Hiking the Subway in Zion

Cassie Richey, Kevin & Sara Laub, Wade and Sheri, Jennifer Richey, Tony, Tyler, Fawn, Bret (all Beatty) Brandon Richey

Lincoln Lost!

I went to pick up Lincoln today and Laverkin Elementary did not know where he was. They were like "I thought he was with you". So we had all available staff looking for him for twenty minutes.

When we finally found him, -- he was in the lunch room eating with the 3rd graders. Gotta love kindergartners. Not sure how he paid, who he was sitting next to, or how he figured it all out. But he was smack in the middle of a ton of kids, eating away at this"chicken, bread and good chocolate milk"

Sheep's Bridge Outing

There is a great little spot on the Virgin just north of Sheeps bridge that we played in the river on Wednesday.

Se set up lawn chairs in the river and watched the kids float around. It was very fun.

Getting to know our youngsters

Liberty Ann Beatty

What I know about her…

We found her name on a street sign while on a family trip to Oregon and thought that it was beautiful and a strong name, and her middle name is named after her mom, Sheri Ann Beatty. She is almost 4 yrs old. She loves the color pink. She loves to be in charge. She will scream if she is bothered, like when Lincoln teases her or takes things from her. She is good at playing house; she mimics what I do really well. She isn’t good at playing alone, because she has always had someone to play with, except when reading books in her bedroom when she is supposed to be napping. She needs a nap about every third day or when she didn’t get a good night’s rest and always on Saturdays so that she will be cooperative on Sunday at Church. She is really good mannered while getting groceries at the store and will walk beside the cart, except when Lincoln is teasing her. She wants to be first at everything. She gives very warm, sweet hugs and kisses. She will scream when you brush her hair even if it doesn’t hurt, except when she is distracted by eating something or singing a song she is making up. She wears a pull-up at night and will occasionally pee in her pants because she doesn’t want to take the time to go to the bathroom. She can already get herself dressed and put on her shoes. She isn’t afraid to try new foods. She will eat many vegetables. She loves peanut butter on a spoon. She is easily entreated to do something if you make it sound fun and low pressure; otherwise it is her way or the high way. She is very physically sound. She can hike up a hill as good as a kindergartener and jump on the trampoline with her brothers. I don’t have to worry about her when she is hurt or rough housing with kids because she will just blow it off. She likes to color a picture during sacrament to bring to her primary class. She is really good at coloring in the lines, using many different colors and she just learned how to draw people. She can spend hours playing with play dough. Her favorite show is Max and Ruby. I think it’s because she relates with Ruby. She likes to watch me cook in the kitchen and will make her own recipes with the ingredients I let her use. Then she will put them on the table for dinner and expects us to eat them. She likes to swim and can even put her face under the water. She has a twinkle in her eye and a big bright smile, whether it’s for being sweet or being mischievous, we don’t always know. She makes us laugh and is a driving force in our family. Things are definitely more boring without her and sweeter with her around.

Scarlet Eve Beatty

What I know about her…

Her middle name is named after her Grandma Olive Evelyn Sant Beatty, who went by Evelyn before she was called GrandmaGreat. She just turned 18 months

old. Today was her first time in nursery. She can walk with confidence now and sometimes runs places. She loves drinking from a bottle, especially the big ones with a slow flow nipple so that she can drink it for a long period of time. I think it gives her comfort. I will find her lying on her back in the middle of the floor looking around and drinking from her bottle. She isn’t big on eating food at the moment even though she will try most things we give her. She loves the dog. She likes to feed Penny one piece of dog food at a time, luckily the dog likes it too, although Scarlet has tried the dog food too and likes it. I have to watch the two of them at dinner because Scarlet will give Penny food over the side of her highchair. She likes to laugh at Silver when he plays with her. She is ticklish under her chin. She likes to give long, big hugs and will sometimes sing or hum to you and kick her legs. She would like to jump on the trampoline with everyone else. She likes to pull little bags around behind her. She loves helium balloons. She takes very long naps and is sweet when she wakes up. She likes to have stuffed animals in her crib with her, only they have to be the size to hold under her arm. The more the merrier. She is usually calm and happy. She is pretty independent. She likes people to hang out with her and cuddle. She doesn’t talk yet because using grunts works best. She will try new words, but once is enough. She is small for her age but very proportionate. She has big innocent eyes and a huge smile. Most everyone gets a smile from her. She only has eight teeth and right now is working on getting in 4 molars at the same time, which is the most solemn you will ever find her. She is getting to the point where she can follow directions and she has ideas pop into her brain. You can watch it happening. She loves to hang out with Dad in his office. She is a quiet and content companion so he can still get his work done. She is good at sharing and will go out of her way to do so. She is a joy and delight to our family.

Lincoln George Beatty

What I know about him…

His dad found his name on a penny and his middle name is named after his grandpa, George Lyle Watts, who passed away while his was in my tummy. He is almost 6 yrs old. He just started kindergarten. He has a prized beanie toy that is a blue colored puppy and it is named Blue. He likes to do whatever Silver is doing. He has a love/hate relationship with the dog. He loves her so much and would do anything for her, but at the same time he is ruff with her and likes to dominate over her. He has a kind heart. He likes things to be gentle and kind around him. He feels frustrated some times when things are out of his control. He is good at playing pretend with his sister. He is good at math. He started figuring numbers on his own, with the aid of his fingers. He would mix up the colors green and red a lot. His best friend is his cousin, Andrew. His is becoming an independent swimmer and likes to swim a lot. He really likes to use a snorkel mask in the water. He is also fond of taking baths. Balancing on a bike is hard for him, so he is content to run beside Silver when they go to a friend’s house down the street. He is good at throwing balls, kicking balls and hitting balls. He likes to watch me cook in the kitchen. When he meets new people for the first time, if they smile too big at him and give him too much attention it makes him nervous and he will shy away. He has been working hard this summer to earn money to go on a cruise with the family. He likes toys that are multiples of the same things, i.e. cars, dominos, cards and blocks. He likes to line them up or organize them. He enjoys one on one attention. He gets scared at night and has some bad dreams. He will climb in bed with Silver when he is scared. He is interested in dinosaurs. He watches movies and has me read books about them. He likes camping and always wants to stay “one more night”. When he cries he pours from all parts of his face, his eyes, nose and the corners of his downturned mouth and he likes to cry very loudly. He has large, deep brown eyes and the cutest giggle you ever heard. He is very obedient, he wants to please everyone. He is content to play by himself and sometimes needs that alone time. He is very persistent about what is going to happen at his birthday party ever since he went to Pirate Island Pizza for a party. Almost every day a new idea pops into his head about how he wants something at his party. He doesn’t like Sundays because he can’t play computer games and watch shows. He loves to play computer games like Club Penguin and Nick Jr. games. He would like to play X Box but the paddles are broken. He reminds me to be more loving, patient, and kind in my life.

Silver Wade Beatty

What I know about him…

We found his name on a street sign. We thought it was strong, unique and “colorful” name that he could make into his own. His middle name is named after his dad,

Wade Blaine Beatty. He is 8 yrs old. He got baptized in May. He just started 3^rd grade. He walks his brother to school every morning. He has been earning money this summer to go on a cruise with the family. He has been taught by his dad to be an entrepreneur. If you can’t make a great deal of money on a chore he calls it a “rip off” because he has tasted the spoils of earning big bucks. He loves to please others and doesn’t like to disappoint people. He is a good example to his brothers and sisters. He is very helpful with them for his mom. He makes sure everyone is doing what they should and following the rules. He is a good student. He is a good reader and read a lot of chapter books this summer, i.e. ABC Mysteries and the Spiderwick Chronicles. He gets frustrated when there isn’t enough time in the day to play. He is learning all sorts of new sports. He has played soccer; he learned baseball this last spring and is starting football this week. He is very creative with legos and will spend hours creating new things. He likes Star Wars Legos and is starting to like Indiana Jones. Silver helps with Penny a lot. He takes her on walks and takes her potty. He has a guinea pig named Skippy, but he is being sold because he doesn’t like cleaning his cage in a timely manner. He sometimes gets frustrated that Lincoln gets to play and follow him around but for the most part he plays a lot with his brother and sisters. He loves to make Scarlet laugh. He does silly things likes makes weird noises or throws himself on the ground just for her. He likes to carry her on the trampoline and jumps with her. He gets her out of her crib when she wakes up. He is a fish in the water. At swimming pools with tube slides he will go up and down them over and over again. Or if there is a diving board he will do the same thing. He loves to ride in a tube behind a boat by himself. He is getting good at trying new foods, which is a huge accomplishment considering his lack of interest in food and their weird textures. He still swishes when he drinks. He likes boy looking stuffed animals like lions, brown bears and moose’s. His favorite color is black. He likes to play “migi mode”, which is pulling his shirt down over his knees and wobbling around. He just learned how to mow the lawn. He helped me a lot in the garden this year; he liked to pick the new fruit. He likes to go camping. He has felt the Spirit in his life many times and has tried fasting for the first time this last month. He is tall, lean and good looking. He has a loving smile and beautiful eyes that light up when he smiles. He is honest and sincere. He makes me proud to have him be our oldest child.

Mt. Whitney Hike 2009

Wade recalled a part of our hike on the day we summitted:

Our group of 11 just got down from Whitney Trail last night. We stayed at trail camp and summitted on Friday. The conditions were rough. We had crampons and ice axes and got to use them, a lot. I will up load pictures and video later today to help better describe what we saw. See some pictures here.

We left out of Trail Camp a little late around 6:30 a.m. The cables were icy but passable. We often scrabbled over rocks to avoid as must snow and ice as possible, some was unavoidable. The top of the chute was sketchy and ice axes and crampons made it fairly easy. It snowed 3 inches on us between Trail Crest and the summit. Visibility was only 50 feet so the view from the top was less than spectacular. In the blowing snow we actually could hear the people at the summit before we could see the cabin. Because the conditions were worsening, we only stayed long enough for a quick picture and celebratory tear or two from my wife. Very Sweet.

The path completely disappeared as it snowed 3 more inches on the way back to trail crest. It was white, wet, and slippery. At trail crest , we found the path across the top of the chute all but disappeared. There was a backlog of hikers without crampons and axes just standing there in the snow. It was obviously that there was a coin's flip chance a hiker would slide off the mountain with just hiking shoes and poles. Our group actually roped up and helped our wives across and then began ferrying equipment back and forth to get some of the other hikers across the chute.

It is amazing how grateful people are for a little help at 13500 feet in a snow storm.

After a dozen or so trips back and forth, most of our group headed down the 97 switchbacks. My two brothers-in-law, Ryan and Michael lead the train of 15-20 hikers down the mountain. I guess they looked like a very slow moving train waiting for the track to be laid. - Ryan carefully cutting our foot holds and paths through the new snow and ice.

I left my wife in the charge of Michael and stayed at the chute to wait with an extra pair of crampons for my other brother-in-law Matt who needed them.

As I waited the conditions improved slightly and I helped a couple more groups across. As I was helping husband and wife couple across, Christine, the wife, slipped. Without an axe to arrest herself she began careening down the 1000 ft chute on her back - head first. Her husband and I shouted for her to spread out her arms hoping to avoid her tumbling and to right herself. Amazingly she heard us and because of the new snow was able to stop herself 150-200 feet down the mountain. She was lying sideways and terrified. Her husband was calm and collected for a guy who just saw his wife fall off the mountain. I left my crampons with him and told him to wait for Matt and glissaded down to her.

Now I'm sure that BobR or some of you other semi-pros would make fun on my technique. I have only glissaded a couple times before and never a semi-rescue. I understand how to self arrest but that’s about it. So I kind of made it up as I went along. I tied off to Christine with my 25 ft rope and calmed her down a bit. I did a quick evaluation and she seemed to be not hurt except for a small cut on her hand.

Although Christine was very brave, talking her into sliding down -on purpose- took a little coaxing. With me and my ice axe as a break, she could slide and I could stop her. It took about 15 minutes to slowly make our way down. It took a lot of effort and proper technique to slow down in some spots. Christine’s husband Mario, meanwhile, used the crampons left him and stayed there for a couple of hours helping people across. Very cool. I bet his words of caution to other hikers was convincing. “Ya, be careful in this spot, this is where my wife FELL OFF THE MOUNTAIN.”

Christine and I carefully walked back to trail camp to wait for our groups to slowly make their way down the snow/ice/slush covered switchbacks.

Everyone made it down safe in our groups. We even took a few pictures at the bottom. After talking more with Christine and her group, we found out that they had ice axes and crampons – but left them in the car because someone at the bottom said they probably wouldn’t need them.

Many new hikers arrived up to trail camp that night without ice axes and crampons. I actually sold my crampons to a guy - could have sold 20 pair.

That night it snowed a bit at trail camp, nothing much and was gone pretty quickly. We headed back down and managed the couple snow crossings with ease. (5 hours of practice the day before). Overall it was a great time on Whitney, but we all feel blessed no one was hurt or worse.

More SNOW

Snow Day!

It was very exciting for everyone at the Beatty household to have a Snow Day in La Verkin. As you well know, snow is a rare commodity in Southern Utah. This was Liberty's first Snowman. Silver had his first SNOW DAY - home from school because of the hazards of 1.5 inches of treacherous driving conditions.

The snow really made our new house feel like home. Its fun to start memories in a new place.