The Wonderful World of Dirt

Three adventures. One post. Hold on to your seats, kids...

ADVENTURE #1: 2 BACKPACKS AND A LITTLE GOOSE

For Aaron's big 3-0 (yes, you may call him an old man), we went on a little adventure. We backpacked into the first campsite on the Hop Canyon Trail. It's in the northern portion of Zion National Park - the Kolob Canyon part. It was beautiful and just the right distance for someone who doesn't want to stay confined too long.

My pack: 1 goose and her paraphernalia

Aaron's pack: everything else
What a man!

Dad, I can help. I promise I won't try to steal the tent pole again.

Oh, this is fun.

A tent, a trusty bib, and Dad. What more does a girl need?

Playing in the dirt is hard work.

ADVENTURE #2: YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (the end of the Tahoe Trip)

As we ended our week in Lake Tahoe with the Averett family, we drove to Yosemite National Park. We were going to spend two days there, but we (I, mostly) were tired of second-guessing the weather so we ended up staying just one jam-packed day. We drove through the park, hiked to a couple of waterfalls, and jogged to see the giant sequoias. It was awesome and someday we will go back to spend some quality time there. We may even eat pizza with the squirrels again. :)

Half Dome. I can finally say I've seen it.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

The hike to Vernal Falls. Amazing! and WET!

So independent.

ADVENTURE #3: "GOOSE, MESS"

Every now and then, we just need to get out. The weather has been abnormally awesome this June, and then one weekend it decided to be normal. So we left. Headed for the hills to Yankee Meadows in the aspens and cool. We knew Eliza liked camping, but we have made it to a whole new level of "like."

Every kid needs a bridge.

15 minutes in camp.

Bring out the dogs. I'm ready.

2 hours in camp.

Higher, Dad! Higher!

CONGRATULATIONS! You made it to the end of the post! We are now caught up. Give us a couple weeks. I'm sure we'll fall behind again and then you can look forward to another epic post.

And, as a reward, here's a little video for your viewing pleasure.



Love you guys! Thanks for keeping up with us.

Professional

Last week, I got a phone call.

hubby: I gotta read you this email I got.

me: Ok.

hubby: "Congratulations on achieving a passing score on the April 2009 exam and completing this important step in your professional career."

And there was much rejoicing!

Good job, Silly! We knew you could do it!

It's About Time (Eliza's Birthday Post)

There have been a couple of requests for a post of Eliza's birthday. On a momentous occasion such as her first birthday we had to make it a whole weekend instead of just the day, so that is what you get, the whole weekend. That is part of the reason it took so long, so here it is.

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to go to Zion National Park. We rode into the park, put our bikes on the shuttle and rode to the Temple of Sinewava. Eliza tried to talk to everyone on the Shuttle, and some even talked back. We then rode back down to the visitors center and back to the car in Springdale.

Eliza didn't make it awake to the part I thought she would most enjoy, but she still loved the ride.

As you can see she really was a Princess...

And oh yes those are all Disney Princesses on the car that Grandma sent to her, now we get to hear the music all the time.

Then she helped Dad in the garden and ate Pomegranates that fell off the tree...

And then she had her first Otter Pop with Maggie (who shares her birthday with her)....

She opened even more presents like much needed pajamas and a new purse...

Then had Birthday Cake...

and her birthday even extended one day so we could have her favorite dinner the next night, um mm spaghetti!

Yeah, we think she is pretty cute!

Myanmar Part 6

After coming back from Inle Lake we saw some more sites around Yangon including the locals market, downtown Yangon and the port area, the reclining Buddha, and then we went to a christian orphanage where they take in kids whose parents have died or cannot care for their children. The kids were very well mannered we read them some English stories, they sang songs to us that they have been learning in English and then we did the hokey pokey. They loved that. Saturday night we went to a dinner show where traditional Myanmar food was served and a traditional dance show was put on. Sunday we went to church and then visited some members of the ward. We had to start packing too because we left on Monday. Before we could go home though, we had to see the water festival for ourselves. We should have worn our swimsuits because we got soaked. Below are all the pictures. We had a great time and would love to go back if we could, everyone asked us if we would. The trip really was eye opening and an experience not to be missed. On the way home we talked about how different the United States would be if everyone had a chance to see and experience what we saw on our trip. The biggest lesson we learned is to be grateful for what we have and not take for granted our freedom that we have in this country. We really do have so much. So yes if you ever want to go somewhere different and have an adventure we would both highly recommend Myanmar.

One of the many locals markets in Yangon, you can only imagine the smells from what you see in the pictures.

Angela bought some cloth she liked and the a lady next to the cloth shop sewed it into a longee for $0.50.

One view from the top of the Sukura Tower in downtown Yangon, in the background you can see the ships that come up the river from the ocean and behind that is the beginning of the Irrawady Delta.

The reclining Buddha in Yangon is 58 feet tall and 216 feet long, and those are the eyes that came from the glass factory we visited, 5'8" around.

This is the Christian Orphanage we visited.

Friends in couples park.

Karaway Palace Dinner Show.

The elephant danced too, he was very good and got lots of tips.

Part of the show was a dance competition between people and Marionettes.

Sister Janet and her family.

Sao Palo and his family.

The water festival on Ine Road, yes we walked through that and yes we got soaked.

Then it was our turn to get people wet. There were not a lot of people where this pandal was, but we did get some wet. This was right before we got on the plane to come home, what a great trip it was.

Lake Tahoe

Since it is summer it is time to get out. Well we got out, way out. Saturday morning we drove all across Nevada to Lake Tahoe. It was an interesting ride but a little long. We stopped in Rachel, Warm Springs, Tonapah and a little oasis rest area. 11 hours later we made it. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Eliza found a UFO in Rachel Nevada.

Emerald Bay

Angora Lakes