Zions & Bryce

Last weekend Heath and I stayed in our time share in St. George and went hiking in Zion's National Park and Bryce Canyon. The last 2 times we have been to Zion's we have hiked the Narrows, so this time we did Angel's Landing. It is a 5 mile hike up 1500 feet. The last 1/2 mile is over very narrow rocks (3feet at some parts) and so they have put poles and chains for you to hold on to. The view was amazing and totally worth it. The next day we hiked to the Emerald Pools and the Weeping Rock. Then we hopped in the car and drove to Bryce Canyon.





This was my first time at Bryce Canyon. We did a 3 mile hike there before drivng home. It is amazing and they have the coolest "hoodoos." That is the technical term for those cool looking spires of rock with a bigger rock balancing on top.






I was in hiking in nature with the beautiful red rock around me and this was my view during the hike in Bryce.

As explanation, Heath brushed up against something and got a ton of small needles stuck allover his shorts, garments, and in his bottom. He happened to have some other shorts with him to change in to, but as you can see they were a little too big.

It's Official

I am finally married to a Lawyer. Heath got sworn in today at the Isaaquah Court House. There was a short ceremony where about 20 attorneys took the oath. I can't believe he is done. All we have known for our 8 years of marriage is Heath going to school. It has been tough, but well worth it. Now, actually comes the harder part, finding a job in this economy and deciding where we will live. Heath, I am so proud of you and all your hard work and dedication.

Vancouver B.C.

The beginning of this month we took a short trip to Vancouver B.C. It is only 2 hours north of us. When we got there it was nice weather so we rented some SWEET beach cruiser bikes and rode around in Stanley Park. It is a huge park with tons of bike and walking trails. The outside trail goes around the bay, so it is really pretty. You are able to see lighthouses and ride right next to the water. They have a few small beaches, gardens, a lake, a stream, cricket fields, and a putting green all within this great park. Next we explored Robson Street. It is their main street with blocks of shopping and eating. We ate some Yummy sushi, and then called it a night. We stayed in our timeshare, and then did a little more exploring the next morning. There was a ton of construction, as they are getting ready for the winter Olympics next year. I sniffed out some treats before we left, like a banana & nutella crepe, and a great cupcake store (Heath doesn't really have a sweet tooth like me, so he could care less). As we left we drove through the huge Chinatown, and then stopped at Granville Island where they have a farmers market and a ton of local art/craft stores. This was our first trip to Vancouver and Heath explains the city as a mixture of East coast and Europe, which is probably why we loved it.
A Chevron gas station on the water

Pottery Class

For my birthday last year Heath bought me a gift certificate to take a pottery class. I just finished the 10 week class. I had a lot of fun, and now understand how hard it is to use the wheel. Somehow I was able to throw a couple of bowls on the wheel. Here's some pics of my creations. They may not be pretty, but I had a lot of fun. I have one more piece that is being fired and can be picked up in a couple weeks. It is a platter that I spent a lot of time on, and when I was done I flipped it over and it broke into 3 pieces. Darn! My teacher spent over an hour putting it back together, so hopefully when I pick it up it will be a great looking platter and not a broken mess. Crossing my fingers. Of course this is the one piece I really wanted.

Rain in the Forecast?

If there happens to be a spontaneous flood for 40 days and 40 nights(we do live in Seattle), my husband will be able to save me and all the animals. How many other wives can say that about their husbands? Heath was asked to dress up as Noah and talk about his adventure building the ark for sharing time in Primary today. So Heath being Heath, waited until midnight the night before to try and figure out his costume. Luckily I had gone and bought him a beard earlier in the day, but the rest was his idea. He did have a walking stick, but we had to hurry and return it to the neighbor's yard before they noticed it was missing. His costume looked the best out of the 3 guys who were asked to dress up. Not bad for a make shift robe out of sheets and felt.

80's skating diva

Since June I have been working on Saturdays teaching kids gymnastics at the little gym in Bellevue. On Sat. night we had our holiday party (it is easier for everyone to get together in Jan.) We had pizza, put on our mini skirts and leg warmers, and roller skated the night away. When I went shopping for my 80's outfit I thought it would be a little tough to find things, but to my surprise the interesting look of the 80's is making it's comeback. I had no problem finding a shiny belt, armwarmers, and a mini skirt for cheap. One of my co-workers let me borrow the sweater with velcro on shoulderpads.







We spent a long time coming up with fun poses for our pics, and only had about an hour for skating(that was plenty of time). I did not do that bad for not having skated since what? junior high. It was alot of fun to just hang out and be silly.

Mt. Baker

On Jan. 3rd we took our nieces and nephew Taylor, Riley, and Rees snowboarding for their first time. The night before they all spent the night at our house so we could get up bright and early to drive to Mt. Baker. It was about a 3 hour drive (a little different than Utah). The snow was better than I expected, and because of the recent storms they had tons of powder. We started out on the beginner hill with Heath and Colt trying to teach all 3 of them. My sister-in-law and I were skiing, but she had not been since she was a teenager. After one run and lots of falling the kids went to an hour and a half lesson that we had signed them up for. After a quick lunch we were back on the slopes. The kids did better than I ever expected and they had fun. We are hoping to take them at least once more this season.

Holidays

I have been such a blog slacker. Here is a quick update of our holidays. On Christmas Eve we went to my sister-in-law Tara & Chris' house. We had dinner,played games and spent the night. Christmas morning all of the adults were sitting on the couches waiting for the kids to get up. We had to actually send the dog into their room to wake them up. The kids got tons of cute clothes. Rees got an air pellet gun, Riley got lots of books, and Taylor got a new cell phone. We bought our nieces and nephew ski passes. I put them in these mazes you had to solve to get the tickets out. At the end of opening presents the kids were sent on a hunt for the last few hidden presents which were a Wii, Guitar Hero, and Rock band. After a Yummy breakfast, we set up the Rock Band. My sister-in-law Tara & I are not into video or computer games. We think our husbands should spend their free time with us :), so it was funny to see Tara get so into Rock Band. She hardly let anyone else on the drums because she had to keep "practicing." At about 10pm Colt says, "You guys realize we have been doing this for about 10 hours straight." WOW! I guess it can be a little bit addicting. Just for the record there was 8 of us alternating all day long. The week before Christmas, Seattle received record amount of snow. At our home we had probably about 12-14 inches spread out over the week. On Christmas Eve it started snowing and didn't stop for about 24 hours so we spent another night. It was alot of fun, and we are lucky to have family near by.