rendezvous in so-Cal

My adorable nephew Byron and my nieces Olivia and Juliet. These talented kids are also amazing at getting laughs out of their cousin Liesel, doing loop jumps (in ice skates or tennis shoes) and throwing rocks in the creek. They're growing up so fast! 

At Devil's Punchbowl near Palmdale, CA

My brother Ryan and his wife Kiyomi live in L.A.-- in Santa Monica a mile and a half from a warm sunny beach where we could surf and build sand castles. So naturally we had he and his family meet us in Palmdale California to hike at Devil's Punchbowl in the wind.  Honestly though, it was SO great. And even greater because Liesel got to meet her uncle, aunt and cousins for the first time-- and she loved it! And I really loved it. Ryan is easy to talk to and he's interesting. He's smart, sarcastic and funny. He's easy going and is genuinely interested in you. He knows how to make people feel special. I never say enough about my brothers on my blog, but they are seriously cool people. His wife Kie is equally awesome. She is always cheerful and amazing with people and has a great sense of humor (and style). I can't say enough about how great it was for me to see them!!  And what's even better is that I think we may have convinced them to come visit us in Moab next spring. . . 

new toy

I'm pretty excited about my new Christmas present from Brian-- a Nikon D90. Love it! We're kickin' it in warm and sunny St. George right now. Hope everyone's holiday was wonderful!

Babyhood

I haven't posted in a while due to the stress and demands of my baby life. You know, things like balancing for 10 seconds at a time in my "surfer" pose while being applauded, picking my stuffed animals up and setting them on the table-- then taking them off again-- and of course pulling all the books off the bookshelf and flipping through the pages while humming.

I've discovered the joy of making messes the past few weeks. Do you know how cool it is to drop blocks/stacking rings/giant legos through the railing on the top floor and watch it bounce down the stairs and hit the tile? It is the. coolest. thing. ever. Plus mom then runs around like a crazy person and brings them all back to me and organizes the bookshelf again so I can mess it up. It's great. Another favorite pastime is taking all the ziplock bags out of draws, removing all Q-tips, chewing on toothbrushes (which is ironic, because I REALLY hate it when mom and dad try and brush my teeth) and swishing mom's dirt pile while she's sweeping or playing in the mop bucket when she's moping. Great times.

I don't know what is going on with mom and dad. They've kept me up past my bedtime THREE nights this week. (?!!) They never do that. Although last night I did get to dance to some killer 70s songs in disco lighting at the bowling alley. . . oh, and eat kiwi. Which I loved the first time mom gave it to me and promptly dropped on the floor the second. I like to keep them wondering.

I'm still in love with dogs and go crazy laughing when ever I see one. They are so funny. They try and lick my face. It's funny. Dogs are so funny. They are great. I want one.

I might be growing up fast, but mom says there's nothing like footed ballerina pjs and a pacifier to make me look like a little baby. And lets be honest, being a little baby isn't bad at all. 

class of '01

Brian and I graduated the same year-- June 2001. He was making his valedictorian speech on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in front of the El Tovar and I was walking with 400 other students into Cameron indoor stadium (Duke University's basketball stadium) ready to throw my cap and say goodbye to JHS. It has been 10 years since then (?!) and my reunion was a few weeks ago.  While I din't make it, I did pause for a minute to think back. 

I remember singing to Tim McGraw and Alabama in Zak's jeep. I remember developing black and white photographs in the dark room. I remember writing for the Falcon's Cry (the school paper) and eating doughnuts in the library over production weekend. I remember getting a red card on the soccer field. I remember reading Candid, Cold Mountain, 1984, The Inferno and The Merchant of Venice in Ms. Kopeck's class. I remember singing with Cath in our auditorium. I remember talking to Rachael Miller every minute of every lesson every Sunday. I remember fighting for my rights on student council. I remember making a fake lunch pass for off campus to save $10-- and almost getting suspended after getting caught. I remember eating my moms homemade sandwiches every day. I remember wishing I could trade places with my sleeping cat while waking up for seminary. I remember being scared of Byron Martin. I remember almost every detail of Erin Barr's room. I remember fighting with my sisters about clothes. I remember Seesaw Studio, the giant fish painted on the wall and the hours of art projects.  I remember laughing hysterically with Will Jeck in the middle of Chemistry. I remember my hip hop dance class after school.  And I remember being really really really glad when it was all over. 

oh little town of Moab

Recipe for a hays Christmas:

1 $10 Christmas tree from the La Sal Mountains (must be sawed down-- may possibly have a second tree growing off it)

30 minutes of Moab City's Christmas Light Parade-- the happiest half hour parade on earth.

6 Free cocoas, 6 free Lofthouse cookies

20 lighted floats

1 waving santa 

1 small butterfinger stolen from children

one full hour of Christmas  inspiration (thank you LDS Christmas devotional)

(at least) 4 dogpiles from giggling children during devotional

10 awesome friends in the same room

2 cups wassail

too many holiday cookies (already? yes!)

70 pages of A Christmas Carol

215 Christmas songs (thank you Allreds!!)

2 cups ground walnuts+ 2 cups butter+ 2 cups sugar

11 carols sung on Sunday 

6 warm puffies

Cool at 9degrees F. Enjoy.

(our olive wood nativity ornament made in Bethlehem. For real.)

this time last year

is it bad to say I'm really glad that this is over? Merry Christmas to me.

how to destroy a cake

And other things a one year old knows:

how to function as a biped (sort of anyway)

how to keep you busy cleaning all day

how to go up stairs 

how to eat spaghetti, strawberries and mandarin oranges like they're going out of style

how to fall on a tile floor

how to love dogs

how to clap 

how to captivate an audience

how to turn pages and "read" and "sing"

how to strum a guitar

how to stand up in the tub making it impossible for you to clean them

how to love a christmas tree 

how to do a fantastic pouty-lip

how to make adults look like fools

how to distract an entire congregation

how to hate hygiene (no brush teeth, suck on shoes, eat food off the floor)

how to make you laugh

how to be cuddly 

how to capture your attention

how to frazzle your brain

how to fill your heart

Thanks to the Hays family for making Thanksgiving week amazing! Fisher Towers, bouldering, face masks, Hearts and a great dinner. 

Remember that one time

we had a baby

and it changed our life?

We should do that again.

Happy Birthday Liesel. You are hands down the best thing in our life.

Hole n the Rock

If I was married and living in post WWII-uranium boom-small-town Moab I might consider blasting a 5,000 square foot home inside of a sandstone mound and sculpting a tribute to FDR like Albert and Gloria. Instead, I (for some strange reason) decided this would be a great place to take Brian's family. And it was entertaining. . . 

There was a zoo there with walabies, ostriches, a camel, a zebra and a pot bellied pig (among other things). Liesel was a mixture of confused, stunned and interested. After getting in trouble for entering a forbidden gate, we had a great time feeding the animals and laughing at Liesel's hysterical faces.  

This photo kind of sums it up.

Occupy Wall Street

After Elephant Butte we all went to Wall Street and climbed our little hearts out. I flailed up four climbs, but it felt good to get pumped and actually feel sore the next day. Man, I am so lucky I married my own personal rope gun-- the only problem is that I'm still not a 5.11 climber. 

This is Brian at the top of the route taken with Matt's camera. He's threading the rope to rap down.

Wall Street is loaded with climbs (and climbers). Brian is on the route to the left and an unknown climber is to the right on a different route. 

Elephant Butte in Arches

The last time we summited something was last July when Allison was visiting. Like a true mother/grandma she insisted that she really was cool with us taking off to play while she watched the babies, but this time it was only 3 hours instead of 16. The usual crew (okay, by now you probably know Clay and Leslie) + Matt (B's bro here visiting) headed to Arches to make a quick ascent of the mighty Elephant Butte in Arches.  We added ourselves in the above photo so you can see the scale of those boulders. . . the trail weaves through them and into the fins. 

This little hike was sweet. Rapels, 5th class move, scrambling and stemming. 

Me bossing people around. . . 

Brian leading the way and me pulling the one "tricky" move on the hike. 

Summit shot. I'm pretty sure I'm trying to convince Brian to either jump or act like and elephant (elephant butte-- hello!) in this photo. Not sure what Leslie's doing. . .?

Allison and the babies met us in the parking lot and we were eating Trisquits and cheese spread by 10:30am. Not a bad way to start the morning. 

Dear Island, I miss you.

Sometimes after I've been in Moab a little too long, I start to feel slightly claustrophobic. Living in a valley you kinda forget that the sun actually sets-- instead of just disappearing behind the red cliffs that constantly hover. I start craving a horizon and a long open road. And after living up at the Island for two years, I grew accustomed to dodging cows, going any speed I pleased (since I never saw a cop) and naming various buttes and rocks that marked my path. 

This week B had a climbing patrol up Washer Woman Arch (with along with Druid wins the prize for my favorite) with another ranger and I thought I might be able to catch a glimpse of him on the summit from Mesa Arch. Leslie and I stopped to scope out a petroglyph panel and get poison ivy and then headed up to my old stomping grounds. Is it possible to forget how beautiful a place is after living there for two years? As cheesy as it sounds, this place is special to me. And it's a cryin' shame that so many local moabites have never seen it. 

Liesel and I at the arch-- Brian was on the climbing the tower in the distance. 

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have Leslie who will go on great baby-friendly adventures? I'm under no illusion that friends like that are easy to come by. 

Check out Monument Basin. Can you see the kissing rocks in the basin? I feel like I could spend a lifetime exploring this place. B and I once hiked down into that basin-- I felt like a tiny speck in a sea of hardened mud. It was other-worldly and completely amazing. 

This weekend we went to Hovenweep ("deserted valley") to see a bunch of ruins built by the ancients with Brian's Arches co-workers. It was impressive but the highlight was seeing the tarantula and having conversations with kids who innocently share the skeletons in the family closet. And eating at a really terrible restaurant in Blanding. But in a town called Bland-ing, what can you expect?

And I'm adorable. with love, Liesel.