Escalante 2012

Rewinding back to summer for a bit...
Kirt has been pushing for a family trip to southern Utah (Escalante, specifically) for a while and this summer he really made it happen. Although I'm always happy to go along for the ride I had no idea how much this trip would mean to the Browning/Peterson family. Most of Kirt's family came as well as Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Duane. We started the trip out with some fishing. I was rather proud of the candid moment I caught on camera. I nearly fell in the lake trying to get it.

 There  was lots of driving to see all the amazing landscape throughout the area. Grandma Jackie grew up in Escalante and had so much for us to see and do. She knew the roads like the back of her hand and all the nick-names for the look out points. This was near Hell's Backbone - the road runs along the top of a mountain range and you can see amazing valleys and landscape on either side of you. This tree near Kirt was growing right out of a crack in the rock.

 We left Tessa behind with Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Jackie one day to hike Calf Creek. The boys were awesome hikers. It was about 6 miles round-trip and super hot but the boys beat us to the top and back out at the bottom as well. After 3 miles of sweaty hiking we were thrilled to find this water fall and pond waiting for us!

 Next up was Devil's Garden. We followed a long dirt road for 30-40 minutes and all of the sudden these random rock formations appear. It does appear to be a little garden of mini-mountains with rounded tops and arches. It was no surprise that before I could get out of the car Uncle Jake was already on top of one of these things.

 Grandma and Grandpa with the kids. Soon after this picture the kids were up running all over the arch behind them scaring the rest of us to death.

 Kirt found a cabin for us that was less than a mile from where Grandma Jackie lived as a little girl. Although her house is no longer there, the back 'wash-house' was still in tact. It was so fun to visit it with her and hear all the stories about her family's small-town life. There wasn't room for the kids in the main house, so they slept out in the wash-house. She told stories of taking the mail truck to visit the doctor and the dentist. It was amazing to think of how much life has changed since her childhood.

 We finally made it into Capitol Reef National Park for a day and saw some incredible things. The house below was built by my kids great-great-great-great grandfather. Sometimes the children would sleep in the holes in the mountain off to the left. Our kids crawled in there to check things out for themselves. Apparently there was a massive flood that forced them to leave their home but it is now part of the National Park.

 Just down the road from the cabin was the local schoolhouse which served as the wedding local for our kids great-great-great grandparents. There was a little plaque with a recording from one of the school teachers. It was so sweet to hear her sweet old-lady voice recounting her experience as a young school teacher trying to corral a bunch of farm kids in this tiny room of a school.

 At Kirt's request Grandma Jackie brought a bunch of slides and we all stayed up late flipping through them projected on the wall of the cabin as she told story after story about her family, growing up, raising her own children and life in general. We really should have been taking notes. I told Kirt that Grandma Jackie either has an amazing memory or she's really good at making stories up on the spot! (I'm sure it's a great memory!) From all the slides, I think we laughed the hardest at one of Jackie and all her sisters lined up from youngest to oldest and sporting this pose:

 Owen found out that he could become a Junior Ranger in the National Park and there was no turning back. He dedicated the next few hours to plowing through the little workbook and learning all he needed to know to go back and get his badge. I was actually kind of nervous when Ranger Kelly started quizzing him on the workbook info, but he nailed it all and even schooled her stories about his family that helped settle the area. It was hysterical. As we walked out of the building he said, "So, I pretty much work here now, right?" Right dude. Pretty much.

 The trip was really amazing. It was incredible to hear all of Jackie's stories and to see how excited Kirt was to get out and share all of it with his own kids. They had made trips down there as kids and he's always passed Jackie's stories onto them but getting to experience it all together was an experience that none of us will soon forget. We cannot thank the entire family enough for such a memorable trip. Where are we going in 2014?

 Later in our trip to Utah we had the honor of attending Grandpa Herb's 90th Birthday Party. Kirt had already made his way home (dang job!) but made a last minute decision to fly back up for the party. I think we were all pretty glad that he did! Once again, seeing all of his friends and family come to celebrate his awesome life was not to be missed.

And because this is how our families roll: My Grandma Arnold was also at Herb's birthday party. Everytime we talk to one or the other they tell us that they frequently see each other around town and affectionately refer to each other as 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa'.