zion. angels landing.

we made the drive down to zion for a hike and quick camp out. last time Jared and I went we did the narrows. amazing. it has been a few years since I have hiked angels landing, and Jared never had, so.. that was next on our agenda. upon arriving at the park we noticed caterpillars EVERYWHERE, they were falling from the trees where they were hatching from web-like, silk tents. hmm. sorry caterpillars, there were too many of you to avoid squishing some of you.. also, they were ALL OVER our campsite, falling everywhere. we woke up to them crawling all over the tent. should've taken pictures..

(half-way through the hike.. still smiling!)

ready for our angels landing story? here we go.. first, let me clarify, I have hiked angels landing before. 1500 foot hike, it's fun, gorgeous, a little sketchy, but not thaaat crazy. so, this time, I didn't anticipate having any problems. I made it through the first couple sections of chains, then I kinda started freaking out. I looked at the rest of the hike and wanted to throw up, all over it. so.. after 10 minutes of that, sweet sweet Jared guided his special wife back down the chains to wait for him while he hiked to the summit. THEN, I was scared for his life. goodness. I made him say a prayer with me for his safety. he took off, and I immediately started crying, imagining him dying somewhere along the way. really? no, really? what was wrong with me?! so not like me. a very special moment in my life, I guess. I waited for about an hour until I could spot him coming back down and immediately thanked Heavenly Father for keeping him safe. so... here are some beautiful photos he captured at the top, and fun photo of him. the end.

(photo below I took at the spot where I froze and started freaking out. I stood there watching people go up the little red marked path, trying to gain confidence.)

(photo below Jared took from the summit looking back at where I sat, waiting.)

yellowstone video.

a little compilation of our weekend festivities...

yellowstone.

We took a little road trip for Labor Day weekend. Jared's dad, Jeff, had a powerlifting meet in Idaho Falls which inspired the trip. This was my first powerlifting meet, and it was awesome! Jeff set a bench press world record! I was way into it. We really enjoyed getting to hang out with Jared's family there, it was wonderful.

We had a camp site reserved for Yellowstone the following day, but weren't sure if we were going to really go until the night before. Weather reports said there would be snow and the low would be in the 20's. We ended up going and were eager and ready for the cold!

 

crocheted wool beanies a couple days before the trip, in preparation for the chilly weather.

the beautiful view from the hotel. Idaho Falls LDS temple.




baby elk.



elk and Canada geese.


great blue heron and canada goose. we loved watching the heron fish for dinner.



there was a big buck in the trees, but it wouldn't come out far enough for a decent photo. I filled in.

I found these wonderful cheeses in the Yellowstone General Store. When we got there, I went up to a store worker, a cute, white haired, older gentleman, and asked him where I could find the makings for s'mores. He looked at me with a puzzled face and asked, "what?" This confusion was exchanged a few times before he finally just showed me where the marshmallows were. He didn't know what s'mores were!! I so wanted to invite him back to our campsite later so we could share.

then... it started snowing...

dinner.

boiled water over the fire, then made hot cocoa in our nalgene bottles. really warmed us up! before bed, we heated more water to put in our nalgenes to sleep with. wonderful.

 

Lower Falls.

while we were enjoying Lower Falls, we could hear these ospreys feeding their babies. loved it!!!

the grand tetons.