Girls' Hiking Trip at Capitol Reef!!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend last weekend with these amazing ladies during our hiking trip at Capitol Reef!! It was so refreshing to disconnect from technology for a few days and enjoy God's beautiful creations!! Thank you to everyone who made it happen!! Here is a little breakdown:

Sunrises: 3

Car breaking down: 1

Hikes: 6

Miles hiked: 24

Miles driving: A lot!

Highest step day: 30,757

Friendships: 12

Memories: Countless!!

Goodbye to Meredith Poole

Meredith Poole is moving to Oklahoma this coming weekend and so we had a Girls' Night to gather and visit and say goodbye. Her sister, Melissa Julien, and her family are also moving to Oklahoma (which is what inspired Meredith and her husband, Dave, to move also. We will miss them! Near the end of the night Meredith said that we should all get together every couple of years and we threw out ideas, including a cruise. So stay tuned!! 

Kanarra Falls

A couple of months ago one of my friends sent out a group text to our "Girls' Night Out" friend group (this group is mostly interpreters, but also includes a few deaf and hard of hearing friends). She asked if anyone wanted to hike Kanarra Falls, which are in Kanarraville, just south of Cedar City. She said that we would need to buy a permit for $12.00 and that they sell our really fast. So we all snatched up a permit. Several ended up cancelling, but we still had a good group. It was so beautiful and fun to visit while we hiked. 

This particular hike goes through narrows and so a good portion of the time is wading through very cold creek water! But it wasn't too bad since we were in and out of the water and not waking through it the whole time. We are actually standing in water in the pictures by the falls. Our feet were freezing and so we were trying to hurry and take the picture so that we could get out of the water! In the picture of me standing by the falls you can barely tell that my feet are actually under water! I knew the others would be wearing Chaco type sandals, but I didn't think I could do a whole hike in sandals and so I opted to wear my running shoes even though I knew that they would get wet. It turned out fine though and my feet were happy and comfortable on the hike. I was glad I went!  

 

Girls' Night Out!

Town was crazy and parking was a nightmare. When it is Spring Break up north it seems like everybody comes here! Perhaps that was the reason for the rush. But it was fun once everyone arrived and got settled at George's Corner, even if it was quite a wait! This is a group of ASL interpreters, with a couple of Deaf friends thrown into the mix. We shared lots of crazy stories and laughter! 

(Pictured: Shauna Evans, Kelly Bunting, Kathy Gibson, Wendy Jensen, Deanne Erickson, Melissa Julien, Sarah Hinze, Cari Shakespeare)

Girls' Night Out

It was fun to get away for a Ladies' Night Out tonight! We met at 25 Main at 8:00 and ate and gabbed until the restaurant closed at 10:00. Then we went outside and chatted for another hour until 11:00! I guess we all needed this! 

Girls' Night Out!!

Tonight was the Father and Son's Outing which also means GIRLS' NIGHT OUT!!! Allison invited over a bunch of moms and daughters over for the evening. We all brought snacks and visited while the kids' played. Melinda brought her face-painting supplies, which was a huge hit with all of the kids. Allison also had everything set up for an outdoor movie, but apparently all of us women are technically inept without our husbands, and none of us could figure out how to work it (we really didn't try very hard). The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun jumping on the tramp, face-painting, eating ice-cream, and blowing bubbles and so there was plenty to do without it.

Rick and Josh had decided to go up to Father and Sons for the evening and not stay overnight since Rick didn't want to and Rick was okay with getting a good night's sleep in his own bed. Jared didn't go to the outing but went to his friend's party instead.

Rick and Josh left around 10:00 p.m. to come home and had a really frightening experience.  A deer suddenly came on the road right in front of Rick's car and he swerved to the right going partway off the road and then swerved back on the road which sent him spinning him into a full donut or two in the opposite lane. A line of cars were coming but thankfully they saw him and time to slow down.  He was able to pull off the side of the road and collect himself. Someone pulled over to see if he was okay. He thought he might have hit the deer, but he checked everything and there was no sign that he had hit anything. It could have ended much differently. We feel like we were being protected and are humbled and grateful!