Utah We Love Thee: Spring Break Day 2

Day two began in Blanding at the Edge of the Cedars state park and museum. It was a gem of a museum with loads of Ancestral Puebloen artifacts and some restored ruins. They even had a kiva we could go in. And they sold some lovely Indian jewelery which some of us purchased.

Next we drove to Hovenweep National Monument, which is really far from anything. It was a long drive but we did see some wild horses which was cool. Hovenweep is very different than Mesa Verde and was really cool. We had a good time there. The weather was perfect for hiking but a bit chilly for picnicking. Courtney, or should I say, Mrs. Wiese, ran into one of her students here. She can't escape! Good thing it was one of her good students.
The kids doing there best to slow Todd down:

Lucy attempting to stay warm whilst eating:

Rob disregarding the signage:

Next we headed to Bluff to cross a swinging bridge across the San Juan River and hike to some ruins called Sixteen House Ruins. I remember the bridge from the Uncle Tony Trips. When we got there it was gone! And there were a lot of dead animals lying around!!! Ugh! So we drove out and saw the ruins with the binoculars and headed to a little pioneer park and some petroglyphs at Sand Island.

Goat crossing:
The bridge that no longer exists:
The petroglyphs dating from 1100-1980's (I hate stupid people!):
Clara proudly climbed up to the petroglyphs. She was very proud and showed off by doing her babies gone wild spring break pose:


finding cool rocks in the sand:
And then we went back to the hotel and swam, again, making Clara's dreams come true.

Utah We Love Thee: Spring Break Day 1

Utah We Love Thee, happens to be the official state song. And it is true. We love Utah. We should spend less time exploring it and just hang out here in the west side of the Salt Lake Valley amongst the strip malls and split level home neighborhoods in order to make our move more palatable. But we have been exploring it and it is seriously such an amazing place. And it will be hard to leave. Anyway, again I tried to pick just a few pictures. I was going to try and cover spring break in one post, but alas, my inability to narrow it down prohibits it.

For spring break Rob and I wanted to do an "Indian Trip" based on the trips to the four corners region we/I took with my Uncle Tony many years ago. He had an amazing collection of Indian artifacts and a huge knowledge of the area. Todd and Court were game, so Rob planned it all out for us. We stayed in a motel in Monticello. Clara couldn't have been more pleased. I think living in a motel would satisfy her every wish and desire. We started out the day with a quick hike to see the Butler Wash ruins. Very cool. The water in the sandstone potholes was frozen.

Next we drove to Natural Bridges National Monument. And it was COLD! The wind was eating us alive. We were going to hike a big loop but due to washed out trails we ammended our plans. We decided to defy the cold and hike down into the canyon. It was MUCH warmer once we were protected from the wind by the canyon walls. The steep hike down was pretty fun. At Kachina bridge we were told there were some Anasazi ruins so we bush whacked around trying to find them.


It turns out the ruins are just to the left of the bridge, but we went beyond in search of them, which was a fun adventure.
Todd found a different ruin, a granary with corn, and everyone tried to scramble up to see it. It was too steep and a different route was found.
The granary:


Here are the ruins and pictographs that we had searched for initially. Turns out they weren't too hard to find if you just follow the signs. Oh well.
We had plenty of sand in our shoes:
This waterfall is where the canyon we were in begins:
After Natural bridges we drove off the mesa on the Mokee Dugway road, which is gnarly and cool with amazing views clear into Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. We stopped at the Goosenecks where the San Juan river has carved it's way through the desert.

Then it was off to Monument Valley and a delicious dinner at Goulding's to eat Navajo tacos:

Then we went back to the motel and swam. The highlight of Clara's life.

Grandma Hastings 90th Birthday Party

When Rob and I were dating he took me to Springville to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Hastings. I think it was love at first sight with me and Grandma. We really hit it off. Since then there have been countless evenings spent in their company. Grandma had us over all the time for some amazingly delicious dinners (think fondue, crab legs, awesome dutch oven food, etc) and lots of cards. A night at Grandma and Grandpas was always fun. They have had a wonderful life filled with good friends, wonderful family and lots of adventures. One night we went over and Grandma had made an incredible dinner and Grandpa pulled out the old footage of their famed "wilderness trips" where they would ride horses up into the mountains of Wyoming and camp, fish, and have a wonderful time. Grandma has shared so much of her life with me. When I was a nanny in New York she would write me the most wonderful letters. When Rob was on his mission she took me to the opera. She has shared some of her writing with me and we have discussed many, many books together. She has sent us home with bags of fresh raspberries from her garden and big batches of chocolate chip cookies. She and Rob spent several afternoons oil painting together in her basement. She has been a great card partner (she is vicious so I was always glad to be on her team). She loved me from the start and let me know it. She has always told me she thought I was perfect for her Robbie and has always treated me like I was her very own flesh and blood grand daughter. For our wedding she gave us Bob's parents wedding linens. They are beautiful and mean so much to me.

On Saturday we got together with some of the Hastings clan for the celebration of her 90th birthday. It was a wonderful evening and I'm glad we got to be there.

Rob, his Dad, Sisters, and G&G:

Our little fam, (minus Lucy who was at her bff's birthday):

Some of the crew that made it to the party:

The Bob and Norma Hastings Family:

Thanks to Angela, Lisa, and Liz and everyone else for putting this together. It really was a wonderful night.

New Easter Duds

We missed Easter at our house. We were out of town and so we didn't have baskets and egg hunts. (Sob). But we did have Easter dresses and outfits. Yesterday the kids looked fab for church in their new duds.

Coral Reef

I am so behind on my blog. I am going to make a monumental effort today to get caught up. Anyway....

See this cute guy? This kid gets home from school, does everything I need him to do, without being asked. Homework, change into play clothes, empty lunchbox, practice piano, etc. He is just a guy that gets things done.

He had an assignment to study coral reefs and make his own. In the past Rob has assisted the kids with their coral reef project. Anders didn't want to wait. I came in the kitchen one day and he had dived right in. I am impressed with what a fantastic job he did with zero assistance. Great details! My only regret is Rob and I were out of town when they showed them off at school and we missed it.

Moab Hiking Extravaganza

(Warning: way too many photos, I'm not a good editor)

We drove down to Moab this weekend for some serious hiking. We had such a good time. We started our adventure on Friday hiking around the Moab ridge in the Behind the Rocks area. It was a BIG hike and I was impressed with the kids. We followed a gnarly jeeb trail and got to see some jeeps climbing the cliffs which was pretty amazing.

Anders hurling rocks over the cliff with a view

of the Colorado River

This is where we saw the jeeps climbing.

It seemed impossible but they did it.

A giant arrowhead

We found plenty of caves and crevices for

exploring

On Saturday my Dad drove down to join us. We

were really excited he came. We started the day with a

hike to Delicate Arch. Clara enjoyed

being carried by Pop-pop.

On the way to sand dune arch.

A pit stop for Gochi, who is NOT even

vaguely interested in potty training.

We explored a new area of Arches: Klondike Bluffs, where

we hiked into the impressive Tower arch. The kids were serious

troopers. These were not tiny little hikes.

On Sunday we hiked up Negro Bill Canyon to Morning

Glory Arch. It was beautiful, but we want to

go back in a couple of weeks when the

greenery is all out.

It was so fun, and we are really feeling sad that in a few months all of this amazing scenery won't be accessible to us. We need to get in as much as possible. So stay tuned for next weekends adventures.