Bryce Canyon National Park.

Since I didn't get to run my marathon, I told Brandon my big stipulation for the trip was that we NEEDED to make a stop at a national park to cross it off our list. Utah has 5, and the two closest are Zion and Bryce Canyon. I looked it up, and last October 2 million people went to Zion and 200,000 went to Bryce Canyon. So, we didn't extend our stay at the hotel in St. George and found a yurt on Airbnb in Panguitch about 20 minutes away from Bryce Canyon. 

I looked up the weather, and it looked pretty chilly. It said high of 50's and low of 20's so we packed all the warm clothes that we have for the kids. When we drove through Panguitch it reminded me a lot of the small towns in Idaho we had for 6 years. Then we turned onto Scenic Route 12 and WOW.

Notice the weather. It was 70 in St. George, and it got steadily colder as we went on. Then, the raindrops got fluffier and fluffier. IT WAS SNOWING. Brandon and I looked at each other, we hadn't expected this! The kids had warm sweaters but nothing water repellent.

Cora was FREAKING OUT. She is obsessed with Frozen, and wanted to see snow for a long time. The only other time she's been in snow was when we went to Reno, over a year and a half ago. So we taught her to catch a snowflake on her tongue.

This is one of my new favorite pictures of her.
The visitor's center has some nice things for the kids to play with. We haven't seen too many visitor's center like these!

I was worried that the fog and snow meant we wouldn't be able to see the big amphitheater of hoodoos. That was the thing I wanted to see! So we went to Sunset Point, where the hoodoo named Thor's Hammer is located. I jumped out of the car to see the view, and it took my breath away.

Amazing!

 I am obsessed with this new family picture. It's definitely going on our Christmas card, and I think I'm going to put it on a giant canvas on our wall.

Some selfies with our kids.

 (James was saying "dees" and pointing at the canyon)

The problem with Bryce Canyon (not surprisingly) is that the path doesn't always have good railings and it is very. high. up. So we didn't walk too far, because Cora just wanted to throw snowballs!

When I threw a snowball at Brandon, it just bounced off his stomach and hit the ground. It was too wet to be a proper snowball. But James really laughed at it!
Some of our other views:
Natural Bridge

Inspiration Point

 Look at that cutie James in the backpack! He was actually shivering, but his face was so cute I had to take a picture (before we rushed him back to the car to warm up)

It is A.MAZE.ING.

The only problem with Bryce Canyon is that we didn't have service and couldn't listen to the afternoon session of General Conference. Every time I saw any service I tried to stream it (thanks Giullians for Brandon's unlimited data plan!), but it never stayed for long. We were racing back to the lodge to try and listen to the end when they announced all TWELVE temples! I MISSED IT! And that's my favorite part of the announcements in conference! And especially for Puerto Rico to get a new temple. I got a little teary eyed thinking of Bethany listening to it and being able to hear that her beloved mission was getting a temple. She's been through SO much! (As a side note, she MAY have been excited...)

And another temple in California! This one will be way further north. But as of right now we have been to all the temples in California, so this will be another one to visit.

So anyway, we're going to listen to what we missed in conference this week.

Our yurt was an experience. It was RIGHT off the 89 freeway, which is the freeway that took us to the park.

 I don't think I'll do camping any other way with little kids. Tent camping seems too stressful... but we had a wood burning stove for the heat source and James was only interested in touching that stove and climbing inside. So THAT was a disaster! We tried to keep him in the portacrib for as long as possible, but he freaked out after a while.

The biggest problem was that it rained all night and all day, so we didn't get to make a bonfire outside to roast marshmallows. But the stove kept the yurt warm. We kept James in the portacrib in between the stove and the table, far enough away from each that he couldn't touch them but close enough to feel the warmth. Since it is pitch black he wouldn't be able to see it anyway.
Cora didn't want to stay in her sleeping bag, even though it was a cute fox themed one that had sleeves. So after a few hours she ended up in between our sleeping bags so we could keep her covered with blankets.

That night I was startled to hear car doors slam shut and footsteps around the back of our yurt. Now, as I have a "little bit" of a Boy who Cried Wolf complex with hearing things at night. For whatever reason, now that I have kids I jump at any noise I hear at night. So I waited to make sure I heard was real and not just my imagination. So after about 10 minutes of listening I woke Brandon up. I mean, how many scary movies start with someone camping in the middle of nowhere?? I told Brandon to grab the wood cutting axe and head out there haha. I mean what if it was a bear, and I had just heard the car doors shut once? AHHH. He looked outside, and said it was 2 cars of people going to the yurt next to ours. I guess they just got out there late. AND it is hard to find the gate in the light, so I imagine how hard it is at night. After that I could relax and fall asleep!
At 6 AM both kids woke up, and we figured since we couldn't cook eggs over the fire we'd might as well pack up and go. So since we were out the door by 8, we made it home by 8 PM. That was with 3 stops in St. George for lunch, Las Vegas for Great Harvest, and Tehachapi for dinner. It was a fun trip, and we were glad we did it. But after 4 nights of sharing a room with the kids and having literally NO time away from them, we were ready to get back. Next "camping" trip we are getting something with at least two rooms so we can relax without having to watch a show on our phone under the blankets with headphones.

St. George 2018 Trip

Since I'm on the 10 day social media fast that President Nelson invited us to do, I'm blogging a LOT.

As I said before, I wasn't able to run the St. George marathon. But since we had the hotel and I was bummed out, we decided to just go up and make a weekend out of it.

The first night was AWFUL. We drove just a few hours to a hotel to get a head start on the drive, and the hotel didn't have enough cribs for us! It took James until after THREE AM to fall asleep. Brandon and I were about to lose our minds. So we may as well have woken up early and left at 5 AM and gotten further than if we had gone to the hotel. And slept better.

 Otherwise the drive was uneventful. When we got to St. George, I realized how small it really was. Only 75,000, when I thought it was much bigger! But they had a great area near the children's museum. Splash pad, carousel, library, etc. The carousel only cost $2 for the whole family to ride, and Cora LOVED it. James was not as thrilled, because he was stuck sitting on the bench. 

There is a park nearby called Thunder Junction. It is all abilities, which means that James didn't have as many scary steps to crawl up as usual.

They also had fun things like swings to  

Definitely the highlight of St. George though was seeing Rachel and Cody! We haven't seen them since we left Rexburg, which (for those keeping track) is FOUR years and THREE kids ago! So we were glad they wanted to come meet up with us. St. George is about halfway, so we should do it more often! 

 Cora has been begging to go on a train for a while, so she was SO EXCITED. This picture may not show it, but she was.

 James loved all the dinos everywhere, he kept walking up to them and grunting to sit on them.

 It was at the park that we learned about the 3 hour church block turning into a TWO hour church block. There have been a few big changes lately, but every time I feel very peaceful and not unsure of it. And not just because this means I don't have to wrestle naughty toddlers in the hall for 3 hours. I think this is a good way to reach more people.

James, however, wants 10 hours of church on Sundays. Look at him!

 In St. George there was a farmer who discovered that the hill he was about to bulldoze actually contained many dinosaur bones and tracks. It was SO cool to check out!

James only cared about walking and walking and walking and walking and

And Cora and Brody just threw rocks and dirt. Good thing it was only $5 or $6 an adult. 

 We went to the Honolulu Grill, where Cora filled up on shaved ice and James ate rice and fish (well, Goldfish).

 It was so fun to see the Gamboas! Back in 2010 when we all met we weren't even dating our husbands, just crazy 19 year old girls who were all about going to Abs that Rock with the cute instructor and playing Monster Pong. Now we're married and moms and actual grown ups! We are NOT waiting another 4 years to meet up again!

(Also, look at Cora's blue lips. Haha shave ice!)

James Quarterly Report- 15 months.

Ok this is SO late but here is James' 15 month report!

James started walking around Labor Day. He has not stopped since. His favorite time to walk is when we are at church, which has led to a lot of walks outside.

BUT LOOK AT THE SUSPENDERS! 

 This kid... he loves to climb! I can't get him to stop! He falls off things all the time, but he's starting to learn how to climb off things.

I am obsessed, OBSESSED, with his hair. It is so soft and the COLOR. So amazing.

 James LOVES his cousin Charlotte. The feeling is not quite mutual yet. In another year she'll be bugging the heck out of him, but for now she just looks to us for help. 

 He is still the happiest little boy. He loves dogs and trains and dogs and dinosaurs and so many things.

 James loves to do everything Cora does. I knew this would happen but it is hilarious to watch! It's starting to double my expenses for them, because if I want to keep Cora happy then James needs to jump in on it.

 Every time we went to Grandma and Grandpa Murphy's house Brandon heard the same story about how they couldn't find me until they looked into a cupboard and found me upside down hanging out in the cupboard. So whenever I find James in our cupboard it makes me smile and think of Grandpa Murphy.

 Right at the end of September I decided, on a whim, that I should cut James's hair. Before:

And after:

 I totally butchered it. The sides had some crazy short ends, and the front is all wonky. But he still look so cute! And I left some of the front long so I could sweep it. I'll trim it when it gets longer.

 James has not been talking at ALL. Just in the last half of September he has started to make sounds instead of just grunts. He CAN say words, because in the past he has said "dog", "bye bye", "nana", etc. But right now he just wants to grunt at us. I am keeping an eye on it for the time being, but if he doesn't talk a lot more before his 18 month checkup I am thinking of having his speech evaluated. But he is SO CUTE. Even if he's so busy and I just sweat at church because I am keeping him alive.

Wascally Wabbit 5k

So, this was supposed to be half marathon 6, and my last double digit run before St. George marathon.

However, after my 18 mile run I had some issues, and went to the doctor. I pulled some muscles and had some core issues (which is as specific as I would like to be), so while waiting for an appointment with the physical therapist I should not be running long distances. As this happened the week I was supposed to run 40 miles (5, 10, 5, and 20 miles respectively), I knew I would not be able to make the marathon.

It was a huge disappointment, but I know it's more important to listen to my body.

BUT, since I had already paid for my half marathon I asked if I could downgrade to the 5k. I figured I would run what I could and walk the rest.

Around mile 2, a few other runners and I noticed a woman staggering toward us. Initially my thought was that it was a drunk person walking one off. Then I noticed blood all down her shirt, and I was a little alarmed. Then I noticed the zombie face paint. PHEW! A few more people jumped out at us, which was totally unexpected. They didn't mention that when we were signing up!

I did it in 41:20, which is a pretty good pace for me doing the walk/run pace!

Now to get stronger and (hopefully) faster!1+++++

Moving Austin to Stanford

One of the biggest reasons I wanted Brandon to take the Visalia job after Barry was because I wanted to be near my parents after their mission. We can also be close to Brandon's parents right now, so the kids can be near both grandparents starting next summer.

An unexpected bonus that we didn't expect a year and a half ago was having Dallin and Krystel in the Bay Area all summer, and now Austin will be near for the next 2 years at Stanford! It's only a 3 hour drive.

2 weeks before he was supposed to come out, his car got stolen. It was a very stressful time, as we were unsure as to how he was going to get out here. But miracle of all miracles, the Provo police found it just before he left.

He planned to move out this past weekend, and we were able to swing it so we got to go help him do some grocery shopping. We figured it was our way of being the "parents" here.

It was fun seeing another part of California. Apparently just outside of Palo Alto there is a NASA research center!

 Austin's dorm is... pretty good for students haha. He has a nice roommate I met at one point. It's basically the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

His ward is just off campus, so he can walk there which is nice! 

On the drive up we saw that there were tickets to the Stanford-UC Davis football game for $11 for the FIFTEENTH row. So we took it! James did not want Austin to ever put him down.

 Cora spent the whole game with her hands over her ears, saying "This is too loud. I don't like football. I want to go home." Then as soon as we left Stanford scored twice. Bummer!

Lunch was at Wahlburger's, which was pretty good. But raw jalepenos in my salad made my mouth burn.

We took Austin to Walmart and Trader Joe's. Cora made a few interesting fashion choices along the way!

 After dinner, we headed back to Oakley. We were teasing Ashlee and Luis for sleep training Charlotte with the video monitor... while she was 10 feet away. It's funny now, but I know I was just like this with Cora!

 James looked especially dapper in his Larry King outfit at church.

 He LOVES having Charlotte around! Charlotte is a little bit afraid of him, you can see her eyes get big when he comes stumbling up to her.

We tried to keep her safe from James, but it didn't work.

 He was jealous of her seat, so he BIT her toes. Not hard, because I couldn't see a bite mark. But she cried, Ashlee got her out, and then he climbed in and played happily with the toys. Sorry Charlotte!

We now have 2 stops to make in the Bay, and possibly 3 next year if Dallin and Krystel decide to move back here!

Where were you when the world stood still?

On 9/11 every year, people post about what they were doing and where they were when they heard about the terrorist attacks. I don't think I've ever written mine down so I want to for my kids to know.

I have a lot of secondary NYC pride. Being born outside there and having visited there for my growing up years made me feel like an honorary citizen of New York. While I have retracted wanting to live there (or any city ever again after living in Miami), I will still argue that it is better than any other Northeastern city (cough Boston).

So it was the beginning of 6th grade for me. I remember coming downstairs and seeing that the TV was on. The TV was NEVER on before school, so I thought "Cool!" Then I realized something was super wrong. My mom and dad were so focused on it and Austin came running up to me saying there was an airplane crash at the Twin Towers. We had just gone to visit the summer before, and Alyse went up into one of the towers. It was surreal to watch them smoking like that. As we were eating breakfast the first tower collapsed. It was so surreal (again, no other word to describe it) to be witnessing live. It was so unfathomable and cartoonish the way it came down that I thought this was a joke. Like a Pee Wee Herman type collapse? But it wasn't. All I remember is the audible gasp from my parents and the tears and then it hit me that this was REAL and this was horrific. I was 11, remember?

I remember the cameras shooting people running and screaming from the falling debris. My cousins told me that all day that day people were being pulled out of class to be told about the status of their parents.

Every year I learn a little more about that day. I'm so glad that our videos didn't show (or our parents protected us from) the footage of the people jumping out of the buildings. I think of the first responders and the people who saved lives and it's awe inspiring. I think of those people who rushed the cockpit and brought down United 93 to save the lives of who knows how many people and I am grateful for their sacrifice.

I just watched a video that had some audio of voicemails people left from the planes and it makes me never want to fly. The fear they had in their voices makes your heart stop. I still can't watch footage without tearing up.

So, that's where I was when the world stood still.