{5.11.20 - 5.17.20}

Matthew and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this week!

We went down to Bryce Canyon, which is, of course, absolutely beautiful! 

I was able to convince Matthew to take a few trail hikes with me!

And one good thing about COVID-19 is that there were very few people in Bryce Canyon! 

We hiked to Milky Falls...

...which was pretty impressive! I can't wait to bring our kids back here!

We also hiked to Grosvenor Arch in Kodochrome Basin. This picture doesn't even do it justice! It was pretty crazy!

We hiked through a petrified forest. I can't believe how beautiful petrified wood can be! // This is a petrified tree in the park.

The colors are just so pretty and some of these pieces of "wood" are so big! 

Here is another shot of Grosvenor Arch. With us as scale you can get an idea of how big it is! 

As always, Bryce Canyon can just take your breath away! 

We did a lot of driving and you probably know how much Matthew and I enjoy taking pictures of all the wildflowers on our trips! We found some Oregon Grape and some Penstemon. 

Obviously there were some beautiful cactus flowers

I don't know what this one was called but we almost didn't even see the flowers because they were almost just camouflaged. // A little sego lilly. 

Some Cliff Rose and some pink Penstemon (I think)

And of course some cute little daisies! And I do mean little! // This is view from the top of Milky Falls. The water was moving so fast! It was so fun! 

We also drove into the little ghosttown of Widstoe and wandered into the cemetary and found some of Matthew's relatives! We found Charlotte and Carel Mangum who were Grandma (Anavoe Mangum) Barnes' Aunt and Uncle and their children, Zelma and Leon Mangum. 

(This picture is a little out of place but during our hike, which I will tell you more about below, I thought these boys were lost wandering around the backside of this giant rock!) // The kids loved spending the weekend with Jeni while Matthew and I were celebrating our anniversary! They all drew this cute little fire dragons from Frozen II and I am continually impressed with my girls' artistic skills! 

And they love that they get their own Sip-Its when their aunts come! I usually just make them share a big one! Haha! 

Eli was practicing his Yoga with me one morning. // I love all the pictures Axel draws for me! And I love how he writes his name! Look at his cute little lion at the top of the picture! 

Silly boys!! 

So we are going to try to hike, or do some kind of something with our friends, the Yardleys once a week all summer! This week we went on a hike near Mayfield and found some petroglyphs! 

Audrey's daughter is the girls' age and her son in Axel's age! We love having friends to explore with and I'm glad Audrey knows lots of places for us to go explore! 

Who even knew we had petroglyphs right here, 20 minutes away from our house!? 

These kids are all great little hikers and I am looking forward to more of our adventures this summer!

Happy Anniversary

Matthew and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this year! It has definitely been a great six years with it's fair share of ups and downs!  

It has been wonderful sharing my life with Matthew! I am so glad that he is the father of my children! We have a beautiful growing family, and like I said, I'm glad I get to share this part of my life, and all that is yet to come for us, with my husband! 

Anniversary (#5)

Sometimes I can't believe that we have already been married 5 years. Other times, it's very easy to believe that we've been married 5 years! :)

Matthew and I celebrated our "golden anniversary" (at least that's what I'm calling it.) Our 5th anniversary was on 5-15-15. Kind of exciting, right!? I guess our golden anniversary will actually be our 15th anniversary. But still, those numbers are kind of fun!

We decided to leave the girls with a sitter and take some time for just the two of us. We went down to Blanding and explored some old Indian ruins. We also ended up looking for some "collectors items" for Matthew, and were lucky enough to find a few!

We had a really good time and saw some pretty cool ruins. We weren't lucky enough to find any petroglyphs... but probably only because we overlooked them. But it was amazing to see how well preserved some of the ruins were.

We were able to explore a few new roads. We took a back road to one of the few places where there is access to the shore at Lake Powell. We camped on the beach and cooked Matthew's famous potatoes and tried to fish. It was a lot of fun!

 A restored kiva in Mule Canyon

House on Fire ruins

 

One of the many cactus flowers I photographed

The hike to these ruins was well worth it

Our two favorite things: Pretty things to take pictures of, and horns

There are actually three ruins in this picture ... the one in the middle is basically a hotel as far as ruins go

This man has made me pretty happy for the last 6+ years

A view from above our camp spot on the beaches of Lake Powell

I had a great time with Matthew celebrating our anniversary. We've had some good times and some bad times, but it has all been amazing. I wouldn't trade anything we've experienced over the last 5 years.

 

Thanks hon, for a great weekend and for so much more.  I love you!

five years

{I meant to post this yesterday...sorry!}

Five years ago on Thanksgiving (Nov 26) the most amazing man had me get out of bed at 3:00 in the morning and took me on a four wheeler ride up near Oxford Peak above Downey, ID. We got up on top of the mountain way before the sun came up. We sat with our backs against the four wheeler wrapped up in blankets, and me in Matthew's arms. 

We talked and made lists of things we were grateful for. Of course, one of the items on our list was that we were grateful for each other!

Then, as the sun began to rise, Matthew stood up and hugged me so tight! He was so shaky. Then he kneeled down and presented me with a beautiful ring and asked me to marry him!

It was the happiest day of my life!

I love that every Thanksgiving is a reminder of that day for me. It was a day that obviously changed my life! I remember as we were riding off the mountain, I had the song "I'm the happiest girl in the whole USA" stuck in my head. 

I am so thankful that Matthew was willing to have me as his wife. I am so thankful that I get to be his wife. I'm thankful for the life that we are building together. I'm thankful that he has made me a mother. 

Everyone faces hard times and there is always something that we can better about ourselves, but with Matthew by my side, I can do anything! (Cheesy- I know, but true!) 

Matthew, Thank you for asking me to be your wife five years ago! I love you so much! 

I'M SO SPOILED!

My husband--who loves me SO much--sold these: (what I would consider to be his pride & joy)

So that I could have this: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!

Matthew took me back to where we spent our first night as Mr. & Mrs. Sorenson, and he arranged for us to have a one hour full body massage!! It was AMAZING! He is AMAZING! Plus, he got me my beautiful anniversary band!

Isn't he wonderful!?

WARNING:
(sappy message)

This past year has been such an amazing year and I feel so blessed to share my life with Matthew. He has been such an amazing husband--even though I put him through the ringer--I'm pretty crazy. No joke. I have been such an emotional roller coaster! (I guess I always have been, but I'm just now realizing how bad I am!) and he has been a rock! He puts up with SO much from me!

I am so happy that we are sealed for time and all eternity! I am so glad I get to spend the rest of eternity with him!

I love you Matthew! Always & Forever!
Love,

Me