Zion National Park

We got to spend a wonderful 3 days in Zion National Park at the end of June! Unfortunately, Sterling wasn't able to join us, but he will be able to soon. He got to spend the weekend with Grandma Riding, and loved every minute of it! 

 Day 1, we hiked the Narrows, from bottom to top, probably just a few miles up. We wanted to go from top to bottom, but all the spots were filled for the weekend! Bummer :(

Beautiful spring

The Narrows

Emily on a big boulder in the Narrows

We were able to get permits to do the Subway hike from top to bottom for this trip, so we did that on Day 2. It was absolutely amazing--one of the coolest canyoneering experiences that we've ever had. We have a new video camera that we brought with us and filmed the hike...and then we accidentally deleted the whole thing when we got home. It's was an epic fail. The good news? We are more likely to go do the Subway again (not that we weren't itching to do it  again anyways) so we can film it again!

The Subway's most popular section

This hike is so spectacular, we can't put it into words. This photo doesn't do it justice, and it's a really awesome photo. Anyways, if you ever want to go with us, just holler. We'll go in a heartbeat. 


Day 3, we hiked Angel's Landing--Not the sissy way. We went all the way to the top! It was a fantastic view of Zion park, and we got to see what hikes we want to do next time we go down :) We filmed this hike as well, and it was lost with the rest of the recordings. But again, photos don't do it justice, but this is still a good one.

All the way to the top of this photo...that's where we were! Follow the chains :)

Fabulous trip! Wish we could have spent more time here :)

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I can't believe it took my parents this long to
write on the blog again.

It's been about 3 months since we last blogged and, as always, a bunch has happened in the gap. Andrew has the summer off from school but is going back in fall to tentatively continue studying comparative literature and cultural studies at the University of Utah. Emily is also planning on returning to school this fall to continue her studies in business and accounting.




We've been doing a lot of work on our house including painting and remodeling the railing around our stairs (as you can see in this picture). The new paint looks great and thanks to Jesse, the new railing looks awesome!  We are currently borrowing a piano from Ashley and Brandon Bickham while they
don't have space for it, and it looks great in our home--
even if it is horribly out of tune. It is finally summer time and that means 2 things: First, yard work. We have a ton to do on our yard this year and Andrew has been spending a lot of time trying to move the dirt around to level it out. When they dug out the basement of our house years ago, they just left the dirt in the front yard. While they may have had a plan with the dirt later, for us it is just a mess! AND full of weeds. With the help of some family, we are making it look loads better. We are excited to show you the pictures when it is completely finished.

The second thing that summer time means is ROCK-CLIMBING!!! Earlier in the spring we left Sterling with mama and papa Smith and went on an awesome climbing trip. We spent a day in Maple canyon, near Ephraim, and did lots of lead climbing and top roping on the cool conglomerate rock. The next morning, we left to go to Joe's valley which is a couple hours east of Ephraim. For those who don't know anything about Joe's valley, it is pretty much a mecca for climbers in Utah and around the U.S. We spent two days there to boulder and it was a total blast! We cant wait to go back and try the problems we were unable to finish soon.

Where did all my blocks go?

Ahh duh duh duh!!

Sterling is super happy and healthy which makes us super happy! He is growing SO fast, it is hard to keep up with him. He is about to turn 9 months and seems to be about on schedule. We will find out for sure when we see Dr. Carter next week. He spends his time rolling around and trying to figure out how to crawl. His favorite things to do right now are play with his drumstick (which he bangs on everything including his parents) and blocks--keeping the blocks where he can reach them has been a struggle for him, as you can see in this pic.

Thanks everyone for all that you have done and continue to do for us! We appreciate all of you more than we can express :) Thank you.

February!

It's been 5 months since we've posted, 5 months since Sterling was born, and 3 months since we bought a house. Sterling is just under 20 lbs. with a couple of teeth popping out, Andrew is studying another semester of school, and I've gone back to work and gotten a promotion at Jamba Juice (woohoo!).

Our house is in Taylorsville, Utah where Emily grew up :) It's a cute little home with wood floors, colorful walls, and a cute nursery that Sterling's grandparents helped to create. We love it, and the neighborhood is quiet and quite perfect for our little family.

Sterling's cousins are turning 4 years and 1 year during February and March, which also marks his 6-month birthday as well! Wow, time flies. For 4-year old Ryker's birthday, we went up to Soldier's Hollow for tubing :) It was cold, but the hills were well-groomed and the automated lift was pretty fun (we did think it went a bit slow considering we could have probably walked up the hills faster). But, all in all it was a great afternoon and birthday activity. We're probably going to go again with friends early March.

We had a great couples retreat Valentine's Day weekend. We let my sister Melinda and her husband Rob babysit Sterling while we travelled up to Midway with some cousins and their friends to play games and enjoy each other's company :) We played fun dance games on the Wii, shopped at the Park City outlets, played some new card and board games, and also a little bit of Texas Hold 'Em. It was an awesome time, and a well-deserved vacation for Andrew and I.

Sterling talks a TON to himself, and makes lots of goos and gaas for us. He loves eating his carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. He hates tummy time, and loves pretending that he can walk. AND he has the most infectious smile I've ever seen! I've learned to make his baby food at home which saves a load of money, and isn't very difficult. We switched pediatricians recently to a friend of Andrew's family, Matt Carter--he's about a million times better than the last place we were going and we feel a lot more comfortable taking advice from him, which is important for first-time parents.

We don't blog enough, as you can see! But we'll try to be better. Thanks for reading!