Beholding Beautiful Bryce

We go to Bryce Canyon every year (since we moved home) to do the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon.

It is a great race... (at least they say- I tried it once and "great!" is not the expletive I would use to describe it).  It is a fun day, and a fun little overnight road trip that we all look forward to.

 We love Bryce, this year we stopped on the side of the road where a bunch of cars were parked because we never had stopped there before and we found the greatest little hike to a cave, a grotto and a waterfall!

We are pretty sure we saw some Europeans taking "European" showers in the waterfall, but I didn't stop long enough to take any pictures...

 It is so beautiful there, and we don't get to spend enough time, but once a year at least we get to go visit for a few hours.  This year it was raining, and we desperately needed the rain with the drought and all the fires, so no one was complaining about the soggy race day.  It also meant that we wouldn't be able to enjoy the vista views of the canyon.....we thought....OH BOY WERE WE WRONG!  Never have I had an experience in nature as amazing as this one.  We stay in Cannonville at the end of the race, at the bottom of the valley.  13 miles up the road (up about 1000 feet in elevation) is the canyon road where you can look out over the canyon and down to Cannonville.  So as we are ascending the hill we notice that the clouds are really really low and then we realized we are going to be entering those clouds.

 Thanks to George's "disability" we have a free lifetime pass into the National Parks (I don't know why they think not being able to hear the National Parks is worthy of letting the deaf in for free, but since it is the only perk we have found so far, we aren't complaining.)
We thought we would see if we could beat the clouds and catch a quick glimpse of the canyon before we went home.  It was awe inspiring. It was a gift from God to be able to experience this phenomena.

We were quite quickly enveloped by these clouds and couldn't see anything but each other.  It was just amazing.  Even when it started to rain again, we didn't want to leave.  The kids all got in the car and Kyle and I stood in the parking lot in silence just smelling the rain from inside of the clouds it was coming from.  It is a different smell when it completely surrounds you and it is...there isn't a word...surreal I guess.

Our spirits were lifted.  We are better people because of it, 

and will never forget our little trip almost to Heaven.

Lake Powell Party

Mason Wells knows how to throw a party, especially if that party is on a house boat.  He has it down to a science-but not boring complicated science; fun, exciting, and tasty science!  I do have to admit that the idea of all the kids on the water for 3 days makes me a little crazy with fright and anxiety.  I couldn't bring Matty, but our sweet neighbor girls, the Spilkers, kept her good and entertained while we were away.  Once I get there I really enjoy myself, my kids and my Wells family so much.  We always have a great time and thankfully we were all safe once again as well.

In this bottom picture they all put their life jackets on upside down like a diaper and thought it was the funniest thing ever invented! (thanks Aunt Mandy)

Speaking of Aunt Mandy....she is the life of the party, Mason and Kyle were throwing the kids off the back of the boat (yes I am realizing as I am typing that we don't sound like very safety concerned parents but I promise we are), well Mandy couldn't resist joining in on the fun....

She is the funnest mom I know!

Here are some other pictures of the fun:

The sand castle, that most of us climb once and touch the wall and then try to make it all the way to the water before we fall down....some aren't so lucky, and some fall on purpose just for fun!

The tube is fun to watch, but terrifying to sit in..It is 100% peer pressure that you see me in that tube even once, but at least I didn't have to jump off the cliff with all the lemmings too!











Kyle liked to ride with the little, but daring, kids - some extra weight really gets that thing jumping, and kids flying.

Even though there isn't a picture, Emily wants it recorded in history that she jumped!
Evan also jumped after overcoming a lot of fear and succumbing to a lot of peer pressure.
I (of course) wasn't up there with him, but Kyle said it was awesome to see him just make up his mind and in a split second, let go of Kyle's leg and start running toward the edge.

It is only 2 and a half days, but we play so hard it feels like we are there a week....
a really awesome week.

4th of July, fires, fires, fires and fireworks!

When we drove to Lehi last week we passed 4 forest fires, the whole state, the whole Rocky Mountain Region is on fire, and yet here we go celebrating America by blowing up a little more of it!
We actually prefer to celebrate by escaping the heat in Pine Valley for the day.  It was an amazing day up there too.  It may have broken the 80 degree mark, maybe.  We invited all the Sullivan cousins up and the ones that came had a great time!  We mostly just vegged, watched the kids play and ate.
My theory is even if you only have a few hours, if you can spend it in Pine Valley it is well worth it.

Around 5 or 6 we head back down to the heat to watch to fireworks, but the fireworks don't start until 10 pm.  We get pizza for everyone and head to Grandma Sullivan's.  She springs for the pizza, and Kyle makes homemade rootbeer, and slowly over the next few hours all of the Sullivans show up at her house to watch the city fireworks out in the street in front of her house.  Back in the day, this was the ideal spot, now the trees have grown and the fireworks have expanded and we only see about half of them, but it isn't about the show, it is about tradition, and it is fun to get to see everyone and enjoy being with each other.

Someone had the fantastic idea of buying the dollar store completely out of their glow bracelets and necklaces, to replace actual sparklers and fireworks out in the street.  I think it was Jandy or maybe Aunt Gaye, so we don't burn too many little fingers- or homes, and the kids think it is great.

Lehi Roundup! TRADITION! TRADITION!

Can you hear the fiddler on the roof in the background?  Because it is Roundup time again and it is something that we never miss.  Kyle tells people it is in his marriage contract.  I love the nostalgia, I love the horses, I love the garden, I love that everyone thinks it is so hot there....and I love to spend an extra long weekend with my family.

It all starts with the horse parade on Thursday night (well it starts on Monday and goes all week, but we get into town every year, just in time to watch the horse parade).  It goes right past my parents home, so all the cousins come to our house and have a potluck and hotdog dinner.  I love the horse parade.  I always pick my favorites, and this year one of the horses almost bucked off it's rider and another went crazy and they had to pull it off to the side and take it's saddle off and so it was a very exciting parade this year as well.   We always go to the rodeo just after the parade.  The rodeo is a big deal.....this isn't Gunlock people, this is National PRCA big time cowboys, and on Thursday night kids get in for $3 (back in the day...kids were free, that is probably why my parents started going!)

  

 What great pictures!   It was a perfect night.  

Getting ready for the show to start, with beautiful Mount Timpanogos in the background.  

A couple of bull riders got really hurt.  It was an awesome night.  

I always leave hoarse (hoarse....I didn't even do that on purpose....ha ha ha.....)

*******

The next morning I got my turn picking the raspberries.  Mom and dad have a bumper crop this year, every year I think- I guess when you have that many raspberry bushes you always have tons to share.

My kids thought it was the best thing ever, and grandma taught us this great trick of tying the bucket around your waist so you have both hands free to pick! Evan thought it was fun for about 5 minutes.

There were random stalks of peppermint mixed in among the berry bushes and I was telling Evan that you use mint to cure what ails you, then he showed up like this...

notice the leaves crammed into his ears......he said now he would never get sick! 

We  did all feel pretty good after eating loads of raspberries on our waffles for breakfast, and it was a good feeling to be able to bring 5 big freezer bags full of berries home for food storage.

The parades continued throughout the weekend, for the kids it is all about the candy.  I love the miniature floats the wards make, and the bands from all the local high schools.  I like the candy a little too, I discovered a coconut flavored salt water taffy that was delicioso!

See that cute rocking horse behind Matty?  Grand prize winner and it was my mom's ward!  So cute.  See the empty bags in the middle picture...the parade hadn't started yet, but they have this tradition of writing their names on a ziplock so they can complain later when I dump everyone's candy into the candy jar all together.  Evan was very proud of the frisbee he caught, we also got a little ball, 2 pencils, and a XXL t-shirt from some middle school.....it was a good year for swag!

Mom and dad were in charge of their 55th (yes 55 years) high school reunion on Saturday night so we drove up A.F. Canyon with Rogels and played games and roasted smo's. 

Emily was happy to have a girl "cousin" close to her age to play with.  

My cousin Melissa's daughter Laynee shares Emily's birthday (just one year later).

We are going to go up one more time before school starts for more fun and more harvesting! 

I can't wait!

Jandy's journey

This blog was meant mostly for blogging about going places but, two of my favorite things about St. George left today for a new place.  I haven't been able to stop crying.  Jan taught me that blogs can be healing, so I am going to try to write my feelings a little.

Growing up I have only a few memories of Jan and they were mostly of her big high school parties in the basement, or of her bringing a house full of college students home with her from Cedar City, and  one very early memory of getting to be Dopey in her backyard production of Snow White, even though I couldn't whistle 

(she told me to ACT like I was whistling)!

She moved to St. George before I did.  It made the decision to move to St. George or to stay in Albuquerque easier, not only is it home to Kyle, but with two of my sisters here, it was already home to me.  Everyone told me how lucky I was to have my siblings here, and I was.  We had some fantastic years, created some fantastic traditions and made some really amazing memories, not just with Jan, but mostly because of Jan.

Then there were two....not the dogs, they came a little later, but Jan became Jandy and we couldn't have been happier.  There aren't words for how I feel about Andy.  I miss him as much as I miss Jan.  I have never felt so close to a brother-in-law, or to a brother (no offense all y'all brothers- you are all pretty...as Jan would say).  Andy has the biggest heart, and a really great perspective, and is so ridiculously funny.  He did  "in a van down by the river" one day in a restaurant and I almost peed my pants.  We have a really great relationship, at least I think so....he was always telling me we were fighting or that I was dead to him, but I am pretty sure he was just joking! I hope.  I hope he didn't drive away and sigh in relief about getting away from me (and Evan).

I love this picture- the subway was so much fun with Andy.

We are so blessed to have an aunt and uncle that love our kids more than their shoes.

Emily wanted to move with them, no hesitation, she would have done it, 

and Andy loves Matty so much it hurts  

 We have been extra blessed that they have opened the doors to acting for our kids. 

(and for the amazing amount of free tickets we have gotten to stuff at Tuacahn)

Emily has found her path, that is why she wants to be with them so much, it is the path they forged.

They all got to participate, but Jan instantly recognized Emily's talent and made her the star of Once on this Island at age 7.  They were both so great at bringing out her talent.

   I was there the night they told the Tuacahn kids that they wouldn't be back next year, and there was literal weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, probably some rent clothing too.

Some of it was Emily, and I told her, there is no need for tears, we get to keep Jandy for ever, f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

and that makes me so happy, but here I am today, the drama kids would be proud of me the way I have carried on, even in the middle of swimming my laps at the gym I couldn't stop crying.

I am supportive of the new path they need to take in their journey, 

I just wish so much it was closer to ours. 

I love you more.  Break a leg.