Catching Up Part 2 April-beginning of June

 After Spring Break, I knew time would fly pretty fast.  A lot of my time I spent trying to make our house look more like a home.  We were without some furniture for a while, but it was fun.  I will post changes of our house, later.
This photo is of Maya who fell asleep and I think she fell asleep on the floor or fell off her bed, but didn't bother to wake up.  We thought it was pretty funny.  That's what happens when  you stop taking naps in January, you sleep like a log at night.

We've adopted a new tradition for Memorial Day weekend...camping. This time, Zions.  We met up with the Vegas cousins for one night and our friends Manuel and Caro joined us the rest of the time.  We had a blast!  Arden went on his first official repelling hike with his daddy, his cousins Peiter, Gretta, and Annie. They were very cold, but had a good safe time.

Our lovely campsite

What a bunch of adorable cousins

Annie, posing for a pic on our hike

Newel repelled from the top of that cliff back in July 2009. CRAZY

We had a really great time with the Vegas cousins.  One memorable experience is that Arden, Gretta, Pieter, Manuel, Phil, and Newel hiked and repelled keyhole canyon.  Even though they were a bit cold at the end of the hike, they all did well.
Another fun memory is experiencing "The Man Breakfast" prepared by Phil and Mary.  So yummy.  We were sad to see the Vegas off, but our adventure continued on.
Oh yeah, and another unforgettable moment was waking up around 11PM and Arden throwing up all over Maya's bedding.  He didn't get any of his bedding dirty, just Maya's pj, pillow, and blanket.  Thank goodness for a laundry mat in town.

I hiked Angel's Landing with Caro and Manuel

It was a bit scary, but I'm tough!

The view from the top was amazing and a bit scary.

The following day, it was time to head back home.  We packed our belongings and headed to the Kolob Canyon side of the park.  We took on a 5 mile hike (round trip) through a trail called Taylor Creek.  I think it was getting a bit hot, and the final destination was not as impressive as I thought it would be, so I didn't enjoy the hike that much.  Also, after hiking to the top of Angel's Landing, Taylor Creek was kind of a disappointment.

Nevertheless, there was a really neat narrow/waterfall. That was pretty cool. I have to constantly remind myself to enjoy the journey and not just to be focused on the destination.

This is a log house that has been there for about 100 years.  I couldn't live so far away from civilization, even in Zions. 

In order to keep the children distracted on the way back home...I took lots of pictures of them.  This is a funny one of Maya. 

In May, Arden participated in a Regata or something like that.  Basically, it is a competition of homemade miniature boats that people blow and see who wins.

Newel and Arden build their boat and went to the activity at church that day.  Arden was doing really well.  His boat was no match to the other people's boats...it helps to have your daddy be an engineer.

Arden was the winner in his bracket and then he moved onto the championship game.  Unfortunately, he lost, just by a bit, and placed 2nd.  That day, Arden learned a very important lesson about being a good sport...He learned this lesson after yelling in anger that he had lost and ran out of the building, into the parking lot.  Yes, after a talk with his daddy, a very important lesson was learned.  He went back inside and congratulated the winner.
Since that day, he has learned to lose graciously.  Although, he tends to beat his daddy a lot when they play Risk.