20 incredible years!

Can you believe it?  20 years ago Joel and I were married!  Wow!  I have been with Joel for half of my life!  Crazy!  He's a glutton for punishment.  We planned to take the motorcycle up to Zion, stay overnight and climb Angels Landing.  Well, yesterday it rained and rained and rained.  In fact Santa Clara flooded. So we took the van instead.  It just left us planning a trip up there later on the bike. This is how it looked when we got up there.

We figured that Angels Landing was out of the question too because of the weather but could still do a little hiking on the smaller trails.  So I didn't pack any kind of water, sun screen, hats or even tennis shoes. We drove up, checked into our place, ate dinner at Oscars (the most incredible food ever!)  and then went to the IMAX theatre and watched the Bourne Supremacy.  It was awesome!  Then went back to the hotel.  Here is a picture of our room.  It was really cool.

 

As luck would have it the sun came out today!  We checked out of our room and we went to see how far up Angels Landing we could get before we had to be back in St. George to pick up the rental car that has taken a week for the insurance to get for us. Joel also had flag football practice at 6pm, because he coaches Ben's team, Mutual at 7pm and then he and Brain are going for a run at 9pm (he's a busy man). So we hopped on the shuttle and started up "The Grotto" to Angels Landing.  Right as we started a stranger stopped me and asked me if we wanted some water.  My little prayer was answered.  I was secretly scared to death about not having any water with us because I didn't want to get dehydrated and get a migraine.  He handed me 2 bottles and was the answer so we could continue on.  It was a lung busting hike up the trail.  Then you get to Walter's Wiggles seen here.  It was a dozen little switchbacks that went straight up the side of the mountain.  And here is a cute little flower I just had to take a picture of.

 

  I do much better actually scrabbling up rocks than I do walking at a 45 degree angle on a paved trail and once we got up to the top I was ready to go.  Joel was not.  He is the level headed one who said that we didn't have enough time to actually ascend the .5 mile mountain straight up.  This first picture is from where we stopped and the next one is zoomed up to the top of Angels Landing.  If you look close you can see the chain that you hold on to to make it to the top. 

I love this picture!

So we are planning a trip back when we can spend the day on the 5 mile hike, taking our time, going clear to the top and enjoy ourselves.

Isn't he gorgeous!  I am so lucky that he puts up with me.  I can't wait to see what the next 20 years brings.

 

The GRAND Canyon

I have a new respect for holidays that Joel and I both get off of work.  Before now we would just continue on like it was a Saturday or something.  But never again!  Ashley came down Sunday afternoon and we woke up at 5 and drove 3 hours to the GRAND CANYON! 
 

 


I took my kids once before in October when school was out for fall break but it was closed.  Closed in October due to too much snow! Weird.  So needless to say, my kids had never seen it.  Joel and I had both seen it dozens of times but a day trip as a family sounded good.  So off we went.  A half an hour into it all 6 of them were asleep and nearly the rest of the way there.  It was a perfect day.  Cool and overcast.

  We hiked around, took lots of pictures, bought souvenirs and headed back home.  We needed to be back by 3 because Shayne had to work.  Which worked out because we were going to the Scott's (love them!) at 4 for a B-B-Q.  The only thing that could have made it a better day was if Ben and David would have stopped getting so close to the edge.  Joel was yelling at them every 5 minutes to backup.  Joel doesn't like heights.  I put up the Christmas lights EVERY year. 

 Every time someone goes to the Hogel Zoo in Salt Lake they take a picture on a rhino statue.  Well this is our version of that.  The Grand Canyon Burro.

          

 The kids were excited to see a real phone booth.  There's a great song about a guy calling his girlfriend from a pay phone but the kids had only heard about them and now they have seen one!

          

 

It was a wonderful day and the kids are planning our next day trip.  I wonder where it'll be?

Shayne's first and hopefully last accident.

 What more can the girl go through?  What more I can I go through with her?  I want to wrap her in bubble wrap and chauffeur her everywhere she needs to go.  She had just gotten done with Institute and was coming out of the parking lot when a car whipped around a truck turning into the parking lot above her and ran right into her.  He didn't even slow down.  Look at this picture.  Look at her door and then look at the door behind her.  1 second.  1 measly second difference and she would be gone.  As for now she is OK.  She is seeing the chiropractor to help realign everything on her left side that got thrown out of whack.  But she is alive once again from another near death experience. 

We are now down 1 car and are waiting to hear what the insurance is going to do.  We loved this car and are super sad to see it go.  It would have lasted another 5 years if we would have let it.  It was Jillyns first then Laurie's and JoEllen and Kyle used it too.  It served our family well.  Thank you little Accord.  You will be missed.

New Schedule/New Life

It's killing me!  I thought I'd be in the groove by now but I can't seem to make it work.  All kids going to school all the time and working FULL TIME.  I haven't figured out how single mom's do it.  Something's always got to suffer. Usually it's the house and a homemade dinner.  My work has changed from paper files to computers and it is way harder than I thought it would be just because we still have to use the paper charts to look up old things and so it really just doubled the work.  So I'm not getting home at 5:15 like I'd hoped.  My social life sucks now and neighbors are complaining that I'm never home and we never have fun anymore.  I feel like I am helping no one when before I was helping everyone.  I listened to people and helped them with their problems and now I am the problem. 

Quit work right?  Go back home and do what I'm supposed to do.  Right?
I wish it was that easy.  I got this job because people complained that the bishop wasn't around enough.  So now the bishop has time to be bishop and I am contributing to the bills to make up for him not working.  I love my job, don't get me wrong.  I love my employer and co-workers.  I love helping other feel better and I am REALLY good at my job.  But is that being selfish?  I don't know.

Right now things are in that black hole I like to call "Satan trying to kill me".  He is pulling out all the big guns to try to get me to flee.  He makes his way seem so easy.  And it is.  But it's not the way to be happy.  Although I really don't feel happy right now trying to please everyone especially my Father in Heaven.  I used to wonder why the bishop's wife wasn't always happy and cheerful and asking what she can do to help everyone.  She always looked mad and tired.  (please don't tell her I said that) But now I know why!  I have turned into her.  She is a wonderful person but it's like the real her left for 5 years and some somber quite person took her place. 

I have always been the life of the party, the person to go to, the one to get things started, the one with the new ideas, the one to find the person who needs a friend, the one to kick you in the butt if you needed it and help you move on.  That was me.  That's not me now and I miss myself.