Travelin Man

 Mathew has packed up his earthly belongings and he is leaving Rexburg. He has a new job with Wachter starting in Arkansas and he will stop over with us for about a week. He is determined to make the 17 hr drive in one shot and my momma heart is pretty sure he's up for it. 

Also. I'm terrified. But that's my default setting. 

Caffeine, Mathew. Caffeine!

A week in the west

I took a trip out to Utah to spend time with Mom. I snagged bonus visits with Ethan and Kassie as well as a fun trip to St. George to see Kaira and her family and her cute puppies!

The first night there, we went out to one of Ethan and Kassie's favorite spots, Chubby's. It didn't disappoint! 

Mom had a sick day, and I used the time to sit down and catch up on months of budgeting. But the next day she was feeling better and we took the opportunity to hit the grocery store and avail ourselves of the fine spread of Utah "salads" at Macy's. In all seriousness. I'm impressed. 

We got to see Ethan and Kassie's apartment and have a little chat. I love that they are making those newly wed memories! 

The next morning, mom and I headed down to St. George. I got to spend lots of time with the three wiggly pups. They were so cute! And their teeth were so sharp. 

Cinnamon, Stubbs and Silvie

A few other highlights....spending time with my nieces!

Scootering in Snow Canyon. So gorgeous and strangely meditative, even speeding along. The red rocks and desert just give you a solitary feeling. I'd love to bring Mark and the kids back here to do this again. 

We got to sink our toes into the red sand, softer than any beach I've been to, and we spotted lots of lizard tracks

A trip out the the adorable Frei's Fruit Market

And then the Taffy Shop....Kaira know all the best places. 

7 bucks to fill a bag. The only rule is it has to be able to close. 

Oh. It's on. 

The best part was the taffy identification chart. I'm all about the proper organization of my candy. 

Dinner with the Tuckers, even Charlie! Mom's treat.

Before you know it, we were driving back up to Spanish Fork, had one last visit with Ethan and Kassie and I was flying back to Utah. I briefly considered getting another almond croissant from my favorite spot in the airport, but even I know that's excessive. 

 Until next time!

Polar Plunge

What better way to start off the new year than with an audacious leap into a wintery lake??

The crazy crew!

   Cheri Knighton, Ross Terry, Carol Gregg, Mark, Faith Higgins, Lauren Terry, Lauren's neighbor & her daughter, Leah Terry

I was happy as a clam holding towels and taking the video!

UT/CO Trip Day 7 - White Water Rafting & St. Elmo's

My my....aren't we the fancy ones? Martinis in the morning, that's how we roll. 

The main even today is white water rafting! We had a bit of a tense moment when we realized we were driving in the wrong direction and would possibly miss our start time. It was decidedly unchill, especially by Colorado standards. No outing is complete without a mini panic attack for fear of losing our reservation time and a bunch of money. 

But soon we were gearing up. Helmet fashion is all the rage in Colorado.

Everybody was excited except for Everly. She's...um...adventure averse. I decided not to discuss it with her too much. It's one of my main parenting techniques....don't give them a chance to opt out. 

After some instruction on proper rowing technique and responding to commands, we were off! Soon we realized that our guide graduated from the University of Dad Jokes. We weren't mad about it. 

Everly was dead center and had a death grip on her strap. She was not interested in going into that water.

Mathew and Megan were assigned to the other raft. Their guide was the strong, silent type. Todd took over the entertainment portion of their ride, luckily he was ready with several helpful questions about the history and local flora and fauna.

I found out later that Mathew purposely made a goofy face during the entire ride so as to ensure this face in ALL the photos:

We "pulled over" for a bit to let anyone interested to do a bit of cliff jumping. 

Once we were through the larger rapids, Anna got to take charge! He taught her how to call out all the commands. And she rose to the challenge!

As we were loading up the cars, we decided this would be the perfect day to drive out to St. Elmo's and see the chipmunk colony. Fat, sassy chipmunks will aways be worth driving out of our way. 

Back to the cabin and we fired up the jacuzzi!

Heck. 

Yes.

Missouri Road Trip - Elephant Rocks

Our last day.

We woke up early again and made ourselves some breakfast burritos. Then we headed on over to Elephant Rocks State Park to see what we could see.

The loop was about a mile long (just our size) and was called the Braille Trails. It was all paved and wheelchair accessible, and the signs we all translated into Braille. There were tons of opportunities to climb. This was a section of the quarry.

These trees are absolutely growing right on top of this solid rock. If that isn't a metaphor for perseverance, I don't know what is.

We spied cool little black lizards with neon blue tails.

And wow...the rocks! They were huge and so round. They did remind me of elephants. Or maybe some kind of cool game left behind by messing giants.

Mathew was in climbing heaven!

Laney rescued the little girls from being crushed by this massive boulders. She must work out.

My favorite part was the narrow passageways between the rocks. They reminded me of slot canyons.

I also loved the names of the master stone cutters carved into the rock surfaces.

Soon we had to continue on the trail and leave the wondrous boulders behind.

Megan found these leaf flowers on our way out. I need to find out what they are!

We zipped back to the bungalow and packed up. The kids left departing messages in the guest book.

 And then we hit the road for our 5 hour drive....completely drained of energy and ready to be home.

We loved this trip! I can't wait to go again and take the rest of our family. Viva la bungalow!