CANYONLANDS!

Another wonderful camping trip for the Harker family this fall break weekend. The weather was perfect! I am in denial that this is the end of the camping/hiking season. We have had some great adventures this spring/summer/fall and I don't know if I can wait another 6 months to do it again. Here we are at the entrance to Canyonlands National Park. This was our first time here.
The scenery is absolutely amazing. We were at a place called "Island in the Sky" because it is a big mesa raised up above the rest of the canyon where the Colorado and Green river cut through. We were on the edge of cliffs most of the time looking down. Good thing no one fell off!

We hiked our little tails off. This first one was called "Grand View," and yes, the view was grand!

As always, my boys have to have a snack break at the end of the trail.
Next was the "White Rim Overlook Trail." This was probably my favorite one because you could see for miles and miles in all directions. Got a little nervous though with my boys so close to the edge.

By the end of that one, Miles was pretty pooped and Mike had to carry him back. Even though he looks dead, he isn't.

The last hike of that day was to "Mesa Arch." You are supposed to hike this one in the morning to get an amazing view of the sunrise through it, but evening was pretty too.

The next morning it was back to the visitor center to claim our Jr. Ranger badges.

Our first hike of day two was to some ancient Pueblonean (sp?) granaries where they used to store their food and such. Really amazing to think that people actually lived off the land here since it is just desert with little water.

Next was "Whale Rock." Pretty much a bunch of very steep slickrock that took us way up to another amazing view.

At the top!

After that we did another hike to "Upheaval Dome," and then drove into Moab for some dinner and ice cream. Mike, always the adventurer, wanted to drive back to our camp on a unpaved, crazy dirt road that went up and down cliff faces and over rocky, unmaintained road. He loved using his 4 wheel drive and felt like king of the cliffs. (I on the other hand had white knuckles the entire 2 hour drive!) This is one stop where you can look down at the Colorado River. Gorgeous!

So once again, it was an amazing adventure! Utah really is a beautiful state and it is no wonder why people from all over the world come to visit. We met people from Texas, Wisconsin, and France. I am so glad to call this state home. I can't wait for the end of winter so I can get out with my boys and have more fun adventures! Grand Canyon in April for spring break. I can't wait!!

Max's Baptism

Max was baptised on October 8, 2011. He has been looking forward to it for a long time. When I asked him if he needed to pray about it to ask Heavenly Father if it was the right thing to do he said, "I already know it is the right thing to do because Jesus was baptised." What a smart, righteous young man Max is!
It won't be too many years in the future when Max will be as tall as his dad. I am so glad he has such a righteous, priesthood honoring, man to look up to.

Max's Grandpa Miller gave the talk on baptism. He threw a baseball to Max at the beginning to get his attention, then talked about how life can be compared to a baseball game. He told Max that keeping the commandments is like hitting a solid hit and that his baptism is putting him on first base. Eventually, his goal will be to return to "home plate" with Heavenly Father and Jesus. He also told him that we are all his coaches and fans. It was a really good analogy and I think Max understood what Grandpa was telling him.

Grandma Harker gave Max a talk on the Holy Ghost. She gave Max a white bag filled with things to remind him of the roles of the Holy Ghost. There was a compass, a flashlight, a heart, a brain, an ear, a blanket, a cell phone, and the scriptures.

When the baptism was over, Mike confirmed Max and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. He gave him a wonderful blessing that told Max to stay on the right path and to listen to the promptings he would receive throughout his life.

Afterwards, all our family joined us at the church for a luncheon of sandwiches, salads, chips, soda, cupcakes, and cookies. Yummy! It was wonderful to have everyone there to share this special day with Max.

Fall Sports

Each of my boys has been participating in a sport this fall. It makes getting to each game and practice a challenge, but somehow Mike and I manage to tag team pretty well and get everyone where they need to be.

Mitchel has been doing Taylorsville Rec basketball on the 5th and 6th grade team. Mike is his coach. I don't have any action shots because they never turn out very good on the court. Mason has been playing Taylorsville Rec soccer on the "Green Grasshopper" team. He LOVES it and is actually quite good. During this particular game, he scored 3 goals. YIPPEE!

And Max has been playing in the Taylorsville Babe Ruth league with the the 8 year old Taylorsville Team. He usually plays right or left field.

I have loved watching all of my boys play each sport. I don't know if any of them have any "natural" talent. but for now they are all having fun and learning a lot. It is a joy for me as their mom to cheer them on. Each boy's season is almost over, then we'll take a short break until Jr. Jazz season. All three of them want to do that. Go Harkers!

Loving September

The weather this September has seemed absolutely perfect to me and a great way to wind down the summer. A few weeks ago, we got a Friday off of school, so to me that means it's time for an outing. We spent the morning running errands with my sister, then took a drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon to explore around Silver Lake. I was hoping for some fall colors, but the leaves hadn't changed quite yet.
My boys are so lucky to have such an awesome Aunt and I am lucky to have such a good friend who will come and hang out with us! We all love you Tracy!
I needed to get a picture of Max to display at his baptism. I love how the sun is sparkling off the water.

There are docks out on the lake that people come and fish off of. Right when we came by, two men caught fish at the same time. They let my boys real them in and touch the fish. Mason was so excited. He had never touched a real, live, squirming fish before!

The men said we could keep them, but since we didn't have anywhere to put them, we just threw them back in the lake. I hope they survived.

It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon. I am so glad we live so close to the mountains and can enjoy them whenever we want.

(As a side note, the next weekend we drove up this same canyon while listening to General Conference and ALL the leaves had changed to a bright, golden yellow. Apparently, I was just a week too early for the photo shoot with my boys.)