Volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Pink Choral Sand Dunes

We started the day with a simple, but yummy breakfast at the Best Friends Roadhouse.

This is the gentleman who works at Best Friends. He is very nice and we remembered him from the last time we visited.

After breakfast, Lydia, Mary, Emerson, Isabel, Suzanne and I all volunteered at one of the cat houses at the animal sanctuary. People loved the cats.

I was proud of everyone for being willing to help with even the least glamorous tasks.
I sent this picture to Amy as her kid’s attempt to beg with their puppy dog faces. They were begging to bring the cat home for a sleep-over. We later learned that it would be too logistically complicated to do any cat sleepovers, so no kids took cats back for the evening. We did learn, however, that if you stay in the cabins that you can have pig sleepovers. Mary has already decided she wants to do that for her birthday, and we will plan around it so that logistics wont be an issue.
After the cleaning, everyone got a chance to walk a cat. Lydia chose this cat who had been sick, so he was sneezing and he had goopey eyes. I think his name was Aragorn.
I think Emerson’s cat may have been called Sparkle-berry, but I’m not sure.

While we were cleaning, Amy worked on the book she is writing about the Doctrine and Covenants, and Lily took Basil for a walk while my dad kept an eye on the kids. Then Lily and my dad visited the pet cemetery. We all met up at 11:30 and had lunch at the Best Friends cafeteria. We loved it! Not only did we get to eat outside in the fresh air, but the food was all vegan and it was so healthy and delicious.

Then we all went to the pet cemetery. Basil barked at this statue as though it we a real dog.

Clarissa fell in love with the wind-chimes and turned the below gazebo into her music shop, where you can pay her money and she will play songs for you on the wind-chimes. Meanwhile, Emerson started crying because she felt the loss of all the animals in the cemetery so deeply. We joked that while Emerson’s tender heart was break, Clarissa was turning a profit on the wind-chimes for the deceased animals.

Money please!
Here is Mary spending time with the deceased pigs.
The graves, dirt and overall palate of the landscape were all so beautiful. People wrote tender inscriptions to their pets, and added pretty stones and pebbles to the tops of graves for decoration and memorializing. I love how much love and respect for animals is expressed here.

After our stop at the cemetery, we all went to Pink Choral Sand-dunes State Park. Lily and I both agreed that it was our favorite time ever going. There was no wind, we had the right equipment, it was beautiful weather (almost 60 degrees and sunny) and we thoroughly enjoyed all the people we shared the experience with.

We rented sleds that worked way better than the ones we brought last time.
Clarissa was brave and did a great job sledding down the hill!
I had trouble staying straight on my sled, but got better as the day went on. My dad did great!
Suzanne decided to give the sled a whirl right before we all left and she had an awesome run!
Ammon dictated a variation on James and the Gian Peach. It was fun to watch his imagination at work.
Clarissa’s digging reminded me of Basil and the holes he has put in our back-yard.

After the amazing time at the Dunes we ate all together at the Peak-a-boo cafe, which is our favorite place to eat in Kanab. It is only a block away from the Best Friends Road House where we were all staying. We loved it!

After dinner, we took Basil to the dog park, where I think the kids had even more fun than Basil did. There were big murals the kids posed in front of, and they played and played until it was time to go.

Back at home, everyone got clean, and I was amused by how much Ammon and Clarissa love TV.

While I was hanging out with Ammon and Clarissa, Lydia was having a party with my dad, Suzanne, Amy, Emerson, and Isabel. They all had gifts for Lydia to open which was beyond sweet.

Emerson and Isabel gave Lydia a stuffed avocado. My dad and Suzanne gave her some awesome new shoes.

I loved today so much and I really think Lydia and all the party did too. I think it is a day all of us would repeat in a heart-beat.