Settlement Canyon rappelling

Caiden had been "kind of" rappelling a couple of years ago, but it was more of a steep hill than actual vertical face. We went on a one-night camping trip at our Church's annual Father's and Son's campout and I brought along our small rope and harness just in case we found a face to practice on. Settlement canyon was really pretty, but there were no rocks to be found except for this small 10' or so rock face hidden inside the trees. We rigged up the rope and I had Caiden practice a bit on the return hill before he felt comfortable. Eventually he faced his fears and went over the vertical face.

I hope all of my kids will be willing to face their fears and make sure they're calculated decisions (safety first, always thinking out what they're doing). I was proud of Caiden for doing this and hope as he gets older he can join Alene and I on some trips that require rappelling. 

Crystal Hot Springs

We spent part of a Saturday hanging out at Crystal Hot Springs with our friends the Beatty's along with a few other members of their extended family. It was actually a lot funner than I thought it would be, but I'm sure the water slide helped :-).

Here is a little video montage I created from the trip. I want to get out and visit some more rural hot springs in the area. Anyone have any other suggestions besides the Diamond Fork and Mystic Mikes? I actually have never been to either of them (and I plan to), but I'm curious where else they are located in the state.

Bill's photos

Bill is allowing me to post a couple of photos here. I'm only posting them because they have "Me" in them. Bill takes great photos and I subscribe to his flickr photos. He get's a TON of people admiring what he does. Here is his main flickr page


Bill

Click on the photos to see the larger versions.

This is where we stopped in Hunters Canyon. Bill took a picture of me taking a picture and Alene and Bill's wife and kids behind me.



This is the light painting that Bill does. This was at the North Window arch in Arches NP. I'm in the center with my arms out. Bill is running around with the hoola-hoop

Lee Kay Ponds

Caiden had to go to an animal preserve in order to pass a requirement for cub scouts. We decided to head over to the Lee Kay Ponds, which is an area preserved for a natural wetland wildlife. Not much to do there really, especially considering it's winter and most of the wildlife have flown south for the winter, but Caiden still got a kick out of the gazeebo they had set up with stationary binoculars.

Here are a few pictures:









The truck got a little muddy