Yellowstone with the Halversons

Upper Falls, Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone River Valley

We got back late last night from a great trip to Yellowstone. We left Thursday as soon as Taylor was done teaching, and drove up to Herriman (sp?), where we picked up our niece, Macy Halverson. We also stopped and talked with people at the Cruise Lady, the travel agency helping to arrange our Mediterranean cruise next summer. We were there longer than planned, but Macy never made a single complaint. That is how she was the entire trip -- I complained a lot more than she did at having two days of long driving! Here's a photo of Macy from Friday. We'd been in the sun all day and still Macy had energy to chase after Taylor's shadow, trying to stomp on his head!


I actually drove on the way up. This is not normal for us! (I hate to drive and Taylor loves it.) But that way he was able to connect to the internet using his cell phone and get some work done for Cisco. It's amazing what technology does these days. I listened to the first Harry Potter book on tape. I have enjoyed the movies but never read the books! It's about time to catch up with this modern literary phenomenon!

We got into camp during a rainstorm. Luckily, there was only a bit more rain on Saturday, but otherwise we had great weather while in the camp.

Friday we spent in the Upper Geyser Basin. Old Faithful is the easy one. But we wanted to see "Grand". We all got too much sun waiting for it to go off, but it was neat to see when it finally "played."

There are more than 10,000 thermal features in Yellowstone.
Behind Taylor, you can see steam from vents, springs, or geysers.

Old Faithful (Blake's favorite, because you can count on it!)

Blake, Taylor's autistic brother, was at the end of his tether, though, with all the walking and the wait in the sun. While my ideal would have been long hikes, his ideal is eating and sitting and asking people how many children or grandchildren they have! He knows that I have 13 nieces and nephews on the Halverson side, and 8 on the Rampton side. He's excited for our adopted boy to up the numbers!

Castle Geyser

Riverside Geyser

Tiny thermophile bacteria give the water this color.

Friday night we took a stroll by the Firestone River, which ran next to our Madison campsite. The water was invitingly warm, and we promised ourselves to jump in on Saturday (though it didn't happen). Three boys did so, trying to swim across to the other side, where a herd of elk grazed. Luckily the current wouldn't let them make it -- or perhaps they were intimidated as several big elk came and stood sentinel close to the river's edge!

Before bed, Taylor and I talked for a while with Richard/Dad. We learned that the Halverson connection to Yellowstone actually goes back as far as Taylor's great-grandfather. Richard's own father had been quite busy with work (he had his own steel company), and so Richard's only real childhood memories of his father are their summer vacations to Yellowstone. As Taylor grew up, his family went to Yellowstone every 2-3 years. It's a place of great meaning to the Halverson family!

Saturday we did several short hikes near waterfalls (my personal favorite parts of the park). We saw Gibbons Falls on the Gibbons River, and Lower and Upper Falls on the Yellowstone River. We also walked through one area where the 100s of trees lay dead because, after an earthquake changed the rock layers beneath, the ground temperature had risen to 200 degrees Fahrenheit!

Richard & Kathy at Gibbons Falls

TJ & Macy at Gibbons Falls

Artist Paint Pots

With the Yellowstone River in the background

Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Oh give me a home...

Macy -- smiling & cheerful as always!

Prismatic Spring

Moon rise over Yellowstone Lake

Funny Quizzes

My sister Anna's blog had her "scores" from three online quizzes that she took -- one about how addicted you are to blogging, one for the cash value of your cadaver, and one for how well you'd do on an 8th grade science quiz. I couldn't help it -- I took the quizzes too.

But before you see my dismal science score, I did get 100% on a spelling quiz!

I Scored a 100%!

OK. Now you can see what a poor science student I've become:



I'm not quite as addicted to blogging as Anna is (she scored 67% -- but she also uses her blog as an ambassador for cleft-affected kids, and my blog has no noble purposes!).

51%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Instead of the Mall: The Never-Ending Road

Instead of walking the mall (as I mentioned in the last entry we might do) Taylor suggested we drive up a new canyon for the evening. We packed the car with snacks, our computers (with the cell phone, we can connect to the internet wherever there is phone coverage, and we thought we might look up an adoption checklist that is online), books, and games. We were set! Our plan was to find a park up the canyon, where it would be cooler, as our apartment is hotter than Hades. So we drove through Springville (nice little town), passing million dollar homes nestled into the hills, and headed into the left fork of Hobble Creek Canyon. The estates got more and more elaborate as we went. We kept thinking that the road would eventually loop back into civilization. But it ended at some gorgeous estate, where the road veered to one side of the property, and indicated that an "Adventure Camp" lay 2.5 miles away.

At this point, however, the road also became unpaved, just dirt and rocks. Taylor asked if I was interested in seeing where it went. I was; our interest was piqued. So we crept along the road, trying not to put a hole into the bottom of the car.

All along the way were signs saying "No Trespassing", "No Hunting", "Keep Out", and just "No." Started to make us laugh -- someone is protective of his private property and was reminding us every 10 yards to stay on the dirt road and not try to jump the barbed wire that lined both sides of it.

Just in case the other signs were too complicated! :)

After about a mile, we came to a dip in the road that was filled with water. Would have made sense to turn back then. But by this point we had to see where the road ended! So we parked the car and started trekking up the dirt road. I was in Chacos; my feet were filthy within minutes. But I had to laugh, again and again, at the silliness of our quest.


We were passed by two 4-wheelers and a jeep, but otherwise had the road to ourselves. And after 25 minutes of walking, we finally did find the "Adventure Camp". It had numerous picnic tables and other facilities -- looked like it was used for a Boys or Girls Camp. They must all ride in on 4-wheel drive vehicles, though!

And the road continued on. But the sun was setting. So finally we turned back (Taylor may have continued onward for another hour, but my dirty feet were ready to get home). There is no exciting climax to this story (though we did learn that a boy had been bitten by a bear at "Adventure Camp" exactly one year earlier). It's just a story of our silly adventure. Taylor later looked on GoogleEarth, and sure enough, the road seems to never end, and never goes anywhere near civilization. We could have walked on that road till morning ... and still been nowhere!

Alpine Road & Timpanogos Caves

I arrived in Utah Wednesday afternoon. We had a great dinner with our friends Steve and Erica van Dijk, who have adopted two beautiful kids (Kalli and Zeke -- who look like birth siblings, though they are not). Then we got to see my sister Sara and her husband Rob for a short hour, and I got to hold my 4 month old nephew "Jazz" (Jasper) for a while!

The next evening, Taylor suggested we go camping up the Provo Canyon along Alpine Road. We drove down to Cascade Springs, and hiked for 1/2 hour (we wished we had longer, but the sun was getting low).

You can see the lovely cascading springs
& the boardwalks constructed to walk over the water.

Cascade Springs has wandering pathways & peaceful landscaping.

Cascade Springs Road at Sunset

We camped at Salamander Flat, and then drove back the next morning. It was a beautiful drive (though I wished we had had more time to hike -- we left too late Thursday night & needed to be back Friday before it got too late).

Mountain view from Alpine Loop Road

As we drove home, we noticed the signs for Timpanogos Caves. If we'd been smart, we would have gotten up earlier for them. Since we didn't have the time then, we woke early today (Saturday, a day later) and got to the area by 7:30 am. We hiked the 1.5 miles to the cave entrance (1065 feet elevation gain -- we need to be preparing for Mount St Helens in August!). Glad we started early!

Outside of Timapanogos Caves

The caves were spectacular. It's been some time since I've seen stalactites and stalagmites. There were also formations that the guide called "cave bacon", and a cave with a sloped area that looked a little like a mammoth caramel fudge sundae.

One of the caves

The Heart of Timapanogos

Cave Fingers

Caramel Sundae Cave

At 48 degrees, the caves were also a welcome respite from the heat. I am not acclimated!

Taylor and I have laughed at ourselves for how much we've been goofing off of late. We've been to two movies (Transformers and Spiderman 3), hiked & camped, bought 3 board games (they were being hawked cheaply along the side of University Parkway), hung out with friends & family -- all in the few days since I've arrived. Are we trying to get in our last hurrah before the baby comes? Taylor has gotten in work, but today his plan to grade for 8 hours has been frustrated by the fact that BYU's turnitin.com is under maintenance (something he wasn't warned about). Since it's so hot, we've talked about going for a walk in a mall. A MALL! Those of you who know me know I like to shop like a cat likes to be dunked in the water. I shopped for some clothes for the first time in years a few months ago and so have no real need to shop for 3 more years or something! But a mall may be the only place to escape the 98 degree weather and still get a walk in!

Baby Names

Thanks for all the excited comments and emails. We're glad to know we (and this baby) are surrounded by love and support.

Some of you have asked whether we know what we will name this little boy. No decisions yet. Here are some options:

• John Taylor: Yes, yes, the Ramptons have two Johns already (Jack Rampton, Marcus & Becca's 3 yr old, & Johnny Fowler, Anna & James' 4 month old). But John Taylor (the 3rd latter-day prophet for Mormons) is Taylor's great-great-great-grandfather & source of Taylor's name.
• David Cais: David, meaning beloved, is Taylor's middle name. Cais is Vietnamese for rejoicer. It'd be nice for part of his name to reflect part of his ethnic heritage...but most of the other names listed we don't know how to pronounce. I pronounce Cais as Ki-us (long I) or Kai-us. Don't know if that's correct!
• Mark Richard: Our fathers' first names.

I'm starting on the baby books. I know everyone has super strong opinions on the matter. Right now, I just want to read the different theories and then when it comes down to it, rely more on what fits us and him. Right now I'm enjoying The Happiest Baby on the Block.

We're Expecting! ... in 6 Weeks!

It's a boy!
(Not just Taylor, the baby!)

Just last week we pretty much wrapped up the paperwork required for adoption. We were just about to be posted on itsaboutlove.org (the LDS-Family Services website). Now it seems that for this adoption, we won't even use that as the pathway to our child!

We had been advised to be proactive and to network, network. But we weren't even in that mode yet. Then three weeks ago, I sat down at a concert for Liz Brimhall and chatted with a friend of hers who is a pediatrician in San Jose. He saw the birth parent letter on my lap (I was editing it) and informed me that he had an 18 y.o. patient who was going to deliver at the end of August. (Later, we were told August 8th, but today we heard August 29th -- the day after school begins & we move to a new, 6-month house-sit!)

A week ago we met with the birth parents, and talked for 2 hours; we really enjoyed them a lot. They are nice, fun people and we even have some of the same quirks (she gets obsessive-compulsive about sewing and layout decisions - like me, and he likes to zoom around seeing the world on GoogleEarth - like Taylor). On Thursday last week they told us that they would, indeed, like us to be the adoptive parents. Wow!

The past week was an emotional roller-coaster for me. I was very excited about this miracle, but also scared of how sudden everything was! I was also hurting over the high FSH/impending menopause and what we've lost by being unable to create children together. But Taylor said something as we drove to the Oakland Temple Saturday that helped. He said he realized he had a choice to continue to grieve over what cannot be, or move forward with what we can have. That is hard, but the right thing to do. At the temple we felt calm and peaceful about the decision to adopt this baby. Now the Lord wants us to act with faith, even though it's scary to be expecting for less than 2 months! So we'll step forward and hope He keeps giving us guidance.

We still have a lot to figure out. I hope to continue to work part-time this fall. Taylor is trying to figure out if he could work mornings from home. Then, if I am able to get all my teaching done before lunch, we would switch off about 12:30 pm. It's a little trickier with our upcoming house-sit in Redwood Shores being 20 minutes away from Gunn/seminary and 35 minutes from Taylor's work. We'd love for Taylor to be able to continue to teach Seminary, but we'll have to figure the logistics. It's likely that I'll work even less time come Spring Semester. Taylor would prefer for us to not need a sitter at all during the day; I'm more comfortable with the idea of having a sitter for an hour or two a day. We'll figure this out in the next week or so as we both hear back from our work about what they are willing to accommodate. My work does NOT offer good maternity leave, unfortunately.

Plans for August are suddenly tentative! I leave tomorrow to join Taylor in Utah, where he's been teaching two courses (and coming back for the weekends). Taylor has lined up lots of hike and visits with friends and family, and I'm now planning to spend lots of time with baby books (as well as my teaching materials for the fall). On August 12th, I have a ticket to fly from SLC to Oregon for my Grandma Rampton's 99th. The plan is for Taylor to finish his teaching, hop in the car, and meet us in Portland on the 15th. We will hike up Mt. St. Helens on the 16th with Dad, Sara, Rob & Jasper. Finally, we'll drive back to Palo Alto on August 17th. But...now we're not sure where we'll be when! We will be "on call", waiting to know when the birth mother goes into labor and when we should head back to California.

Keep us, the baby, and its birth parents in your prayers. The birth mother was able to be seen by doctors on Friday (she wasn't aware of being pregnant till the 31st week), and today I went in with her and the birth father to see the baby by ultrasound. The technician said everything she saw looked healthy and...we're having a boy! I've never seen an ultrasound where the baby looks like much more than a tadpole; in this, I could see a beautiful, fully formed baby face! It was amazing. He will be 1/2 Vietnamese, 1/4 Caucasian, and 1/4 Hispanic. He will get his olive skin from me -- ha!! I'm SO pasty pale! -- and since Taylor knows Spanish, the Hispanic he will inherit from him! jk ;)

I have realized that if I had to choose between giving a child Taylor's blue eyes and handsome face (genetic), or his sense of humor and giving heart (much more due to nurture), I would opt for those nurtured characteristics. So we'll work hard to nurture this baby boy and pass on our traits in that way. We will love him so much and are excited to have our family expand so soon!

4th of July

Although we both ended up sick by the end of the night (Taylor with a cold, Lisa with an arthritis flare-up), we had a great 4th of July.

It began early -- no sleeping in for us! -- because, as our ward's activities committee chair, I had a party to throw! We had the annual "4th of July Breakfast at the Peerys'", with neither Dick nor Mimi Peery there! Mimi had a high school reunion in Arizona, so I let myself into their house on the 3rd with a carload of muffins, fruit, milk, OJ, and other decorations. But I hadn't put up the decorations or prepared the food ahead of time. My committee is very scant this summer, too. Luckily at the last minute Keturah was able to get her nursing schedule changed, and another woman, Janet, just showed up to help. Dave Peery (Dick & Mimi's son) and Lisa Peery (their daughter-in-law ... married to a different son!) came to help too. Still, there was a ton to get done starting at 8 am!

But it went well in the end. We didn't have much of a program (we had intended to do songs, but people seemed content to chat and the kids to play games, so we didn't). But people thought the food was nice, and you can't go wrong in the Peerys' back yard (where we had one of our wedding receptions!). It was lovely.



By the end of the event, though, I'd developed arthritis in my foot. So Taylor and I went back home for a nap (not only had I woken at 6:30 am, but I hadn't fallen asleep till 2:30 am -- mind racing about adoption questions). Then we went to the Palo Alto Chili Cook-off -- not realizing you had to be there in the first 2 hours to get chili! It was finished off an hour before we arrived. So we listened to a little music and went home.

After dinner Taylor had the super idea of driving to a vista point we had noted a week previous, on Skyline Boulevard way up in the hills. We left 2 hours before it would get dark -- a good thing, because we weren't the only ones thinking of this spot!

I love fireworks, and this was a new take on seeing them. Though we couldn't see them close up, we could see up to a dozen fireworks displays all at once! San Francisco had twin displays that were timed very well with similar fireworks exploding at the same time. Foster City, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, Shoreline (Mountain View), San Jose (which we couldn't see till later), East Palo Alto, Fremont, Dublin, Alviso, possibly Pleasanton.... Amazing! It was quite incredible to see so many displays all at once, even though they were small, from our point of view. What a brilliant husband I have to think of such a neat way to end the 4th!

None of our photos of the fireworks really turned out, and none of them captured how many displays you could see at once. So you'll just have to use your imagination for this one!

Pinnacles & San Luis Obispo

Taylor has made it a goal for the summer for us to see several sites we've been hoping for months (years!) to visit. So Friday we left for Pinnacles National Monument. I had been to Pinnacles with my friend Kausik about 11 years ago, and my parents informed me this evening that I'd been as a young child too, though I don't remember that at all. I drove most of the way (a rarity in our marriage, since I hate driving and he loves it) so that he could do some work for Cisco from the car. We arrived at Pinnacles in the late afternoon, and took a short (2.2 mile) hike on the Moses Spring-Rim Trail Loop. We thought we were seeing California condors in the sky, but later realized they were only turkey vultures. They still looked majestic up there! The hike was an out-and-back, ending at the reservoir before turning back.



It was pretty hot and we were both tired (he from a busy first week of classes at BYU, me from insomnia the night before -- I get a bit fixated on my "projects", my current one being our adoption application), so we decided not to embark on a longer hike that evening. We put our feet in the pool, set up our tent, ate cold oatmeal and cashews for dinner, saw some wildlife (bunnies, deer, bats once it got dark, and two that are a mix of wild boar and ferrell pig), and took a stroll through a dry riverbed. We hit the sack by 9:30 so as to get a good night's sleep.

The next morning we had more oatmeal (we didn't plan the food part very well!) and were on the trail by 8:30 am. We hiked the 5.1 High Peaks-Condor Gulch Loop. They label that hike "strenuous", and it does have a good amount of elevation gain (1300 feet). It was so lovely on the trail. And good training for hiking Mount St. Helens this August with my dad, Sara, Rob and Jasper. The Egberts are practically professional hikers so we have a lot to build up to!




We ended our time at Pinnacles with a little more feet in the pool. Then we headed out to San Luis Obispo. En route, we saw signs to the Heart Castle. But we found, once there, that tickets were $24 EACH! I'd seen the castle as an 8 year old, and neither of us was that interested. We did browse through a museum on Hearst there. He led a life of privilege and sometimes excess, and neither of us were that impressed with him. But he was a hard worker and good at what he did, and that is admirable.

So unfortunately that side trip cost us an hour. We didn't have as much time in San Luis Obispo as I would have liked. But we had a delicious dinner at a Moroccan restaurant -- all the better because it was our first real food all day! The town looks like a fun place to be. Not quite as ratty as parts of Santa Cruz.

Sauve Taylor at Morro Bay

Cute Taylor at Morro Bay

We had decided that rather than camp one more night, we'd head home that day. We stopped and saw elephant seals at one beach, and near Big Sur were treated to the most amazing sunset!

Sleep, snuggle, and snort: What a life!

Big Sur Sunset

Big Sur Handsome

Big Sur Smiles

But by the end of the trip I was swearing off any road-tripping ever again in my life! Not seriously. But I just get really achey when in the car that long.

Big Sur Kiss