Sunday Reflections 6/10/2012

This last week we took a trip up to Vegas so Brad could visit with a dentist he has been consulting with about purchasing a practice.  (No, we aren't buying a practice in Vegas.  Yes, we are trying to move forward with another purchase...no final news yet as to when or even IF it will go through but we've made it over the financing hurdle and that's a step in the right direction.)  At first I had decided to stay home as Brad likes to camp along the way and the unpleasant memory of sleeping in the car on last year's road trip was still too fresh in my mind.  However, the lure of seeing my friend Elizabeth (even if it was for only two days) after not seeing her for four years was too shiny of a prize to be ignored and so I agreed to go; camping and all.  It took two days to travel up and back because we decided to make it a mini-vacation for the kids by stopping to hike in Zion National Park.  This was my 2nd trip to Zion, my first being with Brad and his friend Dave back when we were newlyweds.  We hiked some trails that were maintained by the park like:

 Weeping Rock

and the Narrows:

I'd never been to the narrows before and on our hike up the narrows I kept seeing people coming back in swimming suits, bikinis, capris with bikini tops, water shoes, walking sticks and I thought to my sometimes judgemental little self, "I know it's hot up here and hikes can be difficult but really swimsuits hiking?  walking sticks?  water shoes?" and then we came to this:

and this:

and this:

and I soon wished that I too had a swimsuit, walking stick and water shoes.  (FYI:  I've set aside my vanity here to let you see how deep the water is.  I hate the above picture of myself) 

As you can see in some of the above pictures, the kids were kind of giving us a hard time on the way up to the narrows but as soon as they hit the water they were energized.  They loved it.  Even Jake (who rode on Brad's shoulders most of the way) had to get in on the fun.

Now do not be mistaken and think we are superheros.  The narrows is a hike that totals 8 miles if you hike it all.  I think we only made it about halfway.

On the way back home, Brad had decided that he'd had enough of shuttles and people and planned a hike on a trail not maintained by the rangers up in Kolob canyon.  Here we are about to embark on our adventure:

We went up:

and up:

and up:

where at this point I would have turned around (and suggested that we should do so) but when I saw this:

I knew I had no choice but to ascend with them.

When we finally reached the point where we could touch both canyon walls while standing in one place:

Brad decided that we had conquered the hike.

On our way home we tracked down some dinosaur fossils in Moab:

And went to some lame dinosaur museum that we payed WAY too much for in Fruita, Colorado. (We went to one in Green River, Utah a little over a year ago and it was a lot better than this one.)

The best part for me was arriving home on Wednesday and being able to take a nice hot shower...aaahhhhh!!!! and sleeping in my own bed.

As for the rest of the week we cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some  more.  Oh, and Brad did put together a slip n' slide for the kids in the back yard:

and I conquered the freezer jam that I have been putting off for two months.