Grandpa Richard's Belated Birthday

Life is so busy anymore! Grandpa Richard's birthday was actually on the 22nd, but we weren't able to get together until this weekend. Believe it or not, it's been since Christmas Eve that we saw Grandpa Richard and Grandma Ruth Ann! It was a long overdue visit. :)

Grandpa Richard decided that he wanted pizza for his birthday meal. We had plans to go to the spring scrimmage game at BYU that evening, so we decided on a pizza lunch at their home in Sandy. We checked Claire out of school early (which she was totally stoked about), picked up our favorite Papa Murphy's pizza, and made it to their house in the early afternoon. When we got there, Grandpa and Grandma had even made a homemade pizza to show off their pizza-skills! It was delicious! We enjoyed visiting and eating, like we always do. Grandpa and Grandma had put together Easter baskets for the kids, so we got right to those after lunch. :) The kids always love their surprises from Grandpa Richard and Grandma Ruth Ann! Especially the 50 cent pieces that Grandpa has started to give them every time he sees them. They love putting them in their piggy banks!

After the kids opened their presents, we had Grandpa Richard open his present. We've kind of started giving Grandpa books, and this time we decided on "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. That book has come to mean a great deal to us since Luke died. Grandpa loved it; especially the parchment-like quality of the pages. 

 Since we had all gorged ourselves on pizza, we decided on a walk. Grandpa and Grandma have a trail by their house that runs along the Jordan River. They walk it often, and can identify all the wildlife along the river. They were excited to show the kids all the birds and some big, furry thing called a rock chuck. It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk, and we all appreciated the exercise.

We finished our afternoon together with strawberry ice cream and hugs all around. We'll have to make sure it's not another 4 months before we visit again!

Hiking Antelope Island

Last spring, during the time that Luke was in-patient, we took Claire, Sophie, and Johnny on their first hike. We hiked Adams Canyon, and the kids did better than Danny or I had anticipated. The whole family loved it, and it was then that Danny and I decided that we wanted to make hiking an integral part of our family recreation. So much so that when Christmas came around we made sure the kids each got their own Camelbaks, and Danny even bought some Yellowstone hiking books for when we're up in Island Park. But in order to put our plan into action, we had to wait for spring. :)

Well, spring finally sprung! Danny had heard at work from a couple of coworkers that they had been out to Antelope Island, and the hiking was good. No bugs, and no mud. :) We busted out those Camelbaks, packed a lunch, and loaded the kids and the dog in the car for what promised to be an awesome spring Saturday. We didn't know exactly which trail we wanted to do, but we figured it wouldn't be hard to figure out. Well, it was a bit harder to figure out than we thought! The signs were sparse, the trails weren't marked, and there was some sort of race happening that we weren't sure if we should avoid or not. Eventually, we just decided to park with all the other cars and get started. After all, we were ready for an adventure!

This was Maese's first hike, and boy was he excited! After a little bit, he calmed down enough for Johnny to hold the leash. Johnny absolutely LOVES his dog, and Maese adores Johnny. Seeing these two together hits a very tender spot in my heart. I love Maese, but there's a part of me that sees him as filling Luke's place in our family. I'm simultaneously incredibly grateful and repulsed by that thought. Grief is a strange master. Either way, I truly love this picture of my boy and his dog.

Antelope Island provided some gorgeous views! And the blue sky was just breathtaking. It was warm, but not too warm. And after months of winter, it was nice to hike in the sunshine. 

For the first half hour or so, the kids did great! Then Johnny started to fuss, saying he was so bored, and his feet were tired, and could he eat his lunch now. At one point, he threw himself onto the dirt path and just cried! And Danny and I, like the fantastic parents were are, pretty much just kept on walking! :) After Johnny pulled himself together, Danny gave his tired legs a break and carried him on his shoulders for a bit. That helped, and Johnny's mood improved dramatically once he realized that he was now committed to this hike and there was nothing to do but keep on walking. :)

After about an hour and a half, and what we thought was about half way, we stopped for lunch. Everyone, Maese included, was grateful for a little shade and a little food! We enjoyed our break for about a half hour, and then got back on the trail.

We kept on hiking, and eventually, we crested the top of the hill where we were able to see the whole valley in front of us. And some buffalo, too! The views were incredible.

It was just after our scenic view that the trail seemed to split. Nothing was marked, and we didn't have a map or anything. We decided to take what looked like a slightly more difficult path but what also looked to be a more direct route back to the car. Sophie really had to go to the bathroom, and everyone was tired, so we decided to make one final push up the hill to get to the car as soon as possible. Well, we got to the top of that hill and the trail seemed to start veering in the wrong direction. But we were committed, so we kept walking. And the trail kept NOT going back toward the car! Danny and I started wondering if perhaps we had chosen the wrong route. But what was there to do? Just keep walking. :) 

When all was said and done, we ended up hiking 8.2 miles in just about 4 hours. Turns out, our kids are pretty awesome little hikers! Danny and I couldn't have been more proud. Danny said the image of Johnny happily munching on his bag of granola during the last 100 yards of that hike was the most gratifying part of the day for him. After all those miles, and he was still just enjoying the experience. We're so excited for our upcoming hiking adventures!