The Great Outdoors

So we went rock climbing a few weeks ago with our new friends from church, the Handleys. They are so awesome and outdoorsy like us! They have a daughter named Chloe and a son named Sage. They also have LOTS of rock climbing equipment! (which is nice, because we have very little). Emily and Ian (Handley) knew of a cool place to climb in Spearfish Canyon, so we headed out there. Adam led the first climb, after which we all top-roped it up the rock. Emily is definitely the best and most experienced climber in our group. She is so fearless and awesome! (and she plays it safe when necessary, which puts my mind at ease). Here she is climbing to the top: Their daughter Chloe is a born climber as well. Her dad belayed her as she climbed as high as she could (which was pretty high for a 6 year old!):

I'd say the reward for "most daring climber" would have to go to Ian. Once he puts his mind to climbing a certain rock, he refuses to give up. I'm more of a "do what's reasonable" person myself, but it's cool that he actually accomplishes his rock climbing goals! Here he is reaching the first bolt of a climb (without a rope! yikes!), a route the rest of us had decided to avoid, until he actually got it started:

He was pretty proud of himself... Okay, okay, we were ALL proud of him. lol.

We went rock climbing again a few weeks later in Custer State Park, which was SO pretty. The views from the tops of the rocks were gorgeous. The tallest rock we climbed that day was 30 meters...being weary of heights, I came back down seconds after I reached the top, but it still felt good to make it all the way up.

For the 4th of July, we all went camping in Custer State Park and decided to hike Harney Peak on Independence Day. Harney Peak is the highest mountain in South Dakota (7,242 ft). It's also the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains on the continent of North America, so that was pretty cool.

It was about 3.5 miles both ways. Heidi walked almost the whole way all by herself! Who would have thought that our little Yorkie was a country girl?! (I knew it all along).

We even saw a mountain goat at the top of the peak! It was Crrrazy!!!!

By the time we reached the car, Sage was pretty exhausted...lol. What a cutie!

All in all, our adventures have been great thusfar. South Dakota has a lot of neat places to see and great things to do outdoors. We're so glad we have friends now too!!! (Do I sound desperate for friends or something?...cuz I was). YAY!

Family Reunion

I must apologize for the lack of blog-ness this past month! Things have been keeping me pretty busy around here (church calling, vacations, camp, etc.). I feel like I have a bajillion pictures to post, but I'll narrow this blog entry down to our recent family reunion in Utah. Adam's family met at Fish Lake in southern Utah for their reunion at the end of June. His parents and little sister Andrea drove up from Chicago to pick us up. Then we drove up through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to tour Yellowstone. His sister Ashley (who goes to BYU-I), met us at Yellowstone for the night. We went to church that morning then toured the park (notice we were in the process of changing when this photo was taken). We then continued on to Utah, dropping Ashley off at BYU-I on the way. We stayed with Adam's brother Austin and his wife Shirley in Provo Sunday night. We arrived at Fish Lake on Monday.

Fish Lake was very pretty and peaceful. We stayed in a large cabin with Adam's extended family, and had fun fishing from the boat that Adam's parents rented. Adam and his family caught a few fish (mine got away when I reeled in the line too tight...oops). I've decided that Adam is a born fisherman. He is so kind too. He's allowing me to include a video of his secret fish-catching technique:

I'd have to say my absolute favorite part of the trip was when we went to Goblin Valley State Park. It is unlike any place I have ever seen in my life. You drive through the desert and run into this crazy piece of land with stacked, round rock formations everywhere! We had a jolly good time exploring the place. Adam reminds me of a goblin in this video:

There was a cool cave we climbed into as well.

Adam even captured a rare creature on video:

The family reunion included Adam's grandmother (Adam's mom's mom), all of her children, and their children, and children, and so on... blah blah blah. It was pretty cool to see everyone though. Surprisingly, I had met the great majority of them already. Here is a picture of us gathered around his grandmother:

I'm still waiting for a copy of the all-inclusive family picture. All in all, the trip was a fun time for all. We drove home via scenic Colorado. More blogs and stories to come!