Halloween!

Waldo, 

Netherite-armored minecraft guy, 

Black ninja,

"Spidey" (not spiderman)

That was the lineup this year!  We pulled the costumes together in time and it all worked out.  The youth were in charge of the Trunk-or-treat/ Chili Cookoff this year, again.  It was a few days before Halloween so they were prepped for candy.  Anna and I were specifically in charge of the mummy-wrap game, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.  We still got some good specimens.  Anyway, the candy they got from that party was NOTHING compared to Monday night!  When you have all 4 kids trick-or-treating for 2 straight hours, and they can run to every house, the candy accumulates very quickly!  They came home exhausted, but not exhausted to sort, count, and organize their candy into gallon-sized ziploc bags.  This is going to last us a very long time!

Grand Canyon

This was such a fun trip! A very special shout-out to Nora, Beverly and Lloyd for watching the kids while we were gone. This trip would not have been possible without amazing family!  We had to make every minute count. We arrived at the North Rim after dark on Sunday, under a full moon. It was creepy and amazing at the same time. The canyon itself was an abyss! It was nice to see that NOTHING at the lodge has changed in 20 years, since I worked there. Even the same green napkins. There wasn’t anybody there that I remembered, so we checked into our room, organized our stuff, and went to bed early… but who can sleep the night before rim-to-rim??? Not me!

On Monday morning, we started down at 6am with MASSES of other people, all with the same idea. North-to-South is definitely more popular than the other direction. Hmmm, I wonder why? We made great time going down: good ol’ gravity. We stopped at Ribbon Falls and had the whole place to ourselves. It’s such a beautiful oasis! We also chilled at Phantom Ranch (not so beautiful) and headed up the south rim. It was hot, it was long, but we made it eventually. Our room at the Bright Angel Lodge was so cute and it was the best night sleep I’ve had in days!

The next day felt pretty good… in the beginning. We made great time to the bottom, again, and were able to stay out of the sun until about halfway up the north side, which made a huge difference. It’s still so amazing how the layers of the canyon stack up so nicely and you hike up through all of the colors. Oh, the colors! Yes, the last 2-3 miles were VERY HARD, but it was a great way to finish! I think we’ll be back again, Canyon!

Conference Breakfast in the Mountains

Beverly and Lloyd organized another wonderful conference breakfast in the mountains.  How many years is this now?  The colors couldn't have been more spectacular!  The weather was perfect!  The food was amazing too.  The kids explored all over the place, finding treasures to throw into the campfire.  We were able to hear a bit of conference too... on the way home.  It's all good.  Any time with family is a good time!