Zion Narrows

August 20:
What a perfect day to hike one of our favorite spots!  We went with Shawn & Lexi and also our friends, the Stirlings, none of which had been there before.  Until you've hiked it and seen it, you can't believe it!
The water was running pretty strong but felt very refreshing in the August heat.  In a few places, it was over the younger kids' heads so they had to swim.  I absolutely love Zion National Park and it's beauty.  It never ceases to amaze me!

1st Day of School 2011

August 15:

Aleah (15)
Sophomore
Pine View High School

McKenna (12)
Seventh Grade
Fossil Ridge Intermediate

Metal Mouth Mac!

August 9:
McKenna had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time!  Aleah had a retainer check up at the orthodontist and I brought McKenna along in hopes that they could fit her in for a check also.  Well, they checked her alright and said she was ready for braces anytime.  I said, "What? Schedule it in a few weeks?"  and they said, "We can put them on right now!".  So, she left with a full set of braces, complete with bands and turbos.  At least school didn't start for 6 days...hopefully she would be able to talk somewhat normally by then and not be in too much pain!

Before

After

Park City

August 4-6:
We spent the weekend in beautiful Park City, Utah for McKenna's soccer tournament.  It was so nice to get away from the heat of St. George for a while and enjoy the cooler mountain air.  Except for the spectacular lightning storm one night (after we were done playing, thank goodness) the weather was perfect!

It had been a long time since we had been to Park City so we really enjoyed getting back to the Wasatch Mountains and enjoying the beauty of them.  SU Thunder did great in their tournament, finishing third which was a huge accomplishment playing against stronger and bigger teams from up north.  Way to go girls!

We also enjoyed seeing some of the sights like the Olympic Ski Jumping venue - Wow! Did it look huge! We all agreed that we would never be able to go down that!  We also had a blast on the Alpine Slide.  Many years ago we had rode on it but it was so much fun to be back and enjoy it with McKenna and her friends.  It's pretty zippy and you can get going pretty fast on it.  Except poor McKenna didn't have enough weight to push her down the mountain very fast! Ha!  I think my favorite part, however, was riding up on the ski lift - I could have sat there all day and enjoyed the beauty and serenity of the mountains!

Yikes!  Can you imagine up close?

Go Daddy-O!

We also took in a Real Salt Lake Game with the team which was really fun - and they won!



Girls Camp 2011

July 19-22:
Another great year at girls camp although we were operating on very little sleep! We got home from our Spokane Trip at 3:30am and got up and left for girls camp at 6:30am.  Ahhhh, the things we do for camp!

The weather was beautiful up Cedar Canyon...much cooler this year than last. :)  Except for a couple of homesick first years, the week went swell.  The "bungalows" weren't as bad as the girls thought they would be ( but the leaders slept in a tent!) although it was decided that thicker pads would be needed next year.  The food was all delicious, especially the dutch oven stew and cobbler Bishop (aka Dad) made! :)

We had 13 campers this year, up from 3 last year. Way fun!  And our girls won the knot tying competition by a mile!  Way to go Quail Ridge Ward Girls!  Some other things we did:  worked on our walking sticks, decorated hats, performed a skit, played Big Booty, roasted bread on a stick over the fire, had solo time, did lashing and fire building, cooked, and evaded "Snipey"!

The "Bungalow"

Aleah totally schools Bro. Hyde in knot tying!

Playing Big Booty

Aleah works on her stick.

McKenna & Eliza raise the flag.