Coyote Gulch Over-nighter

Sydney and I completed our first over night backpacking trip together. We went to Coyote Gulch which is 50 miles southeast of Escalante.
As you can see, we brought along our two hoodlum children Cash and Adam who made the trip much more entertaining.



We basically did the same hike we did a few years ago (before Sydney) only we hiked the distance between the two trailheads. It was nice weather, except we had to drink hot water some of the time. We did eventually find some nice cool springs to filter water from.


This is Sydney and I climbing out of the canyon up the slick rock near Jacob Hamblin Arch (please note that this is the only portion of the journey that Sydney didn't carry her pack).

We do not recommend taking water shoes on this trip even though the majority of the hike is in a river canyon, there is an excessive amount of sand that will get in you shoes and rub your toes into ginormous blisters as evidenced below. We recommend a good pair of shoes that will keep the sand out. Bare foot doesn't work either just ask Adam.

The Worst Idea I have had in a Long Time

(Bad pictures again)

I had this idea a long long time ago to ease myself into quilting by creating holiday pillow covers that are pieced quilt blocks. The first quilt block took me two hours. The second only took 30 min. But they ended up different sizes (of course) and I had to "customize" the surrounding fabric to fit the pillow. They are all done now. Was it harder than I had imagined? YES! Do they look like I dreamed they would? Almost. Was it worth it? Probably not. Will I ever make the other holidays? I think I may switch my idea from holiday to seasonal. There are a lot of holidays, but only 4 seasons ;)

Day Off Adventures

I decided that since the fall semester will likely be the busiest I've ever been up to this point, I would get a couple months ahead on birthday gifts.

So I went to JoAnn's to pick out fabric for a project I've had my eye on for a while.

I was so proud of myself for picking out coordinating fabrics that it didn't occur to me until much much later that the fabrics were decidedly hippy-ish. Oh well I guess.

Then on to another gift. I made myself a black button headband a while ago and I like it. So I made more for a birthday gift.
I apologize for the TERRIBLE pictures. I couldn't find our good camera so I took them with my 2006 $90 Wal-Mart special. Can't expect too much out of it:)

A Couple of Surprises/Projects

The first surprise project is for the Hubster.

He purchased this little beauty at Bed Bath and Beyond a little while ago to go with the stove he got for Christmas. The first chance we got to use it was on our Moab trip. It works great, but is a little inconvenient to carry. So....

I made it a carrying case! I really hope Logan doesn't look this up on his phone, because I want it to be a surprise when he gets home! I used left over materials from this project, including red canvas, black strap stuff (I can't remember it's proper name) and a long plastic zipper. I am so proud of myself because it fits!

My next special surprise is for an extra special lady. It'll be her birthday soon and she LOVES grandma-ish house slippers. (She doesn't read my blog, but if you know her, don't tell her, okay???)

I remember seeing a post on Ruffles and Stuff about embellishing this type of slipper, and I have been saving it for this birthday. Mine aren't quite as fancy as the example, but I made them myself and that is sure to make this lady very proud.

I also made the embellishments removable for washing, because this lady likes to traipse outside to feed the cat in these on occasion and frequently washes her slippers. I think she will especially like this little convenience.

Yay for me! I have had a great crafty day! Now does anyone want to come over and clean up my messes??? ;)

Moab / Westwater Trip

Last weekend we went to Moab to raft the canyon outside town. It was fun. It was my first rafting trip since the "Incident" and I was a little nervous and freaked out about little rapids, but I was okay. Logan was really sweet and kept reassuring me.

I love this picture of Logan!

Then, the next day the boys had a permit to raft Westwater Canyon, which the Blake's do not have the greatest track record with. The summer before we were married they went and 2 out of three boats flipped......AND.....do you think they could learn their lesson? NOPE! They flipped again. I knew it was probable and that's why I didn't go. Debbie and I shuttled and it was boring to wait 4 hours in the middle of no where for them. The trip was good overall, but these short rafting trips just seem to be more work than they're worth :)

One of My Favorite Things...

(this is an older picture, but the only one I had of him sleeping)

One of my favorite things is when Logan says funny stuff in his dreams. The funny thing is that it always has something to do with his job. The latest was him gasping and sitting up in bed and saying, "Where is everyone?" I asked him who everyone was. He said, "All the kids." (this was right after a big sleep over with nieces and nephews). I didn't say anything, so he filled me in by saying that they had taken the asphalt. HUH??? I love it. He's so adorable. This doesn't happen all the time though :( He claims that I talk in my sleep too, but it's not understandable. Oh Logan! You fill my life with joy even when you're sleeping!

PS. Don't get mad at me for this, Logan :)

And a follow-up...

I know, I know, my life must be pretty lame if I am "following up" on my previous story, but I was up there again and you have to admit, it's not something you see everyday...

LOL

Richfield's Golden Arches fell down today in a terrible wind storm. I can always count on my sister Katie to keep me updated on all the funny goings on up there in Sevier County!

Introducing the beautiful vocal stylings of...

Miss Meghan

Meghan has been taking voice lessons and I just happened to be up there for her recital. She was pretty nervous, but she did really well. She was one of the only ones who sang loud enough that you could tell what she was singing. I'm so proud of her. I was never brave enough to sing a solo. She's only 11 and she's already cooler than me ;) GOOD JOB MEGHAN, WE LOVE YOU!!!

The North Rim

Yesterday, as we were getting ready for church, we decided to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. So after church we packed a lunch and dinner and took off. When we got there it was really windy and cold so we only took the short hike out to Bright Angel Point and spent the rest of the time checking out the amenities and looking for license plates from all 50 states. We ended up finding 35 states + Alberta, Canada.

Me and "Brighty"!

Funny story though. We stopped Jacob Lake to go look in the cute little tourist store and when we were done Logan started driving toward the Grand Canyon. I was like, "Where are we going? I want to see the lake!" Logan looks at me like I'm an idiot and says, "There is no lake. Look it up on Google Maps!" Seriously though, how can there not be a lake at a place called Jacob Lake???

Fishing Adventures

Last weekend we hitched up the boat and headed up to Baker Reservoir.

We had a bit of trouble starting the motor, and it is a little finicky, but we had fun:)

We didn't catch anything, but I almost did. BUT...I also lost the lure that Logan bought me for will-someday-be-a Mother's day. That was sad, but not entirely my fault. We got some sun, which was good, and Logan figured out the motor which means that next weekend will be even better. Maybe we will even catch a fish!

Now We Just Need a Motor

We finally got Dad's boat together. It's come along way since he boat almost a year ago. the trailer was bent and didn't have any lights and the wood on the boat was all rotted. Josh started by getting new wood for the motor mount and sanding the old side boards when I took it over. I took it to Dad's house stained the mount boards and cut the tongue off the trailer. Dad welded a new tongue on and ran the wires for the lights. I painted the trailer and wired the lights up. When i tried to hook up the back corner braces, I found that the side boards were bad and needed to be replaced. Klint hooked us up with some sweet oak boards that he cut to custom dimensions for us, thanks Klint. Then I mounted them back to the boat and it only took all of the smaller clamps that dad and mom had which was 18 by the way and It's back on. I finished staining them this weekend and we picked the motor up from Josh's and we just have to give a tune-up hopefully and it will be ready in time for "Ice-off." Not going to get to it this weekend though we plan on going to Bass Pro Shops and look for new Fishing Poles so we don't have to put up with the Iron Man thing closing all the roads off.

Pipe Springs Trip

We decided that since we have this park pass that we should use it and go to as many places as we can and we haven't been to Pipe Springs for as long as we can remember. It did turn out to be the fee free weekend so we didn't really need a pass anyway. It was okay Sydney got to play with a horse and quack like a duck. We were even privileged to have our own private tour of Windsor Castle it was kinda of awkward. We think there might have been one of Benjamin Frederick Blake's chairs there but we're not sure.

River Trip Info

I have posted information about a river trip in June on my rafting blog. For those interested please click on my super cool Paddle Oar Die Button to the right.

Gum Cut?

So yesterday Sydney paper cut her pinkie on something she doesn't know what but,

"It hurt bad!"

she said. This morning she was trying to get some gum and gum cut her finger on the tin foil (we know how she paper cut herself this time).

"It hurts bad!"

she said.