June 2016 Update

SUMMER BEGINS!

The kids enjoy our summer homeschool schedule because they get more art, cooking, and sewing classes.  Here are some salt/watercolor paintings they did.

We had a fun day at the splash pad.

With the heat, swimming is pretty much the only thing you can do outside, so here we are enjoying the pool at the YMCA.

I visited the Young Women up at girl's camp.  They had some cute miniature ponies up there.

The older kids have chores each Saturday, but Audrey didn't want to be left out.  Here she is sweeping with Nathan.

Audrey decided that the dishwasher silverware basket is a great way to carry her kitties around.


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY JARED!

Jared with his cute kids!

They really love their Daddy, especially when he has chocolate.

TUCSON, AZ

Since we were taking a different route to Utah, I thought it would be fun to stop in Tucson and see the house my parents lived in when I was born. We drove into the super ghetto neighborhood and I hurried out and took a picture in front of the address my parent's gave me.  It turns out they actually gave me the address of their neighbor's house.

GILBERT, AZ

After Tucson, we stopped and spent the night in Gilbert, AZ at Joseph and Nicole's house (they were in Yuma, and Utah but they were nice enough to let us stay there).  We really loved the drier heat, the nice clean roads, the great stores and restaurants, but what we really loved was seeing the temple.  Despite the 105 degree heat, we stopped by the Gilbert, AZ temple grounds.  

Audrey especially loved all the flowers.

We loved the powerful spirit that we felt at the temple.  It was also nice to be in a place with so many strong members of the church.

After a nice night in Gilbert, we went to church and drove by the Mesa temple before heading out of town.


THE GRAND CANYON

We saw some wildlife right away, at the water refill station.  With the the extreme heat you couldn't blame this elk for trying to get a cold drink.

At the South Rim.

I'm super afraid of heights, but the view was worth it.

After we took in the view at the South rim, we drove up to the desert tower look out where the views were even more spectacular.

We arrived just in time for the sunset which highlighted the canyon's beauty.  I was fascinated by all the canyon layers.

This is Audrey in the garden at the hotel that we stayed in near the park.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Moths

It was fun to run into my cousin Mike (from California) on our hike to Emerald pool. He is here as a leader of a scout troop. We used to meet in Zion each year for family campouts when we were younger.
The kids loved swimming in Emerald pool.

Audrey had fun playing in the sand

The cool water felt really good after the heat of the day.

We saw a lot of deer.

Hiking The Narrows was really fun.  The cool water felt really good after hiking in the heat.

Weeping Rock

Audrey "reading" books at the Jr. Ranger Station.

We were proud of the kids getting their Jr. Ranger badges.

Court of the Patriarchs

Waiting for the shuttle

I hiked Angel's Landing!  I have climbed some higher peaks before, but this is by far the scariest hike I've ever been on.

Jared was so proud of me conquering my fear of heights enough to finish the hike that he got me an official certificate (they actually have these in the park gift shop) and Angel's Landing USGS Benchmark key chain to celebrate my accomplishment.


JARED'S PICTURES OF ZION NATIONAL PARK

Here are some of Jared's pictures of the hike to Angel's landing.

The switchbacks

Warning signs: the most dangerous half mile in Utah.

There is no way I would have been able to take this picture.

Luckily they have chains for you to hold on through some of the toughest parts.

The ridge

Going down from the summit is definitely scarier that going up

Coming down the switchbacks

Lizard friend

Jared went farther up the narrows with the older kids while I stayed back with Audrey.

The found a nice waterfall

Another lizard friend

So Jared and I may have gone a little overboard on our mountain pictures.  Living in Texas has made us appreciate them more than ever.

Audrey loved playing in the Virgin River.  The contrast of cool water with the Southern Utah heat make Zion a lot of fun.