Weekend at Zion

Eleven years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Wow time flies. We had a great anniversary trip to Zion and St. George. I always like to think back on the night before and the days following my wedding and remember what I was doing and my thoughts and feelings on those days. Little did I know what lay in store for me. I know I have been truly blessed. Clay and I have a wonderful life the ups and the downs. Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Zion was amazing! It is so beautiful. We hiked a total of 11 miles on Friday and Saturday. We saw a lot of country and got some good exercise. Then we went into St. George at night and ATE. We went to some of our favorite restaurants and packed back on all the calories we worked off during the day. So much Fun!!!

This picture was taken on the Emerald pools trail. The guy I asked to take the picture turned out to be the student body president of SUU one of the years we attended, how random. This desert big horn sheep was right off the side of the parking lot. It was so tame. We also saw a lot of mule deer within touching distance. It reminded us of how it must have been in the Garden of Eden. Wild animals living with men.

I saw some professional photographers taking this shot and decided I would give it a go. I love the deep blue sky. We went at such a great time of year. The weather was perfect and there weren't that many other hikers.

Ok so here it is the beast, Angels Landing. The last time Clay and I hiked in Zion was when we were engaged. We hiked Angels Landing and went all the way to the end up on that peak. We had a nice lunch hung out and came down. All I can say is that my judgement must have been clouded with youthful illusions of immortality and or hormones. I don't remember feeling my life threatened at all. This time was different. I could not believe people were hiking to the end. The trail towards the top was snowy and icy so we opted to stop at this point. A fellow hiker told us that last year there had been two fatalities from falls off the Angel Landings trail, this info just validated our decision to not go any further. I had such an amazing feeling of gratitude for the world that was created for us, the beauty and the majesty of it all.

Thanks to the Orton's for watching our kids, I didn't worry about them one bit. I knew they were in good hands! Two nights without kids, we couldn't believe all the freedom.

Another highlight of the trip- Bryce Valley won the 1 A state basket ball tournament. First time in history. This was so exciting for Tropic and the surrounding towns. Clay's brother Mark was at the game and was giving us updates via text. Congrats Bryce Valley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!