Our trip to Moab...

I'm just now getting around to posting the rest of our Moab pictures. It seems as though when you get home from taking a vacation (no matter how short) it takes so long to catch-up to real life.

We had such a great time visiting my family in Moab over Memorial Day weekend. The weather was on the cooler side (very unusual for Moab at this time of year...sometimes it can be 90+ degrees), but it was perfect for the acitvities we did. The hikes were wonderful and cool. The mix of clouds made everything just beautiful.

Here are some fun pictures that we took during our stay. I can't even believe I didn't take any of my Mom & Dad (or Debbie)! I think it was because Mom commented on the ones with them and Karen I took at the wedding. She said they saw them on the blog and couldn't believe how old they looked! I thought they looked wonderful! So, that may have been why I didn't take pictures...I didn't want her to get mad at me again!

Nathan loved Aiden being there. Aiden is a bit of a celebrity in our family. The kids watch his video, on Jill's blog, of him reading a story. It is so cute & funny. The kids, Nathan especially, just giggle and giggle as they watch it 20 times in a row! It's better than anything on You-Tube.

Dave helps injured birds by taking them in until they have recovered. This is his owl that he is taking care of right now. It had a broken wing. It will be going to a zoo soon. The kids really loved seeing it. I loved it too...as I had never seen an owl that close up. I was amazed by how beautiful it was. His eyes were just peircing.



We took a million pictures of Chase one day (OK, maybe it was closer to a thousand, but it was a lot). He is such a doll, we couldn't stop. The problem with having a thousand cute pictures...which one do you pick when you want to share one?

We were teasing Nathan and put him in the chair to take pictures. He was trying so hard not to smile.

This picture was taken by Kimbrey. Nathan was loving the bunny. Don't ask why Dave has bunnies...you don't want to know the truth. We live in a terrible world where even cute bunnies are not safe!

Since it was Memorial Day, my Mom had Nathan help her put up her flag. A bit later, Dad called me into his room. He was laughing so hard, I couldn't understand what he was saying. He motioned out the window and I saw Nathan out there punching the flag! I gave him a lesson on respect and patriotism. I think it is funny, the difference between Grandparents & Parents...my Dad would have been so mad if I had done that when I was young. But, when Nathan does it, it is hilarious! I can't wait to be a Grandparent!

Mary Jones, from my ward, was visiting at the same time as I was! I put her in contact with my mom a while back. She loves going to Moab and my mom rents out a little apartment when the town gets too full. Mary stays there now exclusevly (she has filled it with her own belongings now) and sees my mom now more than I do. I love Mary, she is so much fun to be with. Her sisters are just as much fun as she is.

We went hiking and I showed them the "Brown Rocks". They are a bunch of dark brown boulders piled on the top of our mountain. I literally hiked up there every day of my life (I think that is why I was always skinny). There are petroglyphs on one of the rocks (don't ask me why I didn't take a picture of those...I will next time). There is also a rock that has a big hole in the top of it. I used to take my German Shephard puppies up there and give them baths after it had rained. It was also a great swimming pool for Cowgirl Barbie.

Nathan loves climbing around the rocks. This time he was doing "push-ups" against the rocks!

Within the rocks, there are the King & Queen chairs that overlook the city of Moab. We love to just sit and look out at the city. This is a picture of the kids on them.

This is the view of the city from the King & Queen chairs.

We love hiking to the "Brown Rocks" when it is sunset, that is the prettiest time of the day. When we visit Moab, our kids hike all day long. What a great place it was to grow up!

Desert Wonders...

Desert flowers have always been my favorite. As I would hike every day when I was young, I collected many, many flowers. I'm sure my mom got so sick of me picking so many flowers for her.

These are some pretty pictures that were taken mostly by Andrew. We have been experimenting with my cool new camera lately. He has been really interested and so I have shown him a few things about settings. Some of these were on our hikes, but most were in the hills above my house. My Dad asked Andrew to go and take some pictures of the cactus on the hill, since he is unable to go up there anymore. Andrew took these gorgeous photos and then we put them on Mom & Dad's computer as a slide show so that he can see them anytime.

Sand Dune Arch...

We can never leave Arches National Park without a visit to Sand Dune Arch. It is the kids' most favorite place ever. Nathan kept asking and asking to go to "Sandy Arch" all week.

The hike is the easiest one ever, the best for small kids. It is so close to the parking. You head through some fins and enter into a little canyon that is protected by fins and rock cliffs. In the summer it is really fun to go during the hottest part of the day. It is very shady. We went at sunset and the pictures were so hard to take because of the lighting.

The arch is fun to climb onto. When we were young, we would always jump off the arch. Rick and I visited one time with our friends, Casey & Laura McNeil. I told Casey that we used to jump off into the sand. He thought that sounded quite fun and he tried it. Apparently the sand has shifted a bit over the years (or he was much heavier than my 90 pound self back then), and he hit the rock underneath. When he went to the emergency room, they said that he had a collapsed vertebrae. He had lost about 1/2 inch of his height (he was already a bit short). He asked when he would get it back and the doctor said never. So, don't EVER jump off the arch!

The kids love taking off their shoes and playing in the sand. It is beautiful, fine, red sand. It's always a big fight to get the shoes back on at the end!

I can't ever keep track of Harrison on hikes like these. He is constantly climbing on and jumping off cliffs! He is such a wild guy.



I thought this was a pretty picture of Janessa. The lighting was low, so it is a bit grainy, but I sure love it. She is such a beautiful girl.

Andrew wanted me to take a picture of him jumping into the sand. He is so weird sometimes.

Janessa tried it as well.

We love this tree. It has been there forever, it seems. I wish we could live in Moab...we could hike in this beautiful place whenever we wanted to!

Our hike to Delicate Arch...

Our family loves hiking to Delicate Arch in Moab. It is definitely one of our favorite things to do. We try to do it at least once a year.

We especially love it when everyone is old enough to hike themselves...not carried in a backpack!


Nathan was again obsessed with making sure the rock markers were correct. If any of them had fallen down, he had to fix them before moving on. And he had to add a rock to the ones that were all in place. He loved to be the leader and find the next marker.


We love to hike up to a little arch right before Delicate and sit. It has a beautiful view of Delicate down below.





Andrew and Harrison took off running at the beginning of the hike. They had to wait forever for the rest of us to get there! This is a picture that was taken right before they ditched us to run the entire way down (then they complained when we got there that they were so bored).

This is one of my favorite trees during the hike. I think it has so much character. I remember it when I was young and hiked to Delicate.

These are the Petroglyphs just off the trail. They are so fun to look at...so interesting to think about the time when they were created.

Hiking to Carona Arch in Moab...

We went with Dave & Carri and their family on a hike to Carona Arch. I hadn't ever been to this arch, so I was really excited. Daniel, Kimbrey & Chase came, as well as Jill & Aiden. It is so much fun to be with their cute boys.





Nathan did such a great job on the hike. He was really cute the whole time. There were a couple of spots that had metal cables to help you climb up and down the steep inclines. Rick asked if he could help him down, and he said, "I can do it just fine dad, it's just like rock climbing!" He was holding onto the rope and jumping down with both feet at the same time, just like he had been belaying his entire life.

He also would always make sure that the rock piles (the trail markers) were in good condition. If they were missing rocks, he replaced them and made sure they were perfect before he would move on.




Harrison had a great time hiking, despite the fact that he was in a lot of pain. Earlier in the morning, we discovered that he had an absessed tooth. We had called our dentist and he prescribed some anti-biotics to help the infection. Harrison had been on it since that morning, as well as a lot of pain medication. When we got home after the hike, he was in really bad shape. He was in so much pain and was just in tears. We weren't sure what to do. The pressure of the absess was just too much for him to take. We were thinking of taking him to the ER, but unsure of what they would do. Rick and Grandpa Cozzens gave him a Priesthood blessing and within minutes, his absess burst and relieved the pressure. He was still in some pain during the rest of the weekend, but it was manageable until we got home to get the tooth removed.



On the way to Carona Arch, we got to see Bow-tie Arch. The kids renamed it "Toilet Arch."

Janessa had such a great time hiking, especially since Aiden & Chase were there. She is such a good babysitter and loves little kids! She was glad to get in shape this weekend with all of the hikes...she & Andrew had to do a 5K run for school when they got home on Tuesday.

Aiden let Rick put him on his shoulders for a little while, but then when he wouldn't let him go back to Carri, Aiden got really mad! He really loves Carri.


Andrew loved having Drew with us on the hike, they spent most of the weekend together. It was funny...Drew was sleeping late because he had a late night, so we weren't sure if he was going to go hiking. While we were driving up, I asked Andrew if he decided to go. I explained how he was sleeping. Nathan said, "Ya, he's going...I woke him up!" Sorry Drew!

The kids love to try and catch lizards. This time they got one, but his tail came off (a typical defense move by lizards). For a long time they were carrying a lizard tail that was still twitching. Gross!

We stopped for a while and relaxed under the arch, and had some snacks.

Dave (my brother) wanted an apple, so I threw him one. I guess it wasn't a very good throw, because he dropped it and it went rolling down towards the cliff. He was running after it trying to get it. It was hilarious. If we had a video camera, we could have posted it on You-Tube.



It was a great hike and such a fun time spent with family. Thanks Dave & Carri for letting us tag along with you!