Two More

I went to 2 more new temples when I was in Utah.  Red Cliff Temple is in St. George and is about ready for the open house.  We stopped on our way up to Cedar City, and then on our way down we stopped at the Cedar City Temple.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  I loved the stained glass. 

These are temples #85 and #86 for our family. 

Duck Creek Adventures

It was just too beautiful to sit inside for long.  We drove to Bowers Caves.  It's 2 caves connected to each other.  We walked to it, and then realized it was under ground.  Amanda was brave enough to go down, but the guano (aka bat poop) was enough to send her back up and the rest of us to stay above ground. 

We had a lovely picnic lunch outside where the chipmunks tried to take my food.  

The weekend went by way too quickly, but I just love them. 

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Up by Brian Head, Utah is Cedar Breaks National Monument.  It's a small national park with beautiful rock formations.  You can drive the main highway through the park and stop at 4 lookout points.  We also chose to do one of the easier hikes.  

Pictures don't do it justice.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  The weather was also perfection.  It's about 10,000 feet above sea level depending where you are in the park, so it's very temperate.  Low 70s and sunny.  It was glorious after being a sweaty mess in Kansas heat and humidity.  I definitely felt the elevation though, because I live at about 900 feet elevation.  

The hike had a cool pond, and there was a guy painting it.  I swear it wasn't that long, but I think I may have almost killed off a friend or two on the hike.  They claim it was 5 miles instead of the 2.  In fairness I thought it said 1 mile, but uh we learned it was longer when we were already on it.  It had some steep sections, but it was so pretty and the weather was great.  I totally got sun burnt. 

We celebrated the hike by going to the pizzeria that is a well known establishment in Bryant Head.  The meatball calzone was massive!  We got the smaller size and still split it in half.  So yummy!  We also had fun watching sheep cross the road.  Everything about this area is so beautiful and fun.  

Girl's Weekend

This weekend I flew to Vegas and drove up to Southern Utah to be with friends from my Ohio days.  We live all over the country.  It was so much fun, but it was definitely an adventure.  We stayed just north of Cedar City in Duck Creek.  There was a downpour right as got there.  One of the rooms in the rented cabin flooded.  We still had enough beds, so it wasn't a bad thing. 

We went out to eat at a local restaurant.  The pies were the highlight.  Bumbleberry was my favorite.  We stayed up late talking.  When we went to go to bed we realized a second bedroom was flooded as well.  The owner wasn't very concerned, so it was obvious this happens a lot.  I spent a night on a very uncomfortable futon and another friend slept on a chair in the main room.  It was bad.  Luckily, Kortney had a family friend with a cabin in Duck Creek just a couple minutes away, so we checked out and went there.  It was a life saver! 

We had a great time talking and playing games.

What's a girl's weekend without a little adventure mixed in with great food and company?!

It's Sweaty Around Here!

I don't know how the universe got together to decide should be the hottest place in the nation, but the stars aligned and we had 115 degree weather with 85% humidity.  I don't know for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Hell shared its weather with us.  I took a picture of our back window, because it hadn't rained but it looked like it had.  So gross!

In other news, the sunsets are still lovely.  I've been taking our oldest out to a nearby church parking lot to start driving.  It's absolutely terrifying and we're not even on real roads yet.  Pray for us. The sunset during the drive was nice though. 

 

1st Day of School

Little Man: 10th Grade!

My best friend's name is: Evan & Peyton
My favorite thing to play: Piano
My favorite color: Dark Purple
My favorite book: Lord of the Rings
My favorite TV show: Stranger Things
My favorite food: Tacos
When I grow up I want to be: I Don't Know
Something I really like: Running
Something I really don't like: Being Embarrassed in Public
My favorite thing about myself: "I don't know.  There's so much to choose from."
Something I want to do this year: Sub 20 in Cross Country

Little Lady: 7th Grade

My best friend's name is: Reese
My favorite thing to play: Games with Family
My favorite color: Purple
My favorite book: She wanted to name genre since she has too many: Fantasy
My favorite TV show: Studio C
My favorite food: Ice Cream
When I grow up I want to be: Teacher
Something I really like: Sugar
Something I really don't like: Brussel Sprouts
My favorite thing about myself: My quirkiness
Something I want to do this year: Not break anymore bones

BB: 5th Grade - Miss Moore

My best friend's name is: August or Joey
My favorite thing to play: Baseball
My favorite color: Gold    
My favorite book: Dragon Rider
My favorite TV show: Teen Titan Go
My favorite food: Pizza
When I grow up I want to be: Computer Programmer
Something I really like: My bed
Something I really don't like: Tons of noise
My favorite thing about myself: I'm funny
Something I want to do this year: Do well in Advanced Math

Little Guy: 2nd Grade - Miss Moriarty

My best friend's name is: Ashton
My favorite thing to play: Basketball at Recess
My favorite color: Red
My favorite book: Garfield Feeds His Face
My favorite TV show: Booba
My favorite food: "This is hard.  I'm just going to say waffles."
When I grow up I want to be: Baseball Player
Something I really like: Baseball
Something I really don't like: Spiders
My favorite thing about myself: I can do a front flip
Something I want to do this year:  Play baseball

We went to Andy's for our traditional 1st day of school ice cream:  It was late in the evening by the time we got there, because we had cross country practice, cello and guitar lessons, and soccer practice.  We're in full swing of activities already.

Grandma Time

 Grandma Stuetz was waiting at our house for us as we pulled in from Mexico.  She visited with us for a couple of days on her way to BYU Education Week.  She's fresh off her trip to the British Isles and Ireland.  We did a Beatles puzzle she got there and also made our first Irish soda bread and butter biscuits that are scones with extra butter.  We ate them we jam.  It was delightful.