Where to begin?

I guess after a long hiatus there is no right place to pick up. There are so many memories I would like to document so I will try. After we left Arizona in early March our first stop was a family camping and rock climbing trip at Joshua Tree National Park. We had such an amazing week enjoying the hot, sunny days and the freezing cold nights. Johanna did her first roped climbs and couldn't get enough. Emmy and I often sat in the shade and watched and then she would fall asleep on my shoulder. I also climbed a couple climbs for the first time in a long while. It was awesome! On one day we were away from our camp all day with day packs. Johanna had a stomach bug and we must have dug 5-6 shallow holes in the desert ground for the poor girl to poop in. They were all "emergencies" too, like I didn't know if we were going to make it each time. Good times.

Then the girls and I went on towards my parent's house near Ogden Utah. Luke stayed at Joshua Tree for another week to climb. We got caught in a storm and stayed the night in a hotel in St. George. We had fun swimming in the pool and hitting up the Wildlife Museum.

We made it to Ogden Valley and settled in for the next 6 weeks. We went to the dinosaur museum, library story times, the climbing gym, the awesome Ogden children's museum, rode the Snow Basin gondola, took small hikes and generally enjoyed being fed by my doting mother. We did not get out and do all that we had hoped in terms of camping trips. The best part of the time there was hanging out with my parents and having the girls get to know them. Every morning Johanna would wake up before us all and creep upstairs and crawl into bed with Ya-ya and Grandpa Dick. Cherished moments. I had been getting a little lazy with my running and had a marathon coming up in May. I ran in a half marathon and it was a wake up call regarding my fitness level - lacking. I got myself back on a training plan. I found a friend to run with and we shared running trails and great conversation. We were also there for some nice family visits. Jake and Clara visited from Denver and Max and Corey (and her parents) visited from Provo for Easter. Ogden Valley is a gorgeous place and we were almost convinced to stay and live there...

We said goodbye to my parents in late April and headed to Moab to camp. We had a lovely spot right on the banks of the Colorado River. It was then that we wished we had taken more side camping trips while in the beautiful state of Utah. We did a fun hike up Negro Bill Canyon, walking distance from our campsite. In the morning we went into Arches National Park for some amazing views and one sandy hike.