Saturday, June 30, 2012

YNP - Day 2 / Three Hikes

Many will say that their main "Pathway to God" is simply being outside in nature and observing what a beautiful world He has created.  Going for a walk - or camping - or just being outdoors for any chunk of time will do wonders for their Spirit and for their attitudes toward everything!  Well, in a place like Yosemite, it is completely understandable how people are strengthened in their Faith and in their Assurance of God's presence in their lives.  For those who have the eyes to see:  This whole park is an amazing display of God's power and design - it is simply Nature at it's finest!!  And what a Gift it truly is - directly from His Heart of Beauty and Grace to ours...

Needless to say, today was a strengthening day for our family!!  We had the opportunity to take Three Hikes - and all six of us enjoyed the privilege of being together in this wonderful place.  It was Friday, so we had to battle a few more crowds today, but we were still able to take in the immense beauty set before us as well as enjoy each other's company as a family...

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Hike 1:  Mariposa Grove.
We trekked uphill for almost 2 miles to see various Giant Sequoia trees - many several hundred years old.  We could see that most of these trees were simply survivors.  There are lots of scars visible due to fires and the passing of time.  But these trees are majestic and awesome to behold...









Hike 2:  Bridalveil Falls. 
This was a short and more crowded hike - to the base of a beautiful waterfall that looks just like it is named.  When the wind hit just right, the water would fan out beautifully!! It is an incredible sight to see the stream fall and mist its way down the side of the cliff...














A Little Lunch:  
The highlight was Josh being pooped on by a loud and confident Blue Jay!!


Hike 3:  Yosemite Falls.
Also a bit crowded, but arriving just below what we are told is the tallest waterfall in North America was definitely a very cool thing to experience!  The kids took the opportunity to do some rock climbing.  They went up higher than what Martha would say she was comfortable with - but they came back with that "look" that said they had a great adventure - and a lot of fun!



Tomorrow we head to San Francisco - and to the first of many California cities that we will be visiting...

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Travel Day - UT to NV

Day 3 of our Family Vacation was mostly travel...

We left Salt Lake City this morning to head across Utah - to get to Fallon, Nevada - to get that much closer to California...!

We did take some time to have a fun morning - by driving back up to Park City.  We just HAD to check out the Alpine Slide!!  It looked too good in the travel brochure to not do - and the kids really wanted to try it.  All 6 of us - including Martha - trekked up the mountain on a ski lift to race down on what basically was an individual manual toboggan ride.  What a BLAST...!!

We had an "easy" day in the van - listening to tunes, watching movies and enjoying another beautiful drive.  So GLAD this Gang travels well.  We'd better - we still have a LOT of miles to go...!!

A few pics of this day...  And tomorrow - on to Yosemite...!!

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Back up the mountain to see the Olympic Ski Jump 
and go down the Alpine Slide!!





(Right) Lydia's grip on the handle/break was SO tight 
that it left an imprint on her hand!

A Good Looking Family, if I do say so myself...!


Back on the Road...





Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Salt Lake City, UT

Day 2 of our Family Vacation was spent in Salt Lake City and the surrounding area. We had three main things we wanted to do today:  Visit the Temple Square, the Olympic Cauldron Park and go swimming in the Great Salt Lake.

We certainly are in a beautiful part of the country!  I can only imagine what the first impression was when the pioneer Mormon settlers came up over the hills and saw this gorgeous valley.  No wonder they decided to stay!  The Mormons had to overcome much hardship and persecution in their history.  As they made their Epic Trek in the 1840's from way out East all the way here, one can't help but admire their dedication and sacrifice...  I have no problem applauding the religious commitment that it took for them to settle - and then thrive - not only here - but throughout the world.  An incredibly tenacious and dedicated belief system is shared by those in the LDS church!!

I really don't want to start any arguments here - and the following is only the honest first-hand impression of someone who was thankful to finally visit SLC....

What has been accomplished here by the Church of Latter Day Saints for "the honor and glory of God" is simply overwhelming.  We were "shown" much in a short amount of time: We were led around the Temple Complex by missionaries (all carrying a copy of the Book of Mormon) - we were told we would be exposed to intentional "statements of their beliefs" (and we were!) - we saw a video that proclaimed their attractive views on family and heaven - we heard a 30 minute organ recital in their acoustically exquisite Tabernacle - we were blown away by their 21,000 seat state of the art Convention Center - we were shown 2-3 different halls celebrating their past and current "prophets and apostles" - among other things...  No doubt:  The level of conviction and excellence and beauty of everything we were shown was incredible!!  And all the people we encountered were supremely friendly and nice...  But about halfway through our tour, I told Martha about an "icky" feeling I had in my gut...  She was unsettled too...

Together we discussed briefly - and quietly - our reactions...  As we were given the opportunity today to visit what is Mormon "sacred ground" - and more importantly, hear their "sacred message" - we were reminded of fundamental issues of Doctrine that separate Latter Day Saints Theology from Biblical Christianity. Boy, we sure heard and saw a lot about ALL that can be done - and should be done - and has been done for God -- but what was conspicuously absent was the message that the Apostle Paul warned us never to stray far from: That a loving and merciful God has done it ALL for US!!  He saves us through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf - not by anything we do for Him.

Martha said it best:  "I just don't hear or see much of a message of God's Grace here..."

TO BE FAIR:  I have to admit that over 25 years ago, as I had the chance to visit the exponentially MORE "religiously ambitious" Vatican City in Rome, I had a similar stirring up of theologically jumbled emotions.  I also remember feeling "bludgeoned by grandiosity" by all that I saw and experienced at St. Peter's Square and all throughout the Vatican.  I also don't recall hearing much of a message of how Jesus humbled himself to offer us Salvation by Grace through Faith alone in Him.  But - I most certainly was not led around by "missionaries" who went out of their way to make sure I knew what their Church believed...

I am grateful for a comment from Josh later in the day, as he reflected on our morning visit to Temple Square -- "None of this matters Dad, you can't earn your way to heaven..."  Amen.

Oh, that those of us that claim Christ as Savior would always remain captured and confident, yet humble and unassuming about this Core Biblical Truth: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."  (Ephesians 2:8)

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Anyway -- I am thankful we had a GREAT visit - and we had a GREAT day!!  Much was learned...

Below are a few pics of our time in Temple Square, our visit of the Olympic Cauldron Park and our trek out to the Great Salt Lake...


Lydia special-prepared our sandwiches & 
lunch bags for the day:


Photos from The Temple Square in 
Downtown Salt Lake City: 





Olympic Cauldron Park:


A Visit to The Great Salt Lake: