We are the Whitney's!: July 2010

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Gold Mining with the Valiants!

We had a service auction this Spring. Joe and I decided to auction off a gold mining adventure with the valiant boys and girls! Zachary and Gracie won for the boys and girls and were able to bring two friends each! Yes - 6 kids!! We ended up with Zachary, Colton, Isaac, Gracie, Kylie and Christian! It was a blast!

When we first got there we showed them the area, the tools, the bank we were going to be digging, and taught them a little about how to fill your holes so we can continue to gold mine in the future! Then we began to dig...and dig....and dig....after a while of digging, they kids got restless and began to explore the other side of the back road (where there is a little gimey pond!) There they found 27 snakes, 3 frogs, and 1 lizard! It was a lot of fun watching them run around with the coolest expressions of "awesomeness" on their faces! And it was a lot of fun for Joe and I when Sunday at church they all were begging us to go out again! here are some pics:

Camping in Oregon

We recently decided to go camping in Oregon. It was a last minute trip, we packed for it Thursday night and decided to take off after work on Friday. One thing led to another and we just COULD not get off early that Friday! It seemed like we were NEVER going to get out of Moscow! Then finally by about 6:00 pm we had everything we needed and were headed to Oregon.

When we got to Colfax (to take a back way) Joe realized that we didnt have the map! So we ended up driving about an hour loop outside of Colfax and ended up exactly where we started! So, we ended up back tracking and heading down to Lewiston and going through Walla Walla. We drove and drove and drove. By about 1:00 am we made it to a rest stop about 30 minutes from our destination. We stopped and all slept until about 6:00 am in the car! It was cramped, but we knew that we wouldnt make camp at 1:00 am! It turned out to be much needed rest! By 6:00 am we found the most perfect spot (same one we used last time) for us, the kids, and gold mining! There we were in the middle of Heaven!

We made camp, got some food in us, and began getting the gold mining gear out! It was a blast. We stayed until Sunday evening. While there we saw a giant herd of Elk, we saw antelope's, some big bucks, a bald eagle, and two hawks had a "sky fight" right over our heads! It was AWESOME! And much to our pleasure, the evenings were not cold and none of us had problems staying warm! Also while there, we madea a "pool" out of a tub, made special s'mores sticks, sang loud songs, ate lots of fattening snacks, and had a TON of fun! Here are some pictures:

Poem by my Grandma Dorothy Smith

no matter what else you are doing
from cradle right down to the end
you are writing your lifes secret story
each night a new page is penned
each month is the end of a chapter
each year the end of a part
and never a word is misstated
not even a wish of the heart

each morn when you awake the book opens
revealing a page clean and white
each thought, each word, and each act,
reveal on its pages by night
God leaves that to you, youre the writer
and never a word will be dimmed
until some day you write the word "finish"
and give the book back to Him.

O Captain! My Captain! (Walt Whitman)

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won; The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring: But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding; For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head; It is some dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But I, with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.

The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

House By The Side of The Road

by Sam Walter Foss

There are hermit souls that live withdrawnIn the place of their self-content;There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,In a fellowless firmament;There are pioneer souls that blaze the pathsWhere highways never ran-But let me live by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man.
Let me live in a house by the side of the roadWhere the race of men go by-The men who are good and the men who are bad,As good and as bad as I.I would not sit in the scorner's seatNor hurl the cynic's ban-Let me live in a house by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man.
I see from my house by the side of the roadBy the side of the highway of life,The men who press with the ardor of hope,The men who are faint with the strife,But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,Both parts of an infinite plan-Let me live in a house by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man.
I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,And mountains of wearisome height;That the road passes on through the long afternoonAnd stretches away to the night.And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoiceAnd weep with the strangers that moan,Nor live in my house by the side of the roadLike a man who dwells alone.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road,Where the race of men go by-They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,Wise, foolish - so am I.Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat,Or hurl the cynic's ban?Let me live in my house by the side of the roadAnd be a friend to man.

Quotes I like...

"If someone were to ask whether communications skills or meekness is most important to a marriage, I'd answer meekness, hands down. You can be a superb communicator but still never have the humility to ask, 'Is it I?' Communication skills are no substitute for Christlike attributes. As Dr. Douglas Brinley has observed, 'Without theological perspectives, secular exercises designed to improve our relationship and our communication skills (the common tools of counselors and marriage books) will never work any permanent change in one's heart: they simply develop more clever and skilled fighters!" - Jonh Bytheway

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help. "We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues." - Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992, 54

"Knowledge is power and its lightweight" - Dual Survivor: on surviving the wilderness!