One Year Ago...

April 2, 2010

I was just about ready to POP!! 

It's so funny to see how I looked one week before I had Jackson.  Now I can see that I definitely looked A LOT bigger than what I felt/thought I was!  I still miss being pregnant sometimes and it is so crazy to me that our little bundle of joy is turning 1 this coming Saturday.  Stay tuned for plenty of updates on all the birthday festivities! :)

Mt. Olympus

This past Saturday I was finally able to get out and do some winter climbing! My ice ax has been sitting in my closet for well over a year collecting dust...needless to say, I was really exited to get out and enjoy the snow. Sarah, Jackson, and I drove down to SLC on Friday and stayed the night with Brian and Maggie. Early Saturday Brian and I got up, picked up my good friend and longtime climbing partner Ammon and headed up Mt. Olympus. It had snowed the previous day and there was a storm coming in late Saturday so we hoped to catch a break and summit in between storms. We couldn't have asked for a better day! We got some wind and clouds on the way back down, but other than that it was a beautiful day! Here are a few photos from the trip...

Ammon and Brian starting their way up the 3rd class section to the summit. Until this point the route follows a steep trail up the mountain. This is where the fun part starts.


Brian working his way up steep slope. The snow was nice and firm so ice ax's helped on the climb.


Brian and Ammon reaching the summit ridge.


It's a nice stroll along the ridge from here.


Climbing along the summit ridge. The Salt Lake valley is far below.


Dromedary, Sunrise, and Broads Fork Twin Peaks. I'm looking forward to a trip that traverses all three in the next few months.


Ammon and Brian on top of Mt. Olympus!


Brian and I on the summit.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers--

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours--

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through! 

Fun in the Sun

A couple of weekends ago we decided that we had had enough of the Cache Valley overcast and were long overdue for some warmer temperatures and sunshine.  So, we packed our bags and headed for St. George, UT!  The forecast for the weekend was sunshine with mid-60's to low-70's for a high each day...JACKPOT!  We shopped the outlet mall, ate good food, spent some time in Snow Canyon, and went for a walk along the Virgin River trail. 

Saturday night we checked the forecast and were sad to find out that a big snow storm was headed our direction on Monday  (which was the day we were headed for home).  It was predicted to get pretty ugly, so we decided to come home Sunday night instead.  Although we were disappointed to cut our trip short, we think we made the right choice... Monday afternoon we found out part of the interstate we would have been traveling on to come home had been shut down due to poor weather conditions right about the time we would have been traveling had we waited!

All in all, we ended up with a  low-key and very relaxing weekend, which is just what we wanted/needed.  Here are some photos...

Jackson's discovery.
  I kick myself for forgetting to take a picture of the monster
pile of TP that he unrolled 5 minutes later

Sitting on the patio at Iggy's for lunch Saturday.  We seriously sat there for about 2 hours! 
The sun felt simply wonderful....we were even a little sunburned later that day

Dad and Jackson during our hike up the Cinder Cone Volcano in Snow Canyon. 
This was Jackson's first hiking experience and he LOVED it!

Mom and Jackson on top of the volcano...such a pretty view behind us

He fell asleep on the way down...hiking is hard work!

Playing at the sand dunes in Snow Canyon

Reading books....they really are two peas in a pod <3