"I can’t be the only one. I can’t be the only one who has these moments when I consider how I spend my days, reflecting on the poetry, art, literature, and music that I immerse myself in and ask, what is the point of all this anyway? 

Don’t get me wrong! I love what I do…….  But there are moments that come at unexpected times. Moments when I think, sure I love this stuff. But is my love of it enough to give it value? Is my love of it enough to justify crafting an entire education and a life around that love? I mean, I’m not curing cancer here." 

So begins Angela Stanford's reflection on why we do what we do: cultivating an artful life, spreading beauty, sharing inspiring words.  Is there a point?   In a dark and increasingly deadly world does any of this really make a difference or is this just 'fluff' as one woman said to me some years ago. 

Stanford goes on to share how a friend helped to answer that question for her here.

This isn't fluff, this is the stuff that makes life worth living.

Not me (yet) but my partner in crime officially went up and over the hill right on Father's Day.  We had almost a complete set of our children here to celebrate.

A gift like nothing else. 

That $4 worth of tiny squirt guns? 

Priceless.

Working on the new teen car with his favorite brother-in-law to be who can fix just about anything.

There was a lot of food, a lot of noise, a lot of doubled over and tears rolling down your face laughing. There were more serious talks about life, love, money, faith, fears, and careers. We don't have all the answers but we can listen and can share an awful lot of ways we personally know how to screw up. We can put our heads together to tackle big challenges. We can pray over the things we can't seem to figure out. So we did.  We do. We consider ourselves so lucky to hear what is on their hearts.

As our friends' children are entering teen and young adulthood they have questions. How did you….?  What do you do if…..? How?  

The short answer is only by the grace of God. One thing that rings truer as time goes by is that we have very little by way of formula or guarantees but we have them.  We have us.  Love does cover a multitude of sins – theirs, ours, and those whose stories overlap with ours.  For that we are grateful every day. 

So this is what Father's Day at 50 looks like here with the people he has spent 30 of those 50 years with, people we love fervently. 

"And above all things have fervent love for one another…."    Peter 4:8

"Do you want to ride along to the meeting? I don't think there's anything to do."   That's how the conversation about this road trip began.  It ended the way it usually does.  Of course we wanted to go and of course there is something to do.  There is ALWAYS something cool to do on the road and Cedar City was no exception. 

A few days ago we had friends from England visit. They were asking if those white patches on the mountains could still be snow.  Yes, is the answer and we drove right up to the top to see it.  It's a little chilly at 10,000ft but the views were incredible.  We were surprised by a little marmot before we left. Per Wild About Utah that is indeed the treat we thought it was.  (virtual field trip to hear the marmot story here and the whistle here) 

Southern Utah, where you can watch a fiery sunset and have a snowball fight in the same spot in June. So much fun. 

* disclaimer: despite the illusion due to the angle of the camera, the railings are quite far from the actual edge of the canyon wall.  There is a wide margin of level ground all around the overlook railing. In the marmot image the railing is still further to the right.  Bottom line, I'm the biggest worry wort mom ever.  Zero danger there.  : ) 

Summer kicked off for us with a hike high above Causey Reservoir. This was a new-to-us trail.  It's rated moderate and is an undulating (read: uphill both ways) path with a good balance of shade and views.  Incredible views. The upper fields were in bloom with some flowers we haven't seen on other trails. 

There were a lot of us but not too terribly much other foot traffic, even on a holiday weekend.  As you can see, despite being religious about my daily workout I am still lagging behind even the 7yo.  Yes.  It does at least afford me some wide angle shots of this incredible place and my people in it.