we went to Lagoon (Six Flags-Great America-type amusement park.) Melody didn’t go bcs she went w/Alicia last Sat. and w/K’Lani on Wed. Alden and Sinda came also with their two little kids and it was a lot of fun. Sinda’s never been there before and said they would just stay three hours or so. We were there for seven hrs. I’ve never seen anyone have more fun than Claudya had at the waterpark. And Sam took her on several kiddie rides while her parents went on a roller coaster. He’s so protective and solicitous with his nieces—I love to observe.

But the interesting part of the day was going to a Vietnamese noodle house in West Valley City for Pho (pronounced like foot without the t.) It’s a hole-in-the-wall place which reminds me of some of the places my parents took us to in Chinatown in Oakland and San Francisco when I was little. The food was good and we’ll definitely go there again. Nathan and Sam loved it. During the meal, Sinda said,”See, if you just listen carefully, you can tell the difference between Laotian and Vietnamese.” I had to laugh. I said, “If YOU listen closely, you can but I certainly can’t.” When I graduate, I hope to carve out time to study some foreign languages.