Escalante - Southern Utah Day 4 - going home

May 13, 2012 - Sunday
Mothers Day!


Today was our day to pack up and head home. The night before we got most of our stuff packed up and ready to go. Sunday morning we were up and early with bags packed, and ready for church. We found a chapel just down the street from us to attend sacrament meeting.


It was a great meeting, a homecoming actually, of a missionary that just returned from Scotland. The best part was when the primary got up to sing a bunch of mothers day songs. Josh turned to me and said "mom, why do they sound like that?". The kids all had strong western like drawl in their voices, it was so cute!


Once we got back to the cabin most everyone was packed up and started to head out. We loaded up our car and went through the departure checklist for the cabin.


As we headed out I wanted to stop by the Hole in the Rock memorial (literally within walking distance of the cabin).

It really was a great memorial with the mormon pioneer history behind the landmarks and settlement. I have found this site that gives loads more information and has incredible pictures. It's worth a read, below was a section taken from the site:

The Hole-in-the-Rock expedition to settle the San Juan area in the four corners of the United States is a feat unparalleled in American colonization. The Hole-in-the-Rock trail passed through present-day Grand Staircase-Escalante, crossed the Colorado River and Grey Mesa, and then up San Juan Hill to reach the area of present-day Bluff, Utah. The roughly two hundred and fifty mile Hole in the Rock Trail took the Mormon pioneers over six months to complete. The Hole-in-the-Rock trail narrative is more than men and women colonizing a new area.

There is this incredible story called "The Story of the Lost Wagon". It is very moving and worth a read. You can click on the picture below to read the story...

This time we took the other way home, through Boulder. The scenery was magnificent and at times we were literally at the top of these high peaks that dropped off either side into huge canyons. 

We stopped off at a few scenic spots and took a few pictures, Jeff & Marianne joined us on these stops. The bottom right picture I had to take, I was laughing so hard in the car... Josh was dying to go pee and we were in the middle of no where. So we pulled over and Aaron jumped out with him. I look over and I found the body guard pose from Aaron quite comical. 

Some panoramic shots I took:

Snack time in the car - Yummy apples!

For my Mothers Day gift we took a slight detour onto US-89 up to the Manti Temple. Once again the scenery was beautiful.

These two found a spot on the hill, sat down and started chatting. What a sweet moment!

Joseph loved crawling down the hill, a couple times he lost balance and started to roll.

We decided to walk around to the other side and after I packed my camera up I turned around to see this. Even though these two fight most the time they do have their moments together. I couldn't believe how sweet this was.

It was such a fabulous trip! Thanks so much to the great families that joined us and all their hard work to make this happen. Great food, friends and much laughter!

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!