Bryce Canyon

At about 1:30 this afternoon (I guess it's technically yesterday afternoon now), Ruth and I headed out of Cedar City and made our way over to Bryce Canyon. We went and hiked to a few different spots. We hiked to Sunrise Point and Sunset Point, just so we could say we hiked from sunrise to sunset! We also hiked down into the Queens Garden, which was fun because of all the switchbacks and mini tunnels you had to go through. Then we took a drive to the more southern parts of the park. We decided after pulling over at one lookout point that we liked the scenery up in the northern part of the park better. So we went back up to Bryce Point, and then hiked around the rim to Inspiration Point. By the time we reached Inspiration Point, we were kind of regretting our last hike because we were now about 35-40 minutes from the car. Lucky for us we came across a couple from Houston Texas that were willing to give us a ride back to our starting point. After getting out of the park we got to meet up with some of my family, which was the real reason we were in the Bryce Canyon area. My Grandma Crofts is turning 90, so they were having a reunion/birthday party in her honor. So, right after leaving the park, we went to dinner with Farley, Tina and Colee. I could not believe it when I saw Colee walking. She is growing up so fast. After dinner we headed out to the campground where most of the families were staying. I was very excited to see my Mom and Dad, Hilary, and Camden. I wish Zeb and Jason could have been there too, but you can't win them all. I also got to see Grandma Crofts, Aunt Sue and a couple of her kids, and a few other relatives. I was so excited to see everyone again, but it was a short lived event for me as I had to get back on the road to Cedar City so I could be to work on time. It was definitely a fun day, and I can't wait until I can see my family again. Here are some pictures from Bryce Canyon. Hope you enjoy!

Update / Vegas Trip

It has been a super long time since I have posted anything, but I am alive and well here in Cedar City. I am on the brink of finishing my second semester at SUU, and am really looking forward to taking a break from classes for the summer. The most recent news for me was being accepted into Beta Gamma Sigma, which is an honors organization for students in business programs. I was pretty surprised when I got the invitation which only goes out to those who are in the top 10% of their classes. Anyway, on to the fun stuff, this last weekend I got to take a trip down to Vegas with a few friends. We went down as kind of a belated birthday celebration for my friend Amy. So at a little after 6:00 on Saturday night me, Amy, Val, Dave, and Dani drove to Vegas. We went and ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville in the Pink Flamingo. After dinner we walked around on the strip for a while. We tried to go and watch the show outside of Treasure Island, but we got there part-way through and it was too crowded to really see anything. So we headed for the Stratosphere so we could go and ride the Big Shot! It was pretty sweet just checking out the view from on top of the Stratosphere. I tried to get some pictures of the city, but they just didn't turn out very well. The Big Shot was a blast though, and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it. After the ride, we headed back down to the Bellagio. We hung out in the casino for a bit and wasted a little money. I think it would have been a loss for everyone, but Dave won $5 at the very end on some video poker. After we finished with that we made our way back to Cedar City. We didn't get back until 5:15, so it made it a little tough to get up for church the next day, but I still made it. I would definitely say it was worth the trip just to get away for a little and have some fun with friends.

Val, Amy, and me waiting in line for the big shot!

Dave and Dani on top of the Stratosphere.

Snowy Update

Since it has been forever and a day since I have posted, I will hit a few highlights and share a couple of photos. This last month I finished my first semester at SUU. I was very excited to see that I made it through with a 3.83. After all the finals were over I made my way back home to Blanding on the 11th. I was super excited to see family and friends again. I was also excited to come back to work at the hardware store for a couple of weeks. One very pleasant surprise about returning hime for the christmas break has been all the snow. I thought Cedar City would have been getting a lot more this year, but Blanding has got a lot more! I got home just after the first storm which dumped about a foot on us. The last storm brought about another foot after snowing almost all day. While I really don't like trying to get around in the snow, I love the effect it has on the holiday season. I was really hoping that we would get a fresh blanket of white down before Christmas, and that wish definitely came true. I know they won't do it justice, but here are a couple of pictures of how awesome the snow has made things look.

Thanksgiving In Flagstaff

Instead of enjoying a turkey day feast at the cabin in the Blue Mountains, I was gorging on great food amidst the San Francisco Peaks of Flagstaff Arizona. It was a little weird being away from home for Thanksgiving, but I am greatful that I got to shave a little off my travel time. I missed getting to be with Farley, Tina, Colee, and the rest of the usual crew, but it was really fun getting to be with my parents, Zeb, Hil, and Camden. This was Hilary's first time to host a Thanksgiving dinner, and although she won't take any credit, she did an excellent job. We had way more food than the 5 of us could handle (wohoo for left-overs!). It really just blows my mind that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and that Christmas if quickly approaching. I am so excited to go back to Cedar and finish off the semester so I can go back to Blanding for the Christmas break!!!

I'm a Believer

I'm a Believer

THE RULES: Put your iPod on shuffle and push next to get your answer for each question.For each question, push the next button to get your answer. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

If someone says "are you ok?" you say? More Than Words (Extreme)

How would you describe yourself? Secret (Howie Day)

What do you like in a girl? When Love Comes Around (Alan Jackson)

How do you feel today? People of the South Wind (Kansas)

What is you're life's purpose? She's Got It All (Kenny Chesney)

What is your motto? The Way I Are (Timbaland)

What do your friends think of you? Scenario (A Tribe Called Quest)

What do your parents think of you? More Than A Feeling (Boston)

What do you think about very often? Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (Good Charlotte)

What is 2+2? Paralyzer (Finger Eleven)

What do you think of your best friend? Waiting for a Girl Like You (Foreigner)

What is your life story? If You Could See (Tonic)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Ride the Wind (Poison)

What do you think when you see the person you like? Unfaithful (Rihanna)

What will you dance to at your wedding? My Baby Loves Me (Martina McBride)

What will they play at your funeral? Saviors of Avikan (Stan Bronson)

What is your hobby/interest? From My Head to My Heart (Evan & Jaron)

What is your biggest fear? Now and Forever (Air Supply)

What is your biggest secret? Christmas Eve (Celine Dion)

What do you want right now? White Christmas (Kenny G)

What do you think of your friends? Just 'N' Image (Ace of Base)

What will you post this as? I'm a Believer (Smash Mouth)

Big Update

Well if your only contact with me was through my blog, I might be considered dead, but I have just been more "well hidden" than dead the past month and a half. Since moving to Cedar City, I haven't really had too much to blog about until the last couple of weeks. Homework and classes, just didn't seem blog worthy. Luckily I have had some fun come in the past couple of weeks. The first big adventure of the month was going back to Blanding for my dad's birthday. I think it was a pretty exciting week for my dad because Jason come home from Florida on Wednesday of that week. Then on Thursday, Zeb, Hil and Camden come home from flagstaff. Finally I made the drive home on Friday night. I suprised my dad by calling him around my normal time on friday night, but little did he know, I was only in the next room for half of our conversation. It was really fun to have the whole family together again. It was the first time since I came home from DC that we had all been together, and it was the first time we had ALL been together if you count the newest additions to the family. The weekend after that all went down, Kyle and Dany came to St. George / Mesquite for Sheena's baby shower. So on Saturday I got to spend most of Saturday with them. We hit up Panda Express, did some shopping, watched The Proposal ( I know this is a chick-flick, but it was still pretty funny), and then ate dinner at Red Lobster! Finally this last weekend, I made a trip down to La Verkin to see my Aunt Sue and Grandma Crofts. We met up at Aunt Miriam's house and had dinner together. It was nice getting to see them again. I hadn't seen Grandma Crofts since I came home from DC, and I hadn't seen anybody else on my dads side since Zeb got married. Also on Sunday, I got to go to Cannonville to see Janice and Cole's baby, Kagen, get blessed. It was really cool because I also got to stand in on the blessing. Once again, it was fun just to see some more familiar faces and get to visit with them. It was actually kind of funny, because I was debating on whether or not I was going to go to the blessing, and I just felt like I should. It turned out that my buddy Kade, who happens to be related to Janice, is in my singles ward. So I was asking him about what time their meeting was and trying to get some directions, and I got invited to go with them. So it all just worked out really well. The only bad thing about all of this was I didn't do so well on getting pictures. I did get a couple from Cannonville, so here they are.

Moving Day

This last weekend we went down to Flagstaff AZ to help Zeb and Hilary move into their new house. Their new house is in what seems to be a really nice neighborhood, but there was one downfall to their new home. The driveway to the house is super steep, and it was impossible to get either of their cars up the driveway. The mountainside like driveway also made it a bit more challenging to get all their stuff moved into their house. After we got the moving truck unloaded though, we built a little contraption to make it so they could use their driveway. I didn't think there was any way that we would be able to fix it, but my dad came up with an idea that worked extremely well. Even after we got it built and into place I didn't think it would make that much difference, but it did the job. I was glad that we were able to go help Zeb and Hil out. I am also very excited that it will no longer take 7 hours to get to their house now!!!