Last Friday I was talking to Clarence about his upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon. He was taking 11 boys and two other leaders on a 17 mile hike in and back out of the canyon in one day. I thought it would fun, so I asked him if I could tag along. I think he hesitated for just a second before telling me it would be fine. I'm sure he had his reservations, and probably with good cause. I quickly made arrangements for the kids the following day and packed my bag before he could change his mind. I was going to hike the grand canyon.
I actaully have always wanted to do this. I have hiked Havasupi when I was 12, but that was what, like 17 years ago? :) Ha ha. I don't remember a lot about that trip, except for the fact that Clarence went with us and my dad would tease me about always wanting to hike with Clarence and his friend. I thought boys were still gross, and come on, Clarence was 17! That was forbidden! The last day we hiked a total of 28 miles. My mom says the last 5 or so miles I just held on to her pack and she drug me out of the canyon. When we got to the van in the middle of the night I fell asleep on the floor and my dad drove us home..... I STILL don't know how he did that after such a long hike.
So Saturday morning at 3 am we left the church and headed to the Grand Canyon. After a few stops along the way and a quick trip to drop off the other vehicle, we were ready to hike the canyon. It was about 6:30. We started our adventure on South Kiabab trail, and we would end up on the Bright Angel trail.
See the crew I hiked with? Aren't they a handsome bunch?
We ran most of the way down the canyon, but I made sure we had plenty of photos along the way. This is one of my fav. places to stop.
And yes, I made them say "Ooh, Ahh! " as I snapped the pitcure. 
I even managed to snag a couple of pictures with this handsome fella.
3 1/2 hours and 4600 feet in elevation later we reached the bottom of the canyon.
We ate lunch and had a little time to chill at the creek near Phantom Ranch before heading back up.
The boys had a blast playing in the creek......
while the rest of us took it easy.
After about 2 hours we headed back out. We had to coss this cool bridge to get back to the trail.
We started the hike out ok, but then the switchbacks came. They first set was hard, but the view from the top was pretty cool!
We stopped at Indian Garden for about 45 mintutes to rest up and refil our water. I love these boys. They were an awesome group of boys. This is their pondering pose.
There was a lot of water on the trail on the way up. We found some really pretty waterfalls along the way.
After Indian Gardens te trail got HARDER. We were getting pretty tired (or at least I was) and we let the boys split up a little bit and take the trail at their own pace. We had the jackrabbit crew up front that seemed to never run out of energy . Next was the grasshopper group followed by the turtle club. I was with the middle group for pretty much the rest of the hike. The further up we got the harder the trail was. There were LOTS of switchbacks that seemed to go on forever.
Clarence took the camera for the rest of the trip and ran ahead to catch the boys as they came out of the canyon. I don't know how he found the extra energy to run, I barely had enough strenght to just put one foot in front of the other! I'm glad that he took the camera. He did get some pretty awesome shots along the way.
I can't believe we were all the way down there only earlier that day.
FINALLY 11 hours after we started this hike and 4300 feet in elevation later, I made my way out of the canyon. I was very tired and sore. I wasn't sure if the end was ever going to come! The last mile took about an hour to climb. My back was sore and my legs felt like jelly, but I had done it. I hiked the grand canyon!
I came, I saw, and I conquered.
About 45 minutes later the last group came out of the canyon. All the boys had done it. I was so proud of these young men. We really have some of the greatest youth around. Here is one last picture of our motley crew after our long hike.
See the two boys on the right? This was their 3rd trip to the canyon and they ran most of the way. Their time: 6 hours and 15 minutes. Way to go Whopper and Kyler!
We finally made it home from our adventure about 10 that night. I have gained a greater appreciation for Clarence and for what he does for these scouts. He is so patient and kind, which happen to be 2 attributes I strive to have. I am grateful I had this opportunity to go on this grand adventure with such wonderful youth and their faithful leaders. They were all great examples to me. I am humbled by their sweet spirits and their willingness to help out when called upon.
I had a hard time letting the kids go this year. I don't know if it's because I'm losing my babysitters, or it it's because I realize how big they're getting and how such a short time I get to have them here with me. Maybe a little bit of both! Having a baby now has changed my life. I know this year will be busy as ever with sports and other events, but I hope that I can appreciate them when they're home and teach them a few things along the way.
Karly is not a big fan of her car seat, so it's rare to get these kinds of pictures. It must be early on in the trip because 1) she's smiling 2) she still has a flower in her hair and 3) she still has all her clothes on.
Karly at the airport. She LOVED to sit and watch the planes take off and come in. Kalry is not really a fan of flying, but she loves the snacks they give her on the plane!
I have so many pictures of this little cutie and I realized I haven't taken the time to share them. So these are a few of my favorites I've taken this past couple of months. She is so fun right now. She knows a lot of words and knows how to get what she wants. Her favorite words right now are bum bum and bubie. Bubie is what she calls Ethan, but she also uses it for a lot of of other things too. ... like flower and bug, and sippy. She calls Kaitlyn "KK" and Clarissa is sometimes bubie or just "Sissa." Karly loves the cat which she calls meow, and the ducks and goats as well. She likes to go on walks and open doors. She loves her shoes and will bring me her shoes when she's ready to go anywhere. 
Isn't she pretty? This is the 4th tube of lipstick she's done this to! Why do kids love the things they aren't supposed to have? But isn't she the cutest? How can you get mad at a face like that? Little stinker. One more thing she did this morning that I thought was cute.