The Boxer

In the clearing stands a boxer 

And a fighter by his trade 

And he carries the reminders 

Of ev'ry glove that layed him down 

Or cut him till he cried out 

In his anger and his shame 

"I am leaving, I am leaving" 

But the fighter still remains...

I figured if I added a little S&G my mother wouldn't flip when I told her that I signed her oldest grandson up for boxing...the younger one will have to wait his turn...(it was either boxing or Young Marines - he settled for boxing and promised not to bug me anymore about the Marine gig...)

Havasupai Holdsworth (& Teuscher)

My lovely friend Lisa had us join her and her husband on a hike down Havasupai (count the h's). Havasupai?? I had never been (and had no idea what/where it was - AND why did it take me 34 years to GO???) I thought "sure...why not?". Having gone down and come out alive I think it necessary to share my thoughts on the wonderful hike.

Matt a.k.a "Havasupai Hal" had us enter the canyon at night - complete with head lamps.  We slept on the trail - and then woke around 5:30am and continued down to the village.  The entire hike down to the waterfalls is about 10 miles - you have about 1.5 miles of steep switchbacks right at the beginning and then the rest is through dry riverbed.  The boys led the way...and Lisa (with her fractured foot - injured the night before) and I followed.

When we started to hit trees like this I knew we had to be getting close to the water..and the village.
There is a perfect little LDS chapel that greets you as you enter the poverty-stricken village.













































And a LOT of horses...a LOT of horses on the brink of starvation - I wasn't quite prepared for the horses OR homes in Havasupai.

No need for pack mules...we had Bart.

We checked in and paid for our permits ($30ish per night)

We walked the 2 miles from the village and came to our first set of falls...All I could think was "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME I HAD HAWAII IN MY BACKYARD - OK 2 1/2 HOURS AWAY FROM MY BACKYARD??!!

Look who we ran into (Lisa's littlest sister)

Who wouldn't want to hike with a pack that cute??

The crippled's pack was too light...had to add something

Umm...next time I will focus the camera for Hayley first.

A little tired coming out of the canyon - Bart & Lisa must have caught their 4th wind?

Havasupai Hal informed us we had 1.5 miles of switchbacks to go..

Up to the top...

Lisa and I chose to laugh our heads off (we were short on oxygen) and sing show tunes the rest of the way up - glancing back every so often at how far we had come.  


I want to head back next summer with Indy & Laina...they would love it!

It's Great to be Eight

With all the craziness of summer - I haven't posted the MOST exciting, MOST important part of our summer. Laina turned 8 and was baptized (along with her cousin Carter). It was a wonderful day filled with friends, family, and of course a pretty dress (thank you dressmaker - Oh! and her husband - Bishop).

The "after-party" included lots of cheek-pinching (I'm trying to convince myself & others that this is the reason this youngest child pinches babies faces off...)

And this little darling with her striped hair is just too adorable to pass up!

Laina we love you so much - and hope that you get to fulfill your lifelong dream of training dolphins.