Hiking with Mollee at Red Ciffs

Hiking with your family, especially with two little kids is a much different adventure then when I was in scouts or just out on a trip with friends. I used to see how fast I could hike to a destination, stopping just to see some of the really big sites and take a few pictures. On our anniversary trip a few weeks ago we went to St George for the weekend and decided to do a little hiking since Aimee and I love it so much. We found a nice trail at Red Cliffs recreation area that had no change in elevation and was only .75 miles long one way. We should be able to knock this out in an hour or so I thought as we drove up there.

I knew it would be more of an all afternoon adventure when Mollee discovered hundreds of little green furry caterpillars crawling everywhere in the parking lot. They were all over the ground, rocks, trees, and cars. Mollee wanted to catch every one of them and put them all on one big rock so they could all play with each other. It was fun to kinda slow things down and enjoy the hike from Mollee's perspective. After 15 minutes of caterpillar catching we decided to start our hike.

Mollee really enjoyed seeing more caterpillars as we started but got really excited about all the little things along the way. We saw lizards and birds and cactus and big huge rocks. She thought it was "pretty cool" that there were stairs out in the middle of the desert. Logan slept pretty much the whole hike so we kept him bundled up in a blanket so he wouldn't get sunburnt.

After a half mile we came across our first pool of water with a little mini waterfall. Mollee had a blast playing in the water even though it was "pretty cold". nothing like throwing rocks into the water. After hanging out for a little while we decided to head up to the end of the trail to see a bigger pool and waterfall.

We found this place at the end of the hike. You could go on but it was tricky with these little footholds carved out in the rock with a rope to hold onto. We decided slipping and falling in the water with kids wasn't a good option so we stopped and relaxed for a while.

It seems no matter where we go, Mollee always finds herself a good stick to play with. The stick usually finds its way back to our house to be added to the collection of sticks in the coat closet.

We thought it was a great hike, but then the entertainment arrived. Several families packing swimsuits and beer showed up at our little sanctuary and began some backwoods cliff diving for our entertainment. We we sat back and enjoyed the show!!

I really enjoyed slowing things down and hiking with the kids. Mollee was really cute and Aimee and I really enjoyed the hike

Happy Mother's Day

The very first year that I was a mother I was so excited for Mother's Day. I just knew that my wonderful husband would sense my excitement and I couldn't wait for breakfast in bed, a cute homemade craft that my little 7 month old would make with her daddy to suprise me, and some bling that my husband would lovingly give me for being the most awesome mother of his children. I woke up and I waited. . . .

And waited . . . .

And waited . . . .

Then I thought, the bling was over the top and breakfast in bed is messy, maybe just a cute crafty card and a Happy Mother's Day . .

I kept waiting . . .

Hello?? . . .

Finally, at the close of the day, I asked Jon why he didn't recognize that it was Mother's Day. He looked straight at me and said, "Oh crap, I forgot to call my mom to tell her Happy Mother's Day!"

'Nough said. This year I planned my own Mother's Day. I set the day to have Logan blessed. He looked like such a cute little peddler!! I love being a mom. My two little ones are more than I could have ever asked for. Having Logan blessed on Mother's Day was so special. He is such a sweet boy who smiles at his imperfect mom like I can do no wrong. Mollee is my little shadow. She always cheers me up when I've had a rough day and can find the happy things in the rainstorms.

I have a huge struggle getting my little ones here. Pregnancy is a bear for me and c-sections are difficult to recover from, but it makes me appreciate motherhood that much more. Outside my window at work sits a mother duck on a nest of eggs. As I watch her, I realize that mothers are outstanding and selfless. She shifts her weight uncomfortably, battles rainy weather and cold temperatures, and confidently stares down threats to her nest all because she too, desires to become a mother.

Anniversary

Jon and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Earth Day. We spent a romantic weekend in St. George gazing into each other's glassy eyes . . . at 3:00 am as I was feeding Logan in our kid friendly motel after we had spent a long day driving 4 1/2 hours with two kids with our windows down in the 30 degree weather because it was better to have snow whacking us in the face then to be stuck with the stench of vomit from a 3 year old who gets carsick.

Okay, so our anniversary wasn't anywhere near the classic romantic movie, but we did have a really good time. Every year, we choose an activity that has to do with the traditional or modern gift/theme of the year. This year was our 6th which is iron or sugar. So, we visited Preston and his fiance Melina in Cedar City in Iron County and played at the Iron Mission State Park and then stayed in St. George and hiked Sugarloaf Rock (the rock that has Dixie painted on it) and ate ice cream.

The weather was fantastic once we got to St. George. We ate, and hiked, and swam, and played. Mollee's favorite part about the trip was making new friends at the pool, Logan's favorite part was spending time with his mommy and daddy, Jon's favorite part was the hiking and my favorite part was having the cleaning crew clean up after us in the motel.