Backpacking into the Grand Canyon

This past week we fulfilled one of Robby's long time desires to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back. It was even better because we were able to make this trip with Robby's 3 brothers and 2 of his 4 sisters. Little Robby and I both joined the expedition and Jenna stayed behind (on account of being too young for this trip) at Aunt Andra's house with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle David and her three cousins.

This trip was a year in planning, and ended up being a great success. We all had a very memorable journey. I will share some of the highlights through these pictures (courtesy of my sister-in-law Andra who brought a camera to record our adventure).

Here are the boys, trekking poles in hand, standing at the top of the South Rim ready for the adventure to begin. (L to R - Robby, Logan, Forrest, Tommy, and in front Little Robby)

Okay, this isn't the best picture since the sun was very bright, but here are the girls excited to start the adventure. (L to R - Summer, Andra, and Sharon)

Here is our little adventurer near the beginning of the hike. Before we left, we were a little worried about how well he would be able to keep up with the adults on the hike, but instead he was just about always right behind the leader wishing he could blaze the trail.

Along the way we were careful to stay hydrated.

As we neared the last couple miles of the seven mile hike to the bottom, we were glad to see this view of the river and part of the campground because it meant we were close.

This was a view of the river taken from the black suspension bridge near Bright Angel Campground. Beautiful!

Here Robby demonstrates how we all felt after that first day of hiking - Dead!

Andra and I looked like twinkies during much of the trip because we shopped together at REI before the trip. When we bought the shirts Andra's husband convinced us both to buy the same color shirt (to be honest there was a limited selection of colors and none of the other choices were very flattering on either of us.)

Also, this picture was taken in front of the canteen at Phantom Ranch. I think what saved me was the fact that Andra was able to reserve dorm room beds for the three girls during both nights of our stay at the bottom of the canyon. I was so sore the next morning I could hardly walk, and I think it would have been worse if I had slept in a sleeping bag on the cold hard ground.

Here are the boys' accommodations at the Bright Angel Campground.

On our day of rest at the bottom of the canyon, Andra and I walked over to the Boat Beach together. While there she captured my special moment touching the water of the Colorado River. This is my proof that I really was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon!

Also during that day, Andra and I had to doctor some massive blisters that Robby developed on his heels during the hike down. Everyone had to stand around and watch because they had never seen blisters so large! (I will spare you from seeing the actual blisters themselves.)

This is Robby's sister Summer loading up for the two day hike back to the top. What a cutie!

I love this shot! This is seven of us on the trail hiking back to the top (Robby was taking the picture.)

Robby and I enjoy a breather break together along the trail.

After a 2 day and total of 9.8 mile hike we made it to the top! Here are the six brothers and sisters who went (L to R, in order of youngest to oldest - Logan, Summer, Forrest, Tommy, Andra, and Robby -- Robby has two more sisters who couldn't make it.) It felt like we had just finished a marathon (not that I've ever run a marathon, but it's like completing something incredibly momentous.) I realize people have accomplished much greater things, but for me this was big! We did get a big group picture, but it was on one of the brother's camera, so I will have to post it later.

A trip to the railroad park

The Families Supporting Adoption organization that we are apart of had a fun picnic at a railroad park close to our house. We had never been there before, and afterwards I wished I had gone sooner. The day was so nice. We are in November now, and we have finally gotten to the weather that won't make you sweat the first two minutes you are outside.

Not to long after we arrived, we had a surprise. Robby's best friend was also at the park celebrating a birthday of a cousin. Robby thought that was great, and they went back and forth between the two parties eating food in both places.

Jenna enjoyed running and playing on the playground...

and sliding down the slide.

But, her favorite part was riding on the carousel. "I want to ride the Horseys!" she would say.

Ahhh, the life of a little girl.

The main attraction at this park is the scale model of a steam engine train that people can ride. In fact, it even has a cattle car, which is where Robby and Jenna insisted on riding. (I opted for a gondola seat - open topped box car.)

Here we are coming into the station.

"Bye, bye Horseys!"

Halloween Fun!

Halloween is over and the kids really had fun. This was the first year that everything made sense to Jenna. I am going to be curious if she still thinks that she gets candy for saying "trick or treat" at people's doorsteps. She's so cute she would probably succeed at still getting candy from them.

Here is our handsome Jedi Knight and beautiful Cinderella. This picture was taken before our church trunk-or-treat party last Saturday night.

Here is our princess with her prince. (Okay, maybe he's the king because I am the queen.)

At the trunk-or-treat Robby was surprised to find his arch-nemesis Darth Vadar. These two enjoyed several light saber duels throughout the evening.

Fortunately we were able to get them to stand still for a little bit to pose for a picture together.

And this is the part Jenna liked the best... the candy!

Hiking a local mountain trail

Guest blogger Robby here. In preparation for our Grand Canyon hike, we took family practice hike #2 yesterday, with special guest stars Aunt Andra and Audrey. This time we actually managed to bring our camera.

Here are a few of the highlights, from the cave (more like a large alcove) at the top:

Jenna enjoys some rock climbing. (It's not as steep as it looks--the camera was tilted.)

Our good-looking boy, still looking a little flushed from the hike up.

As you can see Little Robby wasn't the only red-faced one in the group.

Jenna's looking fresh because she got to ride up the whole way. We had three loads of about 25 lbs.--Jenna, Audrey, and a backpack full of 72-hour-kit goodies--that the three adults passed back and forth up and down the mountain. (Jenna did walk part of the way down.) Little Robby carried about 12 lbs. of water in an ill-fitting school backpack, although his load lightened quickly as we consumed its contents.

Overall, we gained 800 feet over the 1.6 miles to the top, close to the grade of the Grand Canyon trails we'll take. We were pretty wiped out by the time we returned to our starting point.

Here are some bonus Jenna pix, as she models several of her favorite moods:

For our birthmom...

Today, as I was taking a little bit of time surfing the internet, I stumbled onto a YouTube video about birthmoms. As I watched it, I began thinking about you and decided to write a message here especially for you. While writing this, I sit here wondering where you are and hoping that you might feel the love I have for you. As an adoptive mom, it is quite frequent that my thoughts reflect upon my daughter's birthmom. Everytime I hug her and kiss her my unending gratitude goes to her beautiful birthmom. I can't truly describe the feeling in words. When I think about you, my heart is already feels that same love and gratitude for the choice you are making. I know we haven't met, but I also know you are a beautiful person, and at the right time we will meet. We can't wait for you to become part of our family. I hope that in the meantime you can feel our prayers of comfort and peace for you.

With love,
Sharon

Let's do the Shamu Splash!

On our second day in San Diego we decided to try out Sea World.

When we arrived it was raining a little, and we sadly realized that we only had one umbrella for six people. I forgot to pack the another umbrella, so we all huddled together as we waited to go through the admission line to get in the park. Fortunately, the rain was not drenching, just steady and a little heavier than a drizzle.

My parents decided that they would rather not get wet in the rain so we went to the gift shop in search of another umbrella. They had sold out by the time we got there, so we ended up getting ponchos instead. We found out later that we were glad to have them because...

Little Robby wanted to sit in the "Soak Zone" during the Shamu Show. Okay, "Big" Robby has not stopped giving me grief because I told him that although we were sitting in the "Soak Zone" I figured that sitting 10 rows back it wouldn't be so bad, right?! I figured we would be splashed, but not "soaked."

Well, as you can guess, I was wrong! Laugh all you want... Poor Jenna wasn't laughing. She was a little disturbed by Shamu splashing her. About the worst part was that I tried to cover Jenna with one side of my poncho to protect her and managed to accidentally expose my lap in my haste, so my legs got soaked. Yes, soaked!

Fortunately, the whole show is not about Shamu splashing the audience so Jenna still came out with a smile in the end.

Here is my one picture of Shamu jumping out of the water to splash the audience.

Actually, what got us soaked was not Shamu doing a belly flop, but what you see at the end of this video. (I found this on YouTube, and it is exactly what we saw!)

Aren't we cute in our Sea World ponchos.

Eventually the sun did come out and we were able to put away our ponchos. Here we are taking a ride on the Sky Tower overlooking the park. Jenna was so happy to be able to go on a ride with everyone.

Boy would she have been excited if their new Sesame Street exhibit had been open. As you can tell she was happy just looking at the Elmo picture.

It was fun seeing a few creatures I have never seen in real life like this beluga whale...

and this walrus. Boy was he huge!

Okay, so you might guess from the fact that we are wearing long sleeves and light jackets that the outdoor tempurature that day was not extremely warm. (Robby was only in short sleeves because he doesn't like his jacket. Not to mention the fact that jackets aren't something you worry about too much in the Arizona desert.) And when it is chilly is definitely not a time that you really want to be getting wet, but Little Robby just had to ride Sea World's one roller coaster, Journey to Atlantis (seen here). Luckily those ponchos came in handy again!

After the roller coaster was done our Sea World Adventure was over. We saw four shows (Shamu, dolphins, sea lions, and pets), saw sharks in a tunnel through their tank, viewed penguins, and several other interesting creatures. All in all, it was very fun!

Thanks Mom and Dad for helping us make this trip possible! We really enjoyed going with you!