MARK AND LIZ''s NEW HOME

Last weekend the troops rallied for the big move-in to Mark and Liz's first home. It's just beautiful and a wonderful accomplishment for a couple who haven't even celebrated their 3rd anniversary.

Over the threshold she goes for a wonderful new chapter in their lives.

ASHLEE'S TREK

Yes, it's been awhile, but money has been saved and tickets bought and Ashlee has headed to Europe to do another trek, this time about 40 days. It's in Spain and a pilgrimage walk for five weeks. She will be posting as she has WiFi available and I'll post an update every once and awhile. 

7 BRIDES for 7 BROTHERS

A lot of our family members have enjoyed participating in plays and especially musicals. Steven and Nathan are no exception. Recently they were in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. 

Nathan (in red shirt) was a "brother". 

"Commotion" 

During intermission, Sophie was so enthusiastic that she even got Uncle Dennis to dance! 

 Nathan with his "bride".

 Steven was the "preacher" and here he's marrying Nathan and the pretty girl in pink!

Those are two good looking guys!

 All's well that end's well.

Steven/Nathan: If you see this, make a comment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM

Adam celebrates one of those milestone birthdays - - 18. Happy Birthday Adam. Sounds like your summer in Utah should be a blast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAREN

It's Daren's birthday today and Daren and Katie are at a crossroads in their lives. We wish him many happy returns as he begins his 28th year.

Here's what's going on with Katie and Daren.

Katie writes:

Daren took the GRE on Saturday which is the test he has to take to go to Graduate school. He studied for so hard and for so long, and it paid off because his score was above what he needed to apply for a school in Virginia. 

About Virginia: There is a school there called Virginia Commonwealth University in the heart of Richmond. Daren is really interested in their advertising program there. The degree is a Masters of Advertising which is what he has been looking for. Their program is called "The Brandcenter" which has 5 focuses to choose from. The focus Daren is applying for is Creative Brand Management, which would teach him the 'business' of having a creative job. The career that would lead out of this program one day is a chief marketing operator, which handles the creative decisions of a company. This school has a great reputation for getting their graduates into good careers, so we are keeping our fingers crossed! The application is due in May, but Daren is hoping to be done by the end of March for early consideration.

As for me, nothing has changed too much. I decided my last day at work is going to be the 3rd week of June. We are supposed to be out of our apartment here in Midvale by June 30, so that will give me a week to get everything packed up and sorted. I will be sad to leave my job because I have made 2 great friends there (Lisa and Jessica), but it will be nice to get out of such a high-stress environment, and one where people aren't too nice. I think I will keep in touch with Lisa and Jessica even after I leave, so hopefully it wont be too hard of a goodbye. I'm not sure of what I will do after, but I am keeping my eyes open and looking for something closer to Springville area so that I can have something to do over the summer while we wait to hear about Virginia.

Anyway Grandmama, I just wanted to fill you in on what we are doing at the moment. Hope everything is well with you. I think of you very often, as well as Grandpa. I wear my Agle Family Reunion shirt from this past summer when I can, as it brings back happy memories. I miss you both very much!

Love you lots,
Katie xx

We'll all keep our fingers crossed for good news.

REMEMBERING DENNIS SR.

Today I'm going to direct you to look at Rhiannon's blog. If you haven't checked it out before, you are in for a real treat. The blog she did for Easter is very special, and I think you will enjoy it. Just check the sidebar to the right and you'll see her blog. Click on it and check out the blog for Tuesday April 22, How to Set a Headstone.

SPRING BREAK IN ZION NATIONAL PARK

It's becoming a tradition. Spring break means a trip to Zion National Park for Ken, Coppelia and the family.

Rather than camping this year, they stayed at a motel outside of the Park and spent the days exploring and hiking in Zion.

Here's what Coppelia wrote:

We went on our usual Zion's trip but this time Ken found some lesser known hikes for us to do. At first I was skeptical about the hikes. These are not kept trails and I had visions of us lost in the mountains, but it turned out to be wonderful, in fact, some of the best hiking we have ever done.

The first hike was up the desert rock on the backside of Zion's past the tunnels like you were heading to Bryce Canyon.

Ken referred to this area as the California Adventure side of the park. Great-but not as well known or popular. The trail was called mini-pools because there were many of these rock pools carved into the layers of rock by a stream. It was perfect weather and we were entertained by Nathan who narrated the journey along the way in journal entries.

Day 1

We are moving quickly over the red rocky terrain, but I am watching private JP closely. The stone pools are deep.

Day 2

There is no sign of intelligent life anywhere. We are completely alone on the unmarked trail.

Day 14

Hunger is spreading through the camp. We are all waiting for Mr. Steven to open his dark chocolate covered pomegranates hidden in his backpack

Day 24

We found a cave that looks like a movie set. Investigating but cautions for Robbers or Indians.

Day 29

Beginning to question the Captain's sanity as we climb to the highest peaks for yet another photo shoot.

A slot canyon

The ladder

Brrrrrr

      

Coppelia continues:

I was particularly pleased with Nathan and Steven who kept a careful lookout for their younger siblings. On one occasion they had to rescue me! Ken was little help because he chose to film my rescue on his phone. If it goes to U-Tube there will be blood. The second hike was a bouldering hike up to an Emerald Pond, but not the well known one. This was on the back side and you can still swim in it. We did. 

Steven meditating?

We got a picture of Steven under the waterfall in meditation pose.



Sophie loves bouldering and JP is fearless. But Nathan and Steven watched them closely. I was very proud of how they learned to be gentlemen on the trail. 

In the evenings, we came home to our small room. Same Zion's Motel, but we had a smaller room with two beds and another room with one bed. The Second room was the size of my walk in closet. In fact, everyone said how our house felt huge when we got home. But still, it had room for cards and what more do you nee? Nathan was unstoppable in cards the whole trip. He won every game, but Dad and Sophie gave him some competition. We ate at several restaurants including the Zion's lodge with Mayra, who is living and working in St. George. It was so good to see the sweetie again. 

On the last day, we drove home and stopped to do one last hike. It was a bouldering hike along a stream up to slot canyons to a set of waterfalls. We had trouble at first finding the trail but were soon off. We got behind another family of six that was moving very slowly along the cliff about ten feet above the stream. We soon realized why they were moving so slow. Two of their kids were completely blind. One boys was Nathan's age and the girl was a bit older than Sophie. I was very impressed that they would try such a hike. The girl was very frightened, but the boy was moving well. Steven offered to help but they happily urged us to go ahead. They were going to travel their own pace. It humbled me somewhat. I have six very, very healthy kids all and all. My problems are all very manageable. I should endeavor to embrace my challenges and learn from them like this family. They did make it to the waterfall, we were coming back from the second one by the time they got there. But their achievement was glorious. It made me think that we are all on a trail toward a glorious destination (waterfall or heaven). Some of us will move very quickly like JP and Nathan. Some will require a lot of help and some will have trouble just finding the trail like us in the beginning. We learn as we go and when we help others it helps us. Steven stopped along the trail to climb a stone wall cliff. The last part required wading through very cold water and JP and Sophie had to turn back because the depth and coldness of the water. Only Steven and Dad made it to the last waterfall because the water was so strong, deep and cold. But it was a great lesson to us all.

It seems like a wonderful way to spend Spring Break and a great family tradition. Thanks, Agles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIK

Forty-one years ago he joined the family and made our group complete. 

Happy birthday Erik!