Summer Vacation 2017

Kanab/North Rim of the Grand Canyon/Orderville

For our summer vacation, we planned a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The kids and I have never been. Mom was able to come along too. 

We planned to have Kanab as our homebase and rented a VRBO. 

The drive down was beautiful and we found a nice Mexican restaurant for dinner our first night. 

The next morning we woke for the drive down to the North rim. We packed out backpacks with snacks and walkie talkies. Once we got there, we started with a short but challenging hike (with beautiful views) that got me and the kids nervous for what Steve had planned next. We had lunch and went on to the next hike to Angels Window. After one more hike, we finished with a nice shady hike, which included inclines and rain, - we didn't quite finish the hike before we turned around and headed back.  We laughed a lot and struggled some. The journey was fun. We headed for home and got food to eat at the house from a fun diner. The next day we had German pastries and did a hike in a slot canyon in Orderville. That was awesome, although hot until we got into the shade of the mountains. The kids much prefer this type of "exploration hike". We were hot and tired after this one. After lunch, we later went to the Kanab pool to relax. We waited out the rain and had the pool nearly to ourselves. In the evening we enjoyed introducing Moana to Maw and played games.  

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Grand Canyon Day

on the drive back to Kanab

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Orderville Slot Canyon

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Kanab Pool

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The house in Kanab

Trev is baptized

Trevor becomes a member of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints

Trevor was baptized March 4, 2017

Trev had such a sweet program with many family members and friends present to support him. I thought it was so sweet to have his siblings participate, maybe we'll do that for Gage's baptism too.
I could feel the Spirit as he was baptized. Kaiden could too. He clapped for Trevor when he came up out of the water; they must have been friends in Heaven too.
I had him look out at all the people there who love and support him as a disciple of  Christ. It was a special day.

Kaiden and Trevor BFFs/cousins

Arizona to see Paw

Cave Creek

Dad was visiting Arizona for the winter and invited us down for a visit of Uncle Jimmy's place and Dad and Regina's rental. We had a great time and experienced new things. 

 We stopped off in Blanding to break up the travel time. The next morning we were on the road to Cave Creek, AZ.  Once we arrived, we reacquainted and the kids explored. The golf cart was priceless fun. They loved it so much. The kids also got to help in the barns and on the ranch. Jenna enjoyed petting the horses.

Once we got to the ranch, Gage buddied up to Uncle Jimmy

The golf cart was the best entertainment

A litlle night soak

dad

The kids slept in the RV

 Day 2 involved a morning walk, more golf cart rides, a brief horse lesson, watched some riders in the arena, and set out for our very own trail ride in the Arizona mountains. I was so proud. The kids all did very well despite one or 2 being very nervous at first. What an awesome experience with Paw and Regina. Afterward, we had a ton of pizza and went to bed tired!