Seven years ago...

Seven years ago, after we had been dating 3-4 months, Scott asked me to go on a 5 day river rafting trip on the San Juan River with him and some of his buddies.  I first had to look up "San Juan River" on Google to make sure he wasn't pranking me because I had never heard of it.  After confirming that it is indeed a real river, I immediately said yes.

The trip began in Mexican Hat, Utah, located approximately 5 hours northeast of Phoenix in roughly the middle of nowhere.  I also had to look this up to confirm Scott was not playing some sort of joke on me.  We were set to raft from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills Crossing, just upstream of  Lake Powell.

 

Prior to him asking me to join him on this trip, I had been camping all of....once.  For one night.  No more than 30 miles away from Phoenix.  With my boss and a group of her friends.  Never more than a mile away from the car.  And with plenty of booze to ease my fears and hide my discomfort.

I asked friends to help me stock up on the gear I would need to make it look like I knew what I was doing on this trip.  Thankfully I had a friend who worked at REI to guide me through the process and save me some serious $$$.


We hiked the Honaker Trail, which goes up to the canyon rim 1,200 feet above the river.  From there you look out over the Goosenecks section of the river and the landscape beyond is Monument Valley-ish (I'm not sure what you're actually seeing depending on which way you look, but go ahead and imagine that it looks like Monument Valley).  This hike required Scott and I to bond a bit as it was not my cup of tea.  Very steep and rocky terrain with a LOT of exposure.  At one point there is an option to jump across a gap in the rocks out to a ledge for an extra amazing view --- my hands are sweating just recalling that gap --- but I opted to keep my feet on the ground where they belong.

Second night camping on the river.  Soup in my old school Ukrop's kiddie cup and Jack Daniels in a Nalgene bottle (i.e. large scale camping-suitable flask).  As I recall, this was right after I had to learn to shower in my swimsuit in the river.  Hence why I look like I'm freezing.

Although the trip was only 7 years ago, digital cameras were still delicate and expensive.  So sadly, there isn't much photo documentation of what an amazing trip this was.  The food (grilled salmon... really?  I was expecting a whole lot of PB&J), the group of people floating with us, the cold mystery beers from the drag bags (mesh bags hanging off the side of the boat in the cold water with no labels because the high silt content of the river rubbed the ink off the cans), my new boyfriend, the breathtaking scenery -- everything was completely amazing.

Senor Hayes, Captain of the Party Boat

On one of the last days, the group had the option to take another day to explore the canyons or to head directly to the take out spot as planned.  Scott and I were both ready to take the extra day and stay - I even wrote a letter to have sent to my boss (no cell phone coverage in the area) explaining that I knew I didn't have enough vacation days to cover the trip...and I realized that not returning knew I might lose my job.  In my 23-year old mind, it was worth the risk.  We ended up not staying the extra day because we carpooled from Phoenix with a friend of Scott's who had to get home to his family as originally planned.

The one action picture we do have makes it look like I'm not doing any work...which is quite incorrect. I pulled more than my weight for sure on this trip - which in retrospect - I'm sure was a dating test.

Big sister helps teach Nat her colors

Natalie successfully followed Katie's directions for what color ring to add to the peg next twice before I got the video camera in hand.  Of course when Natalie sees that mom is taking a video, she decides she has other things to do...

http://youtu.be/SBUmsMAiyXc

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog

Welcome to the family lil Gus.

First of all, it's a big responsibility, so think long and hard before deciding on love.

On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security: when you're walking down the street late at night and you have a leash on love ain't no one going to mess with you.Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable. Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.  It lies between you and lives and breathes and makes funny noises.

Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.

It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.

But come home and love is always happy to see you.

It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life, but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.  Love leaves you little surprises here and there. Love needs lots of cleaning up after.

Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.

Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper and swat love on the nose, not so much to cause pain, just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk because love loves exercise.  It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.  It pulls you in several different directions at once, or winds around and around you until you're all wound up and can't move.  But love makes you meet people wherever you go.  People who have nothing in common but love stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back, again, and again, and again.

But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.

And in return, love loves you and never stops.

Show Mommy how the little piggie eats!

Natalie loves to eat.  And I mean LOVES.  The more time I spend around other kids at meal time, the more I realize that she is not a normal eater because there really are very few foods that this little piggie won't eat.  And I'm pretty sure that she would sit in her high chair all day and eat if you continued to put food in front of her.

Here is a brief glimpse of tonight's dinner (baked beans, peas and cottage cheese with peaches) activities...

http://youtu.be/y1BfnRu1YOk

Natalie is finally walking!!

Lil Miss Natalie was in no hurry to walk independently but after a few weeks of being the only kid who wasn't walking independently in the big-kid toddler room...she's a walker! 

Previously she had taken a handful of steps for people other than mom and dad (i.e. her teachers at school, the babysitter while we were in Texas, etc.) and then started doing 4-5 steps for mom or dad, but this was the first time I managed to catch her on video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luKtzNKx3uE

Annual family trip to Dallas

We took our annual Memorial Day trip to Dallas this year to visit Mark, Meridith, Riley and to meet our newest nephew, Dylan.

As a reward for getting good grades in 5th grade (all A's and only three B's), Scott took Katie to Six Flags Over Texas for the day while Mark and Meridith were at work.

See kid, good grades do pay off!

Katie was not quite so excited to ride the Texas Giant, but she did and ended up really enjoying it.  But she was a bit nervous while waiting in line.  I think she probably had a little too much time to think about it.

This is the same non-excited face I recall seeing before entering the Moray Eel exhibit at Sea World.

Daddy in front of the Boot Scootin' kiddie ride.

Sadly, this was about as much fun as Katie would have on this trip.  The day after going to Six Flags she came down with some sort of fever-bug that kept her in bed for the next 3 days.  Huge bummer. 

The 4 of us adults were able to convince Mark and Meridith's nanny to watch all the kids so we could get out on Saturday night for drinks, dinner and a concert.  For more on that.... http://hayesyearofbeer.blogspot.com/2012/06/meddlesome-moth-and-dirk-nowitzki.html

But on the flip side, it forced us to stay home and just chill more with the kids rather than run around here or there.  Sadly though, there were not too many photos snapped on this trip.

Riley shows Natalie the ropes with his water play table.

Riley and Natalie washing dishes at his outdoor kid BBQ

The only picture I have of the 4 of them together.