I have observed something that I find very interesting. Phoenix, while being in the middle of a desert, is actually very heavily farmed. There are many different crops being grown here. The fields that I drive past each day have cabbage and corn. When we first moved here, the cabbage was being harvested, and the corn fields were just being ploughed. I've watched these corn stalks grow from just seeds, to being nearly 3 feet tall in the short couple of months that we've lived here, and I feel like we've grown as a family, just like those seeds.
We've all had to step out of our normal "boxes" to make this new place feel like home, but I think we've reached that point. Ben and Claire have been doing well, learning so many new skills and things that they never knew how. Ben grew from not swimming at all, to jumping into the pool by himself! Claire has begun talking more and more each day. Sometimes she talks so well that I mistake her talking to me for Ben talking to me. Josh and I have both had to make new friends, and get out of our comfort zones that we've been so securely tucked into for so long. It's really paying off, though- we love our ward, and our neighbors. We've been planted, and are starting to take root!
For the holiday today, we decided to take a drive and see some parts of Arizona that we hadn't seen before. To my Dad, Val-- you would really have been proud. We found such a "gold mine" of fun waiting for us at the other end!
Final decision: we drove to Payson. We didn't really know what we were going to do there, we just were going to see the forest, and hopefully cool down a little bit. It was a couple of hours' drive from Surprise.
When we got there, we ate at a little mom-and-pop Cafe(mmmmm), and found out that only 10 miles from where we were there was a state park, Tonto Natural Bridge! So, we went there, not knowing what we'd find. There are pictures below, but again due to my ignorance of how to properly post pictures(some day I'll figure it out, I promise), they are all at the bottom of this post again.
We first hiked to a small waterfall, which was so neat! It wasn't very big at all, but it was beautiful. I forgot my camera, so we didn't get pictures of that, but once we came up I grabbed it out of the car, and we went out to the first viewpoint of the actual natural bridge. (Picture 1 below)You may not be able to tell from the picture, but there are people standing underneath the Natural bridge. We decided to find the trail, and hike down.
The hike was difficult- steep, and a lot of rock-hopping to get to the bridge. Ben loved it! He hiked up to a cave with Daddy (see pictures 2 and 3 below), and decided he's a natural-born mountain climber.
We also encountered a few of my favorite friends here in Arizona-- little teeny lizards!!! Not only are they so cute, they also eat the bugs that I so detest. (picture 4)
We hiked as close to the natural bridge as we could with small children, and Daddy went to see it up close. There is a waterfall that comes down the other side of the bridge itself, and it was beautiful! Sorry, no pictures of that one. However, while Daddy was gone, the kids decided to have some fun, and throw rocks into the stream. (picture 5) I found out later that there is a rule of the park that no rock should be thrown anywhere. . . The final picture (picture 6) is Mommy, Ben and Claire when we got as close as we could to the natural bridge. Ben and Claire were pretty tired! We all had so much fun together! We can't wait to go back again!
Finally, Happy Memorial Day!! I'm feeling sentimental today. We're usually with Mom and Dad Evans out in Tridell, visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Bartlett, but due to the recent move we were unable to be there this year. I have always enjoyed going to the Tridell Cemetery for the 21 gun salute in the morning. To anyone who reads this blog and is currently, or has been in the past a member of the U.S. Military, any branch at all, we want to say thank you. Nobody can say that enough! Thank you for defending our country. We love you, we pray for you, and we thank you!!
Yay for exploring! I used to do that a ton when I lived in Ogden. Everything feels so much farther away since moving to Salt Lake. It looks like you had a wonderful day and I love the pictures of your family. The kids are growing like weeds!
ReplyDeleteSounds so fun, Emily! Steve's niece Castellia came to visit for Memorial day here. We went for a drive up in the mountains, where the kids threw snow into the stream and hiked a bit (in the snow) up Little Cottonwood Canyon. We want to go do more hiking when the snow finally melts!
ReplyDelete