Memorial Day Fun

Memorial Day was a bit different for me this year. I missed being with family but we had a great weekend with some adopted family. Chandler and I and Danielle went down to Blanding, UT this past weekend, which is about an hour south of Moab. Chandler served in the area for about 6 months of his mission and has many, many stories about his days in Blanding. After he got off his mission, he went back and stayed with a family that was in the ward, Bruce and Patty Lyman and their two daughters, and helped them with their farm and the other property that they own. We have tried a couple times to make the trip down there but one thing after another happened and either I ended up working or the weather wasn't very good, so I wasn't going to let anything stop us from going this weekend. We left right after work on Friday, which is what everyone in the state of Utah did, so traffic was a little slow, but we made it to Dan's apartment just after she had gotten off work and headed down. It was a long 6 hour drive but we watched a few movies and shot the breeze and finally made it down there about midnight. Their two daughters, Sydney and Rylee, were still awake so we talked with them for a couple hours and finally went to bed. The next morning, we were going to go to Lake Powell to go boating but the wind was so bad that it was blowing dirt everywhere.  We literally could not see more than a half mile around us. So, we decided it would be better to just stay there for the day so we went to breakfast with Bruce, Sydney, and Rylee. The food was delicious but Bruce and Chandler were feeling a little sick that night. :( After breakfast we went to check on their cattle to make sure they had enough water. The property his cattle are on also houses a gigantic house/cabin/garage/bigger garage. It was very nicely built and I'm sure very pricey. But, it was beautiful nonetheless. We headed back to their house and then decided to go visit the lady that Chandler stayed with on his mission. She has housed 35 missionaries since Chandler was there! She was so fun to talk to and is such a sweet lady! After a couple hours there we headed back and took a nap, then made a delicious steak and potato dinner. We were very proud of ourselves. After dinner we decided to make a bonfire and roast some marshmallows to make smore's. It was still a little windy but it had died down significantly! A good time was had by all! Patty also came home from being in Logan with her mom so we caught up with her before watching a movie and then going to bed. Sadly, I don't have many pictures up to this point. Most of them were taken Sunday and Monday.

Sunday morning Patty made us crepes before we went to church. I haven't had crepes since I was living at home so it reminded me how much I love them. After church we grabbed a quick lunch and then set out to see some sights. Our first stop, some old Indian ruins that are being preserved by the state.

This one was still in really good condition considering how old it is. Still had a window and everything! 

I'm not quite sure the name of the next place we stopped, but it was gorgeous. 

Look, more Indian ruins? See them? Me neither.

And a crazy rock that hung way over the edge. Chandler was scared to come all the way out. I'm kind of sad we didn't reenact a Lion King scene here.

Next we went to see the Natural Bridges. 

The first one we actually hiked down to. It was a good 15 minutes through rock, stairs, ladders, and sand-like dirt to get there, but it was worth it. I can't remember the individual names of each of the bridges though, but I think this one was my favorite.

Then off to the second one. We just went to the lookout.

And then to the third.

Then we went the scenic route through Valley of the Gods. It was pretty much a long, windy dirt road with lots of cool rocks that look like different things and someone has named them all. We took the liberty of naming them ourselves too.

This one could be many things. First we thought of Scooby Doo. Then, Peach from Mario Kart. And then a lady in a bathtub. We were right! It was a lady in a bathtub. Thanks to my madly awesome photog skillz this is one of my favorite pictures!

This one looked like a horse chariot. Maybe not so much the chariot part, but the front part looked like a horse's head and the back part looked like a person riding something. What was interesting though is how much different angles and perspectives changed what it looked like.

Now you see it looks like a sumo wrestler playing chess with a snail.

And lastly, we cheated on this one. This one is named "The Seven Sailors." Thanks again to my photog skills, this is my second favorite picture that I took.

And of course, Danielle had to get a good sunset shot. Here are a few fun ones.

Just before we got home, we stopped at a yummy restaurant, named Twin Rocks, in Bluff and got Navajo Tacos. They were so gooood! 

As mentioned earlier, when we went to check on the cattle on Saturday there was no water left for them. So, guess what we got to do Monday! That's right, herd cattle to a new area. Danielle wasn't feeling well Monday morning so she stayed home and slept a little bit more, but Bruce, Patty, Chandler, and I went bright and early at 8:00 AM to move some cows. Patty led the way with hay in the back of the truck and the three of us saddled up on four wheelers and dove right in to herd the cattle to the truck. 

Moo

 A few more people showed up a little later to help. We were grateful for the company!

Helping a lame cow hitch a ride on the truck.

No, this open field is not the place.

"This is the place"

Helping a stupid cow get to the water. Right after he came back up he said, "I need a shower now. Right when I picked the cow up it farted on my arm!"

After four long hours of riding through dirt, sagebrush, cowpies, and trees, we finally got them to water. I got  a wicked sunburn that covered my arms, hands, face, ears, and neck, but it was a lot of fun. And this is what we came home to...

This was a little bit of our view on the way home. This is only about half of them. It was so pretty though.

As you can see, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. We are so thankful that the Lyman's let us invade their home and take their Sunday for sight-seeing, but we were so glad we were able to finally make it down to the infamous Blanding, UT. Hope you all had a great weekend as well! Love and miss you all!

88 Days...But Who's Counting

It has been way too long since I have written on this and a lot of things have happened! First of all, we got a new ride. This is probably very old news by now, but we are still in love with our Pacifica.

We also decided one night to go on a hike up to the top of Ensign Peak. I quickly found out that I was very out of shape, and got very dizzy a few times. But we trudged along and reached the top in no time. The view was as beautiful as ever. I love that hike and I love being able to look out over the valley and see 4 beautiful temples lit up within our view.

In April, I graduated with my Associates Degree in Accounting. I was so grateful for all who came and supported me, and I was thankful Chandler BARELY made it before it started! 

The next week, I was able to attend Amy's graduation from BYU! I am so proud of her, especially with being a new mommy! 

The next week, I was able to go down to Arizona with mom and dad and Danielle to attend Matt's graduation from Thunderbird and to see the Matt and Jessie clan. I have missed all of them so much. I realized that I hadn't seen them since Kenzi's baby blessing which was almost 10 months ago! It was way to long! 

Matt had the honor of leading the class and carrying the United States flag in for the flag ceremony and gave a quick address on the US. He did a great job and was even really serious, something I'm not used to. We went to breakfast with all of them right before we left. It was hard to say goodbye again and I can't wait until we can go back to visit again, if they'll let us. hehe. One last picture from the trip, we took this right before we left. Kennedy finally warmed up to me at breakfast and her playful attitude really came out. She is such a cutie and she definitely takes after her sweet mommy.

Right before we left for Arizona, we stopped and visited Kevin and Tiffany and their new bundle of joy, Peyton. He is such a cute little guy. There were a few complications with the delivery but, in the end, baby arrived safely and they are both very healthy. Tiffany looked so good for just having a baby! I couldn't believe it! Such a cute mommy!

I also start my last semester of school on Tuesday. I know what you guys are thinking, "Why is she still taking classes when she has already graduated?" (I totally wrote that with a Dax Flame voice going through my head. Reference for Dustin and Danielle.) Well, I only have 3 classes left to take and I wasn't going to come back next April to "graduate" so I decided to walk 3 months early rather than 9 months late. Chandler is already counting down the days until I am done with school, even though I haven't even started yet. Thanks for making it drag out, Chandler. haha So, hence the title, 88 days left until I am done with school forever. Chandler and I are excited to finish up our time down here in Salt Lake and move on to bigger and better things in Idaho. It's bitter sweet, sad to leave the friends and family here, but SO excited to be closer to more family, old friends, and make new friends. One last thing, we are so excited for Chandler's brother, Chris, who got engaged a couple weeks ago to a cute girl, Janelle. 

They will be getting married July 14 in the Redlands Temple. That's right, we HAVE to take a trip to California this summer. Darn. :) Also, Chandler's younger brother, Spencer, will be getting home from his mission in August and will be coming up to BYU-I in September. He has been serving in the Ghana Africa mission for two years and has been in the office for the last little while as their mission was split into two missions. He is now back out in the field for his last two transfers and is loving every minute of it! We can't wait to have him back, but I'm sure he will miss Africa immensely. That's all for now! 

(Spencer is the one on the very left.)