Family trip to Arches National park

Arches National Park

Moab, UT

March 2016

Spencer worked crazy hours for the months of January and February. We knew we could survive it because we had an awesome trip to look forward to.  When we told the boys we were moving to Utah, we showed them all the national parks and told them we would visit them and how it would be a total blast.  We took the kids out of school and went to Moab for a couple days.  We had a great hotel with a fun swimming pool and hot tub and the kids were honestly in heaven.  We did quite a few hikes which the boys were able to explore, rock climb, and be free! I thought many times how convenient it would be to have something like this in my backyard.  They kids were so happy.  They were really impressive climbers too.  I couldn't believe how quickly they could climb up huge boulders and rock formations.  

Our largest hike was to the Delicate Arch. I've seen many pictures of the Arch, but they don't do it justice.  It was stunning.  The area around the arch felt like the grand canyon.  The kids were excited to be there and climbed really well.  Except for Tanner, who conveniently had to go poop half way to the Arch.  It was a LONG hike for him.  Usually he shows everyone up and we get multiple comments on how well he climbs at such a young age, but this time the poor kid could hardly handle himself.  Then as we were halfway down from the arch, Benson went pee and as he went he tripped and fell 10 feet off a cliff.  He came out crying saying "I'm just glad I didn't die".  He was totally genuine and we had just completed our talk about smart hikers vs dumb hikers.  Kate was a wild hyper girl making everyone smile, and Reece was a trooper because he didn't complain even though he had a really bad cough.
We had an amazing time together as a family.  Spencer and I were so excited to be with each other and have many hours to just chat.  There are only 3 turns you need to make from our house to Moab and we missed the two biggest turns because we were chatting up a storm! It ended up costing us an extra hour of driving! It was great to be with the kids and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.  Being outside is so good for the soul.  Its rejuvenating, happy, peaceful, and reminds me of the love our Heavenly Father has for us that he gave us this beautiful earth to explore and live in.

 This is Canyonlands. It's right next to Arches and it's also very beautiful.

 This is the famous "Mesa Arch".  It's literally a drop-off right behind us. Kind of scary.

 Tanner loves his dog "Sammy".  He escorted us on our hike to Mesa Arch.

 This pictures is hilarious! Reece was trying to be funny and act like he was falling in-- and he TOTALLY FELL IN! We laughed so hard! Nice one Reece.