Summer in Review - Bryce Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, and Arches National Parks-

This week was the first week of school and we survived. I  have filled myself up with 18 credits of classes and 16 hours of work. Already my to-do lists for each day have become daunting. I am very much enjoying my classes though, I feel that I am being filled with interesting applicable knowledge all hours of the day. Jordan graduated this August and started Grad School. He is planning to get his Masters Degree here in Exercise Physiology before moving on for more schooling.

Sadly, I did not feel motivation to post this past August. So I have compiled pictures from this Summer from probably only half of the happenings. We had an exciting Summer. After we got out of school in the middle of June we went camping, swimming, running, traveling ( in Utah mostly), four-wheeling, Indian dancing, and family seeing. Honestly we did a LOT!!! Below are some pictures of the happenings and perhaps little stories and memories below. Enjoy!


Right after school got out in June we took a trip to Moab, Ut with some friends. We hiked, camped, burned tin foil dinners, got Frosties, woke up for sunrises, went cliff jumping, and visited 2 National Parks and a State Park.

Arches National Park : this is the most popular arch in the park. We hiked it in the evening to watch the sunset. 

Arches: We decided that this rock looked like a perched bird.

Arches: Getting ready for a long day of hiking

Arches: I don't really have a comment for this picture

Moab: This is a popular place to go where you jump into a river. I was scared, I honestly sat there for 30-40  minutes holding tears back. In my defense the water was only about 5 feet deep.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands: Basically the whole park was on top of these Plateaus that looked down and across into miles of canyons.

Deadhorse Point State Park/ Monument: This was one of the highlights of the trip. Here the Colorado River turns and goes in the direction it came in kind of the shape of a horseshoe.

Deadhorse: We got up super early and watched the sunset on a cliff overhanging.

In mid-July we went to a family reunion in Lund, Nevada. The town of Lund is literally in the middle of nowhere, and has less then 300 people. However, I love it there. One reason is perhaps I have over almost 50 cousins that come visit, but also the FREEDOM. Jordan and I shuttled kids over jumps and mountains on four-wheelers for hours, praying that one of the 5 kids on a single vehicle would not fall off.  We also ran a 5K. My 16 year old brother actually came in 2nd, Jordan was 4th, and my 10 year old brother was 1st for children 12 and under. I however, was pretty close to last. :)

Lund: Jordan finishing the race!

Lund: This is me and my running partner/cousin Victoria. In my defense, if you look closely you can see that my legs are not working right, and then I cannot run past a slow jog without having to drag my hurt leg. (which looks pretty funny). Not to make excuses, but that is a fact.

We went to Southern Utah again for a family reunion, but Bryce Canyon National Park happened to be within 10 miles. We loved Bryce Canyon!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce: The deep green and orange was beautiful together. In some parts of our hike it reminded me of Doctor Seuss Books. It was sandy, and the trees looked like trees from the Lorax. ( wish I had a picture)

Reunion: Playing tennis very gracefully

Reunion: Jordan fell asleep during the auction and Grandpa got a picture.

Reunion: You can't really see me, but I am in there in the back middle left.

We went to Oklahoma and New Mexico to visit Jordan's family. We want to an Indian Festival, rode a super fast motorcycle, saw fireflies, and went swimming. On the way back to Utah though we went to Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde: This is one of the cliff dwellings.

Mesa Verde: I am honestly curious about how many people lived in a dwelling like this.

Just a few weeks ago we topped our Summer off with a little Manner Reunion fun. We relaxed, teased kids, played intense Uno games, settlers, and poker. We even threw in a little missionary tag until someone got hurt. Below are some pictures and a video that I think is especially funny, but that is probably because I know the children in it.

Reunion: Playing poker with candy

Reunion: My family! Minus Leslee ( on a mission in Spain) and Kimball (to ornery to come)

Reunion: My Grandparents posterity

Here is the video. My Grandpa likes to catch us all by surprise. There are multiple parts and people in this video that show their true colors.

 For all that are my family or who care. Here is the link to all the photos and videos from Manner reunions. Actually the whole site is full of some hidden/old treasures.

Well that was a bulk of our Summer, we are ready to jump head first into school.