Aaaadventure Time!

It really was a weekend full of awesome.

We started it out with cheap Mexican food. Nothing like tacos and burritos to get you ready to rock climb! Shocking, I know, that we took them rock climbing. We were all super successful too! Chad clearly rocked them all, one in the dark. I made it to the top of the first one, Ash was about a step away from the top of the first, and Patrick sped up the second climb. As a side note, I ran into a tarantula while climbing when I was nearly at the top. He just sort of moseyed back into the large crack that he was looking out of.

Oh the crazy eyes

The moon that night was a little out of control, SO big. The pictures really do it justice, ha, no.

Chad made us some rockin' spaghetti after all the climbing and then hiking back in the dark. Things to do before climbing next: 1. get a first aid kit together and 2. put the headlamps in our backpacks! I feel like I'm forgetting a number 3. We have 5 headlamps sitting at home. They don't do you much good unless you actually have them. Luckily the moon was almost as bright as the freakin' sun, so it wasn't as dark as it should have been.

We finished up the night in the most glorious and beautiful way possible

We cut each one into 4 pieces and devoured them.

The next morning we were off again! Lucky for us Zion's was open and Angel's Landing was up next on our list! We have been talking about taking them on this hike forever. They both seemed slightly hesitant but ready to go.

We made it to all the way up to where it starts to get tricky before there was some second guessing. Patrick made it up the first set of chains when he realized how high up he was. He headed back down to safety while the three of us powered on. I didn't make it the first time either, so no biggie. Ash was a super star and cruised through the whole hike like it was no big deal.

Along the way we ran into my cousins, Misty, Brett and Forest. Funny meeting you here.... on the top of a mountain!

We did another short hike to the Emerald Pools, watched the boys throw rocks in the river, and then headed back to the car to get some much needed food. We never planned on spending the whole day there, but we just couldn't help ourselves :)

We have finally figured out the best way to finish up any trip to Zion's. Right around the halfway point between there and home is a fantastic Chinese food Buffet. It's pretty cheap (for a buffet), we don't have to drive all the way home to eat (and of course then be starving and willing to eat anything, shakes and French fries anyone?), and hello? it's a buffet. That's exactly what I'm wanting after a long day of hiking and snacking on a granola bar. Heaven. I discovered their almond cookies this time and made it out of there with 6 in my pocket. Why are those so good?!

We just relaxed after that, ate more junk food, watched Adventure Time and The Big Bang Thoery, and shared all of our pictures. It was a fast but awesome weekend! Thanks for coming down guys!

Taking a ride on the Crazy Train

We were lucky enough to have another friend come out and visit us for a week. It was tons of fun! Chad had a mountain biking partner and we got to show off all of our favorite places!

We started by getting a new puppy. Then we took the new puppy back and it was a sad day indeed. Chad took Will mountain biking every afternoon, including one trail that I don't even want to hike up.

We accidently hiked through Snow Canyon Park at night. We realized it was getting dark real fast and we were in the back of a canyon. The boys thought it would be faster to climb up and over the mountain rather than going back through. So we tried going up. Note to self: It is never easier to hike over a mountain. Especially as it starts to get dark and your vision starts to go. Eventually we all came to our senses and hiked down and then back through the canyon in a lot of sand. Hiking in sand is not the most fun. Hiking in the sand in the dark is even less fun.

We also hiked Angel's Landing during a thunderstorm. The wind was crazy. A couple actually turned back because they though the girl was going to get blown off the mountain. Hey lady, if the chipmunks can handle it I think you'll be ok. Then we went and saw a midnight showing of the new Batman movie and woke up at 6:30 the next morning to take Will back down to the airport to (barley) catch his flight home. :)

It was a crazy week and a lot of fun. We were worn out and ended up needing a serious nap Saturday afternoon. As tired as we were, we are so happy that Will could make it out!

We laugh in the face of Danger!

Ok, maybe not laugh. There was still some mild anxiety attacks had by every adult I think, but we conquered Angel's Landing! I know I mentioned it before but we made it across the crazy land bridge and onto Angel's Landing, with the two boys to boot! Remember how I said the people hiking last time were crazy bring their small children with them? Well, we were those people this time. And guess what? They did better than any one of the adults. No fear! Chad told them that he had done it before, and if he could do it they could do it. They really listened and believed their Uncle Chad, they could do it because Uncle Chad said they could.

While the nursery makes me never, I repeat never, want to have children, spending the week with Kristy and Dylan's kids reminded us that we really do love kids and they will most definitley be in the (far) future ;) I'm really not a baby hater, most of the time. They are lucky they escaped with their little girl, I had every intention of stealing her and keeping her for my own but I was at work when they left. Boo. I've also decided we need to have boys! It was too much fun to watch Chad with them all week. Not to mention the fun that Rukia had with them. Yup, I just said we need to have baby boys to play with my dog. I'm officially that person. And on that note I will end and share some of the awesome views from our journey to Angel's Landing.





On the way back from our hike we crossed over/through a river

Meatless Monday: Veggie Burger Success!

We had an AMAZING week last week. We played, hiked, and jumped all week long! It was fun to have people out here to show all the fun places we've discovered in St. George! Pioneer Park was one of the favorite places and we went there twice to hike through the narrows and scamper all over the giant red rocks.

We of course had to take everyone to Trampoline Land! The kids had a blast, and so did Chad.

We also made it to Zion's National Park not once, not twice, but 3 times! What can I say, it's just a really cool place. The third time we took Kristy and Dylan and the two oldest boys to hike up Angel's Landing. It was a steep and high climb but we ALL made it! There was a fair amount of panicing and anxiety but we all made it across! The kids were rock stars and did better than most of the adults :)

If I wouldn't have been at work when everyone left I would have stole this cutie and kept her as my own!

Emerald Pools

At the top of Angel's Landing!!!

Ok, onto the meatless potion of this Monday! We made these veggie burgers when Jared was here and I was a little concerned. This is the guy who doesn't like peanut butter for pete's sake. Ashley and I would have lengthy conversations with him as teenagers about all of the food he didn't like, fried ice cream? Come on Jared! So when I made these I was really worried that they were not going to get eaten... by anyone really, let alone Jared.

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried these guys out, they were really good. The texture was great from the seeds and nuts, gave it some crunch, and all the spices really gave it a wonderful flavor. We all finished ours and I threw the leftover "dough?" in the freezer. It made a great lunch 2 weeks later. These are definitley in our dinner rotation now, especially being able to freeze it. I've decided I need to start prepping our dinners better on Sunday so that we (I) don't cave and get take out after work. We also made these when all the family was here last week and they were a big hit again!

You can find the recipe here at OhSheGlows. That's where I stole the picture from because we were soooo hungry that I didn't remember to snap a picture. I wasn't kidding when I said these were good, we inhaled them! I didn't have any black beans on hand the first time so I just substituted white beans. Instead of using the "flax egg" I just used regular ol' eggs. I just added them one and a time until I got the consistency that I wanted. It's great to finally have a good burger substitute for the summertime!