Time in McCall

After a week in Utah, we drove 7 hours north to McCall, Idaho, where my family shares a condo with my extended family. It was my family's turn to be there, and no one else was interested in coming up, so we took advantage. We had a few days there by ourselves; then my sister Laura, who lives in Iowa, arrived with her 6 children. The kids had fun riding Grandpa's boat into town to visit the legendary Ice Cream Alley.

Hattie was pretty excited about wearing a life jacket for the first time

And she did pretty well on the boat ride

Cousins Grace and Myra walking with Hattie

Myra, Grace, James, Paul and Hattie

Our huge banana split...but they forgot the bananas!


Hattie certainly ate her share


Hattie with Grace...one of my favorite pictures


The view of the lake


Myra and Grace

Anson loved playing in the sand, but Hattie was paranoid about all the sand on her feet and preferred the swimming pool

The pictures really don't do this place justice. I grew up visiting McCall often and consider it a second home. I'm excited to share this place with Hattie.

A week in Utah

After driving through the Grand Canyon, we made our way up to Utah to spend a few days visiting friends and family. My Uncle Len was kind enough to let us stay at his house all week. Here are some highlights:

We met Paul's brother's fiance, Julia, and had a wonderful dinner at her house, followed by a rousing game of croquet. The backyard had 3 terraces, so Paul and Michael set up an intense course, ending in a long drive back up the hill we just came down.

This is how the game ended - with the three brothers playing a twisted rendition of Poison. The best part is watching Hattie play with the train in the background.

Living in Lubbock, we have really missed being near the mountains, so one day we drove the Alpine loop from American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon. We got out for a while to hike along the trail that leads to Mt. Timpanogos peak. Of course, we didn't make it that far with Hattie, but she walked for a good chunk of the way, surprisingly.

Paul sure wished he could go to the top...maybe another year

And Paul's uncle Gregory and aunt Vikki had us over for dinner and he made some amazing burgers...carmelized onions, balsamic sauce, roasted onions, toasted buns, smoked hickory bbq sauce, bacon, cheese, roasted red peppers, mushrooms...it was hands down the best burger we've ever eaten.

And Hattie got to play with her cousin Nora

We also had some late nights with Paul's brothers playing board games, just like the old days. And I was able to meet up with some friends who live in the valley and catch up a bit. Being back in Utah reminded us how much we missed the mountains, good restaurants, decent shopping, rock climbing, and friends and family close by.

Zion, Zion!

We made our first road trip of the summer. We left Spanish Fork Sunday afternoon and drove to St. George. My aunt and uncle were nice enough to let us stay at their place for the night. Paul was thrilled that they had satellite, so he was able to watch Game 6 of the Stars vs. Sharks series...sadly, the game lasted until 12:40 am, going into 4 overtime periods. I went to bed long before he did - he of course stuck it out til the end. But we won! So now it's off to the Western Conference Finals!

Anyway, back to the trip. We left pretty early in the morning to go to Zion National Park. It was a nice day...not too hot, a little overcast at times, and the park wasn't very busy since it was a Monday. And Hattie was an angel. Paul just carted her around in the Bjorn all day, while I lugged the backpack full of stuff since I'm always overly prepared. The highlight was definitely hiking up Angel's Landing. Everyone was impressed that we brought a baby...she was certainly the most popular person on the trail. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is called the Court of the Patriarchs, three rock formations (from left to right) named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the white one behind the red one). The red formation is actually called Moroni.

Our destination: Angel's Landing

Paul and Hattie making their way up Walter's Wiggles, a series of 21 very steep switchbacks.

Paul and Hattie prepare to begin their ascent up the ridge to Angel's Landing, with 1200 foot drop offs on both sides.

We stopped for a rest in the shade and a nice Guatemalan took our picture.

We made it!

The view from Angel's Landing

Hattie slept most of the way down the trail, thank goodness.

Hattie started getting impatient with her hat.

I'm sure fried foods are bad for babies.

Melanie standing under the Weeping Rock...there really is water falling on me.

The Great White Throne, the largest monolith in the world.

Hattie got really tired.

Me and Hattie posing...she just wanted to be out of the Bjorn at this point.

We saw this tree on the drive home. Click on it and you'll see that it's full of shoes. Does anyone know anything about this tradition? We thought it was quite unique.

Adventures in Rock Canyon

In our attempt to get as much fun stuff in during these last few months, we went on a hike up Rock Canyon this morning. Hattie loved it - she could have stayed there all day - and Paul and I were jealously watching all the rock climbers. We'll have to go climbing there soon. We had to turn back earlier than we would have liked since we were infringing on Hattie's nap.


My favorite part was watching Hattie bounce back and forth in the Bjorn as she and Paul crossed the "Troll Bridge".