Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The hike to the Crest

We got ambitious the other day... The evening hike we went on the night before General Conference inspired Stan to hike to the crest up that trail. Our plan was to hike up and then ride the tram down. A total of 8.2 miles. In all honesty, I really didn't think much about the overall task ahead, I tried more to focus on the next step. Maybe that's why we do crazy things :) Here's how it all went down:


Here we are at the trailhead so happy and ready to go.
We slowly started our ascent

It was a beautiful forest, so quiet and serene







Scott konked out pretty quick
Stopped for a break for some free moving
And Dad took over
Looking out towards Albuquerque, too low in the tree lines to see much
My handsome boys
That's where we're headed


Aspens!
It was so beautiful to have the sun come out for a little bit


Little higher leads to a better view of the city
And higher
The higher we got, the clearer it became. It was a beautiful day, but a little windy. We made it to the fork in the road and it was just another threeish miles to the tram. We were pretty tired and Scott was getting grumpy and so we figured the shortest route would be the best...

View on the other side of the mountain looking east.
What you can't see in this beautiful picture is that Scott was screaming...
And he wouldn't calm down, so I held him, and we hiked, and he fell asleep.

We carried him for a good couple miles and then he woke up...still grumpy
And then we found snow, and it was cold, and we learned the need to be more prepared for that.
The last mile was THE LONGEST mile I have every hiked. Scott was so grumpy and would not do his carrier, so we traded off carrying him, letting him walk, and taking breaks. I began to wonder if we would ever make it.
But we did
And the view was breathtaking
We rode the tram down...Scott wasn't too sure of it at first, but then he liked it


We had this brilliant plan: we had borrowed someone's carseat and then shuttled a car to the tram parking lot. Well...the keys to that car got left in the car in the other parking lot where we had hiked from about three miles away. We are grateful for friends who will come help us out :)


This is how I found the boys waiting by the Corolla after I went to go get the car/keys :) I have such handsome/cute boys!

We drove straight to Five Guys and had ourselves delicious burgers and french fries. It was a very trying day but a good experience now that it's over :) I'm grateful for Stan and his example and support. He is such a good dad, always able to make Scott laugh and feel better.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Hike to Jemez Springs

The week after conference we went some of our friends on a beautiful hike through part of the Jemez forest. After our hike the week before, we realized that Scott could be much happier if we made a couple adjustments on the carrier, and boy was it way more fun to hike!

It was a beautiful forest and the scenery was perfect every direction you looked.
We set out and it was fairly steep at times
Scott was so content to just ride and sip water :)
Stan, Tyler, and Rachel
Stan traded off with me with Scott.
The springs. They were beautiful. The earth sure has beauty all around

Scott's face in this picture is my favorite.
Like I've said before, a boy with his stick...
At the end of the hike, the boys had to go get our other car and so Rachel and I just hung out with Scott. He was super konked out, he didn't move when I took off the pack and slept until we were trying to transfer him to his carseat!



We had a great time with Tyler and Rachel and feel so blessed to have such great friends!

General Conference Weekend

The week of General Conference we had bought a new carrier for Scott and we needed to go try it out! So Friday evening we went on a little hike in the foothills.

Things were super peachy at the beginning. Scott seemed to love the new carrier and was so happy. It was a beautiful evening...
And then he didn't love it so much...
But we got him some water...
And put him on his favorite guy...
And kept hiking...
And he seemed happier...for a minute
So we got him out
And let him play
And then he really was so happy!
 It just lasted for a few minutes though, so we headed back home.

Scott's awesome bedhead on Saturday morning. He has some really good ones usually.
We planted our garden in between sessions on Saturday. We went and picked up our strawberries from the house we were living in last year and transplanted them. They made it!


We also planted some chiles, tomatoes, and marigolds.
Scott was helpful with the trash
Stan explaining the garden to Scott and how we grow plants so that we can eat the delicious food. I love that man!
On Saturday evening, I made this amazingly delicious bread for our breakfast the next day. We have made Kneader's type french toast before but I found a different bread recipe and it was HEAVENLY!



We had some friends over for breakfast and the morning session. We are sure grateful for the Lord's called leaders on the earth and their inspired counsel. It was a great weekend!

Scott watched for a little bit :)