Our Trip To The Grand Canyon

Life is pretty crazy around here trying to get all  the many things that need to be done for the big move to Portland shortly while also finishing up Josh's soccer season spending every weekend in Albuquerque for the state tournament. It seems as if life is one big blurry list of things to do and places to be. In the midst of all of this I am trying to just breathe because I know that I am going to look back on this time and wish that I had just been here in this space both physically, emotionally, spiritually, fully present for the short while that I have left. So I often find myself just stopping during the day and breathing deeply and focusing on the beauty that surrounds me and being thankful for all of the blessings that New Mexico has offered me these last 18 months. This constant refocusing is a good thing for me. It is yet another lesson that life is trying to teach me and that I am so desperately trying to learn - life is fleeting, not guaranteed, and beautiful. I can only be right here right now. I cannot be in the past as it is gone from me forever. And I cannot be in the future because it has not yet come. This is crazy hard for me to do as it seems like I constantly spend my time thinking about things both behind me and in front of me. I have noticed small changes lately where I have just consciously stopped myself to enjoy the moment to breathe it in and to allow the emotion and the beauty of it to enter my entire being - if only for a second - and this has made all the difference in the world for my mental well being. Because of this flurry of activity there have been numerous things that I have wanted to share with you all, but just haven't had the time to post. I will do my best to squeeze in these posts here and there where I can, so just bare with me these next couple of months if you can.

Bob and I began planning our trip to the Grand Canyon last year. It was something that we had always wanted to do, but we were most motivated to take this trip because it was on my mom's bucket list and we wanted to help make this dream a reality for her. And so we did. Bob also extended the invite to his parents. In the end, it was our family, my parents, and Bob's parents who camped out in the Grand Canyon National Park for 3 nights. It was amazing. I wish everyone had the opportunity to see this incredibly beautiful, breath taking, mind blowing natural wonder. There are just no words to describe its vast beauty. We had so much fun and I would go there again in a heart beat.

Here are some pictures of our trip:

I think this was a lookout/rest stop on a hike that Bob took with my mom and dad the second night we were there. 

There are no words....

The National Park is a small town in and of itself. It had its own train to take you from place to place should you want to use its services. 

The Colorado River...

By this point in our trip Sarah had had it. Since this was a very visual trip Sarah had a hard time not being bored. 

This was taken atop a tower.

This was our view on the way into the National Park. The ride from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon was beautiful.

Elk were abundant in the park. We had several that moseyed around the campground. 

The ravens were very, very pesky.

Happy to have made it to the campsite on the first night. 

Do you see that little zig zag line at the bottom of the canyon that looks like it might be a dried up river bed? Well, that's a hiking trail. You have to spend the night in the canyon to go down there without a fire and only taking with you what you can carry on your back. Sounds amazing...maybe next time. 

This guy was very close to our tent!

So this is what the trails look like...There are no guardrails or anything to keep you from falling into the bottom of the canyon should you trip or get pushed. It was kinda scary sometimes. 

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Again, those zig zags that you see are the trail I walked on with my mom, bob, bob's dad, andy, and josh.