Sundance with the Jones crew

Last weekend we had a great time at Sundance with the Jones crew. Jer got us a great deal on a beautiful house up above the resort where we all stayed together for the weekend. 

The girls have a lot of fun playing with their cousins. They swam in that hot tub like it was a pool. On Friday we drove further up the canyon to check out Cascade Springs which were really pretty. It was great spending time together in a beautiful setting. Can't wait to do it again. 

Spring Break in Moab

Another weekend, another Moab trip.  We headed down there for one more trip this spring.  We could go back again and again, but there are so many other places we'd like to show the girls this year - Bryce's Canyon, Zion, etc, etc.  Even so, we were talking about how many times we have been there, but how much there still is to see.  We have only seen a fraction of the area.  We had a great time with Jim and Rebecca and their family.  The kids had an absolute blast with their cousins and we all had a great time riding the side-by-sides together.

After pulling into town Thursday night, we hit the sack and headed out early Friday morning to ride the Dome Plateau trail.

The trail is known for its old mining cabins, caves, and incredible views at the end.  Our first stop were these old creepy cabins, where we pulled up for lunch and the kids went exploring.

Just a short hike down the hill we also went exploring in some old mine shafts.  The girls and I skipped that part.  Too dark and scary for the little ones.

Our next step were these natural rock formations which were perfect for a little climbing and some photo opportunities.

Piper skinned her hands on the red rock climbing down and it threw her off for a good hour.  Now, two weeks later, we are still putting bandaids on her two fingers every night.

After another hour or so of riding we came to the end of the trail.  We had no idea what we were in for, but it was an amazing view of the canyon, the Colorado river, the La Sal mountains and miles and miles of red rock.  The drop off was pretty steep, so the girls stayed in their car seats and Uncle Jim almost peed his pants because of the heights.

 This is the panoramic view, which doesn't do it justice at all.

We acted like dorks and scared Jim by getting too close to the edge.  

On the way back we got a little bit lost.  Okay, a lot lost.  We probably rode for an extra two hours.  We were in front leading the way and holding Jim's GPS and we'll say it was a combination of me not understanding how the "bread crumbs" on the GPS and Josh zooming along in too much of a hurry to look at the trail markers closely.  So, when we finally pulled up to the car, the girls were DONE with the side-by-side (and we kind of were too).  It was close to dusk, we were tired, hungry and absolutely covered in red sand.  We went straight to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  No showers, so we washed faces and hands in the bathroom.  Good times.

The next day, we headed out on another trail called Snake Creek.  This was perfect - a little more low key and you get to cross the creek about 15 times on the way up.  Just enough splashing to make the kids laugh.  

Jim and Rebecca and fam in their side-by-side.  They also have two people ride on their four-wheeler.

 The girls loaded up and ready to go.  Baby doll likes to ride on the side-by-side too.

A little more than halfway up the trail, we dropped Jim and Josh off to hide eggs for the kids.  The rest of us rode about 10 minutes up the trail, then turned around to come back.  This is an annual tradition for Jim and Rebecca's kids, but the girls were pretty shocked to find out the Easter Bunny had come to Moab and hid eggs on the trail.

 They looked for eggs in trees and bushes, behind rocks, and up on the side of a hill.  Jim told his kids to watch out for two snakes he saw earlier (liar!).

After some time splashing through the creek on the way back down, it was time to stop for lunch . We found a spot by the creek and pulled up shop.  We ate, then had fun throwing rocks into the creek.

The girls found another use for the side-by-side.

We got back in time for a real shower before dinner at Eddie McStiff's.  Then it was an early bedtime for us.

 

The next morning we woke up on Easter.  The Easter Bunny brought baskets to the Holiday Inn where we were staying.

After breakfast, we hopped in the car to head back home to SLC.  We made it back in time to have Easter dinner at my parents where the girls got more baskets and got to find a few more eggs around the house.  All-in-all, a perfect weekend.

Moab - Again!

We took a weekend off, then headed back down to Moab again.  We are apparently making up for lost time because we have another trip planned at the end of the month.  Josh has decided that it's his happy place and there are some stressful things going on right now, so we will go with whatever works!

We left the side-by-side home this time because I was running the Canyonlands Half Marathon and we knew we would be short on time.  I ran this race three times in 2000, 2001, and 2002.  I loved being back.  I will be back every year, whether I'm racing, jogging, or cheering for someone else.  It's just fun.  I really wanted to run a sub-1:30, but it didn't happen.  I ended up with a 1:31 and was pretty happy with it.  I had been sick all week leading up to the race and I just didn't have a lot of pep in my step.  I ended up 10th overall female and realized that I have dropped my time on this course 35 minutes over the course of 13 years.  

The best part was getting caught up with an old friend from high school, Hailey.  We haven't seen each other in years and we got to spend the morning together riding the bus up the canyon and catching up.  Here are a couple of pictures at the finish.

Josh took the girls to the park while I was running.  The race finishes right in a big play area, so they had a blast playing in the nice 65-degree weather.

We spent the rest of the day eating good food, swimming in the hotel pool, and driving through Arches National Park.  We got some great pictures of Balancing Rock with the girls.  We tried to explain to them how the arches and rock formations are created with wind and water and somehow it got jumbled up in their minds that they were "water mountains".

 The views in Moab just never get old.

The girls kept asking when we were going to Moab.  We told them over and over that we were IN Moab.  Finally, Piper said something about our other hotel and we realized they thought Moab was actually the hotel we stayed in earlier this month.  It's confusing being a three-year-old sometimes!

The next morning we were back in Arches and we decided to hike up to Delicate Arch.   Neither of us had done that before and the sign said it was three miles round trip.  No big deal!  I thought it was just a walking path, but it turns out it was a real hike up some slick rock.  We weren't really prepared and didn't have our backpacks to pack the girls in, so we ended up carrying them 80 percent of the 3 miles.  However, it was really worth it to see.  The view up at the top is breathtaking and its a shame it took us so long to do this.  Delicate Arch is on our license plates in Utah!

 The girls were troopers.  They stopped and picked up some rocks for souvenirs and we saw some lizards and little rock chucks.

We drove home with tired, sleeping girls and made it back to SLC just in time for Conor's birthday dinner with my family.  All in all, it was a perfect weekend.  Can't wait to go back.

Moab Time

Last weekend we took our first trip down to Moab since being back here in Utah.  We bought a side-by-side to play in (sort of like a 4-wheeler, but bigger and safer) and we finally got a chance to use it.  I had some reservations when Josh told me he wanted to get one.  I admit that I sometimes get annoyed with motorized vehicles plowing around the dessert.  Plus, there is the obvious safety concerns.  But it has a full roll cage, fits two carseats perfectly in the backseat, and we can easily hop out if we need to while Josh goes up anything sketchy.

We went down with the Naisbitts, who also have one.  Josh and Brett have been dreaming about these trips for a long time.  While we were there, they were reminiscing about the first time they met in Moab in 4th or 5th grade.  They are like an old couple, always talking about the old days.

On Saturday, we rode a trail called Fins 'n things, which was near Slickrock.  The weather was perfect (more than 60!), and the girls had a great time.  It was probably an hour too long for them and they somehow fell asleep back there at the end despite all the bouncing around.  They also had fun playing with Leah and Hayden.  We stopped for a picnic for lunch and they ran around the slick rock for awhile.

All the kids ready to go.  Leah is just four days older than the girls.

 The Nasibitts.

 Josh at the wheel.  I got to drive a little bit too.  Too fun.

 Stopping to scale a little red rock.

 The girls in our side-by-side.

 Holding hands.  And of course baby doll got to come on the ride too.

We're headed down to Moab again this weekend for a half marathon and hopefully to do a little more riding.  We hope that we'll get a lot of use out of this thing over the summer.

Jackson Hole Marine Corps Ball

We just got back from a great trip to Jackson Hole for the Marine Corps Ball.  This was the most unique ball experience we've ever had, and definitely the most family friendly.  Josh's unit is spread out across several states, so everyone meets in Jackson as a central location to celebrate for three days.

We got to visit some of our favorite Jackson restaurants.  The girls had fun playing with their little friend Olivia Larsen during a yummy breakfast at the Bunnery.

Just like we always do when we're up there, we paid a visit to the spot where we got engaged in the town park.

The ball itself was very low key.  Some people even brought their kids and they had a great time on the dance floor.  There is a good chance this will be our last Marine Corps ball.  It's always an honor to celebrate the history and tradition of the Marine Corps and I am of course so proud of Josh.  Plus, the dude rocks that uniform.

With Greg and Brooke Larsen, who we got to know while we were camping in Challis over the summer.  Strangely enough, these two moved to Salt Lake from New Bern as well.  It's a small world.

 Happy birthday Marines and Happy Veterans Day!