It's Christmas at the Gillings...

It was a foggy, humid night and the smell of Christmas was in the air; Chocolate, cookies, seven layer dip, and leftovers from the night before. The children were insane as they anticipated the gift opening extravaganza.

Before the event. Pops is in the chair, fully situated to sort and give out the presents.

Hannah was in the way.

The Spread. My favorite was the three layer jello and the meat and cheese tray

We missed the sister's and Brother in law's, found throughout the world, and their various children who bring so much extra life to the party.

This post in principally for them.

Merry Christmas!

Julie Andrew's Meadow . . . and Beyond.

Two Days last week I Snowshoed to Julie Andrew's Meadow in AF canyon. The first was exploratory as I had never been there in the winter, but we still made it. It was a Beautiful day.

Heading up the Bear Canyon Trail.

My 68 year old Dad, with timpanogos in the background.

Heading into the valley.

Later in the week on Saturday. Myself, Tiny, Dallas, Tanner, Guthrie, Gavin and my Dad all went.

We made it to the Valley, then Dad and Gavin turned back and the rest of us decided to do a little more exploration.

Heading up a 45 degree slope.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/video/video.php?v=10150335371820293&comments

The link above is a video of us Climbing.

Me and Tiny at the top. That is Utah Valley in the Background.

Heading along the ridgetop.

We did a lot of jumping on the way down. This is Tanner.

Guthrie

Guthrie

Me and Tiny.

What a great couple of days snowshoeing.



When a Good thing goes . . .Good!

I love to read. If boredom begins to set in, I will read anything that is placed, or happens to be in front of me. This idea came from such an experience as I sat perusing Hot Mama's copy of "Rachael Ray Everyday."

Yes . . . I know.

In the most recent edition was a section for Holiday traditions. One of them was something called, or that I called, service jars.

Here is what we did. One Monday night we gathered all the children and came up with 24 ideas of how they could serve others during the month of December. Simple things, like; opening doors, smiling at others, or hanging out with those who have less friends. Then the ideas were typed  and nine copies printed. Later that night each child cut their ideas into 24 individual slips of paper. These slips were then placed into small individual jars (that we purchased at a dollar store) for each family member.

Every morning as we begin the day we each individual chooses one slip of paper from their Jar. The paper is read, then placed in a small gift box and becomes our Gift to Christ that day. Through out the day we look for any and all opportunities to serve others. The results have been fantastic.

Each day the children share how they tried to serve others. One day, little man pulled out "Smile at others". From then on he had a constant smile on his face, when I dropped him off for school I said "have a good day", he looked back with his biggest smile and said, "Have a much better day"! Squishy, among other things,  changed every diaper yesterday, without being asked, (no small task for a 7 year old) because her's that day was "Help others as much as you can" Tiny invited a less popular kid to hang out. His Highness encouraged those who were down one day. . .

I could go on and on.

It has changed our children from just wanting, to wanting to give. Even the youngest ones are focused more on what their sheet says than on what they are asking for or perhaps receiving this year. The Christmas season is more about Service and love.

All this from a "wasted" moment looking at a cooking magazine, 1 dollar jars, and seven pieces of paper. 

Life can be so simple and wonderful!

Merry Christmas

So Much To Be Thankful For...

This is an amazing song. It helps me remember what this season is all about.

And as a Follow up;

May we all make this a season of Thanks and Giving.

2010 Christmas tree tromp or trudge

How do you get a Christmas tree?

Some search lots for those trees which have been grown for the purpose of lighting the Holiday season.

Others, find a live tree still growing amongst acres of other trees all again growing solely to be a Christmas tree.

Others still may open a box to find a partially decorated tree that holds tradition from previous years.

Not Us. . .those ideas are all well and good. . .but for us, the finding of the tree must include; adventure, climbing, cold and snow. This year brought all three, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

There was more snow than usual as we started out, three to four feet to be exact. Luckily we all had snow shoes so we began the adventure.

Even the Dog loved it.

The Beginnings of snow angels.

At this point some are more enthused than others. They were too anxious to get sledding.

Dawn saw one on the other side of the valley. Down we went then back up, and up. . .

Looking down where we were, from almost the top...Almost

Dragging out the tree. See the top, where the gap is in the trees, doesn't look too far does it? That's what we thought, we found the tree about 500 feet past the very top. By then only Hot Mama, His Highness, Queen and I were left. The others had retreated to the van for donuts, cold (but should have been hot) chocolate and sledding.

The finished product, without decorations.

Is it the perfect tree? No.

But it is perfect for our family, and the memories we created finding this 2010 tree will never, I mean never be forgotten.

I just hope they will all go again,

And I am sure they will, on the ride home they were already talking about next year.

Good Water Rim - San Rafael Swell

In my quest to see much if not all of the state of Utah before I die, it was time to try a new biking location; the San Rafael Swell. Having lived in Utah for most of my life, I was surprised I had never been to a place that is so amazing. The drive out seems lifeless enough. . .Huntington and Castle Dale are anything but "outdoor" cities like unto Moab or Park City, but the pictures we had seen were too intriguing. Before Castle Dale we hung a left and began a 50 mph dirt road through a large prairie "for the lack of a better word".

At a "V" in the road there was a lonely outhouse and map, both of which looked new but contained bullet holes.

There we parked and began riding a dirt road to the "rim" of the swell and a place called the "wedge" or "Good water rim". After a short 15 minute ride, we found the rim, and it did not disappoint. Pictures can never do it justice. It was an overcast day, but the scenery was still amazing. The trail follows the rim for the next 16 miles...all single track...no other people...not too technical...and beautiful.

It only took us three hours to ride and we had cell phone and even Internet coverage the entire time. (at our lunch break I was actually Gmail chatting with a friend in the northern most part of Brazil).

At the bottom of the Gorge is a small river called the Little San Rafael. It is a very popular Kayaking river as it is very scenic and only a class 2 float (that is less than the Provo river). Next May we are floating it.

Another Amazing place, yet much less crowded, to keep the outdoor adventure bug alive.

For a lousy video of our adventure click this link;