Jord and Lies Steele

Tough Day At The Office

2011-04-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

My dad sold the building in Moab, but we still have the lot next to it. Problem is, it's just dirt, so it grows weeds really fast. Every once in a while we need to go down and maintain those weeds. So today for work Liesel and I drove down and sprayed weeds. While we were at it, we decided to take our bikes and do a ride. This is a singletrack trail system at Dead Horse Point that follows around the rim. It was WAY fun and had AMAZING views the whole ride. Sadly, this is the only picture I got and it was with my cell phone. Looks like we'll just have to go back :)

Biking Close To Home

2011-04-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

There is a group of guys in our new ward that are big into biking, and they talk about it all the time. I'd heard about these bike trails above Price, but never really looked into it. One of my friends, Jacob Petty, took a bike class at CEU and had an idea where some of the trails are. So on friday I had him show me one called Lukes Trail. It is a singletrack trail through the cedar trees and along some canyon rims and is about 2.5 miles long, then a couple miles on dirt roads back to the truck.

It was such a fun trail that a couple days later I had to bring Liesel and Tripp to try it out. They Loved it too. Tripp likes to lead and she is really good at following the trail, even when we're hiking.

I don't know if it is because I grew up here, but I think Price and the surrounding area is BEAUTIFUL! I love cedar trees and dusty desert plateaus. And sagebrush.

It makes having bikes that much more fun being able to go ride some sweet trails right in our backyard.

Way behind...

2011-03-28T20:48:00.001-07:00

So Mandy paid me a visit the other day, and she chastized me because according to my blog we've been camping at grassy lake for the last 8 months. Ha ha, guess we've had alot going on and have been neglecting telling everyone about the exciting things happening in our lives. Alot has happened, so here is a brief update of the most important things.....

The biggest thing is that we bought a new house! We sold our little home in Helper and we now live in Price. And man do we Love it. I had to move down the street from Mandy's in-laws so she no longer has a excuse not to visit me when she comes down to Price.

I graduated college! Talk about a relief..... That was a good long journey, but I'm glad for it to be over. I now have my Bachelors of Science in Business Management.

I learned how to grow a beard.....

So did Liesel

Without school taking up all of my time, I decided to learn something new. I am learning to play the guitar. We now have an accoustic to take camping, and my electric to play around with at home.

Of course we go camping in moab. This was our first trip this spring. Liesel, Tripp, and I camped and hiked Fisher Towers.

I went to the Linkin Park concert with Blake. Talk about AMAZING!!!! These guys are good live.

Traded in the Jeep for this rock crawler. This one is a little less expensive to keep running.

We really sold the jeep to get this. Our Polaris RZR S. This thing is so much fun! We can go right from our driveway, across the street, and out into the dirt hills. There are dirt roads for miles right out our front door.

This last weekend we ventured down to Moab with Clyde (Chris Howes) and his wife Kylie. We camped in and hike around Arches NP. Very cool campground.

Right from the campground we hiked to multiple arches. This one was called Tapestry Arch.

This one they call broken arch, because it is cracked right down the middle of it.

Had some stormy clouds, but it made for some cool pictures.

This one is Sand Dune Arch.

Saturday was nice and sunny. We took the four wheeler and RZR and did a trail called 7 mile rim. It follows the rim to the West of hwy 191 and North of hwy 313 (the one that goes to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands Island in the Sky District.) This arch is along the trail and is called Uranium Arch.

The RZR is a perfect Moab toy. Here she is on our lunch break in between the Monitor and Mirramac Buttes. There's lots of Moab to see, and this is the toy to do it on. Liesel LOVES the RZR. She calls it hers and she didn't let me drive it all weekend. All I did was load and un-load it in the trailer. (She really would have let me, but I loved that she wanted to drive it so bad.)

So there's a brief update of our last 6 or so months. We also had a trip to Lake Powell with the Heiners, and a trip to Hawaii with my parents. (Don't have any of those pictures on my laptop.) Enjoy!

GRASSY LAKE AND PETE'S HOLE

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

ON THE WEEKEND OF JULY 30TH AND 31ST WE WENT CAMPING WITH CLYDE AND KYLIE HOWES AND KYLIES FRIEND AND HUSBAND FROM EPHRAIM. WE WENT TO GRASSY LAKE (UP ABOVE JOES VALLEY). TALK ABOUT BEAUTIFUL!

GRASSY LAKE

ITS FUN TO HAVE THE JEEP TO GET US UP IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NOT WORRY ABOUT GETTING STUCK OR SCRATCHING THE PAINT JOB.

DID A LITTLE FLY FISHING

KYLIE'S UNCLE LET US BORROW HIS CANOES. MAN THOSE THINGS ARE FUN.

CLYDE AND I DOING A LITTLE FISHIN

OF COARSE EVERTHING HAS TO TURN INTO A RACE....

FIRST FISH. THE LAKES UP THERE ARE FULL OF TROUT.

AFTER WE HUNG OUT AT GRASSY FOR A WHILE WE DECIDED TO TRY OUT LUCK AT PETE'S HOLE. THERE WERE ALOT MORE PEOPLE THERE, BUT ALSO ALOT MORE FISH. WE HAD WAY BETTER LUCK THERE.

FISH!!!!!

THEY WEREN'T REAL BIG, BUT THEY SURE WERE FUN TO CATCH.

THE LAKE WAS PROBABLY ONLY 6 FEET DEEP AT THE DEEPEST SPOT, SO YOU COULD SEE THE FISH SWIMMIN ALL AROUND YOU. AND WHEN THE SUN WOULD PEAK OUT FROM BEHIND THE CLOUDS, OUR SPINNERS WOULD SHINE AND THAT'S WHEN THE FISH WOULD GO NUTS FOR OUR LURES.

THIS ONE'S CLASSIC. I WAS HOLDING THE FISH AND OPENED MY HAND SO WE COULD GET A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE THING, AND RIGHT WHEN LIESEL TOOK THE PICTURE IT DECIDED THAT WAS IT'S TIME TO ESCAPE. HA HA

WE HAD AN AWESOME TIME! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO RAIN ALL WEEKEND, BUT WE ENDED UP WITH BEAUTIFUL MOSTLY SUNNY WEATHER. THE FEW CLOUDS AND LITTLE RAIN WE GOT WERE WELCOME BECAUSE IT WOULD COOL US OFF A BIT FROM THE HOT DAY. WE'LL DEFINITELY BE GOING BACK THERE TO CAMP AGAIN.

LAKE POWELL!!!!!

2010-08-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's time to play a little catch up. It's been an awesome summer, and we just haven't had time to tell everyone about all the fun things we've been doing. That's why I love summer so much.

June 28th to July 3rd we were priveleged enough to go to Lake Powell with the Heiners. They have a share on the Milky Way, and it's ALWAYS a party.

We found a sandy beach inside a cove close to Bullfrog bay. That's pretty lucky, especially around the 4th of July. It worked out good thought because we had alot of people coming throughout the week, so boating to the Marina to pick them up wasn't too bad.

This is the mock-up of the Lake Powell temple. Look for it to be announced this next General Conference.

Of course there was lots of tubing. Lots and lots of tubing.....

This is Christian (Daniels husband) showing of his mad skills.

It's weird being the grown ups now that wake up at the crack of dawn to catch the nice water. I used to think all the older siblings and cousins were crazy for waking up so early to get wet.

As you can see, not much action on the houseboat as we left each morning.

Jason (Brittanys husband) was the skier. He won't let himself get old.

Liesel is turning into quite the little wakeboarder. She's one of those people that can do just about anything she tries.

We were camped close enough to hike to this sweet little cliff jumping spot. It was cool cause there was cliffs of all sizes, and you could do whatever you were comfortable with.

The kids were actually pretty daring. Once one did it, they all had to. Couldn't be outdone of course.

This isn't the glassiest water ever, but I'd say it was pretty sweet for bullfrog bay in the middle of July. This was the advantage of the early morning runs.

Blake catching some air.

Early is early no matter what you're doing, but it was always worth the wake-up.

Nose grab by yours truely

The riders weren't the only ones that got to enjoy waking up early. You have to love Lake Powells breath taking views.

Thanks to the Heiners for letting us crash their party.

FAMILY REUNION

2010-07-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

THIS YEAR WE HAD OUR FIRST ANNUAL CURTIS STEELE FAMILY REUNION. WE DECIDED TO HAVE A CAMPOUT IN NINE MILE. WE ALL BROUGHT A GAME AND JUST HAD FUN ALL WEEKEND. THE WEATHER WAS GREAT.

WE DID A LOT OF POT GUT SHOOTING. A LOT! ON ONE OF OUR RIDES WE FOUND THIS WOOD PILE FULL OF ROCK CHUCKS.

ALL I HAD WAS MY 9MM SO I TOOK A WACK AT THEM. NO SUCH LUCK THOUGH, SENSE I AM TERRIBLE WITH HAND GUNS. NOT AS BAD A BRADY THOUGH ;)

DON'T BE MISTAKEN. THAT IS NOT CADEN RIDING WITH THEM. HE WAS BACK AT CAMP SNOOZIN.

AUDREY HAD A PILE OF GIRLS. TWO BEHIND HER AND SHE HAD TO GIVE ONE TO JAKE AND AMANDA. SHE WAS TRYIN TO GIVE THEM AWAY ALL WEEKEND! JUST KIDDIN.

AND MORE GUNS. DID A LITTLE SHOTGUN SHOOTING.

LIESEL DID NOT GROW UP AROUND GUNS, BUT YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW. SHE'S A DEAD EYE WITH WHATEVER GUN SHE IS HOLDING!

I LIKE GUNS.... I'VE BEEN SHOOTING THEM MY WHOLE LIFE, BUT LIESEL CAN OUT-SHOOT ME ANY DAY.

EVERYONE COMPLIMENTS LIESEL ON HER HAIR CUT (THAT SHE CUT HERSELF). WE KNOW AMY WAS SERIOUS BECAUSE SHE ASKED LIESEL IF SHE WOULD CUT HER HAIR RIGHT THERE WITH KITCHEN SCISSORS. AND THIS WAS THE DAY BEFORE OUR FAMILY PICTURES! GOOD THING IT TURNED OUT GOOD.

THE PUPPIES EVEN TAGGED ALONG. THEY LOVE RUNNING AROUND THE BIG OPEN SPACES, BUT HAD TO BE LOCKED UP WHEN WE WERE SHOOTING GUNS. WE ALL HAD FUN, GOT SOME SUN, AND CLEARED OUT A LOT OF POT GUTS IN OUR CAMP. GOOD TIMES......

WHAT?! WORK?!

2010-06-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'M SURE EVERONE THINKS THAT WE ARE ALL PLAY AN NO WORK, BUT WE KNOW HOW TO GET DOWN AND DIRTY AND GET A JOB DONE. WELL, AT LEAST STARTED. THE PEOPLE THAT LIVED IN OUR HOUSE BEFORE US TORE OUT THE BACK YARD, SO WE'VE BEEN TENDING DIRT (WHICH IS WAY HARDER THAN TENDING GRASS) FOR THE TWO YEARS THAT WE'VE LIVED HERE. WE FINALLY DECIDED TO BUCKLE DOWN AND PUT IN A BACK YARD. I'VE DRAWN UP MY PLANS, SO NOW WE START THE DIRTY WORK.

IT'S FUN WHEN DAD BUYS ALL THESE SWEET TOOLS AND LETS US USE THEM. THANKS DAD! LIESEL IS THE FIRST (AND ONLY) ONE TO USE THE NEW BACK-HO ATTACHMENT. SHE DID AMAZING! WHAT SHE WAS DOING HERE WAS DIGGING UP WHERE A FENCE POST HAD BEEN CEMENTED 3 FEET IN THE GROUND. I'VE DUG UP 3 OF THESE IN THE FRONT YARD WITH A SHOVEL, AND THE BACK-HO WAS WAY EASIER.

SHE'S A NATURAL AT HEAVY MACHINERY

THIS IS HOW YOU TAKE OUT A SIDEWALK

ACTUALLY, THIS IS HOW YOU TAKE OUT A SIDEWALK

THIS IS NOT HOW YOU TAKE OUT A SIDEWALK. TOO BIG FOR THE BUCKET

WHICH CAUSES SOME MANUAL LABOR WITH A BIG HAMMER

TA DA! SO WE'VE SPRAYED FOR WEEDS, GOT RID OF THE CEMENT, NOW WE DIG TRENCHES. WE'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED (AS FUN AS THIS IS FOR YOU I'M SURE)

Negro Bill Canyon

2010-06-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day we decided to do a hike in Moab that is dog friendly. Tripp has been jeeping in Moab, but never hiking. Until now....

This is the trailhead for Negro Bill canyon and it goes to Morning Glory natural bridge.

Tripp was a good leader. Somehow she knew the trail the whole way (probably was sniffin out the dogs ahead of her).

This was Tripps first real experience with water. I want her to like the water, but she had a bad first experience. On the way up the trail there was a rock sloping into the water. Tripp wanted a drink, so she inched her way down it until she could reach the water with her mouth. She got a little drink, lost her balance, and fell right in. She put all fours out reaching for something to grab onto. She got out fine, but when we came to the next water crossing, she did everything she could to "rock hop" across and not ever touch the water. After a while she figured out the water wasn't going to hurt (but would actually cool her off) so she wasn't quite so timid.

Tripp goes so good with the Moab sand and rocks.

The shade made for some nice breaks on the hike.

Tripp is a little scared of strangers, so this is what she did when we pulled over to let other hikers pass. She is so cute! And that is the problem, she is so cute that people walking by want to pet her. When they reach their hand out she'll back away and not let them get close.

Morning Glory Natural Bridge is the 6th largest natural bridge span in North America.

We found some people repelling down it. How cool!

Tripp would watch closely to see what new people and dogs would come to the natural bridge while we hung out there cooling off.

So we decided Tripp is part deer. She looks like one, and she can jump like nobodies business! We were running down the trail, and this little part had rock steps up the side, but she went straight up and over with little effort. We're considering re-naming her Tigger. Boing....

BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY!!!

The morning hike in was very pleasant, but on the way back the afternoon sun would make the sand a little hot for Tripps little paws. This is the point where she started liking coming up to water crossings.

There were some long stretches where there was no water or shade, and she just couldn't take it. She would sit down and try to get all of her paws off the hot sand. Kind of reminds me of "footprints in the sand."

On one of our last breaks on the trail I looked up at the tree providing us with shade and saw this beautiful picture.

And of course we can't go to Moab without hitting up the local T-Shirt shops!

Tripp was a trooper, and she definitely got worn out. I love how cuddly she gets when she is tired. Or maybe she thinks the same thing about me ha ha

NINE MILE!!!

2010-06-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

So guess what! We went somewhere else worthy of blogging. We had our annual memorial day weekend fencing trip. We headed out Friday night and spent Saturday messing around and doing a little fencing. We had Liesel's Dad, brother Beau, and sisters Kallie and Abby with us. We had Tripp with us too.

This is the beginning of the summer village.

Of course we had to do a little pot gut hunting. The 22's are a must out in camp.

The pot guts even turned Kallie into a mighty hunter.

Liesel just can't get enough of it. Isn't she CUTE!!!!

Beautiful country.....

Tripp was so much fun out there. She loved being able to run around with Chaco as fast as they could. They would do circles around camp until they couldn't run anymore.

Here we are doing a little work. Those dang Elk plow through the barbed wire like it isn't even there.

The dogs did so good sticking around, we didn't even have to watch them. We just had to watch that we didn't run them over, and that they didn't get caught up in the fence.

Chaco had blood on her head and we decided it was coming from Tripps mouth. We gave her a drink, then couldn't find where the blood was coming from. Whatever it was, it healed up quick. It was beautiful weather and we had a really relaxing, fun trip.

Same Place, Different Activity

2010-05-24T09:29:00.001-07:00

Soooo.... Moab... haha. We had nothing to do this weekend, so we decided we'd test out our new bikes on the famous Slickrock Trail in Moab. It's nice enough to camp outside now, so we went down with camping in mind. We left after work, so we got there around 8:00pm. I had a few campsites in mind in case some were full, and we drove around for three hours only to find that every campground in Moab was FULL!!! Not one site anywhere. Good thing we have a backup building.

We got tired of flat air mattresses, so we invested in these sweet cots. They are actually just as comfortable and will never go flat.

We planned to roast hot dogs over our campfire for dinner, and no camp site = no camp fire. No camp fire = no roasting hot dogs. No roasting hot dogs = no dinner. So we imporvised.

Actually turned out pretty good, and we didn't go hungry. Before we left for the trail we rode our bikes down mainstreet and that was a blast. And of course we had to hit up the local t-shirt shops. It was fun to do that part on the bikes and not have to find places to park. In Moab there are bike racks all along main street so there is always a place to lock your bike up.

The Slickrock bike trail is AWESOME! You ride over the Moab sandstone and along sandstone cliffs. It was a little windy which made the cliff parts scary, but way fun.

The weather was really nice a warm. Got some nice sun burns and it felt good to wear shorts. It was really cold to come home to Price. Its amazing the temperature difference between 118 miles.

We decided from the very beginning that we would wear full face helmets when we do this stuff because of what Debbie Blackburn did on this very trail. She wrecked and had to have her jaw wired shut for months. We decided it would be much cheaper to just buy the helmets. We had a blast and definitely plan on doing this trail again.

GUESS WHERE WE WENT....

2010-04-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

IF YOU GUESSED MOAB, YOU'RE RIGHT ON THE MONEY! WE WENT DOWN TO HIKE, BUT TO ALSO CHECK OUT JEEP SAFARI. WE WENT WITH JAKE AND AMANDA AND CADEN.

BEAUTIFUL CANYONLANDS, ISLAND IN THE SKY DISTRICT. WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, BUT HAD TO COME BACK.

IT WAS JAKE AND AMANDA'S FIRST CAMPING/HIKING TRIP WITH CADEN. IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE SINCE NOBODY HAS HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH KIDS. HE DID PRETTY GOOD THOUGH. TURNS OUT BABYS DON'T NECESARILY SPOIL EVERYTHING.....

MY CUTE BABY MAKIN HER SIGNATURE PANCAKES :) WE'RE HARD CORE CAMPERS AREN'T WE.

THIS IS ALL CADEN SAW THE WHOLE HIKE. EVERYONE WE CAME ACROSS SAID THEY REALLY THOUGHT JAKE WAS JUST CARRYING AROUND A TEDDY BEAR.

AWESOME SCENERY IN CANYONLANDS.

THE BOYS ON MESA ARCH. WE TOOK THIS ONE TO FREAK MOM OUT. THE ARCH BOWS OUT OVER A CLIFF.

LIESEL AND AMANDA COULD NOT BE SHOWN UP. THEY HAD TO SHOW HOW DARING THEY WERE TOO.

OVERLOOKING THE GREEN RIVER. IT'S AMAZING WHAT WATER CAN DO TO THE LAND.

WE DID A HIKE CALLED THE AZTEC BUTTE. AMANDA NEEDED SOME TIME TO FEED THE BABY, SO WE DID THIS SHORT HIKE WITHOUT HER.

AROUND THE EDGE OF THE BUTTE ARE THESE AZTEC GRAINERIES.

MY WINDOW HAS AN AMAZING VIEW. HAHA

JUST LIKE LAST TIME I HAD TO FINALLY STEAL THE CAMERA FROM LIESEL SO SHE COULD BE IN SOME PICTURES. ISN'T SHE THE CUTEST!

MAN, I LOVE THAT GIRL....

MIGHTY JORDAN...

EEWWWWW.... BABIES....

IT WAS A FUN TRIP TO BE WITH JAKE AND AMANDA, AND TO SEE ALL THE SWEET RIGS AT JEEP SAFARI. WE ENDED THE DAY LIKE ALWAYS HITTING THE SHOPS ALONG MAINSTREET AND SPENT PLENTY OF MONEY. MOAB ROCKS!!!

MORE MOAB ADVENTURES

2010-03-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

ON MARCH 18TH WE VENTURED OFF INTO THE BEAUTIFUL LAND OF MOAB. WE LOADED THE JEEP AND CLYDE'S FOUR WHEELER, ALL OUR CAMPING GEAR, AND HEADED OUT.

THANKS TO UNCLE BRENT FOR LETTING US TAKE IS SWEET TRAILER. THE TRUCK PULLED IT LIKE A CHAMP!
WITH LIESEL'S NEW CAMERA, SHE SEEMS TO FIND BEAUTY IN ANYTHING SHE POINTS IT AT.

THIS WAS ONE OF OUR DESTINATIONS ON FRIDAY. IT WAS A JEEP TRAIL THAT LED TO THIS TUNNEL CALLED TUSHER TUNNEL.

FROM THIS VIEW IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE ENTERING THE BUTT.

IT'S A COUPLE HUNDRED FEET LONG, AND WAY COLD. IT WOULD BE NICE TO VISIT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER.

IT'S REALLY TOO BAD THAT WE CAN GET CELL SERVICE IN THE MOST REMOTE OF PLACES NOW, BUT ALSO REALLY CONVENIENT. THERE'S JUST NO GETTING AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD ANYMORE.

THIS DISTINCTIVE LANDMARK IS CALLED "GOONY BIRD ROCK." IT IS ON THE TRAIL TO GEMINI BRIDGES. THE CLOUDS MADE FOR SOME SWEET BACKDROPS THAT DAY.

AGAIN WITH THE CLOUDS.....

THIS IS ME LOOKIND DOWN THROUGH THE GEMINI BRIDGES. THERE ARE TWO BRIDGES THAT YO CAN WALK ACROSS, AND I'M ACTYUALLY SITTING ON AN OVERHANG, WHICH WILL SOMEDAY BE ANOTHER BRIDGE I'M SURE.

LIESEL REALLY LIKES THE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURES.

THIS TRAIL IS CALLED "LONG CANYON." IT'S NOT A VERY HARD TRAIL, BUT IT DOES GET QUITE NARROW. AT ONE POINT YOU DRIVE UNDER THIS ROCK THAT HAS BROKEN OFF FROM THE CLIFF AND LEANING AGAINST IT. THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT, SO YOU HAVE TO FIT. YOU COULD SEE SOME SPARE TIRE TREAD ACROSS THE ROOF OF THE ROCK.

THIS IS WHY LONG CANYON IS COOL. YOU HAVE THESE GREAT VIEWS ALL THE WAY DOWN.

I DON'T KNOW WHY I THOUGHT THESE OPPOSING SIGNS LOOKED SO COOL, BUT I DID.

AFTER WE GOT OUT OF LONG CANYON WE DECIDED TO GO TO ARCHES. THIS IS CLYDE (CHRIS HOWES) AND HIS WIFE KYLIE. SHE HAD NEVER BEEN, SO WE FIGURED WE BETTER FIX THAT.

NOTHING NEW TO US, BUT WE SURE DO LOVE IT.

ACTUALLY, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO SEE. WE HAD NEVER BEEN TO THIS ARCH. WE WENT TO A SECTION OF THE PARK CALLE THE WINDOWS, AND THIS ARCH IS NEAR BY. THIS ONE IS CALLED DOUBLE ARCH. THE ARCH FORMS A TRIANGLE HOLE THROUGH THE TOP. VERY COOL.

I FINALLY HAD TO STEAL THE CAMERA FROM LIESEL SO SHE COULD BE IN SOME PICTURES. CUTE GIRL!!!!!

THIS IS A SILLOUETTE SHOT I GOT OF LIESEL THROUGH THE DOUBLE ARCH. WHAT A BABE.

WE'VE BEEN TO DELICATE ARCH A DOZEN TIMES, AND EVEN THOUGH IT IS JUST AS AMAZING EACH TIME, WE DECIDED TO HIKE THE VIEWPOINTS FROM THE BACKSIDE OF THE ARCH. VERY IMPRESSIVE VIEWS, AND NOW I SEE WHERE THEY GOT THE SHOT FOR THE UTAH LICENSE PLATES.

NEAT....

AND THAT WAS THE END OF OUR EASY TRAIL DAY. THE NEXT DAY, POISON SPIDER......

Poison Spider Trail

2010-03-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

ON SATURDAY OF OUR TRIP WE DID A TRAIL CALLED POISON SPIDER. WE'VE DONE PART OF IT BEFORE, BUT THIS TIME WE DID THE WHOLE THING. ABOUT 15 MILES OFF ROAD.

THIS IS AN OBSTACLE CALLED THE WATERFALL

IT'S COOL IN THE SPRINGTIME BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS BEHIND THE RED ROCK

AWESOME VIEWS THE WHOLE TRIP

THIS IS THE REASON THE TRAIL IS CALLED POISON SPIDER. A LITTLE PIONEER GIRL GOT BIT AND DIED. HERE IS HER MAMORIAL

ONE OF THE COOL WONDERS OF THE SLICKROCK IN MOAB.

THIS LITTLE ARCH IS CALLED, WELL, LITTLE ARCH. YOU'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING THROUGH IT AND DOWN A 200 FOOT CLIFF DOWN TO THE RIVER.

LOADIN BACK UP AT THE BOTTOM. NOTICE WHERE THE CROWS HAD PERCHED ON MY MIRROR AND DID IT'S BUSINESS...... GRRRRRR

2010-03-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

On January 16, 2010 we decided to try something new. Now I know going to Moab is the farthest thing from new for us, but we have never been in the winter. And waiting around for summer is just way too long!

We went to Arches with Blake, Brady Maynes, and Bud Powell (from my mission.)
Balance.......

The clouds were AWESOME!

So was the snow covered slickrock

And the snow. Our new camera is amazing!

Liesel is getting to be quite the little photographer.

It was actually really nice hiking in the winter. It's alot easier to stay warm when it's cold then stay cool when it's hot.

This place never gets old.

Had a really fun time and now we're WAY excited for spring. Lots more hiking blog posts coming soon.

Christmas

2010-01-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we got a Canon SLR Rebel T1i. We love it and have taken almost 1000 pictures with it already. We did Christmas morning with Grandma and Grandpa Kaiserman. Grandma was pretty dang funny

Grandpa got most of the gifts haha

Most of the 1000 pictures are of our kid, Tripp. She is such a good model when the camera comes out.

SO CUTE!!!

It's so funny to take pictures of the dogs running. They make some pretty funny faces.

It's even funnier when her and Shasta are running together. What a hoot!

Thanksgiving shoot

2010-01-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving morning a beautiful and we did our thanksgiving tradition, shotgun shooting.

We play shotgun knockout. It's just like knockout in basketball, but with shotguns and clay pigeons. ALways a good time.
Don't you just love the dusty Price desert? I do

Cameron took his turn on the thrower

Jessica likes to be as good as the boys (she thinks she's better haha)

Knockin them out down the line.....

It came down to me and Pete, and he won (lucky shot.) Our trophy is dads coveted Joy Mining belt buckle. Pete gets to wear it this year. He better enjoy it, cause he won't get it again!

Powell with the Heiners

2009-11-11T15:19:00.001-08:00

On October 22-24 we ventured down to Beautiful Lake Powell. I don't think I have ever been down there this late in the year, but it was very pleasant. The water was cold enough that we never had to jump in just to "cool off" but of course we got in.

It was cold enough to wear our hoodies and blankets to go out in the boat.
But the water was glaaaaaaaaasssss. This was in Bullfrog Bay!

So of course we had to take advantage of it :)

We never even took the houseboat off the buoy (I have NO idea how to spell that. Boo-eee)

But we never had to worry about anchors. The lake was SOOOO not busy. Blake and I drove the boat from Bullfrog to Halls Creek and didn't see a single boat the whole way. It was like a deserted town. At the marina we finally saw some lady inside the marina store standing behind the counter board out of her mind.

I guess this is where ducks "fly south" for the winter. Lake Powell is where I would go.

We did some playing, and some reading, and some loungin around. I was a fun relaxing trip, and well worth the trip.

TRIPP!!!

2009-10-21T16:31:00.001-07:00

ITS A GIRL!!!! We are pleased to announce an addition to our little family. I LOVE dogs. Grew up around them my whole life. Liesel doesn't like dogs, and neither does her whole family. I finally talked Liesel into getting a dog, even if it was just a small lap dog. I was desparate and would take anything I could get. Once she warmed up to the idea of even having a dog, Jake talked her into getting a dog capable of going hiking with us, so she decided she wanted a bigger dog, but not a huge dog. One day Jake and I went out to the pound just to see what they had. Well, of course we found a puppy that we all just fell in love with. I decided we should sleep on it, and the next day when we called the pound SHE WAS GONE!!! Turns out that night after we had been there, some second chance dog adoption place came and took 8 puppys, one of them being Tripp. We got the number to the place she was at it Murray, and reserved her as quick as we could. They wouldn't give her to us for 10 days, which gave us plenty of time to get ready for her. We went and picked her up and have Loved her more than we ever thought we would. She is a Boxer/Collie mix. She's pretty much a boxer with the nose and the smarts of a Collie. At 3 1/2 months old she could sit, shake, lay down, come, and she was even potty trained! The only couple of accidents she has had in the house were our fault for not noticing she was waiting at the door. We LOVE her to death!!!! And I feel like she is pretty fond of us as well :)

This is what she does when she gets in trouble.... She makes it so hard to be mad at her!

Her first trip to the vet to get her shots.

She LOVES hanging out on the bed with us. What a spoiled little girl

She really like getting under the covers.

Update on everything else...

2009-10-21T15:33:00.001-07:00

On the weekend of Sept 19th we traveled down to Cedar City to see DP and Paige and Brett and Janeal. We pretty much just hung out, but on Saturday while it was warm we went snorkeling at Sand Hollow.

DP (Derek Potter)

Brett and Janeal Riche

Me :)

For labor day we went up Joes Valley and rode Reader Canyon with Clyde and Kylie. Blogging makes me realize how much we do with these two.

I LOVE THIS GIRL!!!!

They had these cool bridges crossing the water

CUTE GIRL!!!!

This is Grassey Lake. We wanna go camping here some day

Sweet views of Joes Valley Res

August 22 we camped out in Moab with Clyde and Kylie and Seth and Sierra. We camped in Fisher Towers and did the hike there. The next day we hiked Corona Arche and Mill Creek.

Mill Creek Falls

Awesome views

The towers

More towers

The TITAN in Fisher Towers

We went to corona arch again. Awsome arche

Me and Clyde even climbed on top... oopsy!

I really need to get me one of these :)

JEEPIN MOAB!!!

2009-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of Oct. 16th and 17th we ventured down to Moab (imagine that) with the Jeep and a four wheeler. CLyde (Chris Howes) and his wife Kylie came down. We camped out in their huge 10 man tent with us four and the dog.

Clyde and Kylie on the four wheeler. We did "fins n things" trail in Sand Flats.

Tripp is definitely a Moab dog. She LOVES digging in the sand

Clyde makes for some good stopping power...

Sweeeeeet Jeep!

Clyde will only ride with me if he's wearing his helmet. Just kidden

TRIPP! Look at the camera!

It took Tripp a few minutes to figure out that it's easier to lay down while we drive. She LOVES her strawberry shortcake blanky

We watched a stock Grand Cherokee try and get up this. We walked right up it with ease...

I Love doing things with my Beautiful wife :)

BEAUTIFUL ride on a Beautiflu day.

MOAB.... Blake and Becca

2009-08-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

On August 8th we went to Moab with Blake and Becca. We hiked Devils Garden in Arches National Park and went to the swimming hole up Mill Creek.

Boys will be boys!
And they will catch lizards!

Sweet resting spot Blake found on the trail

Blake in a crack...

Blake in another crack :)

This was some indian writing on the Mill Creek hike

The water hole. WAY COLD!

This was a fun cliff jump, but you only have 6 or 7 feet of water to land in just below the fall. Everywhere else is about 2 feet deep.

You could tell it's cold by how we walked in it

And they will catch crawdads!!!

Can you tell Liesel wants to be a photographer?

LITTLE WILD HORSE CANYON

2009-08-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Finally we ventured off somewhere besides Moab. For my birthday we went to Little Wild Horse Canyon on the San Rafeal Reef (Near Gobblin Valley). We had two of Liesel's little sisters with us, Kallie 16, and Abby 14. They were staying with us for 2 weeks. Pretty much all we did was swim at the Helper pool and go hiking. Liesel even took them to Moab while I worked.

Here is the sign marking the trail. Here it splits to Bell Canyon and Little Wild Horse. It does a loop, so you go up one and come down the other. We just went up Little Wild Horse to the top and came back down. Alot less sun that way.
It's AMAZING how the water has carved this canyon through the millions of years. I took so many pictures, it was hard to thin them out for the blog.

As the canyon gets skinnier, it gets really curvey from the water flow.

CUTE GIRL!!!

"You go first", "No YOU!"

This reminds me of Easter hikes with Mandy :)

I really don't have much to say, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

So many different formations. Look at these girls growing out of this rock!

Ran into some water, but we were glad to find it.

At least I was :)

Abby tried to climb around it for a while, but it was inevitable....

LIZARD!!!

NEAT

I LOVE UTAH!!!!

This is the SKULL

Strong Kallie.....

This was a trail marker we found.

We found this bug thing in a pool of water on another little hike. I thought it was a tad-pole, but soon found out that I didn't want that thing in my hands.

But we did dare catch this frog :) It was an awesome birthday, and the weather ended up being perfect. When we started the hike it was 102, but once we got back out of the slot canyon it was a mild 89. We're definitely going back to do the whole loop once it's cooled off a little.

MOAB MOAB MOAB.... Is that all we do???

2009-07-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

On June 6th, 2009 we ventured off to Moab again. Only a week after our trip there for out anniversary. We sure do Love that place. This time we went with our good friends, Jake and Tiff Petty.

We did what is called the "Devils Garden" in Arches National Park.

There are alot of arches to see, I didn't even put them all on here. This is the first arch you come across, Pine Tree Arch.

This one is near Pine Tree arch, but I don't even remember what it is called.

Here we have the famous Landscape arch. It is the length of a football field, and as little as 11 feet thick in the middle.

This one is called Duble O Arch. You can see why. If you look closely you can see there is two arches stacked on one another.

The "fins" are definitely a sight. Kind of helps show how arches are formed.

Here's another arch. If I would have blogged right after the trip I would remember all these names. Ha ha

More fins.

This was a tree growing above the ground. Good spot for a picture and to get out of the sun for a minute.

Isn't she just BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Great time as always. Definitely plan on doing that hike again. To do the complete loop with all the side trails it turns out to be about 7 miles.

Moab AGAIN! Our Anniversary :)

2009-06-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

May 30 is the best day EVER!! Saturday was our 1 year anniversary. Thursday night we drove home from Wyoming (brothers graduation) and packed up for our weekend trip. Friday afternoon we headed for Beautiful Moab.

We pulled into the outskirts of Moab and headed up Highway 313 to our campsite. We set up camp and headed up to Dead Horse Point to watch the sunset.

It was looking a little stormy, but never got bad. We didn't get our sunset, but the views were still AMAZING

Once it got dark we headed back to our camp. We had a fire and had our favorite meal, HOT DOGS over a fire :)

We used our lantern and coleman stove for the first time. Worked like a charm. We even had our second favorite meal for breakfast, pancakes. mmmmm....

Saturday morning we headed off for Canyonlands National Park, Island in the sky district. It really was like being on a huge island in the sky. Man was it amazing. The first little hike we did led us to this arche, called Mesa Arche. There is a straight cliff right in front of the arche, and the arche actually overhangs the cliff. An older gentleman there thought I was crazy for going on it.

The backdrop through the arche was definitely a sight.

This hike we did is called Whale Rock. There really wasn't anything to see, but the cool views.

This freak of nature is called Upheaval Dome. The cause of this us unknown, but scientists believe there are two possible reasons for this formation. One is called "Salt Dome"which this the underlying salt from an ancient sea forcing it's way to the surface. The other idea is the landing sight for a meteor. I like the meteor idea better

These pictures don't do the views justice. You definitely have to see it with your own eyes. This looking Southwest off the big island onto the path of the mighty Green River.

And this view is looking Southeast off the big island over the path and ruins left by the Colorado River. The Green and the Colorado meet just south of here. After Canyonlands we went into town for lunch, then went to Hole N" the Rock just south of town. We must have not got any pictures, but it was interesting. It's an old house/business that was dug and blasted out of the slickrock. Anyone that has seen the Hole in the rock in Hanksville (on the way to Powell) knows what it's like. It is a 5000 square foot home that is now used for tours and tales of the history behind the house. They have a mini zoo and gift shops.

We then took on our last hike of the day. This hike is up potash road. It is called Corona Arche. It was about a 3 mile hike, and along the way we saw this cave.

Along the hike there were cables to follow and even this little latter to climb a ledge.

This is Bow Tie arche. It was right before Corona.

And here is the Beautiful Liesel. Oh ya, and Corona arche somehow got in the picture :)

Corona arche is sometimes called Little Rainbow Brigde, because it is alot like Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell

There are some BIG lizzards down there. This one was about a foot long, and he wasn't the biggest one we saw.

I would most definitely say this was our BEST anniversary :) Lookin forward to infinity more....

Devils Race Track

2009-05-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 16th we went to the San Rafeal Swell to ride the Devils Race Track. We went with Clyde and his girly (Kiley), Russel and Em, Gee, and one of Russels pharmacy friends. It was awesome weather and we had a great ride. These are the bridges of I-70. They are crazy huge
and of course we had to climb them :)

There were some cool arches there. We didn't even see the one we were planning on, but got two other surprise ones. This one is teapot arch

This tree is growing out of what they call the "Ice Box." It's just a few cracks and caves where you can go get out of the heat of the summer. This tree was looking for the sun.

Another little arch just after we crossed back over I-70 on the other side of the Swell.

The view were immaculate. We stopped on this cliff and threw rocks off for a while. They would EXPLODE at the bottom of the cliff. Awesome.......

It ended up being a 52 mile ride. Our arms got plenty of sun, and our butts were ready to get off the four wheeler.

At the end of the trail we did a hike that led us to this little hut, and a mine that had been dug out years ago. We had our flashlights all ready to explore this mine, but it ended up not being very deep. I guess everything seems bigger when you are a kid :)

Arches NP

2009-04-02T20:51:00.001-07:00

So on March 27-28 we again went to the Beautiful Moab. This time we went down with Jake and Amanda and some couples from the ward. We stayed in our Moab building again (because we had alot of kids with us) so I'm pretty stoked to actually go camping. We hiked arches all day Saturday.

We bought these annual passes so we plan on going alot more this summer.

The hikes were slow. I would blame the kids, but they were actually all in front. It was the slow parents :) Probably because they had to carry the small babies.

Delicate Arche is always a sight to see. It never fails to amaze us....

Liesel is quite the little rock climber :)

The little kids always wanted to go where us older "kids" were exploring.

We had lunch at this sweet picnic place. There's always somewhere to hike and explore in there.

Again with the views. We definitely live in the Promised Land!

JEEPIN!!!

2009-04-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

On March 19 - 22 we went to Moab for the first time in our Jeep :) We had alot of people there, family and friends. 2 jeeps and lots of four wheelers.

We did Hell's Revenge

The Moab Rim

And Poison Spider

We're really ruffin it huh! It's still cold outside, so we camped inside the empty Moab store. We had a pregnant sister in law. We all stayed cozey and warm...

The views are BEAUTIFUL!!!! Especially her :)

Goblin Valley

2009-04-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

On March 14th we went to Goblin Valley. Neither of us worked, and the weather was great, so we wanted to do something fun. We took our friend Clyde (Chris Howes) and had a fun time hiking around.

My posts might be mostly pictures ha ha.

We even found this sweet little cave!

New Bloggers

2009-04-01T13:59:00.001-07:00

Everyone keeps telling us that we need to get into this blogging business, so we are giving it a try. We love to play, so it'll be fun to show everyone what we are doing.