September

Time for another catch-up post.

My mom and 2 uncles (Jo & Peter) came over for a 2-week visit in September.

We (they) planned lots of fun outings.

Brunch at Sundance has become a tradition for my parents. So the first Sunday we drove up beautiful Provo Canyon.

After brunch we drove to Park City and walked around Main Street for a little while.

Of course no family visit is complete without traveling in Utah. We went to Moab for a weekend, giving my uncles a chance to rekindle with the place where Trevor and I got married on their previous visit.

We visited the usual, Arches NP and Canyonlands NP, but we also went to Dead Horse State Park.

Trevor and I both celebrated our birthdays during my family’s stay. We had amazing dinners at Mazza and The Happy Sumo. Both Will and Tessa were adventurous and tried new things.

Mazza

&

The Happy Sumo

(Don’t worry, that is not sake in her cup.)

At The Riverwoods there was live music before we had dinner. We sat and listened for a while and tried to take some good pictures. That didn’t work out so well with the boys.

I did get this video of Tessa dancing to the music.

We’ve been working in our yard pretty much every single weekend this year, so it was nice to get some help.

The day before their arrival Trevor and I found out that I had miscarried. On the day of their arrival my family had to wait for 2 hours on our front porch for us to come back from the hospital. (Sorry, again!) I don’t think I ever really told my mom how much I appreciated her help and support in the two weeks she was here. I know that she knows this, but it should be said anyway. So Mam, dank je wel!

Some of the things we did in August…

– A 4-wheel drive day trip to Cascade Springs

As you can see in the upper left picture, Will and Tessa were really excited for this. It was a nice drive though!

– Hiking Timpanooke

One date night Trevor and I hiked part of the Timpanooke trail. We got a late start and we had to turn around at the Giant Staircase and still hiked most of the way down in the dark. But we did see a moose and some deer.

– Sundance

We had some time to kill one afternoon while in town, so I took the kids up to Sundance. We walked around for a bit, ate a snack and drove back to town. The temperature in the canyon was a lot nicer than in the valley.

– Another Belt Promotion for Will

Brown-Orange!

– Our trip to Lake Powell

Which has its own post.

– And some random pics of the kids

Ready for the sun!

Both fast asleep in the car after Granny Night.

Tessa trying to dress herself. Those are Will’s socks.

Tessa feeding Will’s bear her lunch.

Bryce National Park

This past weekend (President’s Day weekend) we went on a quick road trip to Bryce National Park. We stayed at Ruby’s Inn for 2 nights. Kris and Keelie came with us for one night. The plan was to go snowshoeing. Bryce had gotten a lot of snow the previous days (which caused most of the park to be closed, unfortunately).

The kids and I actually didn’t get to snowshoe. We had accidentally left the baby carrier at home. (Yes, that should have been the first thing to pack!) We tried carrying Tessa in a sling, but she is starting to get too heavy and big for those. So Trevor went with Kris and Keelie. Will, Tessa and I played in the snow for a bit, then in the car, and then we just went back to the hotel and watched movies. Ruby’s Inn has a pool, so Will had a great time practicing his swimming. Tessa LOVED the water. She would just float on her back and let the water run in her ears. It made her really calm. If Will would pick up a few pointers from her, his swimming would improve.

Will and Tessa both reading the first evening there!!

 

Waiting for Trevor, Kris and Keelie to come back from their hike.

 

Dinner time! Tessa pretty much finished everything on that plate. She used both hands, spoon and fork. Will showed her his love for ketchup, so now she wants ketchup too. She licked it of the fries and even dipped the mac & cheese in ketchup.

 

Monday we drove back home, taking the scenic route, along Hwy 12. (For my family that was here for the wedding, it’s the road where we got out and threw snow balls, and where we stopped for lunch.) It is such a pretty drive this time of the year. We saw a herd of elk, a bald eagle, and hundreds of deer.

It was a fun trip, but I’d like to go back again. To go snowshoeing. Maybe without kids next time!

 

New Year’s Eve In Eden

A quick post about the days around New Year’s Eve.

Dean and Kris invited us to Eden for a few days, where Dean has a timeshare condo. We had dinner at Happy Sumo for Kris’ birthday and after that we drove north.

It was bitter cold, but that didn’t stop Will from going to the hot tub as often as possible.

We rang in the New Year with Keelie, Josh and Natalie. (Keelie made the most amazing Jalapeno Poppers!)

And New Year’s Day we had to walk off all that good food (and some their hangovers). We went snowshoe-ing, for the first time with Tessa. She was wearing so many layers that she could barely move, but she seemed to like it. Will had a blast, although he was happy to be back at the condo with a hot chocolate, and made another trip to the hot tub.

 

Moab

Moab is one of our favorite places to spend time.

Last weekend it was time for a break from the kids, so Moab is where Trevor and I went.

We stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge along the Colorado River (where we held our wedding reception 4 years ago). It is such a beautiful place.

We visited Arches NP on Sunday. Trevor recently read the book Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, who spent three seasons as a park ranger in Arches in the 1950’s. Back then (from 1936-58) the entrance road, called Willow Flats, was a dirt road several miles north of the current road. Trevor wanted to drive that road into the park. From there you can get to the Eye of the Whale Arch. It was really quiet out there, since very few people go there. We hiked there for about an hour.

Arches N. P. with the La Sal Mountains

After that we drove to the Devil’s Garden area. 3 Years ago we hiked the whole loop with Will. We hadn’t been back there since. Along the trail you can see several arches, Landscape Arch, Navajo Arch, Double O Arch, Partition Arch, and a few more if you take the primitive trail back to Landscape Arch. 3 Years ago we also walked past Wall Arch, but it came down in August of ’08. Now you pass it on the other side, since the trail is covered completely with big boulders.

This time we hiked to the Dark Angel, a short walk from Double O Arch, and then we walked back.

I just love that Moab and the National Parks around it are only a 3.5 hour drive away. The area is so beautiful and there is so much to do that we already talked about where we’re going to hike next time.

Will and Tessa had a great time with Granny Kris. Will told Grampy (Dean) “My mom and dad needed a break from Tessa and me!” That boy is just too smart.

PS. I love Red Cliffs Lodge’s address: Mile 14 on scenic Hwy. 128.

 

Update

Here are the hikes we did:

http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show/15832-eye-of-the-whale-arch

http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show/15834-dark-angel

Anniversary Fun

Every anniversary we try to do something fun. Which is one of the reasons that we celebrate both anniversaries!!

This last Friday, the 15th, we went up to Snowbird, the place where Trevor proposed 5 years ago (actually a day after what would become our 2nd wedding day).

We also drove up to Alta and then to Albion Basin, and did a short hike to Secret Lake.

It was so pretty.

Will loves to climb on all the big rocks. And Tessa was just as content as always.

Pretty sunset on the drive out of the canyon.

SNOW-shoeing

We took Will snowshoeing over President’s Day weekend. The snow near Strawberry Reservoir was wonderful. Soft and deep! Will had gotten new snowshoes and hiking poles for Christmas and it was time for them to be tried out. I think he loved the first 10 min the most. After that he had to work pretty hard. But he did really well.

After reaching the top of the hill we made some apple cider and had some snacks. 

The way down was fast and fun.