Summer Wrap Up

   I know summer isn't technically over and I'd like to hang onto it as much as possible, but back to school and work again are like the unofficial end to summer.  So here is a fun little summer re-cap of our adventures!

 To start off in July we celebrated our 1 year anniversary! It really has gone by so fast, but has been the best year ever.  For our anniversary we came home to Salt Lake, spent some time with family, and then stayed at a lodge by Jordanelle res. and spent time in Park City and Heber.

This was out anniversary cake. We also had the top tier of our wedding cake

that had been frozen and was actually still really yummy!

Before heading off to Heber we had a fun picnic in the park with the Powells!

The grand-kids of course are the cutest at any family event! 

Look at that manly strut

Hadley and Piper were showing us how they play Marriage

 Cute little miles!

Haegen showing the cute sports cupcakes that 

Laura made for Chip's birthday

Watching grandma open her present.  

It was a fun picnic, we played croquet and bocci before we had to head off to our hotel.

The view of the lake from our room. The sunset was beautiful. The lodge was neat. We played in the hot tub and the pool and it was very quiet and relaxing.

Steven making friends

  Main street Park City! A bunch of overpriced shops and galleries that are fun to look at.  Those stairs led to up to the neighborhoods and they looked cool so we had to run up them :) We also went to the outlet malls and found some good deals for work and school clothes.  We ate lunch at the yummy Dairy Keen in Heber and got really good shakes at Granny's that we ate in the park.

We drove to the top of the war memorial in Heber/Midway and this was the view.  We love this area, it's so pretty! We also drove around and up the mountain a bit.  We went and looked at the Homestead and the crater. On our way home we drove through Provo canyon and up through Timpanogos; a nice scenic drive.

    

For the 24th Of July we came up to Salt Lake again! That morning we went to the parade downtown with Steven's family.  It was a fun parade with a lot of neat floats. Very crowded as usual, but we got a good spot.  

 That was President Utchdorf in the car, but I think that is Chip's hand that is in the way

Gotta love the oreos! 
After the parade we went to the Zoo with Jameson and Katie (Katie had never ever been to a zoo before!)

We make awesome gorillas don't we? I love the monkeys, they are so funny! 
That night we spent time with Katie Simon's who just came home from her mission.  It was so good to see her and we are really glad she is home.  She gave an awesome homecoming talk. We had some yummy dinners with families and eventually had to come home again, but it was a good holiday weekend.  
We went up to Salt Lake a lot this summer and got to spend some great family time.  There were several good trips to St. George, Zion NP, and Cedar Breaks and other surrounding areas.  We did some cool hikes and took some scenic drives.  We were also able to enjoy two plays at the Shakespeare Festival.  We have really loved living this past year in the heart of Southern Utah surrounded by all this beauty and so many fun things to do!

Blessed

       So this week has been full of random awesome blessings.  With my new job I only get paid once a month and I only worked about a week before the end of the first pay period. My old job cut my hours in half over the summer, and with Steven's school and such we figured September would be kind of tight and planned on some major budgeting.  Also the school I work for has dropped in enrollment numbers this year and I was worried that I might be laid off (which I found out later I came really close to). Sounds kinda rough and it had us both worried.  Now here come the blessings! We'd been praying a lot and asking for help with ways to get us through the next month and to hopefully keep my job.  It's one of those times where you feel you've done all you can and you just have to turn to the Lord and have faith that you will be taken care of.  I don't know how well we did on that, but the Lord saw fit to bless us abundantly anyway.  I found out my next paycheck will be just enough for what we need this month, and I also found out that they found more for me to do at work and that my job is secure for now. What a relief! On top of that Steven only had one book to buy for school, and the good chunk of money we thought we owed for school dropped to less than $20! How that happened I'm not sure, but we are both very grateful for it! It was a testimony to both of us of how much the Lord watches over us; he knows what we need when we need it and we just have to put our trust in Him.  During this time we also learned better ways to budget and little things we can do to keep costs down, as well as what is important and what is not.  This was also a great lesson for when we fully get back on our feet to continue to budget and set aside savings for other possible future crisis instead of spending it just because we have it.  Although it was stressful, we are both very grateful for these lessons that we will hopefully always remember. We are very grateful for this gospel and the comfort it brings in hard times; as well as for all of the recent blessings! Our families have been amazing as well and we can't thank them enough.

       Along with that stuff everything is going well! We had a blast at Lake Powell with everyone and hope to get pictures up soon. Steven started classes Monday and enjoys them all so far.  He is thinking of changing his emphasis to PR which I think he would do great at.  His minor in photography is also going well, he really has a talent for it.  My new job is going great.  I'm in the special ed program and I work with several kids in the morning and help out in their classes, and in the afternoon I teach a reading group. The people I work with have been great and I love the whole environment.  Managing the apartments has it's interesting moments, but it's going well.  Steven is amazing at keeping up with everything and handling situations. We both got a lot done with them this morning and that felt good.  So things are great! We are really looking forward to going up to Salt Lake this weekend, I'm getting a we bit homesick for it.  Yay for challenges and blessings!      

Happy No more Daycare Day!!!!!

Mini cakes to celebrate the event :D

That's right, I am officially free from working at the daycare! Yesterday was my last day.  Most of you have heard me complain from time to time about it.  I'm not sad to leave, nor do I regret it. However, saying goodbye to some of the kids I've worked with for the past two years was slightly hard.  They are good, fun kids, and although they were stressful there are still some fun memories such as the fire drill incident.... :)  I am very excited to start my new job at the Gateway Prep Academy; I'll be a teacher's aid in the special ed class.  I start with meetings next week and then I'll start in the classroom after the Lake Powell trip (so wed. the 18th!). Yay for new chapters in life! 

Stranded!

So after the hiking part of the Coyote Gulch adventure we had what felt like a whole separate trip altogether.  I would say it started out after we hiked to the parking lot after the Moki steps.  You come to a trail head parking lot.  The place we left the car at was about 2 1/2 miles down the dirt road.  Aaron and Colton went to get the car as we all waited... 

Waiting for the car

An hour and a half later the guys still aren't back with the car. We kept speculating about what could have happened; they got lost, car wouldn't start, flat tire, etc. It was getting dark so Brett took a flashlight and phone and went to check it out.  He came back about fifteen minutes later with Aaron and Colton, but no car. Turns out Aaron accidentally grabbed the wrong keys and didn't notice until they got to the car and had to walk all the way back! So Brett got the right keys and jogged to the car.  Two hours after we ended the hike we finally get in the car and head out.

Well we thought we'd be on our way until we ran into this...

  This is the massive sink hole in the middle of the road! It was at least 10 ft. deep and probably just as wide. That area to the left is where we got the car past. Everyone got out. On the first try the car slid a little, so they reversed and then gunned it past. It was pretty intense.

Well again we thought we'd be on our way until a few hills later we run into "damaged road" signs. The wash had completly taken out the road.  We stood at the edge looking down at the river 8 ft below, then across the gap to the other side of the road.  There was no way around that we could find in the dark.  We had my parents call the county sheriff who made sure we had food, water, and gear because they couldn't get to us until the next day (Sunday).  So we camped the night on the road.  We woke up to rain.  Finally we found a way to cross down the river.  It was dicey, but we made it.  Only to find a few hills later, a big puddle and more road damage.  As the guys tried to build a track across it we waited.  When they thought it was ready we took the car down the hill.  Just as we were debating, another flash flood swept through right where the guys had been moments before.  Well from there we just waited at the top of the hill until the deputy came, watching the flash flood.   

 Muddy road

Waiting...waiting...still waiting...

That is the mud puddle and where the flash flood went through.  You can see the Sheriff trucks on the other side.  A grader came and fixed the road. And finally, a whole day later than planned, we headed home. We got off the dirt road and into Escalante at 5:00pm Sunday.  Thanks to my parents for the Pizza and Drinks! And meeting us there to rescue us :)

Coyote Gulch Adventure

This weekend 5 friends came down (Aaron, Wesley [little bro], Colton, Bryce, and Brett) and the seven of us planned on doing a backpacking trip through Coyote Gulch, part of the Grand Staircase in South Eastern Utah. While many crazy things happened, we all had a blast.

I'm ready to go

There is an Arch as you drop into the canyon called Steven's Arch,
so Steven is pointing to his arch

You can barely see Steven, but he is standing on the cliff overlooking
the canyon we're about to drop into

Due to recent storms the water was a lovely shade of mocha

Tiny frog; they were everywhere!

We reached the alcove where we camped. Weswee was exhausted
so he found a recliner and rested from a weary day of traveling

Colton brought a Frisbee that lit up; our entertainment for the night

That night there was a lot of lightning and the thunder sounded like it was in the alcove with us. Shortly after that passed a massive flash flood tore through the canyon waking some of us up. The river, that's usually 5-8 feet wide was at least 12 feet wide and only about 15 yards from our camping area. Luckily our camp spot was high enough. It was quite a sight. It was hard to fall back asleep after that.

View from camp, after the night's flash flood

The boys are gathering fresh spring
water to filter for the day

Colton, Wesley, and Aaron jumping into the Mocha waterfall

Flash floods made some areas very muddy. Colton isn't swimming,
he's up past his waste in mud. Steven also got stuck up to his waste,
and Alycia got stuck up to her chest (thanks for saving me Brett!)

Coyote Gulch Bridge

Jacob Hamblin Arch

To get out of the Gulch we had to climb the Moki 'steps' which is
basically to find footholds up the steep rock and hold on for dear life as you
climb up. It was a little shaky but not too bad

Triumphant at the top!

Looking down at the river at its normal size. Notice the bank on either
side how the plants are all bent down from the flash floods

Life on the edge

Walking out. The dark bowls behind are the tops of the canyon

Such an amazing landscape!

This was such an awesome trip. The thunder and lightning and flash flood
were insane! We had a blast on the hike though. I can't wait to do another trip.