Aladdin

Last weekend we went to St. George with Jeremy's parents to see Aladdin at the Tuacahn. It was a good play and we had a great time. After the show we were able to meet the Genie, Aladdin, and Jasmine. 

 

Back to School

Taylor started 4th grade today. She was sort of excited to go back to school. She got the teacher she wanted, but both of her best friends are in a different class. Luckily she still gets to see them at lunch and recess. 

 

Taylor insisted on showing off her new shirt. She is obsessed with Hunger Games, particularly Peeta.

 Taylor and her friend Riley

Taylor's teacher, Mr. Gowens

One of my favorite things

 Aren't sunsets gorgeous!

Capital Reef

A couple of weeks ago, Jeremy's parents invited us to go hiking with them in Capital Reef. We left early Friday morning and hit the trail a few hours later. The hike was pretty and we had a good time.

Jeremy and Taylor

Cassidy Arch

The next day we decided to drive through Bryce Canyon before heading home. This was Taylor's first time at Bryce and she thought it was cool.

End of 3rd Grade

I can't believe the school year is over. Each year seems to go by quicker then the last. I wish time would slow down. Yesterday, Taylor's school had their awards ceremony. Taylor received the the Principle's Club Award for having all E's for the year. After the ceremony, her teacher told Jeremy and I that Taylor scored 100% on the end of year testing in Language Arts. We are proud of our cute girl for working hard in school.

Taylor and her BFF Sarah. They both received the Principle's Club Award

Easter & Spring Break

Easter weekend was definitely busy. On Saturday afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Killpack's home for their annual Easter egg hunt. After, we went out to dinner to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. On Sunday we went to my mom's home for dinner and another egg hunt.

Taylor and her stash of eggs

 

For the first time ever, Jeremy had the whole week of Spring Break off of work. We were going to go backpacking as a family, but Taylor decided she'd rather stay home and just hang out together. I was totally okay with her decision since Jeremy and I had just come back from backpacking a week before. We still had fun. On Monday we ordered pizza for dinner and had a movie night. Tuesday we went to the animal farm at Thanksgiving Point. Then we came home and barbequed, had a fire, and roasted marshmallows.Wednesday we went to the movies and saw The Hunger Games. The rest of the time we relaxed and just enjoyed being together.

 

Backpacking

Jeremy loves to go backpacking and he has tried to convince me to go with him for a while now. This year I gave in and went. My mom was super nice and took care of Taylor while we were gone. Coy, our brother-in-law, came with us. We hiked down through Kane Gulch and Todi Canyon. I was worried about carrying a 30 pound pack on my back, but it actually wasn't too bad.

 About 4 miles down the canyon we came to our first ruins. They were really cool. There were several structures and pieces of pottery everywhere. There were also corn cobs left from the Indians. The info we read said the Indians inhabited this area until about 1200AD. It's crazy to think that the corn cobs, fire wood, and structures still exist after so much time.

 This wall is amazing. It is filled with tons of drawings. This picture is just a small glimpse of what it looks like.

A view from the trail

 This ruin was high up on the mountain and I thought there was no way we would be able to get close to it. I was wrong. Jeremy decided to try climbing up the rocks to get a closer look. It scared the crap out of me, but we made it up and got right next to them.

 Split level Ruins.

 There was pottery everywhere around the ruins. This piece was my favorite. I love the design on the piece.

So, I think Jeremy is crazy. On the last day of our trip we were hiking along the trail and high up in the rocks (probably at least 300 ft up) we spotted some ruins. Jeremy decided to see if he could get up to them. Now, I have no idea how the Indians ever got to most of their structures. They look impossible to reach. But of course Jeremy had to try. Coy went with him. I stayed down below and prayed they wouldn't fall.

The picture above shows where they climbed.The ruins are tucked up in the shadows so they are really hard to see. If you follow the shadow line the arrow is pointing at, you may see them.

 

 This is the view looking down from the ruins.

 This picture still scares me. Once Jeremy and Coy reached the shelf the ruins were on, they had to go around the above wall to actually reach the ruins. They had to hang on to the wall to get around it because it came to the edge of a very steep cliff. Those ruins are very old and crumbly. They are lucky the wall held up.

Thankfully the boys made it down from the ruins safely.