I’m really thankful to God for Utah. And for being blessed to live here. In the last week I’ve seen such beauty here.
Timp Basin hike was great and hard. Darren led the way too fast way and I barely made it because someone does not believe in breaks for rest, food, or water. :) But the basin was gorgeous! So many flowers. The white ones were everywhere!
Happy birthday to Rachael. It was way fun hanging out with her yesterday.
D and I visited my parents last night and then today had a day trip to Bryce Canyon with Main and Rachael. Such a great time in Bryce. The hoodoos were looking extra awesome today. We hiked Navajo Loop which is iconic for a reason - it’s an amazing hike with such coolness packed in a mile and a half. The trees smelled like butterscotch and Thor’s Hammer was still standing tall. Wall Street was cool and the tall tall tree is still tall. After our hike (where we said hi to people from Germany, Iowa, and San Francisco) we had a picnic at Sunset Point. I love me a National Park picnic. After that we stopped at some viewpoints. Inspiration Point (including the upper one where we found butt cheek tree) and Bryce Point (where we spotted peekaboos -aka windows). On our viewpoint journey Mason was heard to say “Sharpay taught me that bigger is better.” Mason cracks me up - especially when he quotes High School Musical. Great time in Bryce. And I loved taking time to do things we usually don’t do like enjoy viewpoints and hike the short trail. Jaw dropped. :)
Life is hard. If only I could fix things for my kids. I'll try and focus on the good stuff from this week - Overcast clouds in the morning, istening to Cam and Sadie chat in the evening, solo hike to Davenport Hill, group hike to Catherine Pass, the Echo announcement, the girls all going to Olive Garden, and the pic of Sadie at Arby's with Cam.
Some good things in the past week:
Random rainbow Sadie spotted driving to school. First day of school colorful sunrise. My tree necklace. Pool party at the Randalls that was a BBQ with a kiddie pool for putting your feet in. Listening to the kids play Mario Kart at the Randalls. Back to school froyo. C and S getting groceries so I didn’t have to. Kids coming to church. Good Sunday school lesson “My helpers in Jesus” (Romans 16). Culver’s lunch with Sadie. Front Runner with Cam to UVU. Blackberries. Double moose. Campfire chatting while backpacking.
Backpacking with Sadie is the best. We were able to squeeze a night in with the Bells after school started. We left yesterday after school and were home this morning.
We chose Willow Lake and I would definitely stay here again. We camped away from the lake and away from all the other people. It was a fabulous site.
First day of school for Sadie - junior year. The morning had a gorgeous sunrise. After dropping Sadie off at school it was run time with Baylie followed by a walk around the park where I had a few blackberries for breakfast from a patch coming through the fence to the park. Delicious and something I have enjoyed the past week or so.
Hike with Kenz morning. We had fun slip siding on the wet trail by Tibble Fork Reservoir and rolling our eyes at lame dog owners. Third hike of the summer with her. Wahoo!
Cecret Lake hiking adventure with some fam. I love that when Kendyl comes to Utah she wants to go to the mountains. We also had Camrie, Sadie, Laynee, Clayton, Heather, Blake, and Jaycee.
I love hiking with the niblings and two of my girls. We found lots of flowers, the lake, and a few salamanders. It ended up being quite the memorable adventure with Clayton’s shortcut that led us through a muddy swamp where Laynee unfortunately found a thigh deep pool of ick. But she managed to save Jaycee and her phone while chest deep in the swamp. :) I’m pretty sure Clayton won’t live that shortcut down for awhile. Wendy’s for food after helped. Laynee got Clayton back a little bit by pranking him that she had a leech. Good times!
Wedding day!
What a fabulous day! Everything went smoothly and we had such a great time celebrating Rylie and Cole. They were so happy together. Lots of support from friends and family and it was just fun to celebrate these two all day.
We had a little wedding eve celebration with the girls. Zupas. Barbie movie, and then homemade ice cream at Kenzie's. We also played two guess things about Rylie games. Good times before the wedding tomorrow.
Kelly is awesome. Give her some apricots and you get apricot jam and homemade rolls in return.
Elder Vern P Stanfill of the Seventy. GC April 2023.
"No matter how insignificant our efforts may seem, we must never underestimate the Savior’s power. A simple word of kindness, a brief but sincere ministering visit, or a Primary lesson lovingly taught can, with the Savior’s help, provide comfort, soften hearts, and change eternal lives. Our clumsy efforts can lead to miracles, and in the process, we can participate in a perfect harvest."
Good day with Darren. We ran away for the day. The Uintas called to wish us a happy anniversary and we answered. We were aiming for Amethyst Lake but we ran out of time so we enjoyed “Anniversary Lake” instead. I loved this lake and the meadow just before it. 5.5 miles up to this awesome spot and a long 5.5 miles back to the car. That put anniversary dinner in Kamas at Mirror Lake Diner at 9pm. Fabulous way to celebrate 29 years.
Did someone say - let’s go to dinosaur island? Yes I did and somehow people came with me. We laughed at the dinosaurs, saw a muskrat, fed the pile of koi fish and then went to Slab for some pizza. I love these lame outings.
