Spring in Moab

This spring, we were able to fit in some fun activities. We got to go backpacking with the Sparks! It was the perfect weather, and super fun:

I got to hang out with the Woolfs! They were so fun to play with, and the California was lovely:

I was able to got to BYU's Women's Conference, and be an usher. I got to hang out with my two girls Heather and Karalee. They were in the mood to do a little shoot, and we had fun catching the end of the sunset:

We went exploring with the Greens:

We did some hiking for work at Fisher Tower (Forrest and Craig tagged along), Donkey Canyon, and Corona Arch:

I got to play with Carter at the park to celebrate him turning 2:

Sean went to work in Carlsbad, and the Gales were able to come up. We explored the massive Cavern:

We also had the Gowen's come for the weekend. We set up a tent for the boys to sleep in, and we went on some fun hikes with them:

First Half Marathon

Moab has a First Half Marathon and Other Half Marathon every spring and fall. Natalie was one of the participants, and brought Ian down for the trip.

After we dropped her off for the run, we checked out Wilson Arch:

We saw Natalie cross the finish line for the half marathon. She did amazing!! Plus, she looks fantastic. She kinda just finished a half marathon!

In the afternoon, we headed to Arches to see some of the sights. Spring was letting its presence known with a vengeance! We were thankful to have jackets and ear protection. We all came home a little gritty.

It was really fun having some more visitors. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with family and the chance to create more memories!

Friends in March

Heather and Karalee came down for a visit during their spring break! We got to explore a bit and had a lovely time together. 

Some issues with wardrobe and health changed our schedule a bit, but it was still really nice. They even got to experience a bit of the Moab wind that is a sure sign of spring!

 

We enjoyed some yummy food too!

 

 

It was some fun times with the girls. Thanks for coming down on your break!

Hiking Season Ends.... Mostly

This morning, the sky was blue and the world still snow covered and frosty! Now that the roads are mostly good, I can enjoy it a lot more.

These are pictures I took this morning. As you can see, our roof forces the snow to melt in a creative way. You can also see the snowman I helped create yesterday. He started melting, and froze again. It almost makes you want to put props on the left side for him or something....

We had some hikes to finish up for work. The easy hike was Faux Falls:

 The hard hike was Spring Canyon:

Our friends Tommy and Tyler were able to come visit before Thanksgiving. My battery ran out after one hike due to me dropping my other battery, but you can see some of the fun. Since it had just snowed, it was very muddy on the trail. We hiked close to a Canadian group on the Delicate Arch trail who were entertaining.

For Thanksgiving, we had our friends the Gales over! Much fun was had and we ate a lot of delicious food. I think I was pooped after making food, so no pictures of how beautiful the skin was on the turkey. Trust me. It was beautiful and delicious. (Having paper plates the whole weekend was the best idea ever.)  But. We did go exploring on some hikes, and those were documented.

The last hike for work, the medium one, was Courthouse Wash:

Then we hiked Hidden Valley, and saw some very cool petroglyphs. We're holding hands in one picture because that's what the people on the wall are doing.

Then we ventured off to Faux Falls again. Can you see the human skull in the rock formation? 

We enjoyed seeing family and friends this last month. Not all visits were documented, but they will definitely be remembered. Thank you Tommy and Tyler, and Jeff and Brittany for visiting!

Another Bout of Hikes

Over the last couple weeks, we have gone on some more hikes. The weather continues to be perfect to explore the outdoors.

First up: Prospector Trail. This was the easy hike.

The medium hike was Cable Arch. This on is fun because it requires a little bit of scrambling.

The hard hike we went on was the Portal Trail. My favorite was the item we had to take pictures with to prove we'd done the hike.

The bonus hike was Fisher Tower. It was the furthest we had gone on the trail, and we were there when the sun set. Always a treat. We applauded after the sun had gone down. It was beautiful.

Season for Hikings

It's that time of year again! The time when we are given a list of hikes from work. If we take a picture with the item at the end (typically a toy), we get credit and a little health bonus. As you can see below, we had some difficulty finding one of the boxes.

The easy hike: Millcreek.

The medium hike: Hunter Canyon

The hard hike: Jeep Arch

The bonus hike: Landscape Arch

Independence Day Holiday

To start with, I had to decorate my nails to show my American spirit:

This year for the 4th, we got to have Don, Lauren, and Rowen visit! It was fun being in Moab for the holiday, and experience it first hand.

First we went out to Fisher Towers. Good fortune was with us (it must have been my birthday....or something), and it wasn't a blasted hot day! Wahoo:

After getting taken out for a birthday dinner (thanks Don and Lauren!), we ventured to Landscape Arch.

The Elders Quorum had a potluck in the evening, so we took Rowan with us. There were some girls her age, and they palled around and watched the little firework show.

We headed back to our home, and all sat out on our front lawn to watch the city fireworks. It was a decent show. We finished off our Independence Day with some Ben and Jerry's!

The next morning, we ventured out to see Jug Handle Arch, and some petroglyphs. Unfortunately, they were practicing for the filming of Transformers 4. It was kind of fun to see the cameras and cranes and staged car crash (after it happened), but we had a good time to wait and weren't able to see the Indian Writings. Ah well.

It was so nice for Don, Lauren, and Rowan to spend their holiday with us, and let us play!

The J Junction

The J Junction. That means the end of June has met the beginning of July.

We both got to go to camp this year with our youth, I got Girls Camp and Sean got Scout Camp. I took pictures of what the girls did. Here's a little taste of our fun:

My friend wanted to do an oil painting as a wedding gift. She invited me to go picture taking with her as she needed to catch the shadows at the right time of day. (That's a true artist!) And what an awesome wedding gift!

Double Arch and the Window Section

We took the Young Women to go see the Manti Pagaent. We got there early, so there was plenty of time to take lots of pictures.

We went up to Salt Lake for a full and quick trip.

Not pictured: Jean and Dylan's open house in Provo.

Not pictured: Cindy's new apartment and the pile of boxes she emptied!

Pictured: Spending some time with some Smiths, Johnsons, and Poultons. Always a good situation!

Not pictured: Seeing Elder Bradshaw at his homecoming after serving in the Marshal Islands.

Not pictured: Seeing our dear friends the Cooks and their new baby boy. (I was a little busy holding the precious little one.)

We got to spent dome time with with Franz's, so we got some good Franz/Gowen time.

For our Family Home Evening activity, we hiked Cable Arch with our friends the Balls. I don't think we quite realized how hot it would still be, but it was a fun and rewarding hike. Their little one is sure the climber, and got to practice his skills.