Hello, Summer

The weather was so perfect last Sunday that we had to take a little trip to the river, which is only 15-20 minutes from our house. 

We went for a little hike (more like a walk than a hike)...

And then found a shady place upstream to let Eli explore. 

He had a reeeeeaaaallly hard time walking on the uneven ground. It was so funny to see him staggering around like a drunken sailor. 

Such a sweet little face. I love kissing those cheeks all day long. 

Dallin showed him how to throw rocks in the water, and Eli thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. He laughed so hysterically that Dallin and I were cracking up too. He's so much fun!

Here is Eli launching a rock. He's got a pretty good arm for such a little kid... something he certainly didn't get from me. ;) 

I'm so glad we get to live in such a beautiful place. My goal this summer is to take advantage of that as often as possible. So far, so good!

I'm dreaming of a white... New Year?

We may not have had a white Christmas, but a white New Year is the next best thing, right? We got hit with a pretty good storm and it was so nice to hunker down in our cozy, warm home for a few days, especially since Dallin didn't have to work on New Years Day or the afternoon of New Years Eve. It's all pretty much melted now, but I sure loved it while it lasted. These are just a few of the many pictures I took from our windows (my telephoto lens helped with some of these). 

Memorial Day

Now that we have Eli, Dallin and I spend our weekends and holidays doing different stuff than usual. In other words, spontaneous road trips and canyoneering adventures don't happen for the time being, at least not for me and Eli. So this Memorial Day, we took a little trip to a nearby creek with Dallin's brother and his wife and son. 

Our little trip reminded me how thankful I am to live in such a beautiful place. 

I love being outside. I'm happiest with dirt under my toes, sky over my head, and trees all around. 

And a pretty little mountain stream makes it even better!

We dipped Eli's toes in, but he wasn't a big fan of the cold creek water. No sir.

But cousin Levi sure didn't share Eli's opinion, as you can see. :)

Although Eli may not have wanted anything to do with the creek, he did enjoy taking a break from his brace, being snuggled by Dallin and me, and chewing on his fists.

Have I mentioned what a cute daddy Dallin is? 

I think Eli likes him too.

It was a really nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. I can't wait until Eli and Levi are big enough to play in the creek together. Actually, I can wait. My baby is getting too big already!

Also, I just have to say I'm really thankful to be an American. Even though I may not be particularly happy with everything going on politically, I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have because of the sacrifices others have made to make the life I live possible. I know I take it for granted too often. 

Storytime: Mikaela's (lack of) adventures in Zion

This past 4th of July we went to Zion National Park, a trip we had planned for a long time. We love going there; this was our 3rd time since we got married. It is such a beautiful place with lots of great canyoneering and hiking opportunities. 

The first time we went, around the 4th of July in 2012, I had the misfortune of cutting off the end of my thumb the day we left while chopping up some cabbage in a hurry. It was pretty bad and there was lots of blood and tears. I have never passed out before (knock on wood), but when I saw what I had done and then felt the pain start to shoot up my arm I thought I was going down. No fun.

This greatly limited my allowed activities since I wasn't supposed to get my heart rate up (it would start bleeding again when that happened) and I had to keep it dry. I don't know how much you know about canyoneering, but there is always a lot of getting your heart rate up and usually some swimming in stagnant, dirty water. And it came to pass that I was thus uninvited to all canyoneering excursions.

I did still get to see some beautiful stuff, though, like this amazing view. 

But I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my poor thumb, which wasn't too bad since Zion is so beautiful, even without doing any "real" hiking.

Still, there isn't anything quite like canyoneering. When we went later that year I had so much fun. Here are a few shots from that trip.

Rappelling into the Narrows from Mystery Canyon. See the tiny people down in the river?

Birch Hollow

Orderville Gulch

Orderville Gulch

Not so bad, eh? ;)

After getting a taste of what Zion can hold for those without open wounds, I was really happy when we planned another trip for July of this year. Dallin scored a few hard-to-get permits for some of the best spots and it was going to be a sweet trip. That was the plan, at least...

But... as luck would have it, I ended up getting pregnant (yay!) and was a nauseated, emotional mess in the midst of some intense pregnancy fatigue (boo!). In other words, since just walking to the shuttle stop right next to our hotel made me tired, canyoneering was out of the question. 

I spent my time sleeping at our hotel, walking short distances, finding comfortable places to relax, and sipping on cold gatorade since that was one of the few things that made my queasy stomach feel better. 

I also took a few pictures, partially because it was a good opportunity to work on figuring out my camera settings. Still need plenty of work in that department...

Meanwhile, here's what I missed out on: 









On the bright side, if this pattern keeps up I should be healthy (and in one piece) for our next trip, right? 

I guess we shall see...

---------

(P.S. If you haven't been to Zion yet, you are missing out! They have a good shuttle system that takes you into the canyon from the cute little town of Springdale which makes it easy to get around, plus there are so many things to do whether you are the hard-core hiker type or not. Heck, you can even have a good time if you are missing part of your thumb or are in the miserable first weeks of pregnancy. ;) It's pretty child-friendly, especially since you can take a stroller on quite a few of the shorter trails, and this burger joint really hits the spot after a day of adventures. I highly recommend checking it out!)

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus

I love the mountains. As much as I love to travel, mountains will always be home to me. 

And although I love my mountains all year long, there's something especially beautiful about how fall turns the quivering aspen leaves to gold. It's my favorite. :)

I made it up here just in time... a cold, wet storm blew in last night and these aspen are probably crusted in snow and ice right now and I don't think they will last much longer. I'm glad I got to enjoy it first! With Arizona's unpredictable weather it can be really easy to miss. Trust me, I've done it many times. I was especially glad I made it this year so I could play around with my new-ish camera. I'm becoming more and more familiar with manual mode and almost never switch back to automatic, although I still need lots of practice. Anyone want to volunteer their faces for me to shoot instead of trees? ;) 

(P.S. I'm serious, especially if you live nearby! Free pictures, anyone?)

Anyway, happy October! Can you believe it is already the tenth? Time is going by so quickly! It's going to be November before I know it, and then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then February will be just around the corner... and we'll have a baby! But for now I am just going to enjoy this beautiful fall weather and not think about how soon February is going to get here... or how much I need to get done before it does.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

-Anne Shirley