This Land is My Land...

When we got married and moved to Seattle, I thought we lived in the most beautiful place on earth. I couldn't believe I actually got to live there, not just vacation!! I've felt the same awe for other places we've lived in since then. And now we're back in Utah and I've realized over those five years what a great place Utah is to live! It's beautiful. We've been able to visit some of the national parks over the years and started our summer by making a trip to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. It took me 33 years to get there, but we made it and I realize why people from all over make the trip! It was gorgeous. We made the adventure with a couple of my brothers, their families and even grandma and grandpa made an appearance. Over all great trip and one we'll remember for a long time!!
We started with a bus ride to Lower Emerald Pool Trail. The kids enjoyed hiking to the waterfall and eating lunch at the top.

Then, the older kids went horse-back riding while I kept the younger ones from eating dirt, falling on trails and being eaten by bugs. We were somewhat successful!

This is our backdrop as we sat and ate our ice cream! Pretty incredible!! Notice also the scowl on Micah's face in earlier pictures was erased by either the ice cream or the view, you be the judge!

After everyone was fueled up, we headed for the Temple of Sinawava. This was a gorgeous river trail and I think the favorite part of our day, relaxing by the water throwing rocks. We have thrown rocks into many a body of water and now we can add North Fork Virgin River to the list. Running water is healing!

We'd like to spend more time on this trail next time. It was beautiful!!

I love Micah's socks at the end of the day!!

Bryce Canyon was breath taking!

Aren't these boys handsome?? We headed out on hike down in the "hoodoos" on the Queen's garden trail and ended up coming up on the Navajo Loop Trail.

Ben and Shayla loved drawing nature on this trip!

Love this picture!!

To see the kids kick it into gear on the switch backs - which were not easy! - and get up the mountain was quite awe-inspiring. Those little legs did such a great job on a 3 mile roundtrip hike! I don't think I'll ever forget how tough they were. Cousins rock!

But boy, were we worn out!!

When we tried to hie to Kolob the next day, one car forgot their Zions pass, so we decided to pack it in together. It wasn't as uncomfortable as we thought it would be. Kolob Canyon was also amazing!

Now that you're sick of me in that hat, I'll be done. I love family vacations! It is so fun to be away from the daily cares and worries of everyday life and relish in family time, this beautiful world and all that comes with it.

Rainbow Point, Bryce Canyon