My parents journey together.

This will be out of order, but I got some great pictures and wanted to honor my parents for just a minute.  We were able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary all together this year.  It was May 10th, well the party was the 11th, but we are just lucky we got to have a party at all.  Mom consented to letting us have just their children and siblings (and honorary siblings Uncle Gary and Aunt Kaye).

Paula planned a great event.  Jan made an awesome replica of their wedding cake and Kyle BBQ'ed 40 chicken breasts.  It was a great day.  I love my parents so much.  They are an inspiring example of patience and long suffering.:)....or hard work and endurance.;).....I mean love and charity.  They are actually examples of all of those things, since any married person knows it will take all those things to enjoy 50 years together....and eternity.

The grandkids all stood in a row and blew bubbles as they came in to the park...someone gave mom that flower so it seemed like she was carrying a bouquet.......kind of funny.

Baby Brynn, Grandpa and Sarah

Aunt Marsha Ann...there is not a picture in existence where these two are just smiling nicely!

I think everyone was waiting for a blessing on the food...and I made them look at me for a picture instead!

So worth the trip to get to spend this awesome day with my parents.

Love her!

Right where he wants to be......by himself with his back to the crowd....chicken done Wells.

Crazy cousins!

This is Grandma reading the surprise present that Grandpa got her...a tour of Western Canada.

We told mom to laugh a little right before the picture and that would make her smile look more natural, but then she got the giggles and couldn't stop laughing!

Andy wrote a new song for the occasions, and also played all our old favorites.

and I hope Andy is always by my side!

The best Subway hike ever!

This is practically a throw back blog, since this hike actually happened like 3 months ago, but school is finally back in session so I am playing catch up.
I have done this hike in Zion 4 times now with Kyle, and it really is phenomenal.  I was the veteran of the females, I think that that gave them some comfort, knowing that if I can do it, they surely can do it. :)  Spencer originally wanted to take the kids, but I protested because it has been so long since I have been, and they broke the kids last time they went.  The stars aligned for me and Shana was the only one that got a permit, and she said she was only going if the other moms were going.  So Spencer, Shana, Mason, Mandy, Kyle and I headed up the canyon.

The only pic we are all in, thanks to Spencer's long arm.

We made it through the forest,  off the beaten path a little, but we ended up in the right spot.

Mason decided he was going to ruin all my pictures today......

I am going to send this out as Christmas cards from the two of us....

 I kept trying to recreate these pictures with Kyle and Mason kept jumping in...you can't tell behind my glasses but I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldn't do anything-  He tried to bomb the next picture of me and Kyle too, but Spencer just pretended to take his picture so he would move.

We have this same picture from 17 years ago...a little older, but still so happy to be spending the whole day hiking together.

 Our first swim.....Shana was not very excited, the water was a tid bit nipply,  Mandy was trying to lighten the mood with her 80's rap music and pop and lock routine.

We tried to stop on the tracks for lunch but some tourists came up on us so we kept moving so we didn't have to wait for them to harness up....

This is where Laynee broke her leg last year.  Kyle did bring a rope this year and sat at the top and helped us down, and then he threw down the pack and scaled that rock like it was a step ladder...it was very impressive.  I left Mandy's head in the corner of the top right pic, so you could tell how big it really was.

 About an hour earlier, Mason was telling us about this poster he saw for this hike with people in full harnesses, and helmets and wetsuits, and he thought how ridiculous it would be to see people actually hiking like that.......and then we round the bend and here they are!

We came around another turn and ran into this....a whole herd of waterproof sheep waiting their turn to be lowered into the canyon, so we politely asked if we could pass them, and shimmied down the tree.... I think at this point they were starting to second guess their attire and the b.s. their guide had been feeding them about required safety measures.

I finally got him back...sorry Mandy!

Trying to get some color on those pasty legs....if only he had remembered his pointer.

We made it!  We look a little ragged, and by us, I mean me; but it was worth the sore muscles.

  It was the funnest day.  

I am very lucky to have great in-laws and to be able to make great memories.

Bryce Canyon Half plus a little.....

Our annual trip to Bryce had a few added bonuses this year.
 The first was the color fun run for the family the night before the half marathon.
Matty was going to stay back with Aunt Penny, but once she saw the fun she just couldn't wait to run. She said "I promise I run reerry fast mom!" She did run fast for about 25 yards.  The rest of the mile was pretty slow going!  It was a lot of fun though.

BEFORE....

 After we were given bags of chalk, but before the race even started:

 

 AFTER!

The race was fun,  dinner was good, and then we sat at the park and made bets on which kid would fall off, or get sick, on the circle of death.....the only one still in existence:

 I love the green kid behind Sophie! 

 Oh man, you assume it is chalk but then the look on his face makes you think, 

 he really is about to throw up!

 

The race the next morning was great, especially since I got to roll out of my hotel a few blocks away and come and watch the end!

             After our super fast Aunt Mandy passed we had some time to wait for our dads!

There's our dad!

 Always the post race rundown....

  It was a beautiful  morning.

We took Beckstrands on a little hike to the waterfall and cave and hiked around the canyon, playing with the squirrels and fate....but no one fell down the canyon, we were blessed again.

I made some super healthy muffins and the squirrels loved them :)

I stood in the river below for this awesome picture!

Had to explore the hole in the rock....nothing there but a bunch of kids.

They learn to photobomb so young these days!

We can't forget our favorite souvenir shops!

Our last stop on this trip was one we usually do on the way to Bryce,

Mystic Rivers fishing hole.  We didn't really want to fish, but I am such a lousy driver, I was falling asleep about the time we were passing and the kids wanted to see their pet parrot.

The parrot was not there, and the ponds had been flooded out the week before.  The floods had even broken their ice machine so we couldn't even get a snow cone.  We felt really bad for the owners, but the kids still had the most amazing experience, the chance of a lifetime really....

The owner had rescued a baby owl about a month before and he let us hold it.

George has loved owls for years and years, and the rest of us have become fans over time so this was very exciting for all of us.

So amazing, and so beautiful it was definitely the cherry on top of a great roadtrip sundae!