Zion National Park

Chad and I (and Chad's friend Kent) went camping at Zion National Park on Sunday night. We got to Zion on Sunday afternoon and went to hike the Narrows (my fav @ ZNP) but just as we got to the entrance, the whole sole of Chad's water shoe came off :( So we turned back and went to the Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock. We camped out Sunday night and Monday morning, we packed up early and headed out to Angel's Landing. It was the most incredible (and difficult) hike we have ever experienced! I highly recommend it if you're up for it and if you're not afraid of heights! We enjoyed beautiful views, adorable little critters, some creepy bugs, good company, good food, and some wonderful memories!

This is the view of The Narrows as you're coming in. It is absolutely gorgeous and serene. The water was REALLY murky and a bit gross this time around as you may notice. Usually the water is crystal clear.

Me- all by my lonesome since Chad's shoe broke. I decided to hike in a little bit by myself.

Chad and Kent touching the 2,000 year old water dripping at Weeping Rock.

The view from Weeping Rock into Zion Canyon.

Chad being very manly and making dinner on Sunday night!

We were about 10 feet away from these two deer as we started our hike to Angel's landing!

"See, I'm fine babe!" What you can't see from this picture is that this rock juts up from one of the "21" switchbacks from hell and that if I took one step off the opposite side I was standing, I would have fallen to my rocky death.

The final ascent to the top of Angel's landing. As you can see, this is not a hike for the faint of heart. There was a point where there was only about five feet of rock and a chain to hold on to and on either side- 800 to 1200 feet of death.

Chad being VERY cautious at the top of Angel's Landing and enjoying the view down!

Me being not as cautious as Chad :) You can't see down well enough though...

A very happy Bethany at the top enjoying the view!!!

The view of the Virgin River from the top, as well as the shuttle stop at Big Bend into the Temple of Sinawava- entrance to The Narrows.

The view down Zion Canyon toward the Visitor Center from the top- this was by far my favorite view!

The Rest of the Weekend

We went up to Salt Lake for two days- just a quickie trip to get out of the heat and visit family. We went up on Sunday and left Tuesday morning (the 6th-8th). We had a great time! It's always nice to be with family and we hadn't been up since April. We went up to go to Lagoon, but it ended up that we went to the Gateway with my nephew, Alex, instead- a stellar choice, seriously!

There is a train you can catch from Woods Cross (abt. 5 min from where my parents live) that goes into Salt Lake. It is a commuter double decker train called The FrontRunner. So we decided to take the train- what 5 year old boy wouldn't prefer that?- into Salt Lake and catch Trax to the Gateway so that we could meet my mom at Discovery Gateway. What a cute place- Chad and I totally want our house to be like this place when we have kids- all hands on kid sized stuff- a house, grocery store, garden, water area, building area, a real friggin helicopter, you name it! Awesome!

We ate lunch, finished up at Discovery, went to the fountain- the most popular place at the gateway- then had some ice cream (after all, what kind of Aunt and Uncle would we be if we didn't have ice cream?) and Alex showed us the Clark Planetarium. We lamented about how there is NOTHING like these places in St. George and it is sad. We would so enjoy something like this all the time. I guess we'll have to take more trips to Salt Lake!

We took the train home, went to dinner, and then to Alex's T-Ball game. Ok, kid sports are THE BEST! We've watched Tyson play soccer and video of Anna at her dance recital, and now Alex at T-Ball. There really aren't any words to describe the entertainment it provides and how sweet it is because they are so proud of themselves!

My parents also saved their box of fireworks for when we were there! It made me so happy because, like I said, they are my FAV! Ok, enough rambling...here are pics:

This is our "flying things" invention we put together at Discovery Gateway. We were proud that we got all of the pieces moving! FYI- Discovery is kind of like The Exploratorium in San Fransisco (for those of you who have been there), just geared toward a younger audience.


The two pics above are of us with Alex on the air med helicopter @ Discovery Gateway! So fun!

This is us on the moonscape at the Clark Planetarium (notice the EARTH in the background- yeah baby!!)
Alex and me sucking on our rock candy on the train back home! Yea for rock candy- it's the best!
Chad in a very "Big Brother is watching" pic, sucking on his rock candy on the train home.

Alex on his last batting of the game- he gets to run everyone in, so ultimately he's the only one that gets a home run. T-Ball rules are friggin' weird, but it was cute!!

Happy 4th of July...a few days late

Chad, Tyson, and Bethy- a pic from the camera phone- these are not as easy to take as I thought. Maybe it's just my phone.
Tyson and the hand sanitizer he got from the parade- he was very proud! As he should be!
Anna: "Bethy, look at my new shirt!" Bethy: "Anna, your shirt is so cute!" Anna: "Its a United States of America shirt!" Bethy: "*Laugh* Oh, is that what it is?!" Real dialogue about Anna's shirt.

Our 4th of July weekend was so much fun! This is the first summer (out of 4) since Chad and I have been together, that Chad didn't have some kind of show he was performing in on the 4th! It was AWESOME! We went up to Cedar City for the annual 4th of July "Parade"- it usually consists of a bunch of ATVs, Trucks, and Emergency Vehicles driving down main street- that's what it was this year again, we musn't break tradition! It was fun- we met with my sister, Hayley, and her family to watch the parade.

Chad and I took off for a bit to check out scooters in town and decided to go to a movie. We took the niece and nephew to Wall-E since we hadn't seen it! Oh my gosh- it was so cute! I definately reccommend it to anyone! We then got 5 buck pizza (our fav) and took it to The Greenshow!

We went back to St. George- tired from the long day- and staked out a spot for fireworks at the park. It was great! I love fireworks!

I love this holiday because if it wasn't for this day Chad and I wouldn't have ever met (probably), so it always makes me happy! Also, y'know, we wouldn't have the freedoms we have...eh...

All for Naught

As I said in my last post- all the ranting and breaking down was for naught- everything did work out as it needed to. Chad interviewed for Tuacahn High School (one of two interviewed out of 25 applicants- I'm very proud of him!!) and ended up not getting the music position. He will stay part time at Fossil Ridge Intermediate doing piano and part time at Hurricane Intermediate doing band! Yea! I will stay at Hurricane Middle doing special Education! Yea!!! The power of prayer works- living proof! I am very appreciative to the interim director of SPED for all the hard work she did to keep me!
We are currently looking for a house in Hurricane (to rent, not buy) so that we can move by the end of the month! We are very excited about life today!!

New Job??

This morning, as I was putting phone calls in to perfect our perfectly planned life (I don't exaggerate) I recieved a phone call that tore apart my perfectly planned life. I am a planner and a solver. I plan things WAY ahead of time so that if a problem arises I can solve it before a deadline. Well through careful planning and prayer, Chad and I had felt that our life was going great- we both had full time jobs in the same town, we could afford to move out there into an actual house, we had a timeline for moving, getting back to work, going to necessary meetings for work- all the things I do to keep myself sane. We had started looking in papers and online for homes to rent in Hurricane and I decided to call on them today. Almost every single number led to the same house- one that we came upon by accident and really thought was a cute house. It was right next to where I was going to be working, great rent- perfect for us, fate (as it were) was intervening!
Not quite so...I hung up with the landlord of the house and immediately answered a call from the Principal at LaVerkin Elementary School informing me that I would be working at her school next year- I had been reassigned. I had heard no such thing and asked politely if she could repeat that. She did and was entirely confused, so we both hung up and made our phone calls to the district office. I found out, quite to my dismay, that it was indeed true and that I would be teaching 3rd grade at LaVerkin Elementary next year. I spoke with the interim director of special education later tonight (she quite literally called in the middle of a breakdown I was having) and I feel somewaht ok with the situation at hand. There are still issues at hand that need to be settled, so I may yet be able to work in special education- but everything is up in the air- and for those of you who know me well- that doesn't work in my world...I NEED TO PLAN!!!
I am entirely conflicted for many reasons- I don't know about teaching 3rd grade- it has never been a goal EVER to be an elementary school teacher- my passion is special education. But if I didn't have a dual degree, I wouldn't have a job right now, as I am reminding myself constantly- I am lucky to have a job. I do have a feeling that the ranting and breaking down will all be for naught- things will work out the way they need to.
Thanks for listening-I'll keep you "posted" (he he) on the situation!

Family

It has been a while sit I sat down to bog. My mom, sister, and nephew came down and stayed with us from the 22nd until the 27th. They really came to see my new nephew, but I like to think they were her for me...just kidding. We went on a shopping spree to buy my niece, Anna, a new wardrobe since she hit a growth spurt and didn't fit into any of her summer clothes (and as you may know, St. George is a place where a summer wardrobe is a MUST-HAVE!!). It was lots of fun- all the girls went shopping while the boys went to my sister's house and played video games- we are obviously a very gender specific family!
We also went to a place called Jumpin' Jacks. For any St. George Residents with children or not- this place is AWESOME! It's an indoor place with the blow up play equipment (like slides and obstacle courses and boxing rings where you use gloves the size of Kansas) that you would find a carnivals and outdoor festivals. This is a place where parents take their children during the hot St. George summer days to play. Well for BORING adults, you can opt to sit and "watch" free of charge. Or if you're an AWESOME adult, you opt to play with the kids for $5. My sister, Mandi, by brother-in-law, Mike, and I opted to play. Mandi and I did an obstacle course together. I wish we would have had someone with a camera on us- it was hilarious. First we couldn't get up because we were awkwardly big and once we finally did, we toppled town the slides instead of gracefully flowing down them. Everyone ended up playing-it was ridiculous fun!
My dad came for about 5 hours on his way home from a business trip- he threw out his back and could hardly move two days before he left on the trip and then had huge weather issues coming home from the east coast- poor daddy! He made it to St. George, met the new grandson, and then got in the van with everyone else and headed home! Poor guy...
We BBQed and watched movies together, saw shows, spent lots of money, held the baby, played with the kiddos, etc. Its always fun to have family around.
About 2 hours after my family left, Chad's brother called and asked if they could come visit that night. We had planned on them coming to see Les Mis with their daughter, so we had already started laundry and they came around 9:00 on the 27th. We played games with them, saw Get Smart (which was MUCH BETTER than I had originally thought it would be- I was impressed), I got to see Les Mis with them. We always love having them around. They left the morning of the 29th. They are such wonderful positive people- I need to be around them more!!
It was an eventful week. Needless to say, Chad and I crashed when all was said and done. It was a very fun week!