Visitors to site

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Memorial Day...One to Remember!

Yup. I'm behind as always. We've got a ton of fun pictures to post, so I'll just try and catch up.

For Memorial Day this year we went down near Hanksville to some slot canyons with our friends. Their kids are 21, 18, and 16. We left Sadie home with Auntie Dani and Grandma and Granddad, so the kids we brought along were 10, 7, and 5.

The first day I stayed back at our camp with the little kids so that Gary and the other "grown-ups" and older kids could go do a canyon that was a bit too technical for us. They ended up getting soaking wet, but enjoyed it. We played around in the red rocks, breaking rocks into sand, looking for lizards, and just having fun.

The second day we went down a really long canyon that had 3 major rappels, the biggest being about 70 ft. Gary and I sweated whether or not the kids would be okay, or if they'd throw fits at the top of each rappel. We've rappelled with them before, but in a canyon like this you don't have the choice to back out. I'm happy to report that our kids are AMAZING! Besides Gavin needing to start out facing out from the wall on a couple of rappels, they all did so well. And we all had a super fun time! We also played around in a few less technical slots. Southern Utah is the best! So diverse and so one-of-a-kind!

The last day of our trip we stopped at Goblin Valley. So unique and so fun! Have you ever seen Galaxy Quest? Yeah, part of it was filmed here. (I said miners, not minors!) Keep in mind when browsing the pictures that we were definitely roughing it and in the rain nearly the whole time. So, as you can see, we look LOVELY!!!


What a fun weekend. We seriously can't wait to go again. Our friends were so awesome with our kids. They each had a buddy so a big kid was paired up with a little kid and it helped ease our minds significantly. Lonny helped at the bottom of the rappels while Gary helped at the top. Gayla and I (the moms) just tried to keep kids happy and away from ledges. All in all it worked out great and was a trip we'll remember forever!
Finding lizards.
The whole crew (minus Gayla...thanks for snapping the picture!) Yes, that is Gary at the top.
A bunch of us hanging out at the top of the big rappel.
Gary easing Deana over the biggest rappel of the day.
Addie at the top of the big rappel. That's Deana waiting down below.

Calder shows how excited he is that he just did it!



Lonny helping Addie at the bottom of a rappel.
Lonny helping Calder at the bottom of a rappel.
Lonny helping Gavin at the bottom of a rappel.
Addie, Calder, and Gavin with Raddison in a hole he used to anchor us while we rappelled.
Addie "holding" a goblin.
The Davis Family (minus poor Sadie) at Goblin Valley.

Some cute goblins in Goblin Valley.


4 comments:

Archibald's said...

It looks like you had SO much fun!!! Your kids are so cute!

Amie said...

wow, kids rappelling! That is so cool!

Erin Bee said...

I'm glad you posted about your trip. I never even remembered to ask you about it. I'm glad your kids had that much fun, too.

Bryan Carlson said...

Beautiful Pics! We will have to talk you guys into dragging us along one of these years, looks like fun!

About Me

My photo
Deana and Gary were married on November 7, 1996. Whoa, that was a long time ago! We have 4 kids: Adeline Kay (12), Calder Saville (9), Gavin Jack (7), and Sadie Morann (2).