Hanging with the Prophet

It was a fun and different Family Home Evening this last Monday night. I went to the Mormon Tab Choir concert at Red Rocks. The brilliant white moon rose through the ink blue sky above dramatic red sandstone formations was almost as impressive as the music. The choir also had their orchestra so the concert was amazing. As a special treat the prophet sat a couple of rows over from us and during the intermission we wandered by to say hi and shake his hand. We got within 2 feet but then got lost in the crowd, it was still a great experience.
It was a great family week because I heard from all of my kids to wish me some strange thing call a “birthday”. They think that naming some date on the calendar makes you a year old, and I just don’t buy it. I’m fighting tooth and claw to prevent the creeping perils of old age. It is hard when pains just don’t go away, but I’m trying.
The highlight of the week came over the holiday weekend. Tiana and Preston met us in Vail and we went backpacking to take the trail we missed last year to see the Mount of the Holy Cross. The weather was perfect – it rained until we arrived and then held off until we were in the car on the way to the hotel.
We backpacked in about 1 mile and set up camp right along the trail. Next morning took off to the see the mystical Mount of the Holy Cross. It is about a 5 mile trails through the woods and then above the tree line up to a rock house built at a little over 13,000 ft. From there you get an incredible view of the Holy Cross Mountain. It is suppose to have curative powers and been a sight for my pilgrimages to be heal. Well our faith must have been lacking because Tiana pulled a muscle and Preston got altitude sick which made the going rough. Preston was Hercules during the hike and didn’t really get sick until Sunday morning.
When we got back from the hike and after the rain storm and a fun dinner at “Outback Steakhouse” we headed up to Beaver Creek for the fireworks display. They set off the explosions really close to the crowd and it was like being in a battle field scene with the sharp rap of the fireworks. We loved it, but I missed the strains of patriotic music to give meaning to the fireworks. I thought of Don in Iraq and the principals of freedom that defines our country. We are different than any other government in the world. We believe as Patrick Henry said – “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government ...” Now more than ever we need to live by that principal.