Annual Westwater Trip

Last weekend we enjoyed our annual fall Westwater trip. We had a great evening under the full moon followed by an excellent day of rapids. I stole these pictures from Paul and Tiff, thanks Tiff for the great shots.

This is my "slow" brother Creed, maybe he can explain.

Brian dropping into the hole in Last Chance

A couple of heads is all that can be seen of the paddle raft.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

After weeks (or months) of training, the much-anticipated half marathon is now over. Since I'm not much of a runner, this was a big accomplishment for me. It was so fun to train with Kell and Miranda...we bonded. :)

All of the girls after running 13.1 miles. We're pretty much awesome.

My mom still thinks I'm number one, even though I was 843rd.

Summer Closure

Well, it's true. Summer has come to a screeching halt. School starts Wednesday and student teaching begins. Ty's semester starts in a couple of weeks which means we are heading for another lifestyle change. We are giving up our nights of lying around the house and our longer-than-a-weekend vacations and devoting our evenings to lesson planning and homework. This summer has been so crazy with so many things happening, but we have enjoyed every minute of it. I'm always excited for a nice, relaxing summer vacation and then the next thing I know school is about to start and I can't figure our where the time went. It seems like our summer lifestyle ends up being just as chaotic as the rest of the year. Here are a few highlights of our last few get-a-ways before we have to buckle down to a more routine schedule.

Ouray and Birth Control

A few weeks ago we drove to Moab and met up with Alina, Brian and the boys and went to Ouray, Colorado for the weekend. The boys were so fun to be with because everything was so exciting and new and they definitely spiced things up. By the end of the trip Ty was questioning whether or not he wanted kids of his own, but I reassured him that typically they only come one at a time. I don't know whether or not he was convinced by that, but I think that if we have twins we are doomed.

Taking a dip in Cowboy Jacuzzi before our trip to Colorado.

Ryder and Ridge on our way out of Moab. The boys took turns riding in our car and we separated them with boxes so they couldn't touch each other. See, we have this parenting thing down.

Cascade Falls in Ouray

Me and River getting ready to run for the trailhead after hearing thunder that was too close for comfort.Ty and the boys. You can't tell in this picture, but they just finished writing a rap song about a train, the rain, and some other words that end in "ain." It was pretty hilarious and I wish I had it on video. Next time.
Enjoying the campfire while telling our most embarrassing moments to the boys.

Weekend at Bear Lake

We spent a weekend in Bear Lake with some of my friends from high school. It's always fun to get everyone together and remember the good 'ol days of Springville High. While they went boating, me and Ty hiked Mount Naomi up Loga

n Canyon. It was beautiful and the wild flowers were amazing. Thanks Nick and Dy for inviting us to the cabin.

We couldn't really get a picture that captured the beauty of all the wildflowers. This will have to do I guess.

On the summit of Mt. Naomi

Our Future Plans

We are still a little clueless about where our lives our headed at this point. We are still living with Janine and Steve as our apartment searching has been unsuccessful and has slowly come to a halt. Right now we are thinking about staying there until I'm done student teaching and can get a job that actually brings in more than $400 a month. I guess my 10 hours a week can't support us while Ty finishes school. I will be graduating in December and Ty will finish up with his undergrad in Environmental Studies in 3 more semesters. For now Ty is still planning on Law School after that, but ask us tomorrow and the plans may have changed. Our lives our up in the air and they will probably be that way for months or years to come. I would feel bad about it, except we are taking advantage of our lack of responsibility by vacationing, spending time with family and friends, and doing things that we may not have the flexibility to do in the future. I can't complain yet.

So, if you have made it to the end of this post... congratulations! I now know who really cares about our lives and/or who is so bored that they have nothing better to do than to read a fairly long and boring blog post. Anyways, that's all I have to say for now.

And just one more...

I know everyone is probably sick of our Middle Fork pics, but I had to put this one on too because I love the faces that everyone is making. Ash and Mike look like twins and I love it. Thanks for the picture Nate.

Oh, and just for the record, I was not screaming like a mad woman when I caught that fish. I was just really excited. Anyone who knows Tyler knows he exaggerates a little, or a lot. 

More Pictures

Looking down into Impassable Canyon from Elk Bar, our last nights camp.

River with his frog.

Elk Bar

Our last night on the river Bre took my fly rod down the river and about ten minutes later I could hear her screaming like she was being attacked by a bear, I guess catching your first fish on a fly rod will make you scream. I am still not sure whether the scream was fear or excitement?

Middle Fork of The Salmon

We just returned home from a week on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. My family did this river in 2003 and have since had a six year drought on drawing permits until this year, apparently Ashli has been doing something right. The Idaho Fly Fishing guide book says "If God were to set out to design the perfect river for wilderness trips, he'd make sure there were series after series of exciting but negotiable rapids and falls, schools of trout waiting to take the first fly they see, and hot springs all along the route in which to soak at the end of a hard day. That describes the Middle Fork perfectly." I don't think there is any place on earth that I would rather be than floating, fishing, sitting in hot springs, eating and relaxing on the Middle Fork.

The Confluence of Loon Creek and the Middle Fork.

Throwing dry flies at some West Slope Cutthroats.

Sunflower Hot Springs pour over a rock ledge right next to the river providing a perfect shower.

Trail Flat hot spring provided a nice warm break on a cool first day.

Running Lake Creek Rapid, this newly formed

rapid shows how the river is constantly evolving.

Wedding and Missionary

Could the month of May have been any more crazy? With Sean and Mike's surgeries, Nikki's wedding, and Mike's farewell we have had quite the month. Friday was the big wedding and it was beautiful. Congrats Nikki and Matt! We love you guys and are so happy for you.

On Wednesday we will be sending Mike off to the MTC for "the best two years of his life." I'm not totally convinced on that one, but I am proud of him for making the decision to serve the Lord. We love you Mike and we'll be thinking about you while you're in Samara, Russia.

Escalante

Last week Bre and I went down to the desert near Escalante for a little break before I started back to school this week. Every time I go to this part of southern Utah I am constantly singing   the words of RJ Garn from his song Escalante... "Camping alone late at night on the river darkness settles down over me cold as the breeze gently rustles the trees and it sounds just like waves on the sea. I’m camping alone late at night on the Escalante and I'm free under the cottonwood trees." We watched the sun set on the slick rock while laying on a small beach under the cottonwoods.

The Cottonwoods are all filled with tent caterpillars right now. There were so many falling from the trees that it sounded like it was raining on our tent.

Bre making her first jump into Bluebelly. 

This is one of the arches located a couple miles up the Escalante river. The alcove in the bottom left has three large Anasazi structures.

Twitterpated

What is with the new "Twitter" fad? I don't get it... Every news station, TV show, or radio station that I have listened to this week has mentioned "Twitter" and I really don't understand what it is. On KUER today, they were talking about a Twitter Revolution, and this makes me nervous. Please, if you tweet or have been tweeted, enlighten me. What is so awesome and why is everyone so Twitterpated?

Read this article if you are as confused as me... It doesn't answer any of my questions, but it demonstrates the fascination that I'm talking about.

Spring Break

I know I have become a horrible blogger, but our lives haven't slowed down since January. Ty started his first semester at the U and he has enjoyed it so far. The worst part is he has to drive from Springville to Orem so he can catch the bus at 6AM that takes him to school. It's only on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it hasn't been too bad, but we're hoping to relocate further north as soon as this semester is over. I am almost finished with my last semester of classes and I couldn't be more excited. I will student teach in the fall and then I'll finally be a college grad (without a job, nice!) We change our plans of where we are going to live and what we are going to do with our lives on a regular basis, but that's life!

We did manage to squeeze in a much needed vacation last week during our Spring Break. We were excited to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and we were extremely disappointed as we drove home through Spanish Fork canyon in the snow. We had a fun weekend and I got some excellent advice from our nephew, Ryder, when we stopped in Moab for a night. He was debating on whether or not he should listen to his mom and go get his pajamas on and he said, "If I listen to my mom, then my life will be good." Very sound advice from a four-year-old who has heard that phrase a few times. 

Sorry about the mini video... I don't have time right now to try and fix it.

Eavesdropping

Me listening to a conversation between three junior high kids at lunch today...

A bus pulls up to the gas station. The kids see it out the window.
Girl 1 - I want to be a bus driver. Ya know, like, a cool one. You could play, like, cool music and stuff.
Girl 2 - What? Why?
Girl 1 - Do you know how much they make?! They only work four hours a day and get paid for six!
Girl 2 - What would you do for the rest of the day if you're only working four hours?
Girl 1 - I don't know, like, go shopping or something.
Girl 2 - Why would you be a bus driver if you could be a doctor or something?
Girl 1 - No way! That takes way to much time, and, like, money.
Boy 1 - Where's our food?

(And, yes Kell, the exclamation points are very necessary in this conversation.)

Moral of the story: Why am I wasting all this time and money to get a degree when I could be a bus driver? Hmmm...