Spring Break-Grand Canyon

Laun and the boys had Spring Break this week. I didn’t, BYU Idaho doesn’t do Spring break. I stayed up one night until 5am doing homework, so I could go on the trip homework free. It was so worth it. We headed to the Grand Canyon and took along Sunthorn (grad student from Thailand) and Yao (grad student from China). We also picked up Tyler on our way out and meet up with Sean later (another grad student). Laun added an extra seat belt in the back seat of our truck and put the camper on. He put a pad and sleeping bags in the back, so we all loaded in the truck.

Day 1

We first went to see the Grand Canyon. This is the first time that Sunthorn, Yao, Porter and Marlee had seen the Grand Canyon.

Marlee was either in the stroller or right by Laun and I the whole time. I wanted to make sure she stayed safe.

There was some snow on the ground and it was pretty chilly.

Love all the colors of the mountains.

The kiddos

Sunthorn and Yao taking pictures of the view.

Laun, Sunthorn and Yao

The girls

I loved these leafless trees.

Here’s a view of a building with a look out spot.

I love the layered look of the mountains.

Our attempt at getting a group picture; Porter is pretty much hidden in the first one and…

…Clayton is clear off on his own in the next one, oh well, good enough.

Looking over the edge.

I love the height difference between these two.

If you look closely you can see the donkeys on the trail.

Red, white and blue.

The boys liked taking a closer look at the views.

What a shocker (not)…the boys caught some lizards.

Tyler didn’t see this part of the Grand Canyon…he was sleeping in the back of the truck. At one point, Laun made a quick turn and all this stuff fell on Tyler and he didn’t even wake up, it was so funny.

We checked out another part of the Grand Canyon.

Then we went by another stop.

The kids liked all the little sale stands.

Here we are driving over the bridge. Sean was in a separate vehicle, so he took this picture.

We finally arrived at the South Canyon and started the hike in.

We didn’t get very far until Laun decided that taking Marlee in (making his pack in weigh around 70 pounds) wasn’t a good idea. One wrong step and she might get hurt, so the Hall’s headed back to the hotel for plan B and the other guys headed in and camped. I was a little bummed not to do the hike, but Laun and I were both carrying packs way over our weight limit. At least I got to see a little bit of the amazing views.

Day 2

We saw some antelope, but no bison. I was a little disappointed since this is bison country.

We headed back to the South Canyon and planned to find the shortcut, so all of us could go in. We got a call from Tyler and he said that him and Yao hiked out in the morning because Yao didn’t want to go on the rest of the hike. So then we went on to plan C; Laun and Clayton went on the hike to meet up with the other guys and I took Yao, Porter and Marlee with me. I was fine with that, I knew either way I would have a great time.

Here is my big boy all ready to hike in and even more ready to do some fishing.

Daddy’s girl getting some goodbye loves.

Clayton and Laun starting the hike for the second time now:)

Laun, Tyler and Clayton. Tyler was such a trooper to take Yao back out and then go back in again.

Love this view.

Can you see Tyler and Laun in the picture below? Tyler is in a white shirt and Laun has an orange pack.

Here’s a closer view of them.

The cool part about me not going in was that I could get these shots from the top of them hiking in. Here is another shot of Laun, Clayton and Tyler.

Lucky for me, I got lots of pictures from the hike, even though I didn’t go. Laun, Sean and Sunthorn all took great photos.

Sean got this one of Laun, Clayton and Tyler hiking in and meeting up with him and Sunthorn.

Then they camped out under the stars for the night.

While the rest of the group was hiking and fishing, this is what Yao, Porter, Marlee, and I were up to:

We drove back to the motel and went to get some lunch. It is kind of funny because we are in the middle of no where basically, but because Lee’s Ferry is near by there are some motels with a restaurant.

After lunch the kids wanted to stop by what I like to think of as the rock playground.

See that roof in the distance? That is the motel we are staying at tonight. See, I told you we were in the middle of no where.

Yao cracked me up the whole day because he was so cautious and worried about the kids. When they started to go under this rock, I think he was worried it would fall on them or when Porter climbed up the mountain side he would tell him that was too far and to come back. Haha, I thought it was so funny. Then I started thinking about it. Yao is from China and has no siblings, Aunts, Uncles, or cousins. He isn’t used to seeing open spaces because China is pretty packed with buildings and people, so that probably explains his cautiousness. I got to hand it to him though, he was so good and nice to the kids.

House of rock. Marlee is in the door way, even though you can barely see her.

Porter and Marlee looking out the window.

Talk about a secure roof;)

These two had fun running from rock to rock and posing for the camera.

Here they are holding sand that was inside this rock.

This looked like a wooden version of a porta potty to me.

I have the strongest kids (at least the strongest willed kids).

Can you spot Porter in the green shirt, clear up the mountain?

Porter, Marlee and I.

Yao, Marlee and Porter.

Porter going to check out the sale stands.

Marlee and Porter peeking out to see me.

Laying down and taking it easy.

Goofy kids.

We got gas in the truck at this station (which is part of the motel we stayed at-that building in the background is the motels). I love how old the pumps are, you have to go inside to pay because there is no where to swipe your card at those pumps.

Marlee and Porter in the motel. Marlee was eating leftover food from dinner and Porter was probably playing angry birds on the iPod.

Day 3

Today Clayton and Laun got in lots of fishing.

It looks so pretty down there.

Clayton was so happy to get good use out of his fishing pole.

Good looking fisherman.

Sean and Yao had fun fishing.

Sunthorn with some of his catches.

Lunch time.

Some rafters came floating in.

Karate kid in the making.

Laun and Clayton getting a drink.

Clayton’s idea of heaven: Fishing with his Dad.

Sunthorn is quite the chef. Here he is filleting the fish. He even made everyone fish soup.

Laun packed in the water purifier. Here they are purifying the water, so they could hike out with enough water.

Laun, Clayton and Sean.

Sunthorn and Sean.

Laun’s pack and a close up of Clayton.

Look alikes: Laun and Clayton

They even hiked through some obstacles.

Clayton is hiking out.

Laun was so impressed with Clayton. He said this is a tough hike and Clayton did great.

While the guys were hiking out today, I took Yao, Porter and Marlee to Lee’s Ferry to play on the beach.

Yao thought Lee’s Ferry was pretty cool. He was impressed that you could boat, fish, hike and play at the beach, all at one location.

The kids had so much fun running on the beach, playing in the water, drawing in the sand and building sand castles.

The water was so cold, although you can’t tell from these pictures-Marlee went right in.

pure joy

Marlee must be used to seeing a tripod. She was pretending this piece of wood was her camera and took lots of pictures.

Porter is an expert sand castle builder and he was glad to have Yao’s help, but not Marlees. :)

Marlee and Porter standing by their sand castles.

Then they had fun destroying the sand castles.

After a couple hours of playing on the beach, the kids worked up an appetite. I busted out the leftovers from breakfast and they went to town.

Then we headed to the bridge, so we could walk on it.

There was another sale stand, so Porter got an arrow. We got it all wrapped up so it won’t break on the way home. Here he is happily carrying his arrow.

Then we stopped by and got lunch before picking up the guys from their hike. Luckily for us, the two motel restaurants we went to had such great food. We ate well the whole time and Yao was so adventurous to always try new foods on the menu.

Well, we got back to South Canyon to pick up the hikers and I didn’t get lost once! I was so proud of myself. Here’s how it looked when we arrived, so pretty.

Yao looking for the hikers.

Porter was stressed because the bugs kept attacking him.

We didn’t see the hikers, so we headed back to the truck before Porter has a melt down.

Such a pretty night.

Well, since we didn’t see the hikers, we figured they weren’t coming out until the morning. Porter, Marlee and I all got in the camper to sleep for the night, but before we feel asleep we saw flashlights. The hikers arrived!

We were so excited to hear about their adventures. Then Laun started a campfire and helped Porter to spot his first shooting star. Then our whole family slept in the camper.

Day 4

Poor Sunthorn got his leg scratched up on the hike, but he was still smiling.

The last freeze dried ice cream got hammered.

Sunthorn, Sean and Clayton checking out a book about all the people who have died at the Grand Canyon, creepy. Good thing they didn’t read it before the hike.

Yao and Marlee

Porter finally woke and we started to pack up.

Tyler’s sweet homemade visor. He improvised because his hat was making him too hot, but he still wanted the visor to keep the sun out of his eyes.

Porter enjoying a vintage soda. Costco sales a vintage soda pack, so the kids were pretty excited.

Before the vacation started, Laun made all the kids bracelets out of fishing swivel. It’s a little souvenir from their trip.

Can you find Laun?

Almost to Flagstaff.

The kids got a hold of the camera on the drive and felt free to take some sweet photos.

Then we stopped by one of Laun and I’s favorite places in Flagstaff: The Place, Mike & Ronda’s.

We all ordered breakfast, even though it was lunch time. The Hungry Man Special is the best thing on the menu, at least that is my opinion. We had tons of food.

And Marlee pulled out her pony tail, so she had the sweetest hair in the restaurant. Like it really matters, she was surrounded by dirty hikers anyways.

Then we headed home. We had such a great trip and I was especially proud of Clayton for doing such a great job on the hike. It was a great Spring Break.

What does this mean?

Grand Canyon, here we come! Well, at least this mess has a purpose for once. Usually there is just chaos for no reason (or because I am sitting at my desk doing homework while my 3 year old is putting on her fourth outfit for the day and getting out every toy she owns).

Mount Lemonade

Laun took the boys to Mount Lemon tonight for a 2 mile hike and some fishing. Laun’s friends Yao and Sunthorn joined them and they all had a good time. On the way home Yao treated the boys to taco bell. He is a fan of Clayton and Porter and they think he is cool, too, especially since he came from China. To top it all off, Sunthorn is from Thailand, so the boys think it is pretty awesome. Porter was elated to catch a German Brown Trout. He proudly showed it to me when he got home.

 

Unfortunately, Marlee and I couldn’t join them. I was busy doing homework and Marlee was supposed to be napping (that didn’t happen, but at least she stayed in her bed). Clayton was a little bummed to not catch a fish, but I think he didn’t care anymore when he came home to my jumbo chocolate chip cookies:) Luckily, I finished my homework by the time Laun got home and was able to go out for a girls night with some ladies in my ward.

craigslist is our friend

Well, we had chickens again and sold them again. The boys enjoyed collecting brown eggs everyday, but we are taking a break again. Plus, it is always nice to get some spending cash. We sold the coops and chickens on craigslist for $300 and our backyard looks bigger already.

 

 

We gave away the last of our brown eggs to our next door neighbor. She had wanted some and now that we sold the birds, I figured it was our last chance to give her some. That is until we decide to get birds again, because I wouldn’t be shocked since that seems to be our pattern. At least our random bird habit gets paid for and then some…thanks to craigslist. I like to look at our bird habit as a savings account, whenever we are sick of birds are want extra cash, we just sell. I was also very proud of our dog Elderberry. We let the chickens roam around the yard often and Elder never even ate one.