Spring Break 2K15

These pictures are so out of order, but I will just tell you all about them as they come!  Spring Break 2015!  We headed to St George.  Mike came a few days later.  I went down with our kids and Amanda's friends, Susie, Joey and Ty.

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting up with Scott, Zac & Maddie and climbing Angel's Landing!  Here is the before picture.  Ty is not happy that we woke him up so early....boo hoo....

The rest of us are ready to go!!

Lots of scenery pictures from the hike

One day we met up with our good friends the Wilsons, rented Razors and went 4 Wheeling!  So much fun!

Amanda and Susie in their room....the boys slept on the couches...

Pictures from Amanda's exploring

The teenagers were gone a lot.....meeting up with other friends, etc.  One day they went to Vegas even though I told them I didn't want them to go.  Here's Amanda and Ty on Dixie Rock....

More Razor pictures....Amanda & B

We stopped for lunch on the sand dunes...Ty, Joey, Amanda, Susie and Liz Wilson

Susie & Amanda

Pictures from Angels Landing...

On the shuttle on our way to Angel's Landing. Amanda is making fun of Ty because he was so grumpy!

They got Iceberg

Amanda & Ty on Angel's Landing

Amanda & Joey doing yoga on the top!

Before Mike came down and then teenagers were off doing something without us, Sydney, B & I went to sushi!! YUM!!

Our crew and one of the Razors

It was so much fun! We'll do it again for sure!

My face is caked with red dirt!  But, it was so much fun to drive!

I love this picture and had it blown up and put on canvas to hang in the family room!

Dad & Sydney....and Sydney & B

While we were in St George, we arranged to meet with our friend, Deborah Schone. Deborah was Kristin Haroldson's best friend when Kristin died.  It was so good for Sydney to talk with her.  She brought our cute daughter, Hannah, who was struggling with a few things of her own, and she was such an inspiration!  I am amazed that Deborah took time to meet with us.  We knew her in high school but weren't close at all. But, she has an amazing spirit and gift and when Mike reached out to her after Addy died, she was more than helpful.  She has offered to be a sounding board for Sydney and gave her great advice on how to move forward. She also showered her with gifts!  A journal, flowers, necklace from the women she helps in Ethiopia....among other things.  I'm truly amazed and grateful for her friendship and her willingness to help Sydney get through this hard time.

Below: I love this quote. It hit me so hard!  (I should have edited the comment, but just ignore it).  Our marriage is so much bigger than ourselves.  It was conference and Easter while we were in St George.  We watched quite a bit of it.  Ty, who isn't Mormon, was good about watching and being there when we prayed.  But, he and Amanda have since broken up and that is probably a good thing.  Funny story is that his parents invited Mike & me over for dinner after the breakup!  We really like them. They are nice and fun people.....but we are glad Ty isn't dating our daughter anymore :)  More on that later...

Anyway, when you realize that we are a link in the chain of generations, it makes this next adventure cooler!  We stopped by the Rockville Cemetery on our way out of Zion to see the graves of Mike, etc. ancestors...Allen Joseph Stout and Amanda Fisk Stout. So cool! Then, we went to lunch at Wild Coyote.

More Angel's Landing pictures

Brandon wasn't doing well hiking.  I was surprisingly.  I have been working with a trainer for a couple of months and could feel that I was already doing better with my cardio! yay!

We just took it slow.  Mike needed to go a little slow too.  Too many days as a desk jockey.  I wish he didn't have to work such long days!  We would love to hike more for sure!

Here we are on Walter's Wiggles....switchbacks forever!

And steep!

Here is the first part of the chains on the hike.  Brandon did so great on these! He and I made it past this, but when he saw the 'rock bridge' heading to the other big rock and the steep ascent with chains he freaked.  We went back where we came from.  We had lots of hikers giving him positive comments and so many of them turned back too! Mike says that we did the hard part of the chains....but walking across that rock bridge was a scary prospect.

He and I sat and people watched and waited for everyone else to come back!

They said it was AMAZING!  The views were awesome and they were so glad they did it!  Everyone pretty much ran up that hike! So proud of all of them!  Mikey & Amanda!

The after picture!  We did it!  Everyone was now starving!

At the Cemetery

This was another quote from conference that I LOVED!  I shared my testimony with my kids about this.  We love going to St George.  We also saw Aunt Kay & Uncle Bud.  A great week!