Zion's Narrows

My aunt Janice and uncle Lou are retired school teachers and they travel with their other retired school teacher friends every fall. This year they came to Utah and toured the National Parks. It seems like they have a great time and I hope to be as cool as them some day. My aunt Virginia is also retired and she and her son Cody joined them this year. Cody likes to hike and so we applied for permits to hike the Narrows in July and actually got permits.

Dan was nice enough to go with me:) We were able to bond while driving, especially on the way home while we listened to the relief society broadcast.

The Tuesday before we were supposed to hike a 200 ton boulder fell onto the road and was blocking highway 9. The highway that runs through the park. The highway we needed to use to get to the trailhead. Why does everything have to be so complicated???? The alternate routes would take 3 and 1/2 hours to get to the trailhead, instead of the 1 and 1/2 we were planning on. We had made the decision to not do the hike because we didn't want my aunt to drive 7 hours just for us to hike so we went to rent shoes and had decided we would just hike from the bottom up and turn around. We were bummed but what do you do.

While we were renting shoes we ran into a couple that said there was one shuttle company willing to take hikers the long route to the trailhead if they could fill their van. We called and were put on the list. Luckily they filled the van and for $70 a piece we had a way to the trailhead. It was worth it but it was a little pricey.

So we got to go our hike. I had to document the awesome rental shoes.

They made a big difference and I was so glad my shoes were not in water all day. We hiked super fast because everyone said the hike takes 9-12 hours. We didn't get to the trailhead until 9:30 and we didn't have headlamos so we were a little nervous. We were hiking fast even for me and I usually like fast. We finished the first 6 miles in under 2 hours, luckily it's flat! It really is beautiful.

We hiked 17 miles in 7 and 1/2 hours. Here we are waiting for the shuttle with the couple that we hiked with. It was a crazy day but lots of fun. My feet, that are still sore from all my summer hiking, were killing. I was so happy to be done.

Cody and I got back to Virginia's hotel and I showered and the Dan and I headed back to Provo. It was a really quick trip but it is something I have been wanting to do for years. So glad I was able to get it in.

LIFE

 Life does not slow down because you are worn out. It took me two weeks of school before I finally was able to fall asleep at my normal bed time. Too much traveling at the end of summer. My internal clock was messed up. Finally this week I was waking up before the alarm!!!! I am excited because my feet feel better and I am hoping this week I can start to do strenuous exercise and be less exhausted. The temperature finally dropped today as well, that will make a huge difference.

Erica was in town. I didn't get a picture but I got to see her for like 30 minutes at Jana's. Her and Than had to head out and I stayed and bugged Jana far too late even for a Friday night. We had a whole summer to catch up on. Ben made us delicious shakes. And I got to snuggle Tiago. He is a cutie.

My siblings all got together for Sunday dinner that same weekend. We are talking August 23rd here. I was still so exhausted so I snuggled Emerson the entire evening while everyone else played games.

I think I got the best deal!!!!! I love having my family live close. We have all been texting today and tonight as I have been working on things I keep reflecting on how crazy it was to all grow up in such a small house. We argued, we fought, we played, we competed, and these guys are my best friends. I feel so BLESSED! I wish I could go back and tell that to my ornery teenage self, hey one day you will really actually like these guys.

 Anthony is crashing at my place currently. He is really good to Moki. Leaves out entire bags of jerky for her to eat (ok he was mad about that)! But he always greets her and plays with her. She gets more excited for him to get home than for me.

 My evening cop out has been to take Moki to the dog park. It has been so hot and I have been biking to work so I have no desire to be active when I get home. I sit in the shade and she wears herself out. It's a win win.

 I love that it is so close to my house.

 Last night I went to the soccer game with a friend. BYU women dominated Utah, well they won 2-0. It was fun. I have not been to South Field in a really long time. It is so different from when I was a student. The one thing that is the same is that the team is still awesome.

Well I should be preparing my lesson. I got way sidetracked. Life is looking good, knock on wood because I just got a text that my dad is in the emergency room...boo. But other than that life is good. My students are awesome and we are having good times in PE!

And I don't want to forget the great news I received today......drum roll........Ben and Katie are having a girl! I am so pumped. 

Back to the real world

 I got back to Utah August 12th, Tuesday afternoon and I was exhausted. There was no time to rest though. My parents were in town and so I went straight from the airport to Katie's and Nancy's to visit family and hang out.

 Wednesday my family came my way and we made a trip to the BYU bookstore. Look at this guy! He is so stinking cute.

 Emerson finally opened his little eyes for me.

 Thursday night I hwent up to Murray again but that evening I had back to school night. Friday was the first day of proffessional development meetings. And just like that summer was gone. Saturday I had to help with a luncheon for a funeral in my ward. Luckily my mom was there to help, I was so grateful. That took a lot longer than I anticipated but was a great experince. That evening was the ward activity where I was in charge of water kickball. It was super fun but it made for an exhausting week.

Sunday Emerson was blessed while all the grandparents were in town. It was really nice and fun to see family.

I was exhausted and not in the best mood on the drive up. But how can you be mad with these crazies in your car....well there are lots of ways but you just laugh and get over it.

My parents had to get out of there as soon as the meeting was over and so they missed pictures.

We headed back to Nancy's and had a nice luncheon, Sunday naps, and games.

That evening we headed to my Mom's brother Gerralds house to visit with her siblings. All the Utah siblings came so that was a real treat.

 It is crazy that these guys used to be my age and I remember those days. They are a great group of people. I am lucky to know them and call them family.

We added the spouses for the last picture.

 It was great to have my parents in town. It made for a crazy start to the school year but I would never not want them to come. I am still recovering a little bit each day but it is getting better. I biked 40 miles on Saturday and thought I was going to die so probably too soon for that. I think my body is just worn down. I usually run 3 miles most mornings with Moki but I have only been able to run about half of it so far. Ia m also trying to bike to work. A pretty easy 7 miles. That seems to be a good distance for now. My body needs a little recovery time. It has also been so hot. I am looking forward to feeling better and cooler weather!

The rest of Kauai

The first night on Kauai it rained the entire night. This would have been fine except we were camping....seriously a downer. Luckily I have a great tent so I stayed dry, but it is super annoying to have a wet tent. We were supposed to to start hiking this first morning but the trail was closed and so we had to come up with a back-up plan.

We let our gear dry out. That was tricky because there was a rain storm every half hour or so.

 Once it was finally dry and put away we grabbed our snorkel gear and walked to Tunnel's beach. We snorkeled with Pierce Brosnan (007) and just enjoyed the morning.

 We looked at the Napali Coast from a distance while hoping we would get the chance to hike it!

 We had no where to stay one night because our permits were cancelled and so we got a hotel. it was great to sleep in a bed, especially before heading out to backpack.

We came off the trail Saturday and spent the day just hanging out at the hotel resort.

Sunday morning we headed to church. The chapel on Kauai is beautiful.

 We got to sit on the stand because there were no other seats available.

 Sunday after church we went on a car ride to Waimea Canyon, the grand canyon of Hawaii.

 It was a long car ride but it was worth it.

We also were able to overlook the Kalalau trail that we had just hiked, that was a fun overlook. The mountains here are so unique.

And we finished up in the canyon overlooking the wettest place on earth. This place gets over 400 inches of rain annually. It you ever have the chance it is better seen from a helicopter ride....just saying.

Then we headed out to to the beach to watch the blow hole.

 Lynzee was so tired she just took a nap on the ground at on of our stops.

 We spent Monday doing the last few fun things we wanted to do before flying home. Lynzee and I started the morning off on a bike ride along the coast. It is one of my favorite things to do in Kauai.

 We relaxed at our hotel and did some last minute shopping.

 I was getting restless and so Lynzee and I decided to ride our bike cruisers up to a waterfall. That was a workout on a single gear bike, but so fun.

 I loved the last day because we didn't spend any time in the car. We swam in the ocean, the pool, and the hot tub and just did the things we each enjoyed. It was great. And then we got to the airport two hours early and still barely made the plane because the lines were CRAZY!

 It was a fun trip.