Summer of Hikes

So, if anyone ever actually looks at this blog you've probably thought I had abandoned it. The thing is, most of the time I forget about it, and when I do think about it I question if it's worth the time because I'm definitely not blessed with the ability to make my family sound as fun and wonderful as they really are, as many of my blogging family and friends are.

This summer I decided that instead of sitting around watching TV for three straight months, I would try to take the kids on a hike a week. I clipped articles, searched the internet, asked Utah natives, and catalogued every hike I heard about, then decided on a few that weren't too long or difficult, and- here's the most important part- had a water feature at the destination. We had a very wet, cool, pleasant June here, but that meant every hike in June we got rained on! We kept it up in July and the kids did their favorite hike- see if you can guess. One hike, Horsetail Falls, is missing. You'll see friends and family in some of the shots- Esther went on almost every hike with us.













Now we're about a week away from school starting, which is so hard to believe. We are going camping this weekend so I know we'll get in at least one more hike. I know life will get too hectic to keep up the one-a-week this fall, but I hope we'll keep hiking until the snow falls. There are hundreds of books out there about keeping kids close to nature, and though I haven't read them I'm sure I would agree with them all. I have seen and felt the benefits first-hand this summer, and hope we will keep these memories forever.

Hannah's dance recital

Here is a clip from Hannah's recital yesterday. (She was in two dances, but it took so long to upload one that I didn't post the other.) She was in competition dance for the first time this year. It was a big commitment, but she loved every minute. Her team did well, competing about 5 times and getting a mixture of firsts and seconds. She will dance in the big 4th of July event at LaVell Edward's Stadium with the Jonas Bothers. She's obviously very excited for that.