We camped in Snow Canyon (St. George) under the stars in the sand.
We went to Oregon and Washington with a RV trailer and had a blast. We drove across every bridge possible several times. We hiked in the forests and along the beach. We fed seals, explored northwest neighborhoods, went to the maritime museum, played in the sand, flew kites, and just had a wonderful time.
We went back to St. George for Jaremy, Jessica, Benjamin, and Moroni's first half-marathon.
We went to Moab.
We backpacked into Dry Canyon and White Pine. I was five months pregnant for the White Pine adventure. I took the kids up with most of the gear all the way up the 4.5 miles to the lake. Jaremy was supposed to meet us up there later that evening. He had to work late and came up in the middle of the night. He never found us in the dark. We had a memorable night of attempting to sleep on the cold hard ground, praying for Jaremy's safety, and trying to keep a tiny fire going with twigs. We ate Power Bars to try to stay awake while we waited for Jaremy. It was amazing to find out we are tougher than we thought. I slept a bit in the dirt next to a dying fire under the stars while I was five months pregnant thinking the whole time my husband was out in the mountains somewhere with a twisted ankle being eaten by a mountain lion. Oh, did I mention one of the kids had trail diarrhea in their pants and we had no extra clothes. That was an awesome adventure!!!
We discovered Green Canyon and fell in love with it. We hiked Jardine Juniper several times or at least part of it. Jaremy and the oldest kids took up mountain biking. This was the year we started running. We enjoyed sundae runs, trail runs, early morning runs, vacation runs, etc. We pretty much lived in the mountains during the spring, summer, and fall.
We volunteered at the American West Heritage Center and played pioneers and train driver.
We gardened with the Nielsens at their farm in Paradise.
We spoke in Church in our new ward. Natalie was baptized. Jessica started high school and began flirting with boys. Well, if you can consider spilling apple cider while you are talking to boys as flirting. Benjamin camped like crazy and was an amazing member of his deacon's quorum. The boys started their snow removal business. Jaremy traveled a lot for work. Hyrum learned to read. Ella and Tank became cuter and cuter. Adelynn was joyously welcomed into our family. Dad got a laptop. Mom got a tablet.
We had an amazing year! The best ever! They just keep getting better! Heavenly Father has blessed us beyond description!!!
