Our summer adventure

We had such an incredible adventure this summer. In June, just one week after school let out, we flew to Vegas, rented an RV and explored a number of National Parks. 

 First we stopped at Zion National Park and stayed at Zion Canyon Campground.

 We spent two days in Zion and hiked the Emerald Pools, Pa'rus and Riverwalk trails.

 The Riverwalk leads to the popular Narrows Trail, which Alan and Jonny were adventurous enough to venture into. The water was SO cold, so Lilly and I didn't venture in. You can rent waterproof shoes, but we didn't plan ahead enough to think of that. Alan also hiked Angel's Landing, which is a very strenuous 4-5 hour hike with steep drop-offs and amazing views. Thank goodness SOMEBODY had to stay with the kids, or he might have talked me into going with him.

After leaving Zion, we stopped at Kolob Canyon and hiked the Timber Creek trail. Then we drove to Cedar Breaks (10,000 ft), fixed lunch in the RV, and enjoyed the views. The kids even found snow....in June! It was almost too much for my southern kids to handle.

Then we drove to Bryce Canyon, where we stayed for 3 nights. 

If we had it to do again, we would have stayed 3 nights in Zion and 2 in Bryce.

Bryce was beautiful, but smaller than Zion. We hiked the Navajo Loop/Queen's Garden trail, and it was much more strenuous than we thought it would be. 3 of us were very crabby. 

Apparently, we hiked the wrong direction. 

The next day we hiked the Rim from Bryce Point to the Lodge, where we ate lunch. It was all downhill so we were much happier hikers that day. We left Bryce Canyon and drove to Moab, Utah, stopping at Capitol Reef for lunch. We stayed at the Moab Valley RV Resort, which had a pool and a playground, which kept the kids occupied. We got up early the next morning and drove into Arches National Park. If you want to hike to Delicate Arch, you have to get there early, especially if you're driving an RV because there's limited parking. We arrived at 8am and were happy we didn't hike in the heat of the day. 

 On the way back, we saw these petroglyphs.

 That night we drove to Canyonlands, which is just 30 miles from Arches.

 It's incredible how different Arches and Canyonlands are.

 The park was practically empty late in the day and we went on a very short hike to the Mesa Arch, then drove to Grand View (pictured above). If you're in Moab, be sure to eat at Quesadilla Mobilla. I'm still thinking about how good their quesadillas were.

 After Moab, we drove to Cortez, Colorado, where we rented a car.

 This is the Cortez, Colorado airport. Ticket line on the left, rental car line on the right. There was also a cat in the airport named Mable.

Then we took the RV and the car to Mesa Verde.

 We camped at Morefield Campground, which was the most primitive (in a good way) campground we stayed in. Deer were roaming around the park. 

 At 9pm every night, there was a Ranger Talk at the amphitheater within walking distance of our campsite. On Sunday morning, we attended a church service at the amphitheater.

 The first day we visited the Mesa Verde Museum, Spruce Tree House, Pithouse, Sun Temple, and Far View House/Village.

 On Monday, we went on ranger-led tours of both Cliff Palace and Balcony House.

 At Balcony House, you have to climb a 32 foot ladder to enter.

 If you visit Mesa Verde, be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center to purchase ranger-led tour tickets. It's a 30 minute drive back to the Visitor's Center from Morefield Campground, and another 30 minute drive to the Cliff Dwellings - hence the rental car. 

 Sunset at Mesa Verde

 Our kids really bonded on the trip. Much less fighting than at home.

 After returning the rental car and stocking up on groceries, we headed toward Lake Powell, AZ. We stopped in 4 corners, & stood in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah all at the same time.

 For some reason, I don't have any good photos of Lake Powell. When we were there, we got up bright and early for a slow rafting trip down the Colorado River. It started at Glen Canyon Dam, the second largest dam in the country.

 The weather was perfect until Lake Powell. It was 107 degrees and people can talk all they want about dry heat being preferable to humidity, but I thought it was dreadful. 

 On our way back to Vegas we stopped at Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. My mother and Aunt Jessica have supported this organization for years and we were so impressed, we would like to go back to volunteer some day.

 Horse Sanctuary

 We spent one more night at an RV park in Vegas before returning the RV and flying home. 

Best vacation ever.

Mother's Day - settling in

January 2013

 This weekend Alan had soil delivered to fill our new flower bed.

 He worked very hard, making many trips from the front yard to the back.

 The kids chipped in too.

The end result:

Notice the planter is in the shape of a J for Jonny.

We went to the Community Garden this afternoon and bought lots of plants. Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, thyme, basil, peppers, zinnias and geraniums. After they were planted, Alan fired up the grill. We're finally settling in and enjoying our new space. Happy Mother's Day!

Kitchen before & after

When we bought our house in 2006, the kitchen cabinets were painted with garage floor paint.

 We painted the cabinets and made the best of the awkward layout and minuscule counter space, knowing that people have been cooking with far less since the beginning of time.

For over six years, I cooked in this kitchen almost every day.

I knew that SOME day, we would right all the wrongs in this sweet, old house.

I knew that SOME day, I would have a beautiful, functional space.

Beyond the kitchen was an old porch that had been closed in to make a laundry room.

Behind the wall (below) was the original pantry, which housed the water heater and electrical panel.

The renovation began on January 2nd. The water heater was moved under the house and we updated/moved the electrical panel, so the wall finally came down. Check out the light flooding in from the east side of the house. We only expanded the kitchen 5 feet and the laundry nook another 6.5 feet, but we tripled our counter space. We also added closets, a second bathroom, and a new den off the kitchen. The kids have a room of their own and they no longer have to share a closet and a dresser.

After 3 months of toaster oven cooking, the cabinets and lights were installed. 

A week later the countertops arrived. We choose rough honed, black pearl granite 

and for the baking station and bathroom vanity, Cherokee marble.

Our neighbor, Matt Donald, designed, built and installed our lovely range hood. 

Next the 3X6 American Olean tile (color: Biscuit) backsplash was installed.

On the opposite side of the kitchen is the pantry cabinet, fridge, window seat, baking station, and laundry area. I ordered the baking station and bathroom vanity unfinished. I had pine wood planks installed vertically above the baking station and had them primed and painted.

The baking station is painted Winter Flannel by Valspar. The color is discontinued, but I had it color matched at Sherwin Williams. 

I had trouble making decisions about paint, so I hired designer Shea Kelly to help choose the colors for our walls and baking station. It's so easy to mess up paint colors and I was frankly sick of making decisions at this point in the process, so it was well worth the $85. The wall color throughout the entire addition is Farrow and Ball Pale Powder (below) and the trim is Farrow and Ball White Tie.

 On Friday, our appliances were installed. I was so excited to have a working kitchen, I had trouble sleeping that night.

 I researched appliances for weeks and I finally settled on the GE Cafe dual fuel range, the Samsung french door fridge, and a Whirlpool Gold dishwasher. The range hood insert is a Broan. 

 Check out the light fixture above the open shelving. It's from Restoration Hardware. 

I purchased the other schoolhouse fixtures and the globe pendant (below), from Lucent Lampworks on etsy. 

One of my favorite things about our kitchen is the new sink. I choose this baby over a year ago and it's finally home :-)

Come by and see the kitchen. I'll cook for you!