Memorial Day Hike

 I had a fun hike planned for Memorial Day. Jacquie and Eriuc Carter and myself have been hiking on Tuesday and Thursdays all spring. Jacquie and I have hiked for years. This year Eric, her husband, started to join us. It has been really fun. We decided to do a longer hike on Memorial day. We hiked from Slate Canyon on the Bonneville shoreline trail to the Y trailhead, then up the Y and beyond until we ran into the Slate Canyon trail, then we came down Slate canyon. We started at 6am. I am glad we did because it was hot when we were finishing. Eric led the way with a fast pace. I was feeling a little off that day. I appreciated having people in front of me to keep me moving. I felt awful for the first hour or so uphill. I think I had a little sickness that Sam and Amanda's kids had. I wasn't full on sick but I did not feel great. The hike was great though.

I am so glad we did it! We ended up hiking 9 miles in just about 4 hours. It was a great way to start Memorial Day!

Kodachrome Basin

 For Memorial Day weekend I was able to reserve camping at Kodachrome Basin State Park. It was a miracle since I reserved the camp spot so late. Sam's family came too. We were able to hike some, bike some and play lots of games.

I took my road bike, Mountain bike and Andrew and Emersons bike. It was my first time hauling four bikes on my rack. It made my car seem long and HUGE!

Moki and I got there Thursday evening. Sam's family wasn't coming until Friday afternoon. We had time to set up camp, hike and then I mountain biked before we went to bed. It was warm enough to sleep with the rain fly off. It was awesome!

Friday I slept in. Later than I should have because it was so hot when Moki and I hiked. We snuck in a morning hike and then set up another tent in camp. I spent the afternoon reading while we were waiting for Sam's family to come. 

We got their tent all set up with sleeping gear, played card games and had dinner. Sam and Amanda made some yummy pizza. I spent the evening on a Mt. bike ride. It was five miles in the sand. It was really fun but the sand made it harder than I anticipated.

It was so pretty

The next morning we got up and after breakfast we went on a hike. We hiked the Shakespeare arch loop. It's about a 3 mile loop. The kids did great. Lots of pretty views.

At the start of the hike Audrey spotted a snake (in the background). She was obsessed with it. We had to pry her away to actually do the hike.

The views did not disappoint.

Hey, I know those guys!

Resting the shade.

This girl is so cute.

Cute little hiking family

The hike was great. The kids made it without too many complaints:)

We headed into  Cannonville to hang out at the park for the afternoon. We had lunch, played Kanjam, played card games and rested during the heat of the day.

Then we attempted to hike Willis Creek. That was not successful. Andrew was done hiking and making sure we all knew it. We hiked a little ways but not too far. I was bummed because the walls are so cool as you get into the slot canyon but we didn't get to see much of that.

We made it about 1/2 a mile or so. We had some snacks then headed back to camp.

We made dinner. Hot dogs. I did a chocolate cake in the dutch oven. Sam and Amanda went on an evening hike while I hung out with the kids. Then they came back and I went biking as the sun was going down!

Sunday was our last day. Moki and I got up and hiked Angel's Palace. We were the only two on the trail all morning. So nice!

 

After our morning hike we cam back to camp. We all packed everything up. Then we decided to hike the nature trail. That was fun because there were rocks the kids could climb on.

After that short walk we went back to Cannonville for lunch. I headed back to Provo after lunch. I was tired and was driving by myself, with Moki. Overall it was a really fun trip. I forget how much harder it is to do things like camping and hiking with kids. It takes a lot more time and so much PATIENCE. I love doing things like this with my nephews and nieces, even if they say they hate it:)

May

 May flew by this year. I don't know why but it felt so fast. I kept busy with work, exercise and starting to work more on girls camp. The weather was pretty chilly all spring. I was able to sneak in some hikes and bike rides but not as many as I would have liked.

we got new soccer goals at school. They are awesome. I just love the backdrop for my job. I am so thankful for my job and I am so grateful for the beautiful mountains that surround me in Utah!

Moki and I chasing the sunset one evening. We got out lots for walks, hikes and bike rides. I am doing 75 gard and so I have been completing two workouts a day. That works out well for this pup!

I upgraded my Mountain bike. Not completely necessary, but I got my old one in 2007 or 2008.

It has been so fun! It's an amazing hike. It has made me more conscoius of spending more time on a mountain bike. i have explored lots of new places and have been reminded of how hard Mountain biking is. It is really fun when Moki can tag along and run while i bike. Randal and I have been doing the Big Springs loop once a week. It is beautiful, great cardio, and super fun going down.

Here is Moki exploring while I try to catch my breath at the end of the uphill.

Stephanie, Katie, Randal and I went and hiked Red Lake on the Nebo loop. It's a hike we are going to do for girls camp. We sped hiked it one evening. I needed to do it so I could try to estimate how long it will take the young women. It was really pretty and Moki was in heaven.

I am going to miss my 9th graders. I worked with some of the best kids this year. My basketball girls especially were so hard to say goodbye too. I am giong to miss them. i wish I had a picture of all of them. Evie was my TA. She was AWESOME! She took this selfie on my phone one day so that is what I have to put on here:

Bette and Brooklyn stopped by my gym the last day of school. I made them take a picture. They made basketball and class so much fun this year. Love these girls so much. I am excited to see how life goes for them.

Moki gets so tired when she runs while I bike. She is done for the night when we get home. She is the cutest when she is sleeping.

Sam and Amanda snuck away to Capital Reef for a weekend. I had the kids. Audrey ended up with me in bed sometime in the middle of the night. I ended up going to the couch because somehow this little three year old can take up an entire queen bed:)

We celebrated Dan's birthday with a Sunday dinner at mt place. I made sweet and sour chicken. It wasn't quite a good as my mom's but it was good. Audrey was being so silly while I was cooking.

She cracks me up with her facial expresions.

She makes life so fun.

School ended on the 27th of May. It was really nice that we got out on the Thursday before Memorial weekend. It meant we got a long weekend and no worrying about school the next week!

April, after Spring Break

 Coming home from a trip is exhausting, especially international trips. The rest of the month flew by. I spent it working, hiking, biking, and playing lots of basketball. Basketball was awesome this spring. We were able to play two times a week most of the time. It is still one of my favorite ways to exercise. The weather was weird this spring. I didn't bike as much as I would like too, but I did bike lots to and from work.

 Andre played on a flag football team and Emerson played on a soccer team. I made it up a few Saturday mornings to watch their games. They both played so hard and loved it. So fun to watch and support them!

Audrey's birthday was in April. I decided she needed a pink bike. I found the cutest one on KSL. It was cheap but it great condition. It's a tad too big but I need to work with her on riding it.

Moki finally got a much overdue haircut. I am sure she felt great having short hair again. It took six weeks to get her in so she was really really long and matted.

I had Sam and Amanda's kids overnight. We swam at the rec center. It was so fun. The kids swam and swam and swam. Audrey thought this sign was hilarious!

The next morning we hiked the Y. They all did amazing. Despite the fact that all three kids say they hate hiking, they are actually good at it.

Audrey did need a ride down, but she walked all the way to the top!

The kids were excited to be done!

Road to the Waterfalls

 It was so nice to stay in the same place two nights in a row. This was our last full day in Ecuador. We were going to drive/hike the road to the waterfalls and then return to Quito. We woke up to a beautiful Ecuadorian morning. The sun was out and it felt amazing.

Our guide Paul like surprises, he had another one for us today. Todays surprise was to ride in a cable car across a canyon to get an up close view of a waterfall. Not something I would have paid to do on my own in another country but it was pretty fun.

 Headed towards the water fall

That was a fun surprise. There were lots of waterfalls on the drive to our hike. 

There is a lot of water in Banos.

We did a couple short hikes along a gorge that had some beautiful waterfalls.

It was a nice and easy day

I ended the hike with fresh mango, my favorite!

We spent the morning checking out the waterfalls and then we had a long drive back to Quito. We stopped in a little place and got some cheese filled fried tortillas. So delicious!

We got back to Quito in the evening and got ready to fly home the next day. Ecuador was a fun place to visit. I would have like to hike more. We did soooo much driving. That was annoying to me. It made it possible to see a lot more but it also meant we spent a lot of time in the car. I am glad I went. I am glad it was a spring break trip. You don't really need to be in great hiking shape to complete this trip. Our guide, Paul, was awesome. So knowledgeable about all things in Ecuador. Overall it was a great way to spend spring break!