Moab...it's in my blood

Over Memorial Day weekend, we met up with all my family in Moab for a mini reunion. We had so much fun camping together and being in the place where our family started! 3 of my siblings and I were born in Moab. I lived there until I was 9, so I remember a lot about that fun town. It was great to relive memories and share that wonderful place with the next generation.

We went to church in the same building I grew up going to (wow...nostalgia hit me hard when we were at that church...especially when I walked into the bathroom! Yes! Of all places! As I was walking into the bathroom, I could see in my mind what I would see before I opened the door or turn the corner...and it looks exactly the same! Even down to the same trash cans!)

We all arrived on Friday night and set up camp then ate some dinner at a local burger shop. We passed our old Elementary school on the way. :) The next morning, we headed to Arches National Park to hike to the symbol of Utah...Delicate Arch. We grew up hiking that frequently...almost every time someone came into town, we would go on that hike. The kids did really well on the hike. Evelynn even hiked a good portion of it on her own! My favorite part of the hike was seeing Rob and my dad hiking next to each other and conversing! My dad is a quiet guy, so I really wanted to get him and Rob together in my dad's favorite element...hiking...in Moab...and I knew that they would bond. My plan worked!

After hiking Delicate Arch, we went to the Windows area and hiked over to Double Arch. We hiked around in the shade of the arch...always nice in the heat of the day.

My sister, Mandy, recently got engaged to Nate Summers. Here is the happy couple enjoying their hike together! And we enjoyed getting to know Nate, too. (They'll be getting married in July then likely moving to Ohio for law school! Deja-vu Crazy!


On Sunday afternoon, we went on a drive down the Colorado River. We saw several people rock climbing (I knew my dad and brother just wanted to get out and climb...but it was Sunday), and we viewed petroglyphs and took a little hike to see these dinosaur footprints up close. When we were getting out of the car to go on "another hike," Colden and Dylan were whining a little. But as soon as we said "dinosaur footprints," they were running up the trail! Those two boys were so excited to see real dinosaur footprints! And my dad also pointed out another slab of rock that had the other side of the footprints on it. Talk about heaven.
(My dad is in front...doesn't he look so young in that hat?)

I also really enjoyed bonding with my "baby" sister, Tiffany. She frequently volunteered to ride with me while we went to different places. So we talked about her guy friends, her major, and her dreams. She's turning 19 in 3 days! She has so much going for her and so much to discover. Tiffany, the world is what you make of it! You can reach any of your dreams if you want to. You already have what it takes to do that. Some of them will require you to step outside of your comfort zone, but if it's your dream, it's worth it. So just go for it!

Going to Moab just makes me want to go back and go back and go back to share more of Moab with my family (more hikes to more arches, rafting the Colorado, fishing in the LaSal Mountains, and biking Slickrock) . There just wasn't enough time in 3 days to experience even a small portion of all the beauty and fun that Moab has to offer!