Autumn Colors and Family Updates

 Autumn officially began on September 22 in 2020.  We always enjoy driving in the canyons to see the foliage colors, which were nice this year even though not as vibrant as last year. 

 

September 24th, Sam and I enjoyed seeing the autumn colors.

 

 

We went with our good friends, Hal and Christy Smith.

 

A couple of days earlier, Sam had taken a friend, Kim Berrett, on a drive
to see the fall colors.  Sam has had some other nice sightseeing drives with our friend Kim who has finally been able to be at home after his fall from a scaffolding last February. 
In mid-July, Kim was released from the hospital where he had been since his accident;
and during most of that time, he had been in isolation due to the Covid pandemic.

 

Sam took Kim's picture on their trip to Promontory Summit where the 

First Transcontinental Railroad was officially completed in northern Utah.

They enjoyed the lecture at Promontory Summit.

The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 when the presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in Promontory, Utah, and drove a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connected their railroads.  

This made transcontinental railroad travel possible for the first time in U.S. history.

 

     The Brigham City Temple was on their route.

 

Here are some autumn pictures taken on these recent sightseeing drives:

 

 

 

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We appreciated Jeff, Kate, and Miles coming for a visit on their return home to Arkansas after taking Zack and a friend to BYU-Idaho in Rexburg;
and we were pleased to have members of our family living nearby
come to enjoy a pleasant evening at our home while Jeff's family was here.
Ryan and Tani came from Eagle Mountain
and Beth and Todd's family were here.

 

Part of our family group left before I remembered to take a picture,
but the children had been enjoying time in the pool while
the rest of us had a good visit.
Beth and Todd had brought food for us to enjoy earlier in the evening.
(back: Jeff, Brynlee, Shannon, and Doug;
front:  Miles, Rebecca, Kate, Mason, Corban, Jacob, and Isaac)

 

We were pleased to have a visit from our nephew Trevor and Megan and their darling children Sadie and James, who were here from Arizona where Trevor is doing his internship.  Our visit was in our backyard as we try to respect the Covid restrictions. 

 

Paul, Trevor holding James, Megan, Haley, and Sarah

 

Trevor and James Curtis Smith (born 9/10/2019) 

 

Paul, Anna, Max, Sadie, and Rebecca

Megan and Trevor with James and Sadie

 

Beth took this photo before we had to say our goodbyes to Trevor and his family.
Trevor and Megan with Sadie and James;
Sarah with Max, Paul, and Anna (in the purple shirt);
Rebecca, Haley, Grampa and Gramma 

 

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We now have the locks added to our marriage tree for our granddaughters, Megan and Amanda, who were married this summer.  We missed getting the photos taken on their wedding days, so I appreciate their coming this month to take each other's photos
as each sister and husband added their lock.

 

 

 Amanda and Alex, married August 8, 2020

Megan and Gabe, married June 6, 2020

 

Enjoying the Views at Silver Lake

Hal and Christy Smith invited us for a sightseeing trip on Friday, July 13th, and had picked Silver Lake as our destination.  It is located at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon near Brighton Ski Resort in the Wasatch Mountains.  

From the parking area, a boardwalk extends out into a meadow then along the lake shoreline.  On the far side of the lake the path becomes dirt but is well-maintained and easy to follow.  Trail forks lead to other nearby lakes, but we stayed on the main path around Silver Lake.

We had only been to this area many years ago

when it was covered deep with snow.

We were students at BYU then and had

come to Brighton Ski Resort to ski. 

(Narene and Sam)

Christy took our photo at the beginning of our walk.

Hal, Narene, and Sam

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery

and the pleasant walk around the lake

(.75 miles round trip).

Hal and Christy are always good company

and share our enjoyment of seeing

the incredible variety the world has to offer.

The beautiful blue sky reflected in the water.

During the winter, this area becomes part of the

Solitude Nordic Center system of 

cross-country skiing trails.

The sign said the average snowfall is 33 feet.

The Cottonwood Canyons are sometimes 

called the birthplace of the U.S. ski industry.

  In summer, the mountains offer a destination 

for world-class climbing, hiking and wildflowers.

(Narene) 

We left upper 90-degree temperatures before climbing

to the higher elevation

where we enjoyed temperatures in the upper 70s.

Pretty flowers along the path.

Mother duck with her ducklings

posing for a photo.

 Another picturesque view.

  The path led through a

dense grove of tall trees.

(Sam)

Squirrels near the path

seemed a little wary of us

but not afraid.

There were other visitors along the path,

but it was not overly crowded

and casual greetings were sometimes exchanged.

One lady offered to take our photo

by this large tree.

(Sam and Narene)

 Nearing the end of our walk around the lake.

 One last photo of Silver Lake. 

(Narene)

 The dirt path turned into the boardwalk again.

(Narene and Christy) 

Going through Big Cottonwood Canyon

and opting for a different route home
over the mountain and through Heber.

We like seeing new places and have come to appreciate

you don't need to go very far from home to find new ones to enjoy.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 We ended the day by going to see the kickoff of

Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days with the

PyroMusical

at the Sports Park Soccer Fields.

The event began with food trucks available at 6:00,

and Hal bought us a special bread pudding dish garnished with fresh fruit.

We really enjoyed the Charlie Jenkins music concert,

 which began about 8:30 p.m.

Fireworks to music began when it got dark.

Beth, Ethan, and Joshua came to join Christy, Hal, and us

for the music and fireworks.

Part of Beth's family had come earlier, 

but we did not see them in the huge crowd in attendance.

They were impressive fireworks,

although the choice of music for the PyroMusical

was not our favorite. 

It was a memorable day!