DAY 4 Part 2 - THE GRAND CANYON!

Not sure why, but the colors really wash out when uploading to the blog - go figure.

It was pretty hazy at the canyon today, not sure why.  We even waited til late in the day when they say lighting is best - but everything was still muted.  It was slightly overcast.....

In any event, it was still spectacular to see!  Stunning!

This was the first view of the canyon out the car window

Canyon with the Colorado river in the background, Erica, Jenna and Marissa (nervous about getting too close to the edge)

Inside the Watchtower.  The one and only time we have been brave enough to let someone else touch the camera.  Luckily he was trustworthy.

Not having a good hair day, but, oh well...

Sleeping at the Holiday Inn Express in Tusayan (town just south of the south rim).  Nice but very small room (only because we are squishing two extras in here).  Small, dark pool area, and super crowded.  No vacancy.  But it's clean, and that's what really matters.  Good night.  See you tomorrow.

DAY 4 Part 1 - YOUR CAN'T DO THIS IN CANADA IN MARCH

(By the way, all the pictures in each of these posts are clickable to open them larger and see in more detail.)

8:00 am OUTSIDE in MARCH!!!!

yay!

happy to think that winter might be over

what!?!  snow again....

around Blanding Utah - higher elevation

at least the van said it was +18 celcius out there (maybe they have heat resistant snow)

in transferring this picture from my files to the blog, it lost a lot of color.  imagine it super red.

cool rock layers

cute bridge with very red rock (imagine it as vibrant as we saw it)

these rocks were breaking away in cubes - cool

the giant tumbleweed that rolled right out of an old western movie, across the road - trying to attack our van.  Luckily we missed it, along with about a dozen dead deer we have seen killed by other vehicles (well, we didn't see them actually get killed - but we are sympathetic to those who left evidence to warn us to be careful)

Next post - the GRAND CANYON!!

DAY 3 - MOSTLY ARCHES

The following pictures are all from Arches National Park.  The scenery is amazing - always changing!  I took so many pictures, so it was hard to narrow down which ones to post.......

Balancing Rock.  The girls are near the bottom.

Hmmm, it doesn't really seem like a safe place to be playing....

or standing below.....

the kids found a great place for echo's.  I apologize to those who may have been nearby trying to have a peaceful experience.

I can't remember which came first - the north or south window

Turret arch

so fun to be able to climb and run around.....so much driving

Missy is still climbing (no surprize)

Bruce under Turret Arch

Missy and the North and South Windows

Bruce was wishing he had some top ropes - lots of great climbing possibilities

Erica and Emma with Delicate Arch between them in the background

cool

Delicate Arch (the one on the Utah license plate)

It's hard to get great pictures when you can't choose the lighting.  I wish I could spend days here and watch the light move through the canyons.  The color becomes so much more vibrant at times.

Slept at the Aarchway Inn in Moab.  The kids loved the place.  3queen sized beds were the first bonus, a great playground outside, lots of room, hot breakfast, outdoor pool etc.  (no, we didn't swim on Sunday).

Dinner was at Zak's.  The waitress we had has two friends that are celiac, and said the chef is also good with it as there are lots of people looking for GF food in town (or visiting).  Bruce was happy with the $12 all you can eat from the pizza, soup, and salad bars.  Good food, at reasonable prices.

Stay tuned for tons more pictures, haha.

DAY TWO

Rexburg Idaho

A couple of 'dum-dum's'  (name of a tasty american candy, lol)

Utah state capitol building

Erica, Emma, Jenna, Marissa

Jenna and Missy inside the capitol building, outside the doors to the Senate

Inside the conference center from the balcony

Emma, Missy and Jenna after the broadcast

Watch for this picture in the New Era (at least if Missy gets her wish).  Right behind Bruce was a woman who works in the photography department of the church - also taking our picture.

Me and Kelsea (Evans) Hutchins.  We were good friends in high school, but haven't seen each other for 18 years or so.  She was quite surprized when I knocked on her door at 9:30pm with no warning.  (good thing friends can do that).  She may not have recognized me if I hadn't been carrying a case of smarties - relating back to a facebook discussion we had a couple of months ago.  I was surprized at how easy the conversation was, it was good to see her.

End of day 2.  Slept at the Hampton Inn by UVU

ROAD TRIP DAY ONE OR WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW, WON'T HURT THEM

Our trusty chauffer, and his bag of spitz!  The lone man - he's missing Ross

The sign speaks for itself.  We somehow started taking pictures of signs with names of friends and family - but unfortunately we missed a few.  Names represented: Kevin, Craig, Whitney, Humphrey, Hardy, Cache, Emma, Spencer, Colton... and more to come

This is what I see from the front seat when I turn around

This is what happens in the back when I turn back around to the front.  (it's amazing what you see when looking at someone else's pictures of the same trip)

Beautiful sunset getting close to Rexburg

This picture is for Craig.  My favorite part of the day.  I laughed all the way down highway 33, thanks!

Finally some room to burn off energy, and great company. 

Addi, Marissa, and Jenna

(hope I spelled Addi's name right)

Thanks uncle Mark and aunt Jeanne for a great visit and a wonderful sleep (although they were both a little short - sorry we kept you up so late).  We had a great visit with Scott and Krista too, and the kids had lots of fun together.  I hope you're working on finding a date for a reunion ;)

I LOVE ROADTRIPS

ALREADY BEHIND

behind in blogging our trip, that is...
We've made it to Orem, Utah now. 
We're having lots of fun, but go, go, go .... too tired to figure out how to get the pictures off the camera and onto my blog tonight.

I will catch up later with photos, but so far....

• 1/2 hour border wait followed by the most thorough grilling EVER.  (details later)
• rexburg and relatives :)
• first gluten free store (for the trip)- thumbs up
• utah state capitol building (because the girls wanted to drive up the ridiculously steep hill - seriously,   how do you get to your house if you live on that street and it's snowing)
• yw broadcast, except live
• one of missy's dreams come true (possibly)
• being able to see 3 temples at the same time from our car on the I-15 (total count seen 8 or 9)
• seeing a long lost good friend (been about 18 years....)
• lots of giggling (not so much from bruce, haha)
• very tired, but still happy kids

Tomorrow - Moab and Arches National Park

catch ya later.....

ROAD TRIPPIN'

Did I ever tell you how much I love a good road trip?  Who are we kidding, I love ANY trip. (I'm sure you knew that too). 
Anyway, since this is a private blog, I can say that I'm super excited to leave in a day and a half on the first road trip of 2010!
I do have some guilt issues since we are leaving Ross behind for his last few weeks of university, but we've temporarily replaced him with a younger, more feminine model.  Jenna Hardy will be joining us - Missy is stoked!  Poor Bruce - 5 girls and him.....

Check back if you want to see pictures....
Calgary > Rexburg > Salt Lake City > Moab  and Arches National Park > Grand Canyon > Route 66 > Hoover Dam > Las Vegas > St. George > Zion and Bryce National Parks > Provo > Salt Lake City > Rexburg > Home!! 
Should be fun

AHOY MATEY!!

We've been given the incredible opportunity to send Marissa sailing on a Tall Ship.  The junior high goes every year, and we typically opt out due to exorbitant costs, however........
Last week Marissa was hand picked by the teachers to fill an empty spot on the sailing list due to a cancellation.  They were only offering it to her, and if she didn't accept it would remain vacant (nice compliment to her character).  The cost...... just over 1/3 the original cost!!!  how could we say no.

To see more pictures, go to http://www.salts.ca/ , click on the photo gallery button on the left.  Then click on Pacific Swift - that's the ship they will be on.

They go at the beginning of May, 25 kids, 3 teachers.  The ship is based out of Victoria, B.C. and they are gone 5 days.  Should be awesome. 

Come back to the blog around mid May, hopefully we'll have some great pictures to share.