Arches National Park 2012 (also, Family History Photos of the Week)

We got home from a weekend in Moab a few hours ago.  It's kind of "our place."  The first few times we went, we camped near Slick Rock.  Roughing it!  I'd never slept in a tent before I married Brian.

Brian doing Dutch Oven at our camp site.  Sure, we were sleeping in a tent and the bathroom situation was not cool, but he did all the cooking, setting up and cleaning up.  Ahhh!  This is 1998, by the way.

In June 2001 we invited one of my former mission companions, Angella, and her husband Tim to camp in Moab and hike around Arches National Park for a few days.  We did EVERYTHING during those two or three days.  This photo is us in the Fiery Furnace.  Sometimes I can't believe we did all that walking and hiking in the hot sun only to come back to a tent and no decent shower.  So eleven years ago...  Brian and I both remember that trip very fondly, though. :)

In 2004 we got WISE, dude.  We went in February over President's Day weekend and had the place almost to ourselves.  We did hikes we'd never done before and the traditional Delicate Arch.  And we stayed for cheap in a pretty nice hotel.  See?  WISE.  (The arch we're standing under fell a few years ago.  Sad.)

Here we are ("what a wonderful trip!") in 2008 with the Boney family.  We experienced hiking with a backpack full of kid for the first time on this trip.  Good training for this last trip. :)  Bridget wasn't quite two yet.  We went over President's Day weekend that time, too.  Cold, but sunny.

Which brings us to last weekend!  Right up until the day before we left I didn't know if this was a good idea.  At the same time, I feel a need to see Arches.  It's amazing.  I knew Bridget would be game, but I was (correctly) worried about the babies.  How else can we teach them to be troopers like their sister, though?

 We just did it, that's how.  It was raining, then it was snowing, but we just kept climbing.  (Check out this awesome backpack we got for Christmas from Dena and Darin!)

Can you tell Bridget is skipping?  True, this is at the beginning of the hike, but she did this on the way out as well.  That kid is THE BEST.  She only complained when Brian asked her to hold his hand on a steep part, otherwise she just plowed through with a smile on her face.  I couldn't be more proud of her.

I tried to get ahead of these guys for a decent picture and it was too hard, so this is what I got.  I couldn't go very fast because someone was pulling my hair.

Colin didn't complain much himself.  (Emil did.)  He was probably too cold to move his mouth.  That's snow flying all around us.  Colin saved most of his complaining for the middle of the night in our hotel room.

We had to set Emil down at one point and loosen the straps on the backpack.  He was not pleased, but so pretty with that face.  We almost turned around, but I'm glad we didn't because we were really close to Delicate Arch by this time.

I wish I could describe the emotions I had seeing this view.  Taking our children to Arches made me burst with love feelings for Brian and the life that he's given me for the last 15+ years.  I'm so glad he loves to do this kind of stuff.  I loved sharing the place with our kids.

Delicate Arch is around that corner.  That's as close to the edge as Bridget was going.  Again, so proud - it's never a good idea to get close to the edge.

My camera lens was wet pretty much the whole hike.  There we are, though!

Snacking while looking at Delicate Arch.  Best day ever, I think. :)

Can you see Emil's face?  Can you also see how very far we still had to go to get to the car?  It was pretty rough there for a while.  We sang "Wheels on the Bus" to keep his mind off the cold. 

Back at the hotel room we tried to play a game of Chicken Foot with the Masters of Disaster (Colin and Emil) on the job.  Oh, man!  We took some detailed notes of all the things that will need to happen before our epic road trip this summer.  Poor Bridget.  Soon it will be fun to have brothers. :)