Family Fun

Zion National Park feels like my backyard. We went often as a family (along with Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef) since it was so close to where I grew up. I love Zions. And I love my family. This summer I got both. For our annual reunion, we all met up in St. George (minus my sister-in-law who was in school and my niece who had a "not mandatory but highly recommended" soccer camp). We had such a great time hiking, playing at the pool, watching Aladdin at Tuacahn, and working just being together. 

I did have to work a bit each day, and I managed that by getting up at 6am each morning to be ready to leave by 9am for family time and working from 10pm-1am each night. It was an exhausting schedule, and one that made me resent my job the past few months, but it was the only way I could do what needed to be done and still spend time with my family. (The reason I had to work that week was the director of marketing gave his two weeks notice before my vacation and left that was his last week. A lot of his responsibilities fell on me.)

Here are pictures highlighting the fun hikes and family time:

Having a Bit of Fun

Last June when I was babysitting my nieces and nephews, I decided we needed a break from the house. I packed them into the car and headed up the canyon not really having a plan. I found a backroad near Sundance and began driving just to see where we would end up. We found a perfect spot at the base of Stewart Falls. Even from the distance, we could see how powerful the waterfall was and this was in June! After we explored a bit there, we headed up towards Aspen Grove. We played around on the Timp Hike trail and Aspen Grove before heading down and calling it a night.

The next day, I was driving with my two nieces as we ran errands for their mom. The oldest found my camera and started having some fun taking pictures of herself, her sister, and me. I love to attribute their silliness and craziness to their parents, but I always seem to be around when things like this happen. Hopefully I've been a good influence on them. :)

 

Fall Colors

I went hiking last Friday with friends from MBA school. The mountains were covered in colors. I loved being outdoors and not stuck inside my four walled classroom. Isn't Utah beautiful?

Hiking

My family thinks I don't like hiking. It isn't that I don't like it but sweating like a dog and gasping for air has never been much of a thrill for me. I absolutely love long stretches of trail that wind through canyons (Calf Creek Falls, The Narrows, etc.) but actually have very little elevation change (unless it is going down). So I must have been crazy when I offered to carry my cousin's son on our annual family reunion hike. Surprisingly, my hiking abilities have increased. My stamina and endurance are so much better than when I was younger. The hike was great and Gavin even fell asleep. I like hiking. Hopefully I can find more hikes like this one.

Yes, I was a Trucker

I'm taking a break from the Charleston updates because I haven't been in town to go through pictures and organize them. I have only been in town one week of the past five. Week 1 and 2 I was in Charleston then at our family's cabin. The third week I was doing statistics. Yes it was as boring as it sounds but completing the class made my acceptance to MBA school official. And yes that is as scary as it sounds. Week 4 was Lake Powell which I will post when I get back to home. Where am I week 5? I have been driving. Yes folks driving. Monday we drove to Bryce Canyon and hiked down into the canyon. I have hiked this before, but Annette has no memory of it and she wanted (?) to do it before she moved. Tuesday we (Annette, my mom, Kathrine, and I in two different cars) drove for 12 hours to Sacramento. Wednesday we drove to Palo Alto and moved Nettie into her new place. I am actually a bit jealous of her. I have tried over and over again to move to that area. I love it there but my life doesn't seem to be moving in that direction. If you are reading this, you probably know that back story. After we moved Nettie into her house, we drove back to Sacramento. Today we actually get a break, but do you know what I am doing tomorrow? That's right folks, driving back to Utah. I drove all but two hours out to Sacramento. I drove to Palo Alto and back. And tomorrow I will do most of the driving. What can I say...I was a trucker in my former life.