The Great Outdoors

We are so excited to be back in Utah where we are surround by the great outdoors and adventure is waiting around every corner. This summer we tried to take advantage of every opportunity we had to revisit some of our favorite spots as well as cross a whole bunch of new places off our bucket list. Here are some of the highlights.

Spring Break in Zion National Park

We started off the season by taking a trip down to the Zion house with some of Scott's family over Spring Break. My mom came along and it was so nice having an extra set of helping hands. We ventured into the park to meet up with our friends, the Glahns, and do some hiking. We decided to do the Emerald Pools hike since it is a good one for all different levels. We were a little worried about the weather because it had been rainy all week. It turned out to be perfect hiking weather - a little bit overcast and not too hot or cold. Things didn't go quite as planned when we met up with the Glahn's at the shuttles. They got there before us and were further up in line. We didn't feel like it was fair for our group of 20 people to cut to the front of the line with them so we went to the back of the line and told them we would meet them at the Emerald Pools hike. Mason and Brynn jumped up in line with Daniel and Maggie so they could hang out on the shuttle. We took the shuttle to the stop for Emerald Pools which had been closed until the day before, but was now open. We looked all around for the Glahn's but couldn't find them anywhere. We began to wonder if they had started the hike already. With no cell service we had no way to contact them so eventually we decided to start the hike and see if we could catch up to them. We made it all the way to the top pool with no signs of them anywhere. We had no idea where they, along with Mason and Brynn, were. Just as we were getting ready to head back, their group showed up coming from the opposite direction. Turns out their shuttle had said that the Emerald Pools stop was still closed and that they had to go to the next stop and hike the Grotto to get to Emerald pools. They had waited around for quite awhile and when it became apparent we weren't on any of the shuttles they started hiking on their own, figuring we would meet up somewhere along the way. We all got a good laugh out of how debilitating it was not having our phones functional. We all hiked back together and had a great time.

 Picnic Dinner at Big Springs
Back when we were first married and Scott's parents still lived in Orem, we used to go up Provo Canyon to big spring parks and have picnic dinners and play around on the field. When some of Scott's family was in town we decided to revisit one of our favorite places together. We had a blast playing games and eating dinner together.

 Lisa Falls
The kids and I joined Stacie and one of her friends on a hike to Lisa Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The hike was a short half mile or so but was steep and boulder filled terrain that made it fun for the kids. Once we reached the falls we hung out and played in the water for a couple hours. Driving home the kids all agreed being back in Utah this summer has been pretty awesome

Springville Reservoir
Marie and I took the kids to the Springville reservoir to beat the heat. The kids absolutely loved rowing around in the raft and Ryan loved playing in the sand and water.

 Lake Hill
Scott took the big kids on a camping trip to Lake Hill with his mom. There was a lot of fishing kayaking, hiking, off roading in the car, and a lot of excitement about sleeping in a tent. We we worried that Ryan was at the perfectly wrong age and it was going to be a disaster taking him. So when my Grandma fell and broke her back the day before I decided it was best for me to stay home with Ryan and be available to help my family. I am so glad my kids got to make all these fun memories but I'm sad I wasn't able to be there for them. Maybe next year.

 Silver Lake
Whenever Steve and Jenna come up to Utah the boys always plan several mountain biking and golf outings while Jenna and I entertain the kids. This time we decided we deserved to sneak away for a little girls' adventure. Along with Jenna's friend Jessica we hiked up to Silver Lake. It was a stunningly beautiful hike even if it did start pouring rain as soon as we made it to the lake. With the freezing cold rain pelting us we didn't stay long but turned around and booked it down the mountain. It was one of my favorite hikes I've done and I can't wait to go back and do it again when I can enjoy the destination a little more. 

Mountain Biking in AF Canyon

Alpine Summit Ridge Trail

Lambert Park in Alpine

Backpacking to East Shingle Creek

My parents took Mason and Daniel backpacking in the Uintas to East Shingle Lake. It was everything he dreamed his first backpacking trip would be and I don't think we will ever have any problem getting him to sign up for more adventures like this in the future.

 Timpanogas Cave
Hiking to Timpanogas Cave has been on my bucket list for years. You have to make reservations a couple weeks in advance and wouldn't you know the day of our reservations Brynn was sick with a stomach bug. So Grandma volunteered to come stay with her and Ryan while Scott and I took the big boys. We had a great time!! The hike was pretty strenuous for Miles but he did it. Mason was completely fascinated by the cave tour. Miles thought the caves were cold and boring but thought it was worth the hike to get the shake we bribed him with after. 

S'mores up AF canyon
We closed out the season by going up AF canyon for a picnic dinner and smore's over a fire. The big kids had fun learning how to start a fire with Scott while 100% of my attention and energy was on keeping Ryan out of the fire, river, or canyon road. It was another great - although cold - night.

16 months

16 months. 

This could quite possibly be my favorite age. 

Ryan loves balls, chickens, drinking from a straw, coloring with pens and pencils, peek-a-boo, reading books, toothbrushes, fruit snacks, playing outside, his wubbanubs (monkey and elephant), emptying cupboards and drawers, playing in the bathtub, and most of all his mama. 

He does NOT like having his diaper changed or getting dressed and is a pretty mediocre sleeper. 

He still isn't talking much and his vocab pretty much still consists of pppttttthhhh for ball, isssss ("this" along with a point), Wrrrrisssss ("where is it" with his arms shrugged out in a question), and mmmmmm for treat. He lack of speech is a concern and he will be starting with early intervention soon, but he is so stinkin' smart and understands everything we say to him. 

If you couldn't tell from all the blurry pictures above he is busy busy and always on the go.

Ryan is such a silly boy and his smile is extremely contagious. He keeps us laughing all day long.

16 months is an extra tender age for me this time around because I've missed it with my last two babies. 

Miles was 16 months old when Ellie was born. For the next 3 months he lived with my parents and they took care of him and gave him the stability he needed while Scott was in Omaha for his internship and I was in and out of the hospital with Ellie. I missed out on that phase of his life.

We lost Ellie when she was 15 1/2 months old and even though 16 months would have looked a lot different with her, it was something we never got to experience with her.

I am so grateful for one more chance to experience the fun of having a 16 month old in our home.

Rim-to-Rim

As if a dream vacation to Hawaii wasn't enough for one month, Scott and I were invited by his customer Knight Transportation to join some of their office in hiking the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim trail. I had no idea what we were signing up for when we agreed to go, but I am so glad we did because it ended up being one of the coolest things I have ever done.
We started the hike bright and early at 4:30am on the South Rim. It was pitch black and so we couldn't see anything beyond the light of our headlamps. As our group of 48 people started down the switchbacks it was pretty cool to see the trail of lights winding back and forth down the side of the canyon. I was sad imagining the incredible views all around us that we were missing out on in the dark, but everyone reassured me we would see plenty of amazing views along the way after the sun came up. As the the sky slowly brightened as the sun came up I found that I was right that we were surrounded by absolute beauty! It was about this time in the hike that our group had started to spread out as people hiked at their own pace and Scott and I found ourselves pretty much on our own beside the occasional passing ultra runner or hiker. A day spent hiking through one of the most scenic places on earth all while filling the hours with quality time and conversation with my best friend was absolute HEAVEN. I can't honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of the 23 miles we hiked.
Now don't let my gushing description of the experience deceive you. This was extremely challenging!! Below is a screen shot of the elevation changes of our hike from Scott's Strava app.

As you can see, the first 7 miles of the hike were steep switchbacks as we hiked down the south rim canyon wall. By the end of those seven miles Scott's IT band/knee were flaring up and my hips were killing me. I was honestly pretty nervous that we weren't even a third of the way done and my body was hurting that bad. But once we made it down the canyon wall the terrain completely changed as we began our hike across the canyon. Our bodies appreciated the change in muscle groups and both of us felt a lot of relief quickly. We considered the middle portion of the hike "flat", although as you can see we were slowly climbing in elevation the entire time. At about Mile ______ we stopped for lunch. By this point my feet were on fire. I had quite a few "hot spots" created by friction on my toes and I could already tell I would be going home a few less toenails. We were able to take off our shoes and soak our feet in a cold stream while we ate. It felt heavenly and totally recharged my feet for the rest of the hike. Everyone told us that coming out of the canyon was brutal and they weren't kidding. Scott and I had been keeping a pretty good pace the entire day. As we started the ascent up the canyon we were feeling great and passed quite a few members of our group who had considerably slowed. With about 4 miles left to go as we climbed up the switchbacks in the sun as the trail turned into a soft, loose sand I hit a wall and my paced slowed considerably. My body was doing okay, but every few switchbacks I had to stop and let my heart rate slow and catch my breath or else I would start feeling like I was going to pass out. Scott was still going strong and I'm sure he would have preferred to keep going and get it over with faster, but he was very kind and patient making sure I took however much time I needed to rest. We finally reached the tunnel that everyone told us marked about 2 miles left in the hike. That was the longest 2 miles of my life, but that didn't wipe the smile off my face and we climbed up the final incline and were able to look out over the canyon we had just hiked. I felt like a million bucks for having just completed the Rim-to-Rim in 9 hours. 

That night and the next day felt very comparable to after running a marathon. My hips were inflamed and didn't want to bend and I couldn't wear anything but flip flops for several days as my blister covered toes healed. This is when I say "it hurt so good" because every ache and pain was proof of what we had just accomplished. 

The Sun coming up

The next morning we woke up bright and early at the North Rim Lodge and watched the sun rise over the canyon and looked at what we had hiked across the day before. The beauty of the Grand Canyon is amazing. I cannot wait to go back and do this hike again one day.