Bryce Canyon in the Winter

We decided to take a winter weekend and went to Bryce Canyon. They have received 10 feet of snow since Thanksgiving and had about 3-4 feet on the ground when we arrived. We stayed at Ruby's Inn. When we arrived we took off into the park and visited the visitor center and a few look out sites. Then we put our snowshoes in our back pack and hiked down Navajo loop where we met a couple of guys from Switzerland. They showed us a shortcut over to PeeK-a-Boo Loop and off we went. They had been the only ones there since the last snow so we had a lot of snow to hike through. We did one section of Peek-a-Boo then turned around and returned. The canyon was beautiful. With all the snow, and freeze thaw action going on you can hear rock falling all the time. One large rock fell on the trail right after we passed that was about the size of a loaf of bread. Weird! One thing we thought was so amazing was where everyone came from. No one was from Utah. We met people from British Columbia, Switzerland, India, Florida, Georgia, California, Nevada, and New York. On Saturday we cross country skied along the rim then headed for home. Wow what a drive home! On I15 we ran into a white out, icy roads, dozens of cars sliding off the roads....crazy! A white knuckle experience. Go to the Album and look at winter pics of Bryce Canyon.

Coyote Gulch

Our family has loved Coyote Gulch for many many years thanks to my cousin Myra. I have probably been down there 7 or 8 times. Coyote Gulch is south of the city of Escalante in the Glen Canyon National Rec. Area. It feeds into the Escalante River which flows into Lake Powell. We drive down Hole in the Rock Road and enter at Crack in the Wall. Over the years we have also gone in Red Well. We have exited through that as well as Hurricane and Jacob Hamblin Arch. We love the big red walls, echo chambers, quicksand, playing in the fun creek, the beautiful fall leaves and in the spring we love the little frogs all over everywhere. (Especially loved the frog races) Jacob Hamblin Arch is spectacular as well as Coyote Bridge and the Steven's arch area. We love lowering the packs down the 26 foot cliff (Scott G's estimation) and entering by way of the narrow crack. We love scrambling up on the waterfalls and playing frisbe off of the narrow canyon walls.
We love climbing up to where the Indians lived in the cliffs and finding clues of their past lives. The pictographs, graineries and possible kivas, little corn husks and ends of squash or pumpkins. We found pottery shards, storage bins made with some type of mortar and even the kind of rock that arrowheads are made of. The grinding rocks and where they ground were right there. Ten years ago it was the same way. Although we found a piece of sandle or moccasin too. I checked with the park rangers and these artifacts are relatively new. They are only around 1500 years old.
I love the kind of hikers we meet that will pack in and be so respectful of the canyon and friendly to everyone who passes. I love sleeping under the stars without a tent especially with my 5 kids and Bob under a tarp when the wind and rain came up. Walking out the canyon the next day we found skipbo cards for a long while. In the heat of the sun your bag of gummie worms turns into a huge glob of gunk (but they still eat it).
"A word of caution: In planning a trip to Coyote Gulch, you're committing yourself to more than you know. The Escalante Canyons are addictive. Hike Coyote once in the spring and you'll be cursing yourself to a lifetime of violent and undeniable springtime "desert cravings." Coyote will awaken appetites, emotional and spiritual, you didn't even know you had." This caution is not mine but I agree with it.
Well this week Myra invited 3 friends and myself on another such adventure. I loved being with Candy, Myra, Trudy and Mark. What kind, generous and compassionate people. I would love to go on another such adventure with them. We really would not have made it through the canyon this time without Mark's muscles in helping get the group up some of the falls. Trudy and Mark even had our car waiting for us at the Hurricane trailhead for us so we didn't have to hitchhike back to crack in the wall. I guess they did that for us. Thank you. We will forever be so very grateful to Myra for sharing her canyon and love with us. Look at the pictures with captions under "picture albums" to the right.

Visit the Albums!

Ok this short blog is to inform all of our loyal followers that we have loaded a bunch of albums for all to enjoy. If you know Miriam at all you know she loves the seasons. Included in the albums are hikes taken throughout the year. You will find us in Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Enjoy the journey!

Lambs Canyon Sleepover

Peter Crookston has a wonderful lot up Lambs Canyon. We enjoyed a friday night with Pete, his boys, Scott, Kylee, Dylan, Grandpa and Hadlee. We enjoyed the great weather, had a fun bon fire, cooked hotdogs, and played well into the evening. Scott took Grandpa and the girls home and Miriam I, Pete and his boys spent the night. In the morning Miriam and I drove up to the top of the canyon and WOW we saw a family of Moose or is it Moosi or Mooses?? Miriam and I slept on the roof of Petes bowery, went on a great hike, had our traditional destination kiss and just had a great time. Look for the dirty face which is an indication of how much fun Dylan had! Go to the pics..enjoy the albums.

Lake Powell Adventure

We were invited by wonderful family members to spend a week at beautiful Lake Powell. We enjoyed a house boat, ski boat and wave runners. We ate, then ate some more and oh then we ate some more. We enjoyed hiking, swimming and did I mention we ate....a lot?

We visited Rainbow Bridge, visited hole in the rock (how did they do that?) and went up 50 mile canyon and took some incredible pictures of the Lake Powell cliffs reflected in the waters of Lake Powell. Thanks to Craig and Annette for their hospitality. Enjoy the Pics of Southern Utah.

Wonderful Michigan trip

In June we had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Michigan to be with Jared, Rachel and the family. The plane ride was NOT a pleasant experience! We ended up stuck in Denver for the night then flew to Illinois the next day then finally to Michigan. Once we got there we had a great time! Congrats to Ammon on a swell baptism. We camped, hiked up sand dunes, went bowling and ate lots of food. Joey, Mir and I had a great time. Enjoy the Pics.

Wow this is really late. Last april Elder Joey came home. What a grand celebration it was! Elder Langford served an honorable mission in Taiwan, loved it, worked hard, and had great experiences. Our family was very blessed through his service. The pics show his return and family party afterwards.. Enjoy!

Jackson Hole Retreat with Good ol' Friends

Our dear friend Ann Lynch has been living in Chicago for the past 10 or 11 years. The last we saw her was when she came to Utah during the 2002 Olympics. She & her husband were visiting their son Eric in Jackson Wyoming. Carrie Williams, Chris Dedrickson, Cathy Whiting & I drove up there to visit her on Friday, Feb. 8th and we came home on Sunday after Sac. Mtg. in Jackson. We kidnapped her from her family for 24 hours and had the greatest time. We cross country skied with the backdrop of the Tetons in the Colter Bay area. It was sunny, warm and spectacular. The sky was blue and the snow was sparkling and still powdery dry. Chris taught us about hoar snow and was a great tour guide. We ate everything from healthy snap peas to decadent Marie Calendar Pie and Moose Munch etc. The best was just talking and being with the dearest of pals. Miles are not a bearier with friends like these. Annie, we love you like a sister and will look forward to fulfilling a bucket list item in 2010. Make sure you see the pictures on the link to the right.

Was It A Dream?

Bob wrote right away after we got back. It has been harder for me. I have been heartsick to leave New Zealand. I know that I will probably never get back there or to the wonderful islands that we visited. I will miss many many things but mostly people. I had a friend tell me recently that she wished she had a quarter for every time I spoke of it. I guess it was just like we were gone for a little bit to our friends and family. Maybe I need to let it go. It feels like a glorious dream now and I don't want to let it go. What a tremendous blessing it was for Bob and I to have that opportunity. I am so very grateful to our Heavenly Father. Wow, there is so much I never want to forget. The glorious diverse world that God created for all of us. But most importantly the people all over were so incredible. The wonderful openness and love of the cultures. We will never forget these amazing people and hope these relationships will never change. How our Heavenly Father blesses all of His children and how much very many of them appreciate it. How grateful I was to serve as a Church Service Missionary for the Auckland New Zealand Mission. Wow, that opportunity was so precious to me. Antony being baptized before we left. Serving in the Nursery. Bob's and my special togetherness and unique lifestyle there. Was it only a magical dream?

Leaving New Zealand.....

Our assignment to work in New Zealand for the past 15 months has come to an end. It has been an experience of a lifetime. Over that time we have met many wonderful people and experienced life in the Pacific Islands. We visited Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Kiribati, Japan, Honk Kong, Australia, Korea and Roratonga. Even though those islands are very cool and its neat to say we were there the greatest experiences we had and the experiences that will burn the brightest in our memory will be the wonderful people we met and associated with.

Often times we met people that had what appeared to be very little (our standards), but those people seemed to be the most content. They are happy with life, they love their families, and are quick to express love and acceptance of strangers. What was demonstrated to us over and over was that all of these people on all of these islands have one thing in common with us and people back in America. They love the Gospel and being members of the Church. It becomes the link that binds us to each other around the globe. Their testimony of the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, a living Prophet, blessings of the temple and their desire to serve their fellow man makes them all unified. We came to love them like family and will miss them deeply.

Back in New Zealand we worked daily with many employees in the Area Office and the Mission office. We had wonderful activities with the FHE group. They all became our family away from home. Its difficult not to long for the island of the Long White Cloud.

On the other hand its great to be home. Customs greeted us with a smile and NO luggage inspection. Even though one piece of luggage decided to remain in California for an extra day we are all now reunited and are happy. We left summer and were welcomed to Utah with a great Christmas storm that left a new foot of the white stuff in our yard and on the roads. As of today we have avoided any accidents, have only driven on the wrong side of the road twice and have used my windshield wiper as a blinker about a hundred times!

We loved it and love being home. We know we will never forget the experiences we had in the Land Down Under. (New Zealand, not Australia) Check out the PICS...in Albums.