Amy

Have I ever mentioned that I have the coolest roommate?  Amy made me this gorgeous quilt for my birthday.  She is so talented and thoughtful.

The other morning as I was running out the door and she said, "Amy, I made you a smoothie...  Have a good day at work!"  How cool is having a wife?  Seriously, you rock Amy.

The 3rd Annual Ward Moab Trip

If you look closely, you may see around 45 sleeping bags scattered among the rocks. Our ward had this whole canyon to ourselves which was nice since we were up up past 1am playing scum and eating dutch oven cobbler. The next morning we got up and made a big camping breakfast before everyone headed out on their various adventures.

My group's plan was to go canyoneering, but after those dreams were dashed, we settled on floating the river.  Our plans to buy or rent inner tubes were also thwarted, but the 95 degree weather kept our motivation alive.  We finally found some blow up pool toys at a town market and purchased a colorful collection.  As you can see, I was sporting Wally the Walrus.  It's illegal (and stupid) to float the Colorado river without a life vest (although clearly our childrens' pool toys were reliable life saving floatation devices).  I informed and strongly encouraged the group to sport life vests, but in the end, only 5 of our party of 8 felt like springing the extra 5 dollars.  Getting going in the river was nothing short of hilarious.  We had a rope to keep the chaos together, but balancing on a walrus like that in a fast moving river is harder than it looks.  Part way down stream, we got caught in a huge eddy that took us far enough back up stream to question everything we had ever been taught about gravity.  That was where the police officer greeted us and asked the five foolish virgins to get out of the river.  The five wise virgins were dismissed and floated happily away while the officer wrote up a ticket.

We found some really incredible mud where we exited the river.  

Backstreet's Back. Alright!

Remember these guys? Well, last night Amy and I crammed into the Energy Solutions Arena with hundreds of other 30 year old women living out their 12 year old dreams. Fortunately, these guys are still living out their 17 year old dreams. Same cheesy 90s moves, just older screaming fans. We had a sweet view on the 11th row. Too bad they made me check my camera.

Strawberry Days

Yes. Strawberry Days again. I haven't missed a year of Strawberry days in I don't know how long. I love this stuff! It almost makes me want to settle in Pleasant Grove. This year we kicked it off with a girls' night to the free Strawberry Days concert in the park with free strawberries and cream. It was fun, but my real love is the Strawberry Days rodeo.

I'm so glad I had some body to totally get into it with me. The highlight for me this year was the Cash Cow event where they stick money to a cow and parents send their children into the arena to earn back the money they spent on their rodeo ticket. I have never seen so many kids in the arena (the photo doesn't even show half of them). This year, they had to launch two cows. Seriously, parents we just tossing kids over the fence to go chase down that cow. The event had everything, comedy, adventure, suspense, terror... The terror came in the form of a little girl who got stuck in the mud. I mean really stuck. She couldn't even lift her feet out at all. Then she looked up to see the cow and massive mob of children coming her direction. She started flapping her arms in distress and was only rescued when a rodeo clown hopped the fence, picked her up, and dug her tiny flip flops out of the mud. Kind of sad... kind of hilarious.

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to take a second to say how much I appreciate my father. After a brief visit with my family, a friend recently asked me, "Why is your family the way it is?" I soon found out that what "it is" is kind, supportive, loving, and uplifting. I can only really attribute that to my parents' diligence in raising their children up unto God. I'm so grateful for a father who has his top priorities as his relationship with God and his family's eternal salvation. I'm grateful for his example. He gave me a head start on life by teaching me who I was at a very young age. He taught me how to magnify a calling, listen to the guidance of the spirit, and reverence the sacred things of God. His counsel has always been so wise and timely. I love you so much, Dad!

Runners

Both Mike and Elisha were running in the Utah Valley Marathon on Saturday. Mike for his first half and Elisha for her 4th full marathon. The marathon started at some heinous hour in the morning, but the whole family managed to get up to see them cross the finish line. That was the first time I've been anywhere near a marathon and frankly, being that I'm not a runner myself, I didn't expect to get so emotional. It is such a cool atmosphere as everyone cheers each runner on. If I dedicated a second to imagining what the runners are thinking, I'd get choked up. Knowing that you're about to accomplish something amazing and knowing that the whole miserable experience is almost over must be incredible. In fact, as Mike rounded the corner, I think my voice crack a little as I cheered him on. Mike did much better than expected considering his knee had been giving him trouble all week. Elisha beat her best time by 15 minutes. I'm so proud of you both!

Is that a supportive family, or what? I love these guys. Signs or no signs, they have always been that supportive for me in whatever I do.

Bryce Canyon

We hit Bryce canyon on our way back from Zion. The weather was perfect, so instead of hurrying back to our air conditioned vehicles, we took our time, ate a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the incredible view.

Katie, your Sasha is coming along quite nicely. Well done.

Cute Johnson family.

Super cute parents

Foster was so mad that Elisha wouldn't let him just run around on the fenceless cliffs. I'm not sure if holding him upside down helped or not, but it was kind of funny.


Elisha sporting the wind-blown model look. Nice.

Mike, threatening to throw Katie over the edge.

Cute Grandpa

Grandpa is known for his Seal Hunts and Lion Hunts. The kids loved them so much they kept asking for cheetah hunts and giraffe hunts and whatever other animal they would come up with. My favorite part is how Foster never grasped the concept of sitting in a circle. He always just wanted to sit right in front of Grandpa.

Together in Zion

Zion is one of my favorite national parks and I frequent there a few times each year. For our yearly "family vacation of a lifetime" we found a really nice cabin just east of Zion. We spent full, HOT day there starting with the Emerald pools. I've always considered that hike more of a Sunday stroll (in fact, I've done it as a Sunday stroll) but this time with the melting 95 degree weather and 11 kids under the age of 12, it seemed somehow longer.

When we reached the middle pools, we rested for a while and let the kids throw rocks in the water. Then everyone else decided to head back for lunch and Chris, Mike, Ryan, Katie and I continued on to the upper pools.

Though, not exactly "emerald" in color. The upper pools were exactly what I was looking for. A perfect place for the kids to play in the sand and gentle slope into the cool refreshing water. Chris, Ryan, Katie and I even climbed over to the base of the water fall and let it almost soak us.

After lunch, we took the shuttle up to the entrance of the Narrows. We couldn't enter the narrows because the water was flowing too fast, but we found some nice places to play in the freezing cold water.