Seth's Birthday BBQ

We meet up with Nolan and his boys in Logan to celebrate Seth's birthday.  There was some bike riding. A walk or two.  Looking at old pictures of Darren when he was little.  We saw a mission picture of Elder Seth Balls and his companion Elder Cannon.  Darren got to bring home Grandpa Hills tool chest.  We had a huge feast in the beautiful backyard but I didn't get a picture of it! But its always good to come home exhausted!  We had to hurry home to get Tyler to his piano recital.  He played Pirates of the Caribbean.  

May 2019

Darren and Nolan went down to Moab for 24 hours.  They got to ride 3/4th of the Whole Enchilada . The top part was still covered in snow.  Darren and Tyler got in some riding.  Tyler is on the Maybird bike team and the Draper Park Middle school team.  

Tyler got to play in front of his whole grade.  He played Pirates of the Caribbean.  It was impressive.  Ella and her cousins got to sing at Miles's baptism.

My parents live close and rode over one night and had smores with us.  My dad got to play some guitar for us which we always love. 

Rowie, Ang, me, Shawn and Katie.  Pretty important women in my lives.  We have all been through a lot together and I love them so much. 

Easter.  My mom wrote a play and the kids acted it out.  We got to learn about some important things we need to remember.  

Swimming pools are opening up.  Ella and some friends.  We love the warmer weather.  There is still so much snow in the mountains and so much rain in the valley.

I got to work testing kids who need some special help at the local elementary schools.  So Abby go to go to the dinosaur museum with a friend.  

I am trying to be more mindful with my time.  I went for a hike the other day.  The girls and I went for a rollerblading ride.  I seem to forget to relax sometimes and just work and work until I blow up.

San Rafael Swell

We had planned to camp at City of Rocks for Memorial Day but the weather has been crazy lately.  So much rain and snow in May. It was raining and cold in Idaho. So we changed plans and went south.  Goblin Valley area- the San Rafael Swell.  We camped on BLM land so hauling in our own water and a shovel for a toilet.  But there is so much good open space it was perfect for our group.  It snowed like crazy on the way, well I guess it was more hail.  But it was unreal- You couldn't hear anything but the hail and you either went 5 mph or pulled over.  Our first adventure was a slot canyon named Ding and Dang.  We knew there would be water but not as much as there was.  We were glad to run into people who warned us that it was chest deep.  The pictures are all mixed up but thats ok.  We had some boulder we had to get over.  We had water to walk through or stem over.  We had lots of big kids to help carry the littles over the water.  It was a great adventure.

https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/san-rafael-swell/dingdang
Ding and Dang Canyon-

https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/san-rafael-swell/goblins-lair

Goblins Lair

After Ding and Dang we cruised over to Goblin Valley.  Half the group headed out to the back of the valley to find Goblins Lair.  A 90 foot rappel into a cave area.  (the littles played in the Goblins and then headed back to the camp sight) . Once in the cave there were two ways out.  One boring and one fun.  One climbing up over a rock fall opening or the other army crawling through a mud filled tight cave with our phones for lights.  Half the group chose the clean boring way.  I was excited for the spelunking experience.  It was a tight crawl.  A few points I wasn't sure if I could fit but we made it.  

The last adventure we had was exploring Crack Canyon.  3 miles out and back.  6 round trip.  So pretty. Kids playing on rocks and exploring.  We had a lovely simple "church service" out on the trail. 

https://utah.com/hiking/crack-canyon-trail
Crack Canyon

We enjoyed time talking and cooking.  We had wonderful fires every night.  Brit taught us all a dance lesson so the middle school kids could practice for those fun middle school dances.  Magical weekend.  I love camping.  We didnt' make it up to the Wedge- The Little Grand Canyon.  We had been previously. But we had a few climbs we might attempt next time.