The Cave

This last weekend Craig, myself, Austin, Morgan and Mekenzie all went to visit Mallorey. It was such a great weekend. We got there on Friday night (we were a little late getting started because Craig got stuck in Wyoming for a little while).

Saturday morning we got up and went and bought the kids new shoes.

After that we went to In-N-Out. I love those hamburgers - I used to eat them when I lived in California.



Then Mallorey decided it would be fun to take us all to a cave. WOW!!! I have claustrophobia and I was a little concerned about going inside a cave but I was trying so hard to not be a party pooper. We went to Snow Canyon and went on a little hike to the cave.



Mallorey told us that the first part was the worst. I expected it to be a cave that you just kind of walk in, but no this is an underground cave where we were basically crawling down steep rocks and maneuvering our bodies in a way that I didn't know was possible.

This is the entrance to get into the cave. (Where Craig's legs are)



We got down towards the bottom where the cave opens up and I learned that you had to jump about 4 or 5 feet to get down to the next level. I was curious as to how we were going to get back out of the cave and Mallorey proceeded to tell us that we all have to lift each other up to the next level - ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I was already sweating and shaking so bad from being nervous in the cave - that was the straw that broke the camels back. I said that I would just sit there with my glow stick and wait for everyone else to go the rest of the way - I was DONE being brave. The entire time I was in there I was fearful that there would be an earthquake and we wouldn't be able to get out of there at all.

This is where we are supposed to just jump to get down to the next level and then lift and pull each other to get back to the top. The kids couldn't figure out why I wouldn't go any further. This is actually inside of the cave which was pitch black. I put my camera on "Night" and it took this picture.



Craig said that he wouldn't leave me alone and he didn't know how we were going to get back up either so we sat there and waited for the kids to go the rest of the way to check out the rest of the cave. Mallorey and her friends go down there at night and play hide and seek. I have never been able to do things like that - even when I was younger - I was always paranoid of getting hurt.

I was never so excited to get back out of that cave. I had pulled muscles, goose eggs on my head, a bruised shoulder, and a bleeding leg - was it worth it to not be a party pooper? I'm not so sure.

Then we went back to the condo and just hung out. Craig made his famous Dutch Oven Pizza for dinner which was awesome as usual and some of Mallorey's friends came over and ate with us - it was fun seeing them.




The next day we sat by the pool and relaxed and then went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch before leaving to come home.





What a fun weekend we had. Thanks Mal, it was so much fun being with you. I love you.

Election

I really feel like there is a very big decision being made today in our country. It is such a privilege to vote. I went this morning around 8:00 and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no line at all. I was in and out in about 5 minutes time. I loved the new voting machines, they were very slick and easy, much better than the old way of punching the card. I pray that whoever wins this election will look out for the best interest of our country and help get us out of the disaster that our country is in now. It will be interesting to wait and see the winners of the election, not only out of Obama and McCain, but also on the state level.

Halloween

Halloween is just not my favorite holiday! I don't enjoy dressing up and I really don't like coming up with costume ideas. That being said... I did have a nice Halloween.

My mom always throws a fun Halloween party. Every year she plans games and plans something scary for the kids. The kids love to be scarred and they always tell here that she won't scare them anymore, but every year she comes up with something to scare them and they love it. Some things she has done are....

One year, while we were eating, some scarry character came running in with a chain saw that was going.

One year, the kids had to go on a scavenger hunt and people would jump out of the ditches to scare them or a dummy would be sitting on the porch and jump out at them.

One year, she had a "haunted house".

One time, a couple of the kids even wet their pants - but that didn't stop them, the next year they wanted it even scarrier. It is quite fun.

This year we ate dinner, played some games, had a scarry story and then went to a deserted house where there were "ghosts" that scarred the kids, and then came back and watched a scary movie. Thanks mom for always going to so much work and planning a fun party every year.



This year we went as a "Goth" family.




My sister and I decided to be "Twins".



Halloween night we had a lot of fun scarring the "older" kids that came trick or treating to our house. Craig was sitting on the porch looking like a "dummy" and the kids would come to the door and he would scare them. Morgan had a few friends over that night and he really got them. It was a fun night.