Riverwalk at Zion National Park

 

 We got a lucky break one summer day a couple of weeks ago when Mark didn't have to go into work on a weekday.  Yay for unexpected holidays! We chose to spend the day at Zion National Park.  After a beautiful drive up the canyon, we decided to do the Riverwalk.

Lucy loved the hike.  It is hard to know her favorite part but I am guessing it was between running down the little hills exclaiming, "Whee!" 

or this sand pit where she took her shoes off, ran around in circles, and giggled nonstop....

or when she got to explore the river with Mark.

 

This was when she had to stop playing in the river and get back on the trail. No surprise there.

 

I don't blame Lucy for having so many favorites.  I had a couple of favorites too.  I loved how beautiful and peaceful the river was (I know--just try and look at the peaceful river not the red blob in the way), 

 

the tall canyon walls with water trickling down them,

and seeing four deer so close!

When I saw this one eating I thought about how lucky this deer was to live in such a pretty and peaceful place. I told Mark, if was a deer I would live here too.  They have it pretty good. :)

 

And this is why Mark usually takes the pictures.  This one was standing right by Mark and Lucy and was looking right at me.  What do I do?  Take a picture when the camera is off and give it a chance to jump away. It was neat in real life,  I promise.  You can see Mark trying to tell me to hurry with his eyes. :)  

Here we are all done with the hike and waiting for the tram...

 

and here we are having fun on the tram on the way back. 

I am hoping for more unexpected vacation days in the future.  What a great surprise on a weekday!

Kolob Canyon Part 2

We had a Saturday night free several weekends ago so we decided to finish the Taylor Creek hike in Kolob Canyon that we had started a couple of months back.  Although it was beautiful and totally worth seeing, I think we were a little too zealous when we started the hike.  We didn't begin until 6 p.m. and it was four and a half miles.  With a lot of hurrying to get back at midpoint, we barely made it to our car before it was dark. The whole way back Lucy was on the brink of tears and my body was exhausted with no time to sit and rest.  I am glad we did it but it was a good learning experience of what our family is capable of doing.  No more adventures that long and that late in the day again.   Like I said though, we saw some really beautiful scenery. We crossed a stream probably 15 times and were right up against the canyon walls the whole time. 

We also saw two historic cabins from the 1930's along the trail.  They were from two men who had built these cabins then had to leave for a while to serve missions and such.  When they came back, they found that their land had been confiscated for the Kolob Canyon Monument.  Stinks for them...

Cabin #1

 

Cabin #2

And for the finale.....the Double Arch Alcove!  Amazing!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day was one of my favorites because we planned a lot of fun with family around Cedar City.  We had a great time having everyone come stay with us.  

We live within an hour and half of Bryce National Park so we were so excited to go see some things around there that Saturday.  Right before Bryce, we stopped at Red Canyon for lunch and a hike.  I loved seeing all the hoodoos in bright red color.  



Lucy was so funny with this sucker.  Everytime I looked at her with her sunglasses, the stick coming out of her mouth, and her layed back attitude it seemed like she was trying to tell everyone how cool she was. :)



 

One of the hoodoos was in the shape of a camel.  Pretty fun!

 

After that first hike we drove up the canyon to Bryce to do the hike Mossy Cave Trail.  

It was a great hike because we got to see a cave and a couple of little waterfalls.

On the way to the waterfall we passed a real beehive about 10 feet from the trail!



To say that Lucy loved the waterfall would be a huge understatement.  It is a good thing that Mark was willing to take Lucy to play in the water because she used all her power to get away from me to play in the river by herself.  It took some muscle to get a hold on her.

Lucy was heartbroken for a while after we left the water.  She could have spent all day there.  

It is too bad Caleb wasn't around at the moment because these guys were just standing there in this position ready for a family portrait. So cute.:)

After a little while we walked down some hills, got to this bridge, and Lucy was as good as new. What a great hike for families! So glad we did it!

The next day we went to church and headed to St. George after.  We toured Brigham Young's Winter Home and stopped by the St. George Temple. 

Lucy was so loopy from lack of sleep by this time.  I was so grateful for extra helping hands there. Thank you Em and Ang!

On Memorial Day we went swimming at the aquatic center near our house.  It was such an awesome pool for kids.  It was like a playground and a pool combined.  We went and got snowcones afterwards and then got to check out the Frontier Homestead State Park with Katie and Judd's family.  Judd let Lucy ring a school bell while there. Lucy asks all the time now if she can go there with these guys to ring the bell. :) 

I was a little sad when the fun came to an end.  What a great weekend!

Best Birthday Present

Right after the holidays this year, Mark and I got a belated holiday gift when we found out I was expecting.  It was a gift we have been very grateful for because it came on it's own.  Yay for no drugs this time!  We have been very blessed as I have made it through the first trimester and all the way to 27 weeks now--about the same time Lucy came.  These pictures are from 14 weeks and five days.

It's a boy!!!!! We are thrilled to be having one of each!

After the first trimester, my next goal was to carry the baby to my birthday on May 24 where

 I would be exactly 24 weeks.  I made it!  It was the best birthday present ever to know that if the baby was born early it would have a chance of survival.

I had a fun filled birthday this year.  Mark took me to lunch at my favorite restaurant the Pastry Pub.  That afternoon we got a babysitter while we went to the movie "Epic" on opening day because his work rented out a whole theater.  It was so fun to go out to a movie and especially a free one! I don't think we had been to a movie since before Lucy was born.  What made it even better too was that my birthday fell on Memorial Day weekend and a bunch of my family came to visit that night. My sister Julie and niece Mollie came just in time to come with us to the movie.  What a great day!

Evening at Bryce Canyon

 

We made a last minute decision one Saturday to drive to Bryce before sunset.  I hadn't been there since we were first married and I had forgotten how beautiful it is!  We walked the sunrise--sunset trail and saw some amazing views.  By the time we were ready to drive back the sun was going down.  We took the scenic route home through Brian Head and Cedar Canyon and saw about 60 deer and a porcupine.  It was awesome!