Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Austin loved...

getting as dirty as possible, but that doesn't surprise anyone does it!?! His favorite thing was the beach! He of course couldn't bend over or even move with his life jacket on, so we spent much of our time on the beach watching him like a hawk so he could play in the dirt!
Something else that will surprise you; when he wasn't getting dirty, he was getting into everything! Trying things on...
...climbing on things...
...and touching things he shouldn't touch!!!
I can't really complain though, overall he was pretty good! That just might have something to do with the fact that he was afraid of the water and it was within feet of every direction that he headed.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Ryan loved...

swimming! He would stand on the back of the boat and yell......ONE... ...TWO...
...THREE...
...CANON BALL!!!
It was quite entertaining! He also loved fishing. He caught his second fish, the first being last year at Lake Powell, and it freaked him out! Do you see the terror on his face!He eventually worked through it and was able to smile for a picture with his fishy and Daddy. He was so happy to let it go back and be "with his Mommy, and Daddy, and brothers, and sisters and family!'

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Lake Powell 2009

The first week in August, right after our Havasu trip, we met up with all of the Schmidt family at Lake Powell. We had an amazing week! There were 41 of us on this house boat...
enjoying these beautiful sights...
all together!!!
We had a great time
swimming...
...playing on the beach...
...riding in the boat...
...riding the jet skis...
...fishing...
...and just being together!!!
We had such a fun time, as always, and are so grateful to all of those who made our Lake Powell trip possible! Ryan and Austin each loved Lake Powell and had a lot of fun, so check back later to see what they loved!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Havasupi

The last week in July Justin and I went with some of my siblings and some family friends to hike Havasupi. There were 17 of us in all, and we had a GREAT time!!!
We hiked down the switchbacks on Wednesday night at 10:30 PM after the fun 13 hour drive there! Here we are headlamps and all!
We camped at the bottom for about 4 hours, but really only slept for about 30 mins. before we were up at 4:00 AM and hiking to beat the heat. Justin and I hiked a little behind everyone else and stopped to take a lot of pictures.
Here's the trail in the beautiful canyon!
Justin under a rock...
and in the canyon!
One huge tree in the middle of all the red rocks and canyon walls!
It was fun hiking together!
After about 6.5 miles of hiking, we met up with everyone in the Indian village! Once we paid, we continued on our way through the village and the 2 miles to Havasu Falls!
Last August there was a major flood which damaged and changed the river's path and the trails a lot. These are the new falls, also known as Rock Falls, that have been since the flood. They are a lot of fun to play in and jump off of. The pool below is really deep, and you can go behind the waterfall and jump through! You can also see the destruction from the rushing water.
Since the flood occurred, the river has changed it's path. That has left the previously beautiful Navajo Falls completely dry. The is what used to be Navajo Falls.
We finally made it!!! Havasu Falls!!!
We set up camp and headed straight to the falls to cool off!
My family who went (minus Steve)! Megan~Trevor~Aubrey~Ashley~Me~Justin
Luckily we had a waterproof camera, because we got some amazing pictures of the trip we wouldn't have gotten otherwise! Megan, Aubrey, myself and Ashley, but you can barely see us from the spray of Havasu Falls!
Later that day we made the trek...
to Mooney Falls!!!
Notice we're standing above the falls!
Well, this is how we had to get down to them!
Did you read the sign?!? This was TERRIFYING, and I'm not even afraid of heights!
Finally at the bottom, and definitely worth the climb!!!
We ended up floating down the river...
to a fun rope swing! Trev first!
And Justin too!
The next day we made the trek down to Mooney Falls again, floated down the river again, then continued and hiked about 2.5 miles down river to Beaver Falls! That was an interesting hike to say the least! The trail would disappear and we'd have to cross the river and hope the trail would pick up again. We stopped at some falls we thought were possibly Beaver Falls, but weren't. We watched, after Mike tried to save, a girl go down these falls, she survived. Hiked some more, then finally found Beaver Falls. They were definitely smaller than Havasu and Mooney Falls, but were a lot of fun to jump off of and climb. We also found this underwater cave, thank goodness for the underwater camera!
We had an amazing time!!! On Saturday we prepared to hike out and head to Lake Powell. I ended up with a lot of cuts on my feet and some back pain, Justin ended up with blisters and a limp, so we ended up...
flying the heck out of there! 4 hour uphill hike... or 4 minute beautiful flight! It was worth the cost for my sanity!
The trail down below as Steve, Ashley, Trevor and Aubrey hiked out to meet us at the trail head!
Once we met up, we were off to Powell!!! Thank you to Mom, Dad and Natalie for watching the boys so we could enjoy this beautiful part of our country! I couldn't help but think while we were there and hiking around about what an amazing and beautiful place it was, who created it, and how grateful I am to Heavenly Father that I'm able to go and enjoy such an amazing place. I also thought of how many people would never see it because they're afraid to step out of their comfort zone and take a hike to see some of God's greatest creations. We had a great time!!!
More fun to come, so check back soon!!!