Hiking near Leeds in St. George- Red Cliff’s
It’s a good thing that life is so busy and rushing by because it usually means a few things. Such as that there are a lot of activities and people around, that whatever you’re doing in life- you are needed and that your health must be pretty good or time would feel like it was dragging!
For the past three weeks, we have had Paola Pomp and Sofia Petri living with us. They are 15 year old girls from Germany. They felt like a natural fit for us because they liked to do a lot of things. We gave them full range of the basement including two spare bedrooms but they decided to sleep together in one room. They are the best of friends and it was clear that they wanted to be together. They had prepared for this experience for a long time, they were experiencing some freedoms and they share a love of adventure. The first day that they arrived, I knew they would be very tired. They insisted on staying awake until it was our night time and we assumed that they would not want to get up at 6:30 A.M. the next morning but they were not going to miss one activity or event with their group. They politely entered our home and said how beautiful it was. Sofia is very shy while Paolo is very outgoing and frank. When we had to say good-bye last Sunday, I was not prepared for how difficult that would be. They livened up the place and I liked having them here. Alex was a great friend to them while they were here. On the way to the airport, because everyone was so sad, we thought of all the funny things that happened and all of them included times with Alex. They called him their big brother and had fun getting shakes, sitting around the pool in St. George and chasing after a rogue Chihuahua late at night.
Early the first morning they awoke here, they had me come downstairs and see all the gifts they brought for us. My resolve to drop a few pounds while they were here went down the tube when I saw all the delicious German chocolates! We had such great talks- usually included something they wanted to know about the Mormon church. They came to church with us the first week and went to the Young Women’s meeting and Sunday School. They decided against Sacrament Meeting, which I get, because it seems like a long time at church for someone who doesn’t go to church. They each have a religion but don’t really attend church. One day Paola asked if Mormons can only marry other Mormons and then asked about Gays and Mormons. So, it made for interesting conversations. I said you can be gay and be mormon but Alex insisted that you can’t really be gay and be mormon. Anyway, I hope they saw that we were a good family that really wanted to show them a great time. We took them to fun restaurants, played “Caught Ya” (card game) and showed them the sites in the city, took them on a walk around Temple Square but our best adventure was to St. George. They absolutely loved the red rock and our hike to Red Cliff’s. They said it was their greatest adventure in their life. They swam through a slot canyon and climbed up a rock ledge and then slip down natural rocks into cold, cold water. They loved it so much! It was just so fun to take them places and I learned a lot about being what it means to be a 15 year old again!
We loved hearing them play the piano and sing! Both very talented!
Saying good-bye at the airport. In typical Joe fashion, he drove speedily back home after we arrived at the airport because Paola had forgotten her medicine. It was all good! I am happily amazed that you can become so close to another person when you live with them for 3 weeks! We miss them terribly!
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