Winter Day

Since the snow looks like it MIGHT be officially gone for good, I thought it was about time I blogged this wintery day with my family. Trent’s family has a farm up in Midway and it is always a good time up there. I have countless stories and memories from this beautiful place and we’re so lucky to be able to go there so often. In the summer it’s perfect for four-wheeling and exploring and in the winter, nothing beats the sledding and snowmobiling. They have a lane that runs right through the middle of the fields which makes a perfect slope for sleds. Nothing beats flying down the lane at crazy speeds, until you crash…We love having a place to go to adventure and create wonderful memories.

Our family had a free Saturday in February (which never happens) and decided to spend the day up at the farm. I am so lucky to have all of my siblings still living in Utah. We’re not sure how long that will last so we soak up all the family time we can!

We spent the day adventuring around, getting cold and wet, and simply enjoying each others company. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people and be able to call them family. We were missing Grace and Ben who were traveling this weekend. I’m so grateful for this incredible family of mine! Dad drove the suburban up and down the lane packed with people and sleds. We rallied the snowmobiles, had snowball fights and talked endlessly.

 

I don’t know what my parents did to ensure that us siblings would be the best of friends, but it worked. My siblings are my greatest examples, lights, companions and cheerleaders. I definitely scored in the family department! Now on to more adventures and memories in the making!

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Tradition

Goodness, it’s been a little over a month since I’ve posted. Life’s been crazy but I’m glad to be back here. I’ll post a little catch-up post soon but this is a summer adventure that deserved it’s own little post.

My mom’s dad, Grandpa Frank as his grandkids call him, is amazing. Growing up he could always be found gardening, hiking, supporting, and loving. He’s in better shape than most of his grandchildren…one year he beat us all in the plank challenge. Impressive, I know. Not only is he active physically but his endless wisdom ceases to amaze us as we ask him for advice, help on papers, answers to tough questions and any other thing we need help with. His example of love for his wife, Grandma Kate, is nothing short of beautiful and we all look up to him in every way. His life hasn’t been perfect, you should hear some of his stories 😉 but he is a spectacular example of enjoying the journey and living life to the fullest.

As long as I can remember, every 24th of July he leads us on the Alta to Brighton hike. Supposedly this tradition has existed longer than I’ve been alive and every year we look forward to this summer adventure. Our numbers are growing rapidly, but every year this hike happens and it’s one of our favorite traditions.

We start early in the morning with Grandpa at the lead and we hike from Alta to Lake Mary near Brighton. At Lake Mary, we pull out the snacks. Pepper jack cheese, salami, crackers and grapes are all staples with some trail mix thrown in there as well. We talk, laugh and simply enjoy one each others company in the beautiful mountains.

After our lunch at Lake Mary we finished the hike down to Brighton Ski Resort.

Siblings who we couldn’t live without, cousins who are more like best friends, aunts and uncles who have raised us right alongside our parents. Family is truly what makes life so meaningful. How grateful I am for the traditions of life and for wonderful Grandpa’s, Grandma’s, parents, leaders and teachers who lead the way in this crazy journey we call life.

Presidents’ Day Adventure

Thank goodness for Monday Holidays! It makes the weekend one day longer and the week one day shorter. Trent and I slept in, big time, went to a small pottery studio with some friends and then as we were driving home, Trent suggested that we take my little sisters rock climbing. For Christmas I had given Trent a rock climbing harness and although we are no professionals, it is fun for us! We called up the girls and headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The day was gorgeous! It was a little windy down in the valley but as soon as we made it into the canyon the wind stopped. We hiked back to the wall, where Trent and I had been before, and it ended up being a perfect adventure. My little sisters were braver than I was and it was fun to spend time with them. Trent belayed all of us and I think we wore him out but he got to climb too! The day was beautiful and we all got so excited for springtime and now it’s snowing…gotta love Utah weather.

I think I will deem this sweatshirt my adventure sweatshirt because I wear it pretty much every time we do anything…

Trent literally pulled me off my feet.

Snowy Sisters

Trent has been hearing for quite some time about how nice it would be to have a good camera to document all our adventures with. We had been doing lots of research and trying to find the camera that would work best for us. Right before our trip to Texas, Trent gifted me with a camera as an early Christmas present! I feel spoiled rotten. He is the absolute greatest! We have both already put it to good use and I can’t wait to see all the fun things we do with it! Our brother-in-law, Sam, is a whiz when it comes to photography so he’s been trying to teach us all the ins and outs. We often revert back to the automatic feature that does it all for you but we promise we’re trying! It has been really fun to learn something new with T and I’m sure we are in for some pretty fantastic adventures.

Last weekend Trent was going to be gone, so I decided to have a little photoshoot with my little sisters up in the canyons. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it but before but there are seven girls and one boy in my family. Lots of estrogen running around our house but our brother is a good sport. We are all super close and we always love doing things together. Faith couldn’t make it but I snagged Lucy and Hope and it was a blast!  They were so kind to stomp through the snow and put up with all of my crazy ideas. They were even nice enough to take some pictures of me. We just about froze and we had to get a little creative to make our group pictures work but it was totally worth it.

I sure love these sisters of mine!!

Aren’t they darling??

Ya…It was a little cold. 

Crazy I tell ya….just crazy.