Camping at Bryce Canyon

This weekend, we went camping  with the Shimaneks, friends from our ward. We had originally wanted to go to Goblin Valley State Park, but they were fully reserved for the whole summer. Instead with decided to go to Bryce Canyon National Park since the Shimaneks had never been. We left Friday as soon as their son Quinten hopped off the bus from his last day of 1st grade. The drive down went well, but when we arrived at the park, all the campgrounds were full. So we walked the rim trail for a bit and then headed to a campground just outside the park. The kids had such a fun time running around and cooking s'mores.

We learned a few lessons from our Grand Canyon trip which made this camping trip go much smoother. We borrowed Aaron's 6-man tent, which gave us so much more space with the kids. Hannah went down without too much crying. Last time, Matthew was the problem child and just screamed when it was time to go to bed. This time, we got him all ready for bed, and then Mark drove him around in the car for 30 minutes until he was asleep. Then it was an easy transfer to the tent, where he slept perfectly all night. So the kids did great. I, on the other hand, was the problem child of the trip. The temperature at Bryce was 10 degrees warmer than our Grand Canyon; however, our tent was so much bigger that it was much colder in our tent. Unfortunately, the sleeping bag I was using did not do well in the cold. I was freezing! Luckily, Mark heard me whimpering and switched sleeping bags with me in the middle of the night.

In the morning, we did about a 3 mile hike through the canyon. After the first .7 miles, we had a split in the road and could either go right back up or take the long way around. The kids were doing great, and we decided on the long way round. Of course, immediately afterwards, Kailyn and Matthew both decided that they couldn't walk anymore. We toughed it out, and with some convincing, we got them to alternate portions of walking and being carried. The kids had a grand time, and I think we might have to do it again.

Bryce Canyon

The Robisons

Matthew and I

Mark and Hannah

Matthew

Mark and Hannah

Hannah and I

Being adorable

Hey, I want up, too!

Kailyn and Hannah

Matthew with a marshmallow

Kailyn with a marshmallow

Kailyn and Matthew

Hannah in the tent

Hiking through Wall Street

Mark and Matthew

Mark and I

Jared, Quinten, Taylor and Kailyn Shimanek

Matthew and Kailyn

Quinten, Kailyn and Matthew

I like how it looks like she's eating his hat.

Taking a break

Eating lunch in the shade

Matthew and Quinten

View from our hike

Another view

Mark carrying a sleeping Hannah and Matthew

Carrying the little ones up the mountain

Everyone at the end

Everyone admiring baby Hannah. 

New hats and shoes

In preparation for our big trip, I went shopping and bought way too many things. The kids both needed some tennis shoes since neither of them had a pair. I also bought them hats. I've decided to return Matthew's hat. It's darling, but impractical. I need something that can fold really small into a backpack. The kids were acting very cute, so I took some photos of them. Later on that very blustery Windsday, we went swimming at Aunt Jess's apartment complex. Matthew has never really liked swimming, and it had been a year since he had been in a swimming pool, so I was worried. Luckily Benjamin was there, so we had even numbers on adults and kids. It took lots of effort to get Matthew to sit on the edge, but he enjoyed kicking the water with his feet. Meanwhile, I got Hannah in, and she enjoyed it. I had bought a inflatable seat for her, and she just loved it. It also left my hands free, so I was able to convince Matthew into the water. He loved his inflatable "duck," and had a blast in the pool. Hopefully with all the swimming pools we'll be visiting soon, he'll get even more comfortable in the water.

Matthew's squnity smile

Patriotic Hannah

Maybe I want to wear the fedora.

Matthew was very excited for his shoes. 

And Hannah's are just sooo tiny.

Hannah and I

Ready to Swim

Swimming with Aunt Jess

Ayden, Benjamin and a bundled baby Katherine

The Front Room

I'm finally ready to reveal my front room. It's not finished, but it's getting close. Here's a brief look at the evolution of my front room:

Blue sofa chair

August 2012

Dining chairs to fill empty wall space

October 2012

Basketball hoop

January 2013

Purple couch with one paisley pillow

May 2013

Did I mention the purple couch?

May 2013

Yes, that is a blue chair to match my purple couch.

October 2013

Christmas tree

November 2013

At least the couch was also a bed - and it was a comfy couch.

This was the couch's last time in the front room. It has now found a home in the basement.

December 2013

The front room serves as a banquet hall for all major holidays.

December 2013

Wrong couch. But I bought a cabinet and end tables.

April 2014

Right couch. Choosing paint colors

April 2014

Painted Plantation Moss (the second lightest color)

April 2014

A loveseat, finally.

May 2014

Check out the new mirror.

Who's that baby?

The front room today.

All in all, the room is looking great. It's taken some patience - if you haven't heard our epicly horrible couch story, I'll summarize by saying we bought and paid for a sofa and loveseat on December 2nd, and didn't receive the sofa until mid April and the loveseat several weeks later. Never shop at Sofa Mart. As I said, the room is looking great. I ordered some roman shades for the bay window, and my fingers are crossed that they will arrive before our big trip. I need to finish with the small touches - more pillow and decor on the cabinet. I also plan to refinish the end tables and change out the coffee table. Eventually, we would like to add a window seat to the bay window and maybe a bench and shoe rack in the nook behind the front door. Now that this room is mostly done, I'm thinking our living room needs a makeover.