It's been a while since I have blogged. Maybe I am finally recovering from the trip and getting into the swing of the new school schedules. Here is Katie driving with Nelson for the first time. It's once again hard to believe how grown up everyone is all of a sudden. She has her permit but most likely won't take driver's ed until school is over in June because her schedule is too full. Well, we need to get lots of practicing in before that! Labor Day weekend, Katie and Caroline went to the Mountain Man Rendezvous in Fort Bridger, Wyoming with the Schill's. This is the third year they have gone, dressed in period costume, camping and cooking in the out of doors. They love to go and they love to spend time with their friends.
The rest of us hiked Mt. Timpanogas. We backpacked about 3 miles in and camped and then hiked the rest of the way with just day packs. Michael isn't getting any upper body workout so here he is doing push-ups on the trail.
The hike was so beautiful. Here we are at one of the waterfalls we passed. We left from the Aspen Grove parking lot and camped at hidden lakes, about 20 minutes before Emerald Lake and the first shack.
Sunrise from our campsite.
Here are the boys sitting on the saddle overlooking Utah Valley, munching on trail mix and having a rest. At this point, I was perfectly satisfied to be done. I had gone far enough and was not really feeling like I cared much about I've-been-to-the-summit-bragging-rights. We had about another 1000 elevation to go at this point. Nelson suggested we go and just see how it was, we were so close, to come this far and not finish, blah, blah, so I went ahead.
Yes, I made it ( and so did everyone else)! Can I say that this was the most terrifying and physically demanding thing I have ever done in my entire life? Now for the stats...7 miles each way (that's 14 round trip), and elevation of around 5000 feet from the befinning to the end of the trail. The summit is 11,750 feet high. Except for maybe 100 feet of the
ENTIRE trip, it was uphill every step of the way. The trail was narrow with a drop off cliff on one side and the mountain on the other. Passing people along the way was a death defying feat with nowhere to "pull over" and huge packs on our backs. The trail just kept going and going, hour after hour. It is now Saturday and I am still sore. However, I can now sit down and climb stairs without wincing. So, maybe I'm getting old, except that David and Michael have been sore this week also. That hike was a once in a lifetime experience complete with bragging rights, and I mean once. My hiking career is in the past. All right, I'll be a little more positive. It was fun to camp with the boys and have a little "scouting" experience backpacking, sleeping in tents, cooking on a little stove and purifying the water we needed. The scenery was so picturesque and it was amazing to see how far you can push the physical body and it keeps going.
Michael's victory dance, Rocky Balboa style.
Here we are on the way down. Do you see the mountain goat just above Nelson's head? That little guy was meant to be up this crazy far, not people. By the way do we look cold? The wind chill was 32 at the top, brrr.
Here is that little guy's friends, they were just behind us on yet another cliff. Have I expressed how much anxiety I had on this trip yet? I have never in my life been afraid of heights, until now. I have been zip-lining above the tree tops in Alaska, speeding across the sky, I have done pirouettes on a rope bridge hundreds of feet in the air with no fear, just thrills, and during the last part of the ascent I was afraid constantly. Maybe hiking with your children makes it that way. There was so much rubble and one false step and you would have been bouncing down thousands of feet of rock face. Just my worst fears becoming a reality, that's all.
Here I am going down. The side of the mountain here was covered with the prettiest wildflowers.
We made it back down to Emerald Lake and we are refilling our water. Isn't the view amazing? Thanks to the guys for cheering me on the whole way! Michael stayed close to me and kept making sure I was all right and went as slow as I wanted to from the top down to where it wasn't so scary. I am proud of myself for finishing the trip!
Last night, we went to an art show featuring all of the students of Katie's art teacher. She won First Place in her age division! They did the judging ahead of time and we had no idea. It was so fun to see that blue ribbon on her self portrait. Way to go Katie!! You are such a beautiful and talented young lady, we are so proud of you.
This weekend was Orem High's Homecoming. Michael took Erika Hoyal and they had a great time. She is the daughter of our very good friends who used to live across the street. They moved recently to the other side of the planet (a few blocks away) but we love them so much we still manage to keep in contact! It was fun to have our kids go to this dance together because we have done so much together as families.
Don't they look absolutely fabulous! 
Can you believe how tall Michael is now? Erika was excited that she could wear high heels and Michael was still taller than her. 
Nelson let Michael take the fun car - Erika's comment getting into the car - "freakin' sweet!" There were 7 couples in their group and they had a lot of fun.
