Old stomping grounds.

 Our old house has had a renter in it for the last 6 years!  Pretty good run for our first tenet!

It's now empty and getting ready to be rented again...hopefully soon.

Last week my dad and I were able to paint the front bay window and trim around the front door and garage.  And this week I finished up a few things with the painting and started some yard work.  I also discovered a major plumbing issue and I'm pretty sure we will be needing a new bathroom floor.  But that's another story for another time.

Rory came with me one day this week to work on the house.  I brought her bike and she happily rode up down the sidewalk while I painted.  I promised her I would take her to the swings when I finished.

 This house (if you remember) is right beside the river path and just a short distance down the path is a tree swing.  I've spent numerous hours at this tree swing when Haley and Morgan were little.  And the river path was my go to for exercise...so many walks were had on that path!

It was so nostalgic bringing Rory to the very spots I took Haley and Morgan.  Although, now a tire swing has been added and several picnic tables!

 So many feelings being there again...I know it's only been 6 years...but that time of my life was so incredibly new to me.  I had just moved away from my hometown, away from my family and I was a brand new mom.  It was so many things...it was a very scary, stressful, lonely and frustrating time of my life.  But also, so very wonderful and exciting!  I think every woman will remember the first few years of being a new mom, there is really nothing that compares to it.  

 I told Rory all about taking Haley and Morgan on this very path, and how in looked in every season.  I told her how parts of the path used to look (because some of it has changed).  

 I took her picture in spots that I remembered taking pictures of Haley and Morgan.

So of course I had to hunt down some old photos of the older girls on the path from back in the day.

It's been a rough few days...dealing with house stuff (rental and our own).  But this day with Rory walking on the path that I know and love...and seeing so many familiar faces in the hood stop by and say hello, brought me so much joy.  

Some things...like my memories in this neighborhood, will forever be a part of me. 

Cyclocross 2016

Another season of cyclocross has come to end.

I decided to just compile a bunch of pictures from all the races...I started to try to get them order, but then that was taking me forever...so here they are in no real particular order.

Morgan, Piper and Rory consistently participated in the kid's races.  It's a shorter lap (or two) for all the little ones to get their taste at cross, and they always have fun prizes at the end for them.

(Haley isn't really into cyclocross, so she's kinda MIA in these photos.  I think she prefers having a quiet house all to herself while we're gone, ha!  But for the record she did come to several races to cheer her sisters and dad on.)

 This year Morgan decided to up the challenge, and do the highschool group as well.

30 minutes of hard racing.  I'm super proud of her as I know cross is NOT easy!  But she stuck it out and finished every one that she started!

Ryan would ride with Morgan in the high school race, giving her some encouragement along the way, and then he would race his own race right after.

 A little leaf playing thrown in!

And that's a wrap.

It's was a super fun season!

Until next year!

Snow Canyon State Park

After our failed trip to Capital Reef, the kids were so bummed.  We told them we would make it up to them...they would get their camping trip, we promised!!

 So this last weekend, we hit the road again.  Except this time we went to Snow Canyon State Park in St. George.  We only had a reservation for Sunday night. Saturday night was completely booked, however, they have walk-in sites available if you get there early enough.  Soooooo, again, we took a gamble.  We left early Saturday morning and just crossed our fingers that they had a walk-in site available for Saturday night. 

 We made it to Snow Canyon by lunch time, and low and behold they had a campsite available!!!

In fact, they had several!!  We even got to chose the one we wanted, haleluja!!

We picked one that we've camped in before...it's pretty much our favorite spot.  It's kinda secluded off the road, and it's right up against the rock.  The kids can climb all over (not too high though...the ranger got after my kids for going to far up the rock...whoops) and they created all sorts of little trails and hide-outs.

 Haley and Morgan slept in their own tent tucked away.

They named their spot the Coyote Den.

 Sunday we went on a hike in the park to see the lava tubes.  The tubes are basically huge caves created from lava flowing underground from volcanoes dating back 27,000 years ago.  Some of the tubes collapsed but some are still in tact and people can walk through them.  

Having our picnic lunch outside one of the caves.

 The lookout point from the lava flow hike.

 We also hit up the sand dunes in the park that evening before dinner.

This is always a favorite with the kids...you can't visit Snow Canyon without hitting up the dunes!

Monday morning we went on a very short hike (more like a little walk) to see the pioneer names written on the canyon wall.  Pioneers would write their names with axle grease as they passed through the area.  Some  dated back to 1881!

And just for kicks I had Haley and Morgan pose in the same rock hole they peeked through years ago.

 They're so little!!!

 Hiking up to see all the pioneer names.

After the hike we headed back to camp, made a quick lunch and then we packed up to head home.

I'm so glad we planned this little weekend getaway.  It was perfect and just what we all needed.

And we all got our much needed s'mores fix!!