Zion In Winter

I guess by now you all know that one of the places we love to visit is Zion Canyon. This is the 5th time we have gone there this year. But after all the times we have been there this is the first time we have seen it with so much snow. It was a beautiful blue sky and no wind, so even though it was only 30-35 degrees, it was perfect. Scott's and Brad's family came too. The roads were a little icy in the shade and it was cold on the trails that were in the shade. The trails were actually closed, but we managed to find a spot that is usually off limits to visitors (the tram doesn't stop there in the summer)and we hiked up to some waterfalls and took family pictures. At one spot we even saw 2 small avalanches. We drove through the tunnel to the Checkerboard Mesa and threw snowballs, and let the kids and dogs run around for a minute. The formations are totally different on that side of the canyon. If you have not been in Winter, I highly recommend it. We took over a hundred pictures.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!!

What can I say... I am in Heaven. This is making my whole Christmas Holiday better. I can finally get in the mood of it all. It makes everything better. I wish it would snow and stay until spring.

Change of Seasons!

I love the different seasons. In 3 weeks we have gone from fall leaves on the tree to Snow on the ground. Yes, I said SNOW!!!! I love it. I measured this morning and we had 2 inches with more forecast for today. I only wish this was next week so we could finally after living here for 18 years have snow for Christmas Eve. But I am sure it will be melted by then. Boo Hoo!!!! Last Saturday we raked leaves. It took 3 hours (and of course that afternoon a big windstorm came up and we need to do the rest next weekend)Enjoy the pictures.

Tag: We all Have Quirks

I am supposed to tell 6 quirky things about myself and tag 4 people and leave them a note on their blog.
1- All my life I wanted to be a dancer like the "Rockettes", or do Flamenco Dancing, or dance in a rock n roll band, but the closest I ever got was I used to be a Belly Dancer. It was great exercise and I should take it up again.
2- I took Russian for 5 years and I wish I had of kept it up, because I could now talk to my Son in law Justin (who went on a mission there)My teacher was my favorite of all time: Mr. Johnson, who is in his 80's, and every year he still sends me a Christmas card written in Russian.
3- Call me crazy, but I love to clean and organize things. I love to help people unpack in a new house and put stuff away, and also to clean out closets and re organize them. I don't collect stuff. I like to throw it away if not being used.
4- My favorite past time is working in the yard.It is so relaxing. I love to grow things. If I had the money I would have the prettiest yard in town, with the most flowers and landscaped just how I want.
5- If money was no issue, I would be a world traveler. I want to see exotic places and go to all the continents. I have always wanted to go to Switzerland and ski in the Alps. My dad gave me a book on the Alps when I was about 12, and I still love looking at the pictures and dream of going there.
6- Someday I am going to have a one on one with Jesus and ask him some cool questions, but one thing for sure is I want him to show me a time line of things that happened in some exact spots in the world I have been to, and see exactly what happened there. (I don't know if you understand what I mean, but he will...)I hope I don't get the chance too soon though, because I want to grow old and see all my grandchildren happily married before I go.
I tag: Tonya, Melissa,Scott [Stephanie: I bet you didn't think I would do this. I hate these things, but I did it for you.]

Hiking The Narrows

We finally made it! After 2 weekends of rain and cold, this weekend was beautiful so we drove up and hiked in the river. Doug and I,Brad and Stephanie,and Justin (Jessica's husband). We hiked about 6 miles total. We would have gone farther, but we needed to get back down the river before dark. The water wasn't too high. It only went up to our thighs a couple of times. It is so beautiful in there. Pictures don't do it justice. We rented neoprene socks this time and it kept our feet nice and toasty.(except Brad and I each had a tiny hole in one of ours and so that foot was cold)The water was 54 degrees. When we were in the shade and the wind was blowing, it was a little chilly. We saw a pretty 110 foot waterfall. Around every corner was something awesome to see. About 10 minutes from the end of our hike, Justin climbed up into some alcoves to get a cool picture and he fell in crossing back over.We all had a great time, and are planning on going again. I love having such a beautiful place only an hours drive from our house. Today, Brad,Stephanie,MaKayla , and Justin went back and are climbing Angels Landing, so check their blogs soon for that. I know this is a lot of pictures, but I couldn't decide which ones of the 60 I took to put on here....

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!!!!

We have had reservations for 6 months to stay in Zion and hike the Narrows. We were very excited about doing this again. Doug and I went a few years ago and couldn't wait to go.Well, as luck would have it...it rained for 24 hours straight. (Zion got over 1 inch of rain on Saturday.) We decided we couldn't go in the Narrows because of the high Flash Food Warnings,but we still took the trailer and camped in the Zion Campground. Brad and Stephanie and baby Emily came with us. Even though it was raining we ventured out. Brad strapped Emily onto his back and away we went. We managed to go on a couple of cool hikes. As you can see from the pictures, everything (including us) was soaking wet, but I think it was the greenest and most beautiful I have seen it. The clouds were so low down on the mountains. It is such an awesome place. We hated leaving this morning because the sky was so blue and the air so crisp and clean. We're hoping to go in a couple of weeks and try again.

Birthday Boy

I can't believe Alex is 12 years old. We went up to Scott's this weekend to celebrate with them. On Saturday we went Geode hunting, and on Sunday we went to church, and Alex was ordained a Deacon. It is hard to believe in 7 years he will be going on his mission!!!

Geode Hunting

On Saturday, Doug and I went with Scott and family to the Dugway Geode Pit. From Springville it was a LONG and dusty 3 hour ride on a mostly dirt road. On the way we stopped and took pictures of a Pony Express stop. They were all along the road we were on. We also saw a lot of Antelope roaming the hills. Once we got there it was fun digging for the geodes. Doug found the biggest one. We got buckets of them, and it will be fun to see how many actually have beautiful geodes inside.(Scott said that usually about 1 out of 10 has the pretty insides.) We have to rent a rock saw or a tile saw. I will post when we do that. The kids seemed to have a good time. The wind was awful, and got into our eyes, but all in all it was a fun day. I love doing something new.

Pine Valley

Doug and I spent the Labor Day weekend on Pine Valley Mountain. We relaxed, fished (caught over 25 fish), and hiked up Whipple Trail.We wanted to go the 6 miles to the top, but only made it about halfway, and needed to turn around because of the weather. A dark and thunderous storm moved in while were on the way up. We had never been on that particular trail before. It was very pretty, and not too bad of a hike. We plan on leaving earlier in the day next time and going all the way to the top. Brad has hiked up there with the scouts and said it is worth the hike to see the view from the top. In the pictures you can see how far we were , and can see the reservoir from there. There is also a picture of a deer that was on the trail.