Escalante - Southern Utah Day 3

May 12, 2012 - Saturday

Later Friday night the Sumsions joined us and Rachael was no longer the only girl, now there were 3. We were so happy to have them join us and we enjoyed seeing the night away with multiple games of scum and loads of yummy treats.

We started the morning off with a quick trip to the visitors center. This time it was open and they had some pretty cool exhibits inside. We planned our day out, packed lunches and headed up a bumpy dirt road to Posey Lake. The turnoff from the cabin was literally .2 miles. Although the lake was only 15 miles from the cabin it took a good 45 minutes to get there because of the roads and inclines.

Posey Lake

 It's a good thing we brought our jackets because with the higher elevation the temperatures were a lot cooler. But the lake was beautiful and we enjoyed a nice lunch and relaxed on the dock.

Some of the kids even did some fishing, thanks to John for bringing all of his gear!

These kids are just the cutest, 12 of them 7 years old and younger. What a group!

Decided it was time to get a group shot... Say cheese!

Ok, now not so serious...

 The turnoff for Hells Backbone was literally just down the road from Pose Lake. We contemplated seeing it but the dirt roads were very rough and one of the cars in our group ended up with a hole in one of their tires of their brand new Yukon. Bummer. So we started our trek back down to see if we could fix the problem. Luckily there is one working gas station in Escalante and they were able to fill their tire up and find a tire repair store that was 45 minutes away. They headed out to get a new tire (the puncture was really bad and not safe for a long travel home) and we took a couple of their boys with us to Devil's garden. 


Once again we traveled a few miles down another insanely bumpy dirt road but it was well worth the trip. This place was a kids paradise with so much to climb on and incredible rock formations everywhere.

Devil's Garden

The whole trip the boys were chasing and trying to catch these lizards running everywhere. Finally Jeff was able to catch one for them. 

While up at Posey Lake they boys collected wood and threw it all into the back of our car. Once we got back to the cabin I promised them they could roast marshmallows if they would unload the wood and take it down to the fire pit. All of them did just that and after dinner they held me to my promise.


So I headed out with the boys and am proud to say that I started this fire all by myself. The only cheat I had was a couple matches and then the boys found a couple pieces of newspaper. I was happy:)
I really enjoyed this part, just relaxing and enjoying the fire while eating smores on our last night there. It was a gorgeous night and most everyone made there way out to join us.

Once the kids were all in bed we all enjoyed more games of Scum after trying to get a telescope to work (it was a failed effort though).

Escalante - Southern Utah Day 1 & 2

 Day 1 - May 10th, 2012


We began our 5 hour journey down to Escalante Utah with a few of our great friends. Going there we chose to take I15 through Beaver and then through Panguitch/Kanab and parts of Bryce Canyon. There were some incredible sites. Amazingly enough we didn't stop once, surprisingly the kids didn't need to stop and we all had a pleasant 5 hour drive.

We rented out this beautiful cabin called Red Rock Ranch and as we were the first ones to arrive we walked around enjoying the scenery and checked out the visitors center.

Rachael was very excited to be there... Can't you tell?

View from the cabin (taken with my phone)

On the large lizard at the visitors center (camera phone again)

Once the Hirschi's and Cannon's arrived we all set out to find somewhere to eat. For those of you that have never been to Escalante there is pretty much nothing there, the town only stretches 1.5 miles. We ended up eating at this place called The Blue Cowboy. It was an interesting experience for one and I think they were overwhelmed with all of our kids. We had 10 kids 7 years old and younger.  The restaurant was very small and run by a couple who took orders and cooked the meals.


Day 2 - May 11th, 2012


Today we planned to do the Lower Calf Creek Fall's hike since this was the whole reason for coming down. We made and packed our lunches and headed out, it was actually fairly close to where we were staying.
What we thought would be a fairly simple hike turned into a 6.2 mile (round trip) hike through sand and in the hot desert sun. Our young kids did fantastically well, especially the 4 older boys heading the front. The younger kids made it most the way to the waterfall but Rachael wore herself out trying to keep up with those boys.

 Did I mention that Rachael was the only girl there? Yes, 1 girl and 9 boys!
The scenery was beautiful there, absolutely breathtaking and nothing around for miles.
As you can see in the picture below, at one point Aaron had both Joseph and Rachael on his back. I had the privileged of carrying her later as we fell back behind the group.

Quick pit stop to fuel up and empty the sand from our shoes.
We also stopped a lot as the boys tried catching lizards. They were everywhere!

Here is the first glimpse we got of the spectacular Calf Creek Fall's waterfall, 126 foot Falls

As soon as we arrived to the falls the kids were already upbeat and playing in the water. The water was freezing and the air temperature was actually quite a bit cooler there. It got chilly at times.

Lunch Time!

It was not time to return, I was quite nervous about the journey back but it proved to be a lot nicer. Clouds had rolled in, the temperature had cooled down a bit and for some reason the hike going back always seems shorter. I set out with Joseph on my back, Rachael was hand in hand with Aaron and Josh was already up ahead with the boys.

  A beautiful day spent with wonderful friends. I loved all the cheers we got from people passing us. They couldn't believe we did it with all those kids. One guy stopped us and asked if he could take a picture of us.

Easter Sunday 2012

Easter tradition in our house is to search around the house to find your basket. Rachael was the first to spot them this year. Then it's soon followed by an egg hunt around the house. These eggs are filled with candy and money. 

Next tradition is Stake Conference. I actually really enjoy having Stake Conference on Easter and the kids were very well behaved, thankfully... We were sitting behind the bishop and his family :)

Following church I began our traditional 'Easter Feast'. Honey Baked Ham, funeral potatoes, candied yams, homemade rolls and a delicious strawberry and pecan salad. YUM!

Mum, Dad and Beth joined us along with their dear friends Debbie and Tony Twigger. They were here for a couple weeks visiting from England.

After we stuffed ourselves full we took to the outdoors and enjoyed the beautiful sun and surroundings. We took a nice long enjoyable walk around our neighborhood.

We relaxed outside after our walk to cool down and had a quick and thoughtful Easter lesson.

This wonderful Easter idea I got from Pintrest and the kids really enjoyed it.

 Following dessert the kids were tumbling around on the trampoline and Rachael's hair was so full of static it was straight up in the air. 

We love our holiday traditions and being able to spend them with great family and friends!

Spring Break 'stay-cation' - Tuesday

I didn't know what to title this post as it is about all sorts of random things.

I spent the first part of the afternoon with Rachael seeing an Allergy/Immunology doctor. She has ongoing skin and asthma problems that needed to be sorted out. It was quite a long appointment and one particular test proved some results. A skin allergy test on her back is what you can see from the pictures below (taken with my camera while she was wiggly from trying to scratch). Number 14 & 16 are Cashews and Pistachio Nuts. We knew she had an allergy to pistachio nut as she had a reaction just after putting one to her lips a couple Christmases ago. After 15 minutes the welts were huge (seen on the far right picture after the pen was wiped off) She has a severe allergy to tree nuts. Particularly these two. With new plans and prescriptions we hope to get things under control soon. 

 There is a story I didn't want to forget about the tile picture above. While waiting at the doctors office we were playing I Spy and other color games. While pointing out the colors on the floor she said "I Spy Bread". Huh? Bread? It took a few minutes until she pointed to the tan color on the floor. Oh, I see, bread color... I guess I need to teach her the color tan or light brown. Very clever that she associated the tile with bread. Even the texturing fit her description :)


Once we finally made it home my mom stopped by with gifts for the kids from Disneyland. The kids were so thrilled and loved them. After visiting with grandma for awhile we had dinner and then headed outside. It was beautiful. Both Josh and Rachael pulled up all the weeds in my garden bed. I dug them up and they pulled them out, root and all. It was fantastic!

Here they are with their buckets full to the rim. I do not help fill their buckets one bit, they did that all themselves. Joseph sat on the side with his new toy and watched.

They were awarded afterwards. I let them eat their suckers from Disneyland while they made funny faces at the camera. They look so comfortable in front of the camera :)

Just before the sun set I agreed to take them to the park across the street. It was a fab filled day!

Spring Break 'Stay-cation' - Wheeler Farm

Spring Break came at a great time for us. We are all past the horrible sickness and it warmed up (well at least for the first 3 days). Yesterday we took a trip to Wheeler Farm. It was a gorgeous day. The kids came away nice and tanned and me, well, i'm now sporting a serious farmers tan :)

We first ate lunch while the kids played on a fun tree house park.

The first animals we ran into where these 2 geese above. Josh and Jayce were so intrigued with them and I swear the geese liked to be chase by kids, it was so funny to watch them. They were definitely used to people and children.

The animals were all very interactive. Rachael loved the baby pigs, goats and sheep. 

The sheep and geese were very vocal. The boys would make a sheep like sound and soon enough all of the sheep were calling out to them. I think they were quite amused.

Joseph loved the chickens and the bird pond. He was quiet most the time we were there until we reached these, then he became very vocal and his legs pumped in excitement.
The blossoming trees were gorgeous!

The best part is that this farm is free! We did pay $2.00 for a wagon ride and you can also pay to milk a cow (we might try this next time).

We all had such a great time and I am so glad my great friend Kari and her kids joined us!

These pictures crack me up!

Back in July

The past few months have flown by but I can't just forget them...

July we found ourselves constantly busy.

We attempted a BBQ up in the mountains with some family and friends that didn't turn out so great. I spent most the morning preparing tin foil dinners and homemade root beer (tasted more like cream soda).

Once we finally got up into the canyons we found the perfect spot. Not long after trying to start a fire (everything was very wet) it started to downpour on us. We thought we would give it a while to see if it would let up, especially because we had already started our coals. Nope, no luck.

So we packed up and headed down the canyon all wet and cold. On our way back we stopped to get some yummy cafe rio and all met up to roast marshmallows at our friends house. I did cook up the tin foil dinners the next day and they were delicious.

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While Aaron was out on a scout camp we went to my parents house for the weekend and Josh and Rachael had their first camping experience.

We started the event off with delicious shish kabobs. Don't they look beautiful? Yum! While preparing them Joseph enjoyed watching us as he sat in his car seat, Rachael played with marbles and Josh the wii.

Not long after dinner they worked on getting the tent set up. The kids were so excited and even more so to get their sleeping bags in the tent. They have never been used.
Before heading off to bed we ate some delicious strawberry rhubarb crumble. Probably my most favorite dessert.  While the kids enjoyed sleeping in the tent I stayed inside with Joseph. I just love that picture of him in his froggy pj's sprawled out in bed.

The following morning I enjoyed a fairly nice sleep in and greeted the kids outside just after the sun had risen. It was so crisp and beautiful outside. Rachael was still asleep and Josh was enjoying some sweet smiles with Joseph. After the kids enjoyed some play time in the tent we proceeded to open and eat a coconut that we had bought the night before.  

This is defiantly something we will have to do again in the future. 

Joshua's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was a bitter sweet day for me. Joshua was beginning his first day of Kindergarten. 

We've had schooling experiences in the past (two years of fantastic preschools) but I had complete control then, taking him to and from his school and classroom. This year, it is out of my hands and he rides the bus. Something I am in no way familiar with, I never rode a bus to school as I was within walking distances every year of my schooling.

Josh was super excited though and unfortunately we did not sleep well the night before. He was so excited he was continually waking up (poor thing) reminds me when I couldn't sleep in excitement for Christmas day. 

I was up with Joseph about 3 times in the night, this is so unlike him as he sleeps 8 to 9 hours at night as well.

But the adrenalin was with us today and we all made it through, I can't tell you how many times Josh asked me "is it time yet" and this morning felt like it went by so slowly.

The excitement began as we walked to the bus stop. The bus showed up quite late and Josh gave me two enormous hugs before getting a bit teary eyed and stepping onto the bus. I had to quickly compose myself before I completely lost it. We waved goodbye and that was it. 

I was heading out to Costco so decided to stop by the school and watch him get off the bus and head into his classroom. Well as his teacher walked the class in, he was not in the line. WHAT? I then had tons of emotions starting to flow and thinking the worst. I decided to wait, maybe his bus hasn't shown up yet, but then why?... I waited 15 minutes longer and then decided to go into the school to check. (all this happening while Joseph is screaming in the back seat). Just as I get out of the car his bus shows up.

I guess it was a crazy day for the bus drivers as well with kids not getting off at the right stops while picking up the PM kindergartners. Yikes. 

Before even heading to the bus stop I quickly took some pictures of my handsome Joshua. While doing so Rachael had to get in as well. I just wish she would have smiled like this during our family photo shoot on Saturday. She wouldn't smile once, she is so stubborn but absolutely adorable!

 Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks?

Here Josh is coming off the bus, he was beaming.

Thankfully we have some great neighbor's looking out for him and help make sure he gets on the right bus.

Literally 10 minutes after getting Josh from the bus stop and arriving home he had soccer practice. He quickly got dressed and we headed over. In the short time he had he told me all about his day and how wonderful it was. The best line "I played on the playground with a kid wearing a red shirt with Angry Birds on it" haha.

This begins a new adventure in our lives, I better soon get used to it, it's such a new feeling...

We are so proud of you Josh!

Our Life Through a Lens

As I continue to adjust to having 3 kids I find myself at times feeling overwhelmed. There are so many things to do, so many things I just cannot get done.  There has been so much going on the past couple of months and I WILL blog about it at some point but for now it waits.

I will however share my pictures from Sunday night.

After the kids had been tucked into their beds and after I took some brownies over to a neighbor I discovered my camera again. I miss being able to capture beautiful things and people with my camera but I have set that hobby aside for now as my children are very young and I don't want to miss this time I only have for a short while. Josh is already about to start school (i'm still not sure how I feel about my first child beginning elementary).

I found that as I worked on my photography business on the side I failed to use the camera on my kids and the beauty around me. So for now I will enjoy capturing our lives through a lens...

This particular night Aaron was having a nice chat with his father and I took my gear outside. My focus was the moon. It was beautiful, glowing so brightly and calling out to me.

I then tilted my camera on it's tripod upwards towards a well known constellation "Cassiopeia". The light pollution from the moon was terrible so I couldn't capture much but then I just gazed around at the beauty. The temperature outside was most perfect and surprisingly the mosquitos were not bothering me.

I had a little fun trying things out in Photoshop :)

Nothing too technical but funny I thought...