Lake Katherine

Yeah, so it's feast or famine on this blog site for me and right now I am in feast mode.

This weekend we backpacked to Lake Katherine up at Brighton with Art, Sierra and family. Those two are brave- with two kids- but it was definitely worth it!

Parker was not happy on the way home (refer to picture of his grumpy face) and he soon fell asleep. That's what we get when we miss naps. Poor guy. But he loved the dirt and the campfire that I had to keep him away from

Check out Art's MASSIVE backpack plus baby!

It was a trip with gorgeous views, lots of yummy camp food, good conversation, laughs, lots of talk about Physics (between Spencer and Art) and of course struggles getting kids to bed in tents. It was a wonderful trip though. I loved being at Brighton with Sierra- a place she and I have many memories together -though it's usually covered in snow). I'm so thankful for friends like her who stay close to me over the years. Sierra was always the girl who would do ANYTHING. I am always amazed that she found someone even more crazy (in a good way) than she is. Carpe Diem was her motto and they for sure do it, I'm just glad we can come along for the ride. :)

Old Testament

I just wanted to congratulate myself that after 7 years of reading every day I have finally finished the old Testament. It took me forever because I went on lots of tangents and read a manuel along with it but it was so worth it. I LOVE the Old Testament. I learned so much. So Congratulations Erin!

Havasupai 2

A few more pictures of Havasupai- Mooney Falls and the hike to Beaver Falls.

Clegg Boys

Spencer just put an engine on his bike, yes an engine--if you know him at all you will not be surprised...Parker liked helping daddy. Too bad he's too young to ride it...yet.

Parker's Week

This is what Parker did while we were in Havasupai--hang out with his Clegg cousins. It was hard to leave him, but he was well taken care of and hardly cared we were gone at all.

Summer Trips

We just got back from our round the world trips, well not really round the world, but it feels like we haven't been home forever. It's been worth it though. Parker and I started out in FLORIDA visiting Ajay and Angie with Grandma and Haylee. We loved it. I loved being with my sisters and my mom and Parker loved being with Uncle Ajay. He LOVES his uncle Ajay (as shown in the pictures). He would cry when I would take him away.



We had fun with all the random Florida wildlife--we saw Dolphins, swam with Manatees while we were surfing (to which my mom was freaking out), crocodiles, vulture infested trees, armadillo's , an otter and tons of random fish and birds. Florida is the best- even though I sweat more than I thought possible when I run. We ate at a classic crab shack and pulled them apart with our bare hands. We shopped as much as we could (Haylee's favorite thing) and played tons of Rumicube.

And the best part was of course the beach. We went every morning after Parker's morning nap.

Parker loved the sand, he wasn't so stoked on the waves and we won't talk about the his scary experience in the water...he loved the sand though. The rest of us took shifts boogie boarding and surfing. There's just something about the ocean... We were sad to leave. One of these days we WILL live by Ajay and Angie.-- right Spence? :)

The weekend after we got home from Florida we headed to JACKSON HOLE for our Atkinson Family trip. We rafted the Snake River. It was great. We only capsized the boat like three times. :)

HAVASUPAI! This is the most incredible place ever. I've been a few times but Spencer had never been so we planned a trip down there. It's a 8 mile hike to the village and then 2 miles to the campground. Within 2 miles around the campground there are three absolutly INCREDIBLE waterfalls. It truly is amazing. We played around in the water all day long, jumped cliffs, explored canyons, played on rope swings and played cards. It was just the trip we'd imagined. We opened it to anyone who wanted to come but the only people who took us up on it were KC and his girlfriend, Sadie, Angie and my dad. Too bad for the rest of you- you missed out - it was worth the drive and the 25 miles of hiking we did for sure!

Spencer and I at the second falls on the way out (Havasu Falls).

Dad was pretty tired after the hike but we all were and he didn't do too bad for an old guy.

The rope swing- Sadie and KC; Spencer falling into the water and Angie letting go of the rope. Actually we went on a lot of rope
swings while we were there. The best one was past Mooney Falls, but this one was fun too.

Navajo Falls. We jumped off the top and played around in all the
caves. Then played cards on the rocks in the river.

Right before the long hike out, we stopped at the Cafe in the village and got Indian Taco's. Yummy!

Kodachrome

The Annual Esplin gathering at Kodachrome: The cousins, Parker with Uncle KC after a good nights sleep and Paker eating dirt while mom and dad set up the tent.

Summer at the Atkinson's

Grandma and Grandpa with their pride and joy! Aunt Haylee, Parker's favorite Aunt that lives in Utah. :)