Coyote Gulch

 June 2-3, the priests in our ward went on an overnight camping and hiking trip to Coyote Gulch in southern Utah.

This is quite the hike -- first you drop down into a crack.

And they had to squeeze through slots.

Some spots along the way had water.

And places to find shade.

When they camped for the night they were ready to rest and eat.

What a beautiful camping spot!

Day 2 hiking.

Jacob Hamblin Arch.

Coming back up and out.

At the cars again!

I am so grateful for Bishop Harrington and Tim Welsch and JB for going with these young men. They had great conversations as they hiked and they all learned how to do hard things.

Lagoon trips

 We got our Lagoon seasons passes on Saturday, May 20.  

I want to recreate this photo in 10, 20 years or so.

James and Andrew rode Cannibal for the first time. 

Here they are all in line.

Then in their seats in a row.

And Ben behind JB.

They did great! Their hair went all over the place and their tummies jumped, they said.

Millie wanted to ride the Carousel, so these big boys went from a super thriller ride to a round and round on horses ride.

Odysea is a fun one.

Then on Memorial Day, while JB and Max and Ben were hiking, I took Andrew, James and Millie to Lagoon where we met the Richards cousins — including those from Idaho.

I always forget about this ride, it's a flying ships ride.

James and Kate rode together.

These cousins rode on a few rides together and loved it.

James, Andrew and Phin did Colossus and had fun . (I close my eyes on this one when I get the courage to do it.)

I don't think I had ever done Music City. The girls car laughed and laughed.

And these boys slid all to one side and they laughed, too.

James and Andrew did Cannibal again! Look at their hair after they got done. Below that are two photos of us on Rattlesnake Rapids, when the boys were trying to protect Silas from getting wet.

When Andrew and James did Cannibal (I put them in line by themselves and implored them to not fight!), Mille and I went to the bumper cars nearby. She had her mouth open in joy and her gym flew out when we bumped somebody else.

The Richards all piled onto the train together. Jane took a photo from her end...

...and Collette took a photo from her end.

Let's do it again soon!

Memorial Day senior cabin trip

Max has had two great friends for many years and they are all graduating high school this week. He asked Nona and Papa if the cabin was free Memorial Day weekend so that he could take Andy and Colin with him to have some fun hiking and being together. 

He invited Ben as well, and JB drove and cooked (and cooked some more) and organized and led the teens on the hikes.

They stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park on the way and did the Navajo Loop hike.

JB sent photos to the other moms to show they were eating well and having fun playing ping pong, relaxing in hammocks, having S'mores, etc.

On Saturday, the group did the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike. Our family has done this one before. One time, Millie did not make it far (see this post). Another time, I left her with Nona (see this post).

After these pictures, the boys jumped into the water and played.

In town, they ate well and also went to the Potato Festival.

On Sunday they went to church in Escalante. The ward was full of vacationers.

Monday morning, they did Broken Bow Arch (which I wrote about when some of our family hiked in this post). It begins at a rock formation that looks like a graduation mortar board. Fitting for these seniors!

The arch is pretty.

The hike back out can be brutal uphill. At least in my memory.

They drove back Monday afternoon and I'm so glad they had a good time. 

While they were gone, on Friday night to Saturday morning I had the tent out in the backyard and dragged out some mattresses (it hurts to sleep on the ground!) and the other kids and I had a campout.

They had a water fight with neighbors on Saturday.

Then Saturday night and Sunday night Millie slept next to me in the queen bed so she thought it was a great weekend.