Utah!!

As many of you know, we took a quick trip to Utah last week. It was a year overdue promise to John and Stephen, one which Anna and I managed to cash in on as well. 

We made full use of our 5 days (including travel time) and packed every moment. Here is a quick snippet of a few of the awesome pictures. 

The boys had never been west of Nebraska. This was their first glimpse of the mountains...

$3 I will never regret spending. The 3D suduko book... 

Our first night outside of Arches National Park. This was our little tent city. 

As soon as we had the tents set up, we set off to see the delicate arch. After 13 hours in the car, the boys couldn't help bounding up and over every rock in sight. 

I am so, so, so happy this girl could come with. It was such a blast to have another girl on the trip and her enthusiasm for life is contagious. Plus, she took care of me when I got rather sick in a canyon on day 3. Love you, Anna dear!!

The last time we were here was on our way home from Arizona just a few weeks before we got engaged. Felt kind of like old stomping grounds...

Day 2 we explored Arches. In many, many ways. We climbed rocks, hiked to several arches and off roaded in the Jimmy. Like I said, we packed every minute. 

This does not look impressive. What the Jimmy did was impressive. So impressive we all got out of the truck and prayed it would make it up a few of the hills. May I just say, my man is a natural off-road driver and God listens when you realize you can't go back where you came from and just have to get up this next hill...

One of the coolest arches in the park. It was worth all the crazy back roading we had to do to get there. 

Wouldn't you know it, the truck didn't mind the crazy rocks and sand one little bit. But a few mile stretch of washboards (which cars were driving on) did it in. We were able to get a diagnosis and a sawzall and mostly got it corrected before the sun went down. We also found a great roadside to make dinner next to the Colorado River. 

Day 3, what we have all been waiting for. The canyons. Who would have thought this would take just a few miles to become...

This...

And eventually this!! So incredible. My first time in an actual slot canyon narrows. Good thing all of us like small spaces...

It eventually brought us to 'the actual end', which is only the end if you don't bring rappelling gear. We were prepared to rappel in the second canyon, but not this one. 

Canyons really are photogenic. 

Canyon 2 was a cause for much discussion. We had planned to hike to the top and rappel in, but now we were running out of light, I was cold, and there was more water than we had planned. Eventually we decided to just hike up and back like we did in canyon 1. This turned out to be a good call because not only was there lots of water, but I got rather sick during this hike as well. Once again, Anna to the rescue, who hiked slowly with me while the boys went on ahead. 

They had all manner of fun times while we followed slowly. We caught up just in time for the water. 

One more step and he started swimming... Three brave souls went across (and one equally brave stayed with me and helped me feel better). I have just wonderful videos of them screaming while they swam through 32.1 degree canyon water.

Quite pleased with themselves. True canyon swimmers now. 

We camped in Capitol Reef National Park. After two canyons in one day, all we really wanted to do was eat warm ramen and go to sleep. 

Finally, a picture of the glowing tent. We try on every trip...

The morning of day 4 dawned rainy and cold with a storm blowing in. We were warned the interstate might close and should make tracks for home. However, being a fan of trees, I convinced our fearless leader to take us to Dixie National Forest really quick first. 

After days of sand and rocks, this felt like some enchanted land. It was snowing little pellet snow, but that couldn't keep up from taking off for the highest 'peak' we could see. 

Working on our mountain goat skills. Mine involve using brother-in-laws to steady me on slippery logs...

It wasn't an actual summit, but it was the tallest thing we could see. 

It was also windy beyond all reason and snowing like crazy. I honestly thought one of us might blow off the top and need to be collected on the way back down. 

God continued to watch over us. Apparently the truck did sustain a little damage from the off roading, and decided to announce this by delaminating a tire at 65 mph in the mountains. As it was, we had just finished the curvy, windy stretch with drop-offs and were in a perfect place to pull over. Another reminder to take no amount of perfect timing for granted. 

We went south towards Colorado Springs to miss the snow storm, but it followed us. This was all beautiful grass when we crawled into our tents. Oh well. At least it was only a few inches instead of the 7-14 they were getting up in Denver. 

I will gladly wake up in a cold tent every morning if I also get to wake up to this face, just a few inches from mine, all excited because it snowed on us. 

Final view from the tent. I love what snow does to evergreen trees....

Sadly, all the tourist attractions of Cripple Creek were shut down due to the snow, except for the $.49 breakfast plates the the Old Home Cafe! We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and headed for home. After driving through a snowstorm, a thunderstorm and a dust storm all in one day, we rolled into our own little driveway, happy to be home and full of wonderful memories. 

Yeast, Babies, and My Handsome Man

That title pretty much sums up my last few weeks. Here is a random smattering of pictures to illustrate that point. 

My handsome man, who grew his hair long for me (because I like him looking like Wolverine) and runs with me, even when I don't feel like it. 

My handsome man, taking this homeownership in stride and fixing the plugged up sink. 

My handsome man teaching a baby how pinching tools work. 

That same baby attempting to use those tools on a motorcycle. 

A motorcycle sunset, with my handsome man. 

A motorcycle, just my size, with a pink helmet on a perfect day. 

My handsome man, who survived being hit by a car on his bicycle, making full use of brother labor. 

The brothers were paid with many games of croquet. The winner's list is just getting started. 

My yeast. It was making my tummy super sick and sapping my energy so I went on a cleanse to cure it. After many days of eating broccoli and cauliflower, my handsome man made this dinner for me. He is handsome as well as a good cook... 

My handsome man came with many books when I married him. I guess I did as well. The final unpacking was setting up our office/library. I am in love...

I am also in love with my newest niece. 7 pounds of sweetness and cuteness and darlingness and heart meltingness.

We both have great big brothers, share a middle name, love pink and were given birth to by gorgeous women. We are going to be fast friends. 

The yeast. Is dead. And now I can focus on feeding my tummy good things and slowly getting back to a normal diet. Let's just say this is one person who is VERY happy to be eating normal food again. 

There has to be one picture not related to my handsome man, babies or yeast. This one. This is my name on the board today while I was subbing for art. First time bringing my own lesson and after teaching it six times in a row, I feel pretty comfortable saying all the kinks are worked out. So there you have it. My handsome man, babies and the yeast, plus or minus a few random shots, because those three together in a sentence just are not random enough....

Company!!

 With the big move behind us we took advantage of the extra room to have some company. John and Rosie have spent the last 8 days hanging out with us in the little blue house. We have had all manner of adventures, from walking to the new library to unpacking. 

Of course, you can't expect to spend a week with a school teacher without doing some school. 

Side note regarding the new digs. I LOVE my new kitchen! I have room to cook and move and I don't have to use my stove as a countertop!! All this room and the extra mouths have inspired my culinary abilities to rise to new heights.

Also during John and Rosie's visit was the wedding of some good friends. Weddings always mean out of town family which meant more visitors for us! So love this little girl!! She came right in, gave me a hug and proceeded to take off her jacket and make herself at home. She and Rosie had a blast coloring and playing with the bubbles. 

The best weddings are the ones with ice cream. So you can sneak your niece off into a corner and feed her tons of ice cream and cool whip and sprinkles and gummy bears...

The best kinds of weddings also are when the groom is the brother of your best friend which means she comes to visit you!! Loved seeing this beautiful lady and can't wait to see her again on a Seattle adventure come May. 

Eventually we became the company and had fun watching Creighton and playing games with family at the original Beasley's house. Oh, and someone took this super cheerful selfie on my phone... If you are having a bad day, just take a look at this smiling face!

I also got to meet my newest nephew, little Caden. Or should I just say Caden, he is already growing so much!! Side note, sleeping babies are good medicine for anyone. <3

Back to John and Rosie's visit. I introduced them to 300 piece puzzles, which earned me the title 'puzzle master'. Hehe, don't tell anyone who has ever actually done a puzzle with me...

Of course, the new kitchen wouldn't be official until it was christened with a batch of Big Trina's cookies. Somehow they seemed to think actually cooking them was a bad idea and we should just have the dough for dinner. 

Thus, approaching the two week mark as homeowners, I can safely say we love it so far and we are down for company!! If you want our new address or to be our next company, shoot me a comment and let me know!! 

What we have been up to lately

The last few weeks seem to have been somewhat consumed with more and more of the same.  

House buying. It is a lot of work. And a lot of paperwork. But driving by and seeing this sign got me pretty excited. 

 Running. We are training for a marathon and half-marathon respectively. Needless to say, we have been running a lot lately and there is a lot more to come in the next few months. 

Studying. I have plenty of homework these days and Josh is working on more ASE certifications. At least we can study together. 

Generally enjoying life. Life isn't always roses, but there is almost always something to be thankful for and often little things to celebrate. 

I have also been enjoying getting back into journaling and writing more lately. The other day I was remembering when I curled up on my bunk bed in December of 1999 and penned my first journal entry about Y2K and turning 12. Life is truly a journey filled with ups and downs, and many more beautiful things then I ever dreamed.