Gotcha Girl

Can you believe that this Gotcha Girl has been home for SIX YEARS?!*

Brynn is our super fancy baby girl.  She loves coffee and tea.  She carries a very big purse, and she often asks if we have time for the spa.  Our whole family is super weak for her…and she knows it :)

There is not a day that passes that we do not laugh out loud at something she says or something she does; there is not a day that passes that we are not thankful that Brynn was chosen for our Y. Crew!

Happy Gotcha Day Baby Girl!  We love you to pieces!

And the Crowd Goes Wild!

Wow did Luke’s Fargo Moorhead Youth Symphony year end with a bang!

A combined gala concert at the NDSU Festival Concert Hall

Amazing~Speechless~On our feet~Wow!

What a Trip!

What a “Grand” vacation…perhaps our “Grandest” per the voters!

One chose to preserve the memories of the trip in selfies. 

Sending each selfie he took to his wife whom was also on the trip :)

 

 

Brynn insisted that Waddles was the first person to see the Grand Canyon…

Gramma Rose cautioned via text, “Aren’t you afraid of losing Waddles?” as he has gone missing before.  And that very night Brynn panicked in the hotel room, “Waddles is missing!”  She had attempted to bring Waddles in and was certain that he was laying on the black pavement…”blending in”.

The search was on.  Dad with his phone flashlight and with his trusty sidekick Luke.

Near Miss…Waddles was found blending into the pavement just like his owner feared!

The trip was the “Grandest” of exhaustions!

And the “Grandest” 2151.5 miles!

So “Grand” that we were sad to come home!

What a trip!

And Just When We Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Better…

Giddy Up…It’s time to explore Bryce Canyon with Canyon Trail Rides!

You’ll see more grandeur and beauty than you can imagine on your visit to Bryce Canyon. Like an exciting trip back through the eons of time…a close-up look at beautiful rock formations thousands of years in the making. Formations on which wind & rain are forever working their handicraft of sculpture. To add further to that illusion of timelessness you can see all of Bryce’s breathtaking beauty from horseback – man’s oldest (and most reliable) mode of transportation! Most people who ride the trails of Bryce with us have never been on horseback before!

Once you arrive at Bryce Canyon go to the lobby of the Bryce Canyon Lodge where you will be greeted by a cowboy at the trail ride desk. At this point you will be directed to the loading corral where you will be assigned the horse or mule that best fits you. You and your animal will become best friends on the ride as you leave Sunrise Point to start the descent into the Canyon. On the ride you will be informed by local cowboys of the history & geology of Bryce Canyon. On the ride you will be able to take pictures and experience the Canyon at your finger tips.

Once the ride reaches the floor of Bryce Canyon our 2 hour ride will make a loop and start to travel back up to the rim of the canyon, winding through many more rock formations.

Brynn on Crazy Alice and the leader of our ride,

 

Jayne on Pumpkin ,

Mark on Kinder (who kept trying to take a break and eat a snack), Luke on Johnnie (who was a wee bit stubborn and had a mind of his own),

Caleb on Pedro (the Mexican horse WITH a moustache) ,

Dad on Black Jack and Mom on Anaconda!

Here we Go!

 

 

 

What a ride!

Next…through the Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel to Zion National Park to do self guided hiking!

Lower Emerald Pool Trail, Upper Emerald Pool Trail and the Grotto Trail

  

 

 

 

An amazing day celebrated with an amazing treat!  Ice cream for all except for Brynn…she chose the fruit cup :/

Could this vacation have been any better?

Dad, You Are Squeezing my Hand so Tightly…

Today’s stop…Arches National Park…self guided hiking!

1st hike: Delicate Arch

It’s a kajillion times bigger than the license plate would suggest, and well worth the moderately difficult hike.

Delicate Arch is the most recognizable arch in Arches National Park, and perhaps anywhere in the world. It also happens to be located along one of the most dynamic hiking trails within Arches National Park. More than 480 feet above the parking lot and trailhead in the valley below, Delicate Arch is hidden in a bowl at the top of one of the park’s famous sandstone fins. Delicate Arch is freestanding, and magnificently alone in the natural sandstone bowl, standing out against the multitude of horizontal planes around it. The arch was once part of the upper section of the fin, until erosion took its toll upon the sandstone throughout the years, and now Delicate Arch is all that remains of that Entrada sandstone formation.

  

 

For a moment, this was as close as we thought Safety Dad was going to let us get to the Delicate Arch.

He let his guard down a little and held onto the girls’ hands for dear life as they cautiously made their way under the arch.

At one point Brynn said, “Dad, you are squeezing my hand so tightly that it hurts.”

To which Safety Dad responded, “I will not lose you down this cliff.”

After our big hike to Delicate Arch, we spent the rest of the day exploring less strenuous trails seeing amazing views with each hike!

 

 

The Arches received the pinnacle vote from many in our crew!