Deacons' Hike

A few pictures from Bryce's hike with the Deacons Quorum

Teachers' Campout

A few photos from Brett's campout with the Teachers Quorum.

Brett's Hike

A clip from the hike Brian went on with Brett & the scouts

Catching Fish

A short video of the boys catching fish while hiking.

Lunch Break

Time for a nice shady lunch break on the hike.

Bryce's Hike

A short video from the hike Brian & Bryce went on with the scouts.

Hiking & A Trip to Wendys

Grandpa came to spend a couple nights with us on his way back to California (to be here for Bradley's baptism). We decided to hike to the top of Webb hill and then go to Wendy's for lunch. Wendy's is a tradition when grandpa comes. He always takes us to Wendys and we get to order whatever we want (and eat until we're stuffed).

Webb Hill Hike

We decided to do something together as a family today. We considered going to the movies but we couldn't find a movie everyone wanted to go to. Ultimately we decided to go on a hike and then watch Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince when we got home.
We've lived here 5 1/2 years and had never hiked to the top of Webb Hill which is just right by our house.
It ended up being a good hike. Kylie did really well and made it most of the way up on her own. Just a few minutes on Brian's shoulders to give her a little break.
Someday Bradley might not appreciate this picture but boy what a cutie!

The views from the top of Webb Hill are amazing.

It was a little chilly out today but ended up being a really beautiful day for a hike. Definitely warmer than it is up north where my brother said they were staying in today due to below freezing temperatures.

Brett yo-yoed his way all the way to the top. He's learning lots of tricks on his new yo-yo.

Lava Tubes in Snow Canyon

This morning we went out to Snow Canyon to do a short hike. The hike isn't too long and leads to a couple of lava tubes/caves.

Coming out of the biggest cave. We're glad we went early and we're back to the car by 10:30. It was a nice morning but it would have been too hot if we had waited until later. Then it was off to Wendy's for lunch on grandpa. He's headed home tonight and we'll miss having him around.

Mahogany Mountain

Friday morning my dad, Mike, Tim, Brian and Brett & Bryce climbed to the top of Mahogany Mountain. It was 3 hours of climbing to reach the summit. Apparently they said it was like being a mountain goat climbing up to the top at a very steep incline. I'm pretty proud that Brett & Bryce made it to the top with the adults. Way to go hikers!

Healthy Living = Hike to the Y

I am participating in another healthy living challenge with some friends. 4 days out of town for Women's Conference did not make getting points the easiest task to accomplish.
On Wednesday I parked on the far side of campus by the Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve sign and then walked to the BYU bookstore and back to get 1 of my points and decided to hike up to the "Y" to get my remaining 3 points. It is 1 1/4 miles from the parking area to the Y and it climbs 1000 feet. I made it round trip in less than an hour: 35 minutes up and back down in 20. It was HOT out. At least it seemed that way while hiking. Talk about a good workout. Kids give you a good excuse to stop but I was going for a good workout and got one by only stopping long enough to drink some water.
We hiked to the "Y" as a family last October. It's a much different experience doing it alone then it was as a family.
Oh and trying to eat healthy while traveling is no fun! I ate perfect except for Friday night when I went out to Los Hermanos with friends and ate what I wanted....any and everything I wanted.

Thanksgiving Geocache.

Seeing as I knew I'd be eating too much and needed to exercise I suggested a family hike on Thanksgiving morning. Brett wanted to go geocaching so we found the location of a few geocaches and headed out in the rain.

Things started off nice but after a short time the rain started falling and the location where I thought the geocache should be did not match up with the coordinates we input into the GPS.

Don't be deceived. This smile won't be around for very long. Kylie only lasted a short time before she melted down and wanted to be carried and then wanted to go home!

The geocache said it was on top of a hill between 2 rocks. The location the GPS lead us to was not on top of a hill.

Can you say frustration? A screaming child, wet cold rain and no success at finding the cache.

Maybe we'll have better luck next time. At least we got some exercise.

Hiking to the "Y"

We spent Saturday morning hiking to the "Y" up above BYU. Brian and I took our 5 kids plus Kailey on the hike. We were under the impression it was a 1/4 mile straight up hike and would take about 20 minutes.... When we got there we found out it was 1.2 miles, at a steep grade and would take 40 minutes at a good pace. (It took us about 50 minutes to get to the top). We also dressed a little too warm for the hike...sweatshirts were not needed and were shed within about 10 minutes of starting the hike. Had I been smart I would have set them on the side of the trail and retrieved them on the way down...
Kylie wanted me to carry her the whole way. She wouldn't let Brett carry her and Brian has a bad ankle and shouldn't carry her so after a huge power struggle she walked the first part and then I would carry her for a minute or two and then make her walk to the next sign. I did carry her almost the whole way down because she kept slipping and tripping. I worked muscles I haven't worked in a long time!
It wasn't all bad, it was actually a great hike and we'd do it again next time. There was a fabulous view from the top and the way down was fast and easy.

Oh Zion, Dear Zion!

Brian had a client who was interested in purchasing a lot up near Zion and wanted pictures taken. We turned it into a family adventure. We tried to wait patiently while Brian wandered around 20 acres of land taking pictures.... Once he was done we hiked into the lower and middle emerald pools. It was a perfect time to hike, early in the evening, because the mountains were blocking the sun so our hike was completely in the shade. It was still quite hot so once we were done the kids went swimming in the river to cool off.