Monday, September 21, 2015

Bryce Canyon

Recently I realized that out of all the gazillions of times I've visited Utah (or years that I lived there), that I'd never done anything more than drive through Southern Utah.   I'd never visited St. George, never been Zions, or Bryce, or seen any of the places that Southern Utah is famous for.  So when we realized that we were going to be in Utah for a couple of weeks between the cabin and dropping Cami off at BYU, I decided it was time to take a visit of our own!   

We started with a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park!   

We were in awe with the scenery there the second we drove into the park.  The delicately carved spires, the stratified layers of reddish rocks, and the sweeping vistas are one of a kind in the world! 

We wanted to get a better look at the scenery... 

so we got out of the shuttle and took a hike! 

And in a major small world moment ran into the M family from our home ward!   It was great to see two of my young women 2000+ miles from home!

As with any beautiful/interesting backdrop, we had to spend a few minutes for the girls to attempt to get their perfect shots for Insta (none of these made the cut).  

And I decided that I really like putting random meaningless messages in the middle of my blogposts. This time I think I'll pontificate on pillows.  Glen likes his fluffy.  I like mine flat.  Cami doesn't like them at all.  Why is that?   I have no idea, but I do wish I saw more of mine. 

And on another random note, Cam was pleased to discover that her arms seem to perfectly camouflage with the stone walls at the parking lot.  

And back to the meat of the post....

Here are a few more photos (mostly taken by Adam) to whet your appetite...


...and to get you to start planning your own trip to Southern Utah soon!   

Seriously!  Look at the artistry.  


I imagine that God was smiling when he set the geologic forces to work to create this stunning part of the world.   

And with that...
I will close my eyes and go back to pontificating on the wonder of God's creations from the comfort of my very flat pillows. 


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Leftovers!

I found these leftover pictures from our trip to California that we took this past January.   For some reason I never quite got around to blogging about them, so since I didn't want these cute photos lost forever, I'm adding them belatedly to the blog.   They are all out of order and without any commentary, but they still make me really, really, really want to go back to California soon.  

































Friday, September 18, 2015

Hiking the Y


What's a "Y" and how on earth do you hike it?

Take a visit to Brigham Young University and you'll find out quickly!    
It's a large concrete "Y" on the side of the mountain just east of campus.   It's been there over 100 years and is such a symbol of BYU that the university is often referred to simply as the "Y". 

It's only a 1.2 mile hike from the trailhead to the top of the "Y", but it is all up hill and can feel somewhat grueling at times.  


Emma, Cami, and Adam were pretty fast and made it to the top somewhat quickly...


While Ellie and I took longer, we both held our own surprisingly well.  Ellie didn't complain a bit...

and had a huge (albeit goofy) smile plastered all over her face when we finally got to the top!

The girls had to do the traditional "Y" pose! 

Us old ladies (my sister and I) climbed it like rockstars!   So we were bright red and huffing and puffing when  Stephanie Nielson of NieNie Dialogues passed us like we were standing still, but for a couple of flatlanders we did quite well...thankyouverymuch!  

The amazing view was worth all the effort...


...and Cami got an adorable "I'm a cute, new college student" photo for Instagram!


And just a week or so later, she climbed it again at night with her new college friends. 
I'm proud to be a Y alumnus and so excited that Cami gets to experience it too!   

GO COUGARS!!!!!  


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