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

A New Seat in Time for Labor Day

About a year ago, our new neighbors gave us some chairs they had inherited from past friends. This meant we had outdoor furniture! A place to sit when taking off shoes covered and filled with Moab dirt. A place to sit and watch storms while the husband tinkered on the guitar. However, these chairs were getting plastered with the sprinklers several times a week without much protection for the wood.

They were painted red and orange. Their names were painted accordingly:

 I sanded these babies down, and wasn't too careful of what I tracked inside the house....

I painted away with the vibrant Million Dollar Red. It looked closer to pink when I put it on. *face palm* Thankfully it dried darker, so it was closer to the look I was going for:

The ending result: a cheerful entry to the house that will be protected from the elements and look nice year round!! They look better in person. You should see for yourself!

 

 As for Labor Day weekend, we played and tried out some new forms of Moab recreation. We went rock climbing at Ice Cream Parlor. (Outdoor rock climbing was a first for me!)

Who doesn't love playing in the water at the beach?? Oh, oh pick me!! A beach off the Colorado River? That works!

Thanks Sparks for introducing us to some new recreation!

Smith Reunion 2013

When one family from out of states comes to visit in Utah, we tend to see how many of us can make it. Everyone was able to come in August, so that's when the reunion was set.

**Warning: there are a whole lot of pictures! (It kinda happens when I'm around the grandkids for a whole week....)

Here's the crew!

First there was an outing to the park.

Then there was an outing to the splash pad.

 We checked out the Tracy Aviary.

After looking at the birds, the grand kids had to try a ride.

We took Trax down to the Clark Planetarium.

 We hiked Mt. Timp and checked out the caves.

We played Minute To Win It.

We made bubbles of all shapes and sizes.

We had Family Olympics. The Purple Panthers against the Golden Eagles. Golden Eagles won.

There was a scavenger hunt to find a special treasure.

There was a lot of hanging out and being our usual selves.

Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting us and for coming up with fun activities. It sure was fun all being together! Until next time.

Summer Coming to a Close

Time to catch up a bit! Hold onto your hats...or scarfs.....or popsicles....

I got to go to Logan with our stake for Youth Conference. It was fantastic! There was a good mix of spiritual things, activities, and down time.

The final activity was hiking Ensign Peak and raising our personal banners. It was a perfect day for the hike, and a cool experience.

An old ward member was reporting for his mission, so some of us stayed to see him. We hung out at Temple Square, and Plato's Closet. (Those girls were thrilled at the variety and prices.)

I finished my jeans quilt!! It has taken so long since it has been the main project I work on when we go to Wendover. I'm not sure the cleaning crew appreciated having the quilting boards taking over the room.....

We went up to Salt Lake County to spend some time with family. To start off, we got to have breakfast with some of our favorite people! These fritters were a special treat! (A birthday treat!)

The rest of the week was a reunion with the Smith's. That will be another post...I took a lot of pictures....

 A gal I visit teach is having a baby girl in a month, so I got to help put on a shower for her. Here's what I caught on camera. You can't see everything below, but it will give the gist. It was fun to do, and we had enough food for 40 people! We were snacking on goodies for days....even after we shared. Thanks Jessica, McKay, and Kelly!

A Baptism and Party

We were able to go up and be with Jakob on his baptism day. We took a different route to Tooele through Butterfield Canyon. It was a little adventurous since a storm the night before caused us to go across some loose rocks. After that part, I was able to relax and take some pictures.

After the baptism, we met at Nathan and Brenda's for some food and celebrating.

The kiddos were making all sorts of faces!

We managed to get one picture with all of the Gowen's present at the time. Not too bad for just one picture!

That night, we got to see our friends the Romriell's. We were able to catch up a bit, and had lots of laughs.

It was a quick and wonderful trip. Hooray for birthday weekends!!

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.

Three Little Visitors

Three visitors took a long drive to see what Moab's all about. We played nonstop and loved having them around!

**Disclaimer** A lot of pictures are about to follow.....

We learned the park gets warm pretty early in the day....

There was lot's of reading.

The kids got used to making faces for their Aunt Erin.

Jug Handle Arch.

Double Arch.

Sand Dune Arch. The kids felt they were back home on the beach.

Shaved Ice!!!

Avery Rescue day at the Matteson Preserve. The scouts had a booth.

Now I know why moms love the library so much!

Running in the sprinklers!

Moonflower Canyon.

It was so fun having our visitors for almost a week! We loved having them around. Thanks Mar, Curtis, and Heidi!