A journey of a thousand miles...begins with a single step.

(This is a very long blog.  I have taken a lot of pictures of things we have seen.  
There are some people we are sending this to who have never seen these things.)
 
As we continue our trek homeward...

We see so much beauty around us.

What an overwhelming sense of gratitude we have for this...

 God Given  Country.

Saying good bye to family...

Meeting new member's of our family...

Are all apart of our going home.

These two pictures were sent to us this week...

 They are of our mountain home....

 'fix'in fence'...

Stan is very anxious to get back...

I guess it pulled heavy on my heartstrings as well...

BUT...

For now we are in Arizona and enjoying two of the cutest little guys a live!

After we left Woolston's in Colorado...

We have been through some very interesting country.

 Butes and Cedar trees...

New Mexico...

 open spaces...

 roads carved through stone...

 Snow storms...

 Beautiful rock formations...

 Signs of local natives...

 sage brush...

Thought I would never think it this beautiful.

 Roads lined with trees..

no not live oak or Florida pine...

but many different varieties of pine and juniper.

 magnificent landscapes...

 Arizona's Palm tree...

 Cactus cover the hills...

large and small

As do the different kinds of palms in Florida

 Breathtaking...

 After hours in the mountains...

winding roads...

snow...

headwinds...

there appears out of nowhere...

 Mesa!

NO it isn't Florida...
This is Arizona...

 Jim and Shaye's family...

 Kedrick was pretty somber...

He can hold his own with Sawyer.

 Sawyer...

 Coby...

a beautiful very large gentle giant.

Shaye is such a great mommy.

Next morning...

Look closely...

 the water line on his cuffs...
it was like this a couple times today...
He loves puddles!

 These outcroppings are all around us...
the city just built up around it.

 When 'little' Ben was baptized Sarah brought us to this park...

Grandma and Grandpa Jim and Sawyer Shaye and Kedrick

Out on the edge making us all very nervous..
Jim and Kedrick.

 Sawyer's attempt to climb.

 Be careful Grandpa...
That is poky!

 One of the few times I caught this little guy laughing.

 Mr Atlas in training....

 His trainer...

 BJ's is a great place to eat...
We would have eaten here last night...
But it was Valentine's and the wait was an hour...
We went earlier this afternoon and walked right in.

 What a little cherub...
He missed out on the food.

 Jim and Shaye's home.

Always the missionary...

 No you don't need to adjust your glasses...
That is Stan running the dog.

 Another great smile...
Kedrick loves the slides...

Another Arizona Sunset.

Thursday morning we rented a car...

Jim is talking Tagalog with Jill...

He is certainly in his element!

Old Gold Mine Ghost town in the shadows of Superstition Mountain.

 The Campbell's in front of the jail...

 opps!

 Superstition Mountain.

 Tijuana Flats...Jacob Weltz (the dutchman's) restaurant.

 Maybe he didn't pay his bill

 This was a wagon stop at one point.

 This was cut out of metal with a cutting torch.

Went to the Mall where the kids could run...

There is a 5 and Diner next to our Hotel...
It is within walking distance from Jim and Shayes place.

 Wonderful food and atmosphere...
Wish this place was closer...
I would go just for the ambiance.

But at last we had to say good bye till July...

We left Jim and Shaye with sad hearts...

We had a lot of fun and so glad the boys warmed up to us.

They are off to California for an Aunts birthday...

We are on our last leg of our journey.

Stan said today this trip from Colorado on is like a game of Chute and Ladders.

We are at 7800 feet then 1000 then 5000 feet and back down.

Our ears have never popped so much.

It has literally made us sick.

We are also changing climates as well as altitudes.

When we went to Florida we weren't taking these mountain roads.

We made a more gradual decent.

Poor Stan is on his last leg.

He is  doing all the driving...

We are seeing some magnificent country.

Forested to barren,

Painted deserts...

to brown and grey.

Majestic views...

to flat lands where nothing grows.

Awe inspiring.

 Real mountains

 Reservation

 This road was carved on the side of a rock wall...

 And through it...

 Coming down in to Page AZ

 Utah...At last

Sunset in Kanab Utah.  

As we left Kanab and headed out..

we saw the last of the red hills and rocks...

 We reached over 7800 ft at one point...
It was another 'Chutes and Ladders' day.

 So exciting to see I-15 North
Excitement really started to build.

 Signs of the mountains ahead.

 Nephi our traditional stopping point when traveling South.

 Mount Nebo almost 1200 ft. it the very southern end of the Wasatch mountains.
So exciting to see them.

 Wasatch Mountains.

 Mt Timpanogos also about 1200 ft

 We are on the west side of Utah lake...

Mary and Tim+family meet us in Cedar Fort at the cemetery...
 So we could say hi to Ruth Nick and Audrey.

Joie (Diana Jo) Mary Megan Gabby Tim Nathan and Jeran.

 Juniper Salute

 Joie Gabby Megan Grandma Grandpa Jeran and Nathan

 Hello kids!

Joie standing on her mom and Dad

 The grave hath not victory and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ...

Audrey certainly knew who she was!

It has been a joy to visit Mary and Tim with their beautiful family.

Of course the time warp thing is still hitting us hard.  

They are all teens!

We were engulfed in the Lords work...

Now the real world lets us know...

time waits for no one.

Thank you Jeran for the yummy steaks and Mary for the wonderful dinner...

We enjoyed the family so much.  

 We woke up with three inches of show in Sandy UT...
Church with Jarmans was a treat...

After meetings we hit the road for the final leg of our journey...

 We were so excited to see the Wellsville range..
Mountains between Box Elder county and Cache Valley.

We saw a lot of new things along the way...
BUT!

 In Brigham City...
Off in the distance...
Is the new temple!

 

Tremonton was a welcome site...

We are getting very anxious at this point...

 Wait...
What is that?

 Our mountain!
Black Pine...

 Table Mountain..
Not as grandiose as some we have seen on our trip...
BUT it is home.

 One more mile!

 YES!

 The grandchildren out to meet us!
'Singing I hope they call me on a mission'

The grandchildren had a little scavenger hunt for us...
We had to follow clues till we found a bag of 'hugs and kisses'.
On the note with the bag it told us to turn around!
As we turned they had their arms outstretched...
We had a group hug.

We came home to a brand new kitchen and living room.

 Becky and Larry did a lot of the work...
with a lot of help from others of the family.
(Back:Jordan Dani Dylan Grandpa and Grandma Ross and Reigan)
Sierra Olivia Sydney Angie Jayden)
This sign was on our new bar...

In this family we serve missions...

Sign me up!

(A quote by Elder Holland in the April 2012 conference)

Ross Dylan Sierra Jayden Sydney Angie Jordan Olivia Dani Reigan...

(10 of 35 grandchildren)

 When we left our home two years ago...

We started that journey of a thousand miles...

with a single step...

And that has made all the difference!