Summer Famcation 2013

 Merlin seems to have a keen sense of when things are about to change...

You've heard of a vacation, maybe of a staycation, or even a funcation, but this summer we enjoyed a wonderful famcation! It had been two years since taking a proper trip to see family, so soon after school got out, we left behind our little mutt and were Utah bound.

I arrived a few days before Jackson and spent some quality time with my family. This time mostly revolved around my 10 month old niece, Daisy. As her mother put it, she was going through a "gremlin" phase, which involved face contorting, growling, and of course, dancing to her theme song.

 

Daisy dancing to her theme song (after being rescued from drowning herself in the pool)

 

She also became hilariously obsessed with headstands... as shown in this video

 

I was able to spend a lot of time reacquainting myself with family members. The Britts are a tight knit clan, and we always have a great time together. I loved being able to spend time individually with my siblings and parents. Its sometimes hard to feel connected with so much distance between us, but in reality we are never far apart.

Look out world, here she comes!

 It's hard to believe that Ariel is a high school graduate - a real woman with a blank slate of a future that I'm sure she will fill with color and adventure. She is leaving on July 31 for NY to spend time with family and learn about natural foods, oils, and healthy lifestyle living. (And of course, she is planning to come see me while she is out East...)

Yes, Bonnie. This is the only picture I had of you...

 

Bonnie is such a sweet mother - who makes her own juice and baby food, hikes with a baby on her back, and is not ashamed to tell a perfect stranger (who was on a date with her brother) the story of how she peed her pants at Crossfit and didn't leave until the workout was over. This past year we've actually been able to see a lot of her, something like five visits in 12 months! I've loved knowing her as an adult and becoming really close friends.

Clearly excited to be in the picture... 

Crystal is so kind and passionate. She is doing our family history and finding out some amazing stories about our ancestors. I was able to visit her while she was working at the family history center and she showed me pictures of our great great greats... It's all pretty beyond me, but I'm real grateful she is getting so much work done! She was the one who organized our family reunion and pulled it off without a hitch!

Carrying little Daisy on a hike

Ben is a real college kid. He comes home to raid the kitchen and eat Sunday dinner, and isn't ashamed to bring dates to hang out with the fam. He has two jobs, he works for a history professor on campus and is an apprentice at a machine repair shop. He also has "the most amazing" roommates, which we all know, makes or breaks the college experience. He is also clearly the sweetest Britt, he is always sincere, humble and eager to do the right thing.

When you burn 600 calories a day running, you constantly have to be fueling up...

Sarah is freaking running a marathon on the 24 of July. Mother of two, 98 pounds, and up at 3:30 am to run 15 miles in order to beat the Arizona heat. She is master of self and her household! Our time together was pretty brief, but she always makes me smile. Not to mention her two kids. Cooper is hilariously stocky, and I dare say as much boy as Lynlee is girl.

Jackson with Cooper

We spent a lot of time outdoors - we went hiking, had an outdoor BBQ and went canoeing. For me, I spent most of my time outside gawking at the mountains. While North Carolina is lusciously green, I do miss the mountains. I miss how majestic they are. I miss orienting my sense of direction to their presence. As my brother in law Marshall says, the mountains keep things in perspective and act as a humble reminder of how small you are in the grand scheme of things.

On our way to hike up Mt. Timpanogos canyon

 

Our fearless Patriarch

Behind us is Bonnie and Matts newest vehicle... the beast!

Playing peek a boo!

 

In the mountains with Ellie, Ben's dog

 

Kyla, with the wind in her hair...

 

Enjoying a BBQ at the foot of the mountains

 

No subtitle necessary...

Spending an evening with old friends.. Miss you Lesley and Amber!

 

A day at the office with Dad

This trip had been in the making for about 2 years time, as the Britts knew that after Ben got home from his mission we all wanted to spend time together without distractions. We had tossed around the idea of going on a cruise, or renting a cabin on a lake, but we combined both of those ideas and spent 4 sun filled days on a house boat in Lake Powell! This trip was made possible by Alicia, my very best friend growing up, who offered her house boat to us for a family reunion, which was only complete because she and her adorable family joined us! All of us regret never getting a group shot, but cameras were not generally on hand on account of the surrounding water. We had a blast on the water, on the house boat, hiding from the sun and trying to stay cool. We hope for more similar outings in the future!

Ariel showing off the suit she bought for the trip... 

While Mom was excited it was a one piece, many would say it is more revealing than most bikinis.

 

A lake in the desert, quite the juxtaposition

The mountains surrounding the lake made us feel really small

 

Cliff jumping!

 

Jackson cliff jumping

The boys spent the bulk of the time wake boarding or waiting their turn

No sister ever needs to see this much skin belonging to their only brother

 

We spent a lot of time cruising around on the boats, admiring the lake and jumping in to cool off

Let's be honest, most of the time was spent hiding from the sun, as Sarah demonstrates here

 

After returning from Lake Powell, Jackson and I headed up north to spend time with his family in Logan. We were in for a real treat. We spent time with nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, livestock, friends and we arrived in time for the fireworks!

Jackson's sister Holly was in town for her summer sabbatical with the girls. They live in Connecticut, but determined to have her kids have real relationships with their family, they spend 6 weeks every summer in Logan.

We were also able to meet Josie's son, Forrest for the first time. Josie and her family will be off to live in India for the next year starting in August. Josie and Rick seem optimistic and are looking forward to this new adventure. Kinda crazy, but then they won't be the only Olsen's living overseas this next year.

Mandy and her family live in Ireland, they were missed as the rest of the family was able to be together!

Peter and Eliza waiting to climb

Kristen and her family will spend 4 months in Budapest, Hungary as she completes a study abroad for law school. We were able to go rock climbing with her family and enjoy giggles from Eliza and Peter as they played with Jackson.

Clay and Jen are doing great, still working in Salt Lake. Their daughter Navy is quite the character. She is becoming totally obsessed with dolls. All of us are obsessed with her red hair!

Wade and his family are certainly busy, especially this time of year as they prepare for the fair. We also happened to be there a few days before their 700 pound pig gave birth to her piglets. Let's just say, the size of the being was a little mind blowing.

 

Drying off after sprinkler under the tramp!

 

Meeting Forrest boy!

Waiting for the fireworks at good 'ol Romney Stadium. Go Aggies!

A true highlight of the trip - horseback riding with Uncle Terry and Aunt Max. They are true gems!

Celebrating Jackson and Josie's birthdays!

Okay, Sonoma. You are officially the cutest thing on the planet!

 

One of the biggest highlights of our trip was spending time with Jackson's grandparents. Every time I am in Grandpa Jack's presence I feel he is piercing my soul and speaking to me as an angel from heaven. He is nearing his 90th birthday and every time we leave Logan we hold our breathe, fearing it may have been our last visit with him. We pray that he will continue to endure and we will be greeted by his loving embrace when we return in December.

 

As I returned to North Carolina, I was sad to say goodbye to family and friends. But, I was welcomed home by someone who missed us very much.

Never leave me again!

Return to the Reservation

It was mid-March 1976.  My father had just graduated from law school at the University of Utah, and my mother was eight months pregnant with their second child.  They had set out early that morning from Salt Lake City with the humble belongings of a young, poor couple: dinnerware (a wedding gift), clothes (of the thrift store variety), and enough books to strain the rear shocks of their '71 Chevy Vega, which they named "Kermit" on account of it being green.  Their most prized possession, an incorrigible little 2-year old named Robert Wade, was tucked tightly into his carseat, and given toys to distract him from the long hours and desolation of Southeastern Utah.

They drove all day and into the night, making frequent stops for little Wade and to check on the health of the car.  When they finally arrived in Gallup, New Mexico that evening, the sun had already fallen, and the small town (known by the natives as the "Indian Capital of the World" because so many tribes share its space) was aglow with street lights and illuminated bar signs.


My mother had lump in her throat as my father pulled onto historic Route 66 and drove through the heart of town.  To her left and to her right she saw the ugliness of Gallup.  Drunks stumbled in and out of bars and down the sidewalks.  Homeless men lay in the street gutters and paid no mind to passing cars.  It was an alien and unfamiliar sight for her.  She had grown up in the cozy bubble of Cache Valley, within the larger bubble of the state of Utah.  By steady increments peppered over a lifetime, she had grown accustomed to a world of vigilant church-goers and affable neighbors that would bring you a cheese and potato casserole if you fell ill.  She was the kind of woman who had only seen alcohol consumed in movies, and who, by her own admission, had never uttered a single swear word.

My father's skin was a bit thicker, his mind more resolute on living and working among the Indians.  While some of that could be attributed to his more PG-13 upbringing with siblings who enjoyed tormenting one another and a mother who frequently referred to her kids as "little shits," much of my father's obstinate confidence that night came from the fact that he had lived there before.  Two years as a Mormon Missionary on the Navajo Reservation put ice in his veins and assurance in his heart.  It helped him to see past the drunkards in the street, the raggedness of the town, and, with the exception of their puttering automobile, the profound absence of the color green.

My mother made it about half a mile into town before she burst into tears.

I spent the last week in Gallup for a conference hosted by Teach For America for school leaders in rural regions, and the trip gave me an excuse to do a little family history.  I had always known that my family had lived on the Navajo Reservation before I was born, and I had always known that my oldest sister, Mandy, was born there.  But that's about the extent of it.  I didn't know...

• That my family lived in Fort Defiance, Arizona, and that each day my dad drove 15 minutes south to Window Rock where the Navajo Tribal Headquarters were located.
• That my sister Mandy could not be born in Fort Defiance or Window Rock for lack of western medicine, and was instead born just outside of Gallup in a Christian-run hospital in Rehoboth, NM.
• That my sister Mandy was pale and bald.  The only other baby in the hospital that day was a premature Native with long, black hair.
• That my family only lived on the Reservation for 9 months.
• That they lived in a small government-built house with aluminum siding.
• That it was a phone call and a job offer from the late Congressman Gunn McKay to my dad that pulled my family from the Reservation and to Washington, DC.
• How hard it was on my mother, or how happy she was when that phone call came.

Throughout my week on the Reservation, I asked myself, "Could I live here?  Could I do what my dad did?  Could I bring my wife and family to this place and live and work?"  There is certainly work to be had.  Teach For America is placing as many teachers and alumni as they can on Navajo land, and the demand is still not met.  The Indian school systems are desperate for committed educators to fill the vacancies that seem to have a revolving door attached to them.  But so are school systems in L.A.  And D.C.  And Oakland.  And New York.  And North Carolina.

Could we live and work on the Res?  Probably.  Will we?  Probably not.  Celeste and I fielded a lot of questions while we were in Utah earlier this month about where we'll go after I finish my doctorate at UNC.  We really don't know.  We talk about returning to the West and probably will, but right now our future is as wide open as the endless horizon of the New Mexican desert.

TFA put us up in El Rancho Hotel & Motel, aka"Home of the Movie Stars", where many of the big names in Hollywood would stay when filming westerns.  The interior is a mixture of a rustic Southwest lodge, Indian Art, and Hollywood headshots signed by the big names that stayed there, including John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Humphrey Bogart.

Old school.

A Navajo silversmith.

The County Courthouse

Zuni Indian Dance.  The city of Gallup hosts nightly Indian dances in the summer.

Pyramid Peak.  We hiked to its summit on the last day of the conference.  For some of the participants, it was there first experience with a mountain.