Spring Break Day 5: Irrigation and temple

Tuesday was irrigation day on the Brown homestead. We've heard Sterling talk about it a lot but this was our first chance to participate.

Diverting the canal water.

Bryce is standing in the middle of the water, guarding the citrus pit.

After we irrigated, we cleaned up and went to the Gilbert temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was great going to 11:30 in the morning. Not busy at all! In and out in an hour!

Our completely "to-do" list!

Our final night we had dinner at Leisel's. Again, I wish I had taken more pictures. The dinner was great with a salad from their garden. Leisel showed me her latest crochet project, a blanket I plan on copying. And Peter took Syd and Park out to practice tennis.

By the end of the evening we were all tuckered out. The bottom three fell alseep pretty quickly.

Grandpa talked the older two into watching another movie with him. (50 First Dates, I think)

We were loathe to leave. Its a paradise out there on the Brown homestead. And the family is just over-the-top amazing. We love them so much! And Syd and Parker can't wait to go back for Peter's farewell. 

Spring Break Day 4: work hard/ play hard

We unloaded our sleeping bags again and set up camp in the bedrooms and grandpa's house. Monday morning we got right to work in the yard!

Camille and Rachel gathered pine needles and other debris.

Bryce and Sydney helped pick oranges.

Parker really enjoyed his job on the riding lawn mower.

Soaking in the Arizona sun.

Sterling trimmed a couple of palm trees.

After working all morning we went to lunch at the greasy spoon, otherwise known as Pete's fish and chips.

We stopped by the cemetery and said hello to Grandma Brown.

Last on our list was heading to Tortilla Flat to eat Prickly Pear ice cream. It was pink and tasty but a little bland. But when you have the chance to have ice cream made from a cactus, you say, YES!
This is a picture Sydney took on the way to Tortilla Flat.

And the bathrooms never disappoint. I didn't see the men's bathroom but I heard it was even more scandalous.

We had a quick dinner at KFC and then headed home where grandpa talked the kids into watch Bourne Legacy. 

Spring Break Day 3: Easter Sunday

We woke up Sunday Easter morning in the hotel. And wouldn't you know it, the easter bunny found us, but instead of easter baskets, he left easter backpacks. (homemade ones that were super cute, I must admit).

The backpacks held a little bit of candy and a small book. 

In no big rush, we drove through the beautiful Arizona mountains and headed for Mesa. We parked in the Mesa temple parking lot and listened to President Nelson announce the new ministering program of the church and Elder Holland And Sister Bingham talk about the new, beautiful way to care for our spiritual brothers and sisters. And also announce new temples.

What an amazing general conference with lots of amazing revelation for the world and for the church!

We drove by old family homes. This is Cecil and Marilla Allen's cabin in Pine, AZ. (Grandma Brown's parents)

And this was their home in Mesa.

After driving around a bit, we found our way to Clark and Mitzi's in Queen Creek for family dinner. Wish I'd taken a picture of everyone. But I did snap these pictures of my kids gathered around Grandpa Brown. Priceless!

Spring Break Day 2: Grand Canyon d2

We just about froze our tails off during the night. It was FREEZING! We thought it might be hard to wake up by 4:30am to start hiking, but we were begging for morning to come so it wasn't hard at all.

I drove Ster, Syd and Park to the South Kaibab trailhead to begin hiking at 4:30am. It was dark except for a very full moon! They joined several other hikers and headed down the trail.

Sydney took this gorgeous picture during the hike. Wow!

I snuggled back in the bottom 3 kids and tried to keep warm for another hour until the sun came up. Then we broke camp, rolled up the sleeping bags, pads and took down the tent. Then we loaded up the car and headed to the Bright Angel trailhead.

The national park was soooo crowded Friday night, I knew we needed to get there early to find a parking spot. And I was right. The bright angel trail is a very popular trail and people like to get on it early in the morning before the heat.

So we found a parking spot and then walked around the rim, taking in all the views and walking through every single gift shop we could find, yet not buying one thing (to the kids' dismay).

Bryce brought his oldest pair of shoes. Look at thoes holes!

We made sure to take time to relax and be goofy because that's what makes it fun. 

Also, I almost threw Bryce into the canyon.

Meanwhile, the hiking crew made it to the bottom of the canyon and crossed the river. 

Phantom Ranch

Around 11:30, we decided it was time to grab a sandwich and start hiking down the south Bright Angel trail to meet our hiking crew on their way out. Having no way to communicate, we were just hoping that we were timing it right. 

You can see in the following picture that there are several stopping points. There is a 1-1/2 mile resthouse, 3 mile resthouse and Indian Garden.

We decided to go to the 3 mile mark which is a 2,120 foot drop (gain coming back up) which is equivilant to 212 flights of stairs. That's no joke!

It was such a beautiful hike. Cold when we started with plenty of shade but I knew it would be a different story later in the afternoon on our way out.

Lo and behold, just as we approached the 3 mile resthouse, we saw our hikers! It was amazingly good timing. See Syd and Ster in the picture below?

They were surprised to see us but too exhausted to show it.

A little rest put smiles back on their faces.

On the way up and out, the kids left Sterling and I behind. Syd and Parker joked that every once in a while during the hike, they would turn around and see that Sterling had stopped. They asked if he needed help or a break? He said, "No, I'm just counting rocks. Two, three, four. Good. OK. Time to get going." And he would start hiking again. 

Just his way of taking a break. 

Boy, he sure did count a lot of rocks those last 3 miles out. Its very different hiking the canyon in your 40's than in your 20's. Thats for sure!

But we finally did make it out. At 3:30.  Four hours for a six mile, very difficult hike. It was awesome!

And Bryce made it, even with his holey shoes.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

After some uncrustables and gatorade, we hobbled to the car and drove to Flagstaff for a hot dinner at Wendy's, a hot, cleansing shower at our hotel and a soft bed.

Much better than the cold, hard, freezing ground in the campground.