California

Our family went to California for a vacation this past week. On Monday we headed to Knotts Berry Farm and played there the entire day.



The first ride we went on was the Log Ride. It was a fun way to start our day!
Elise was a little nervous about this ride. (Waiting in line:)


(On the ride:)


We split into two groups and Cari and Trevon spent an hour and a half waiting to ride the roller coaster "Ghost Rider." The rest of us rode on a variety of things (not so scary) until lunch time.





Included in our ticket price was a meal in the park, at SPURS Back Yard BBQ. It was an all you can eat buffet and a nice rest in the middle of our day.





I went on Montezooma's Revenge (Roller Coaster) with Mike, Cari and Trevon. The worst part of it was the anticipation I felt BEFORE the ride. The ride itself was fine....it is funny how we sometimes get ourselves worked up over nothing! UUUGGGHHH!

I have a video of Cari and Trevon riding the XCELERATOR, which goes from zero to 80mph in 2 seconds. They rode all the roller coasters in the park.



All of us smiled most of the day long...








Some of us turned into "hot dogs" before the day was through...



It was a fun start to our week of vacation.





We stayed at the park until closing and watched a light display in the "Camp Snoopy" section of the park before heading to our hotel nearby.

On Tuesday we drove to the San Mateo Campground at San Onofre State Beach where we camped in our tent trailer for the next four days, near the beach.





Mike gave Trevon a lesson in setting up the trailer.



The kids had fun playing in the campground and found ammunition growing on the bushes that made for an interesting game, something similar to dodge ball...









Other camping fun:












In the campground we found Swallows in mud nests attached to the ceiling outside the bathroom/shower stalls. They were fun to watch fly in and out of their nests.




We went to the beach, three days in a row. Wednesday we spent most of the day there. My late brother's son (Aidan), and his mom (Dawn) spent the day with us. It was so good to see them!



At the beach we played frisbee, smashball, rode on the boogie board, played in the sand, collected shells, found sand crabs, watched the surfers and read. It was relaxing just to feel the ocean breeze and listen to the waves splash along the shore. Elise especially loved being chased by the moving water. I loved watching the kids play.

























Going out to dinner was a fun part of our trip too. We got a lot of stares and comments because of the size of our family. It made us appreciate each other all the more, thankful for the relationships we have with each other; happy they will last forever.

A glimpse...

On Tuesday, Trevon started working for Color Country Auto. He really enjoys the work he is doing. He does oil changes, checks the fluids in vehicles, works on balancing tires, and helps with clean up and delivering vehicles. After his first day at work I took these pictures of how dirty he was. Every day he worked, he came home even dirtier than the day before, so these pictures actually show him looking pretty clean!




While Trevon worked, Sadie played. She went to Disneyland with the Wilson family. Emily Wilson invited Sadie to go with her and she had a wonderful time. She was able to see the Mormon Batallion Visitor's Center in San Diego, visit the beach, and spend three days playing at Disneyland and California Adventure. She is thankful to the Wilsons for including her on their vacation. I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was and she said she didn't have a favorite part - it was all of it terrific!







Mike and I went with Cari to her college orientation at SUU (Sothern Utah University) on Friday. She seems excited about her upcoming transition. We were able to meet with her roommates and check out where she will be living too. It was a long day but I enjoyed the workshops that were offered for parents as well as students. It is going to be an adjustment to make for all of us when she leaves home, but I think we'll make it through!

Up, Up, and Away!

On Friday evening, just as Mike was getting ready to head home from work, he got a phone call from the father of a previous employee he had. Rocky Neal owns and flies a hot air balloon as a hobby. He invited Mike to take our family for a ride in the balloon the following morning. Cari and Trevon invited some freinds to go with us, as "man-power" was needed to set up and take down the big balloon.

Saturday, we woke at about 4:30am to get ready. We needed to be in Washington no later than 6am, and had to leave our home by 5:30am to arrive on time. The invited friends met at our house at 5:15am. It was an early start to our day. We kissed Sadie goodbye as she had other fun plans that I'll post about later.






We drove out to the Washington fields area and helped put the balloon together. We used a cul-de-sac to spread out the balloon, hook up the basket, and fill it with air. Trevon had to help keep the envelope of the balloon open while Rocky filled it with air using a fan. Then, after it was blown up, he heated it up so it would rise!





The noise of the torch was pretty loud and sent Corban running down the street. He did not like it! The younger kids would plug their ears whenever Rocky pulled the fire starter.



He invited Mike and Elise and me to have the first ride. My heart jumped a little as I was nervous. I crawled in the cozy basket and before I knew it we were floating above everything. It was an easy, smooth ride and beautiful to see the world from a different perspective.

Another balloon was being set up as we took off, and soon joined us in the air.



We flew 700 feet above the ground and Rocky sprayed shaving cream over the side of the basket to test the direction of the wind. This gave us an idea of where we would drift to and eventually land. We landed at the edge of a plowed field.

Next to ride was Cari and her friends: Zak Mitchell and Nathan Gowans.
On their ride, they learned that Rocky charges $400 an hour to give balloon rides (That's per hour for how ever many people you want. The basket is not very big and will hold about four at a time. So, if you have a bigger group than that, he'll give turns during that hour's time). They enjoyed looking over some really nice homes with swimming pools, trampolines, tennis courts and more!






A little boy named Hudson, Kristi, Trevon and his friend Braydon Gubler had the next turn. They were surprised at how smooth a ride it was. When they landed, they picked a number to see which one of them would get a second ride. Kristi picked "15" and the number was "16." She got to stay in the basket for the last ride with Brandon Gowans (Trevon's other friend) and Hudson.




When we weren't in the balloon, we followed behind it in our cars. That way, when it landed, we could quickly switch occupants. We were the "chase crew," ready to help should the need arise.




At the final landing, we spread out some tarps, laid the basket on it's side and pulled the balloon down across the tarps. Then, we "milked" the envelope, getting the air out of it (which was comfortably warm), unhooked it from the basket and tied and rolled it up. Everyone worked together to get the balloon into its case and back into the trailer.

I asked how much the balloon itself weighed. Rocky said that without the basket, the envelope is about 200 lbs.

This picture is looking up into the balloon:




It was interesting to learn that ballooning seems to be a dwindling hobby, meaning not very many younger people are doing it. At meetings that Rocky attends of ballooners, there are a lot of gray headed fliers and not so many younger ones. Rocky has been flying for about 17 years. He says he could do it every day, he enjoys it so much. (He really can't do it every day though - and will not be able to fly it as the weather gets warmer.) We were very appreciative of his thinking of us. We all had a very enjoyable morning together.THANK YOU ROCKY NEAL!

Hidden Canyon

On Monday, Mike, Trevon and I headed back to Zion National Park for some hiking. We wanted to hike the Hidden Canyon trail and so we did, along with the River Walk trail.



To reach the Hidden Canyon trail, we took the shuttle bus to the Weeping Rock stop and then found a map that pointed us in the right direction. The hike up to the canyon was beautiful and in the shade. Still, my heart was a fast and steady beat as we had an uphill climb the whole way.






Some parts of the trail required some manuvering, were sandy and slippery, and there were chains attached to the canyon wall for safety.








I felt like a mountain goat at times!

We reached a sign in the hidden canyon warning us that continuing on would require "scrambling." Well, I was with Mike and Trevon, so of course, we continued on....and I SCRAMBLED! It was good scrambling though, and we really enjoyed ourselves.




Trevon was a mountain goat - in the canyon, he climbed along a wall - until I told him to get down!





Beautiful ferns grew on the shaded canyon walls.




I would consider this hike a strenuous one, but beautiful and I would definitely do it again. As we headed back down the trail, the sun started to shine on us and I felt bad for those just going up. If you hike this trail, go in the morning while it is shady.

Before heading home, we walked the River Walk, and looked at the Virgin River. It was a raging. We really enjoyed our morning together and I was once again, thankful to live so near to this beautiful retreat, Zion National Park.