Random Rain Storm = Puddle Jumping

Boating in Utah

Moraine Lake

This week has been us mostly trying to get back into a good rhythm and getting our house put back together after returning from our extended trip to Utah. Matt and I hadn't put much thought into our weekend, but only having a few more months in Alberta, and maybe only one of those being good weather, we don't want to waste any of our time in this beautiful place. While I was in Utah I had talked to some friends about Moraine Lake so we looked it up. It looked as beautiful as they had described, so we decided to pack some lunches and our backpack and head on our way. It was a longer drive than we had realized, but we decided to go anyway. It took us about 2.5 hours to get there, but it was well worth it. Like Sadie said, "this is so me, mom!" Our kids love to climb and be adventurers and today allowed them do both of those things.

We started our day by making our way across a bunch of logs that had dammed up near the end of the lake where it turns into a stream. We crossed the logs so we could climb up this giant hill of large boulders. Sienna and I both slipped and had a foot fall into the freezing lake, but for the most part, everyone did well. I was carrying Abby in her backpack and she was cracking me up. She kept rubbing my arm and saying, "Be safe, okay, be safe, mommy." "We're almost there, mommy, okay." "Be careful, okay, be careful." She is the funniest and smartest little thing and I was happy to have her pep talks on our climb. As we walked past their nasty bathrooms she also kept saying, "I smell poop. Ew, I smell poop." Then she would rub my arm again and give me more pep talks about our day. I love our little riot of a two year old. Oh, I almost forgot another quote from her that I am not so proud of but it was hilarious. As we drove into Banff and we pointed out something neat to the kids, probably the glaciers on the top of the mountains, Abby said, "Holy Cwap." Matt and I looked at each other and simultaneously asked if that is really what she just said, and then we heard her repeat it. That girl.

After we climbed the rocks, we went to check out the canoes. They didn't have a way for us all to get in together, but the prices weren't outrageous so we decided to split up and hit the lake. The kids all got their own little paddles and "helped" us steer and get around. It was pretty fun and cute to watch. Matt, Sienna, and Abby made it to the clear other side of the lake where streams were coming down the mountain and meeting up with the main body of water. Tanner, Sadie, and I weren't as quick or coordinated but we had fun exploring the lake. Then we all got out, hiked around, climbed the boulder mountain again, and headed home. On the way home we saw a brown bear off the side of the road but not in the mountains. It was only about 40 minutes from our house. I wish we had a camera ready, but it caught us off guard so we didn't get a picture.

Matt and I were just talking about how beautiful Seattle was and how we loved our summer of doing something different every weekend while we lived there, even the weekend Abby was born we went out to experience different parts of the city. We fell in love with that kind of living and have tried to adapt those habits into our every day lives. On our drive home from Seattle back to Utah when his internship was over, we had a conversation about how we loved living simply and how awesome it would be to have multiple internships in a row just so we could see different parts of the country and live a less cluttered lifestyle. Little did we know, the job he would be getting a year later has given us that exact opportunity. We are so grateful and feel so blessed to be living the lives we are living. We couldn't have asked for a better ward or area to live than San Ramon, and we are loving Calgary too. We look forward to our time in Australia and wherever else the Lord takes us. This has been a crazy journey, but we're loving it. We miss family and hate feeling distant in those relationships, but everything has been such a great opportunity for our family. We hope to explore a lot more of Alberta before we have to move, and we would love for anyone and everyone to come visit in the meantime.

The Rest from Utah