Moab

Eleven people from my ward headed down to Moab over the weekend. It was a pretty relaxed trip since we just stayed at Bryan's house, but we had fun hiking. On Saturday we got up at 5AM to be at Mesa Arch for sunrise. Perfect! I didn't expect I would be able to drag people out of bed to enjoy the perfect lighting. They didn't expect that I could take 200 pictures in two hours! As indicated in the Scott Kelby book, other photographers know about Mesa Arch... lots of them! And they were there with tripods ready when we arrived. They had the whole area cornered, so we took our group up around the side of the arch and watched the sun rise. After the photographers left, we walked out on the arch which sits on the edge of a very large cliff. Don't worry, Mom. That arch is very wide.

Amy McNeil, Amy Walton, and Amy Brienholt (AKA, The A Team)

After a delightful Denny's breakfast and enough time for my fingers to thaw, we headed out on our next adventure on the Moab Ridge. We hiked to the top, enjoyed the view of Moab Valley and explored a small cave.

To cool down after the hike we went to Golden Bar to dip our feet in the water. You can't really appreciate it by these pictures of us leisurely soaking up the sun on the water's edge, but that water was probably cold enough to have ice chunks floating in it. So we started a contest. Who can keep their feet in the water the longest? Only four people participated and of course after you get past the initial pain your feet are numb enough to endure all kinds of time. Thanks to pride this contest went on forever. We finally said that if you just jump all the way in, you automatically win. So Andy, who was not participating in the foot numbing activity jumped in and took the winning title.

It's starting...

On Saturday we got 70 degree weather. I opened my neglected bottom drawer and blew the dust off of last summer's shorts and capris. I love this time of year. People emerge from hibernation and become social again. There is hope and promise in the air with the change of season. Granted March is a very moody month. It snowed today, a healthy reality check and reminder to use your sunny days well. On saturday we went up the canyon for a campfire and tin foil dinners. It's starting...

Molly likes olives

Count down (these aren't "tack sharp" but still cute)

THREE

TWO

ONE

ZERO

Congrats Brian!

Brian opened his mission call on Friday night. It was so fun to be a part of the excitement.
He's going to.... (drumroll)

... TEMPE, ARIZONA!!! (of course, everyone who checks this blog already knows that. I just thought you might want to see some pictures.) I'm so excited for you, Brian.

...and still more Snowboarding

Are you getting sick of this yet? I'm not. A couple weeks ago I ran into Lynn Adams. Lynn and I became friends about eight years ago. In the last couple years we've fallen out of touch even though he only lives in Salt Lake. Anyway, Lynn invited me on a snowboarding weekend up at Bear Lake. Why not? It could be a great way to meet new people and if nothing else, I love snowboarding. It turned out to be Lynn, a guy I had gone on a blind date with last year and six very cool, but very intimidating girls. The snowboarding was a little icy and I was grateful for my new helmet after I landed on my head going off a jump. Wearing a helment just makes you try crazier things. It was fun though and the cabin we stayed in was really cool. After a long day of snowboarding, playing games and watching movies in a cabin is just perfect! Add a little beer and we'd have been living the life of a professional snowboarder.