Bryce Canyon

Live in New England for 18 years, hiking and camping with the scouts in the woods, no problems. Visit for one week and go to the beach and I get lyme disease. Go figure. These are the red rashes that my Doctor spotted all over my body.
We went hiking in Bryce Canyon for the weekend with Klysta and Dave. Awesome rock formations and some good hiking.
Somehow this tree got enough sun down in this crack to grow to where it is today. That's endurance.
Making our way down on a short but very cool trail called the Navajo Loop.
An all natural archway that allows the tourists to pass straight through the rock wall, very convenient. (There may have been some human hands in on this one)
Those were real all natural holes in the rock. They call them windows.

We tried to get a lady to take a picture of the four of us, unfortunately she didn't speak any English ... at all. This is what we ended up with. It was a nice try ha. I think we were just about the only English speakers at the canyon all weekend except for some Brits we ran into.

Klysta and Dave in the lead.

Michelle and Klysta at the two bridges. ( I think that's what it was called)
That's what we spent our day hiking through.

We finished our Peek-a-Boo Loop trail.


We tried to help out and hold up the rock wall. Dave couldn't quite get his hands on the idea and my hand went a little to far.

HELLO!!!!!

Right now, my husband and I are playing guitar hero on our wii (it’s actually my brother Spencer’s wii, but he is on his mission so we are babysitting it.)…it’s my turn so here is my husband…he is going to write a little bit. So Michelle is much better than I am at guitar hero, she’s been practicing with Conner so she’s up to medium difficulty while I’m still working on getting my three fingers to move like their supposed to on easy mode. I’ll get there.

It’s me, Michelle, again. Yes, we should be doing home work, cleaning our apartment, or a thousand other things we need to do…but we decided to forget all of that for a while and play guitar hero and update our blog (cause it’s been a while).

The most exciting things that have happened to us in the last 5 weeks have been our trip to Cape Code, MA and the drive across the country.

This was our home for the summer in Virginia. Good old Grandma Goodsells. There was plenty of room for us, a hive of bees and a few little rodent friends. Yes we discovered we had mice about half way through the summer and a hive of yellow jackets found their way into our kitchen and loved to fly around in our window sills and then die. Michelle was attacked once by the bees at the end of the summer and Kathryn also managed to get one to sting when she was visiting for only a few days. Despite our little critter friends it was still a great deal for the amount of room we had, the location (about 4 miles from the Capitol and 1.5 mile from where I worked), and especially the price.

This is one of our favorite places to go while we are at the Cape. Its a miniature golf adventure park called Pirates Cove. They have you golfing through caves, on pirate ships and everything in between. Each hole tells the story of pirates who did their business at or around Cape Cod back in the day. We golfed Blackbeards course and I think Jim came in with the best score of us all, although Michelle and I both had a number of hole in ones. This picture was our punishment for not winning the course.

These were all the pirate golfers that night. From left to right; Kathryn, Jim, Rebecca, Steve, Nina, Michelle, some random guy in the background, and Tiffany (Kathryns friend)

This picture was actually taken by our sister missionary guide as we walked from the old Joseph Smith log home to the frame home that they built later. Behind us is the Palmyra temple and infront of us is the Sacred Grove. Its a very cool spot. They actually have a window that allows you to look out at the sacred grove from inside the temple.

This is a picture of the old Smith log home as you walk out from the sacred grove. We were really lucky that day because we were just about the only people visiting the sites in Palmyra so we had our own personal tour of the log and frame home and then we were able to go walk through the sacred grove with no one but the two of us in it.

After a day full of driving and visiting Palmyra we reached our destination for the night at a small campground just ourstide of Kirtland. We arrived and told them we just wanted a tent spot so this old man says "follow me" and hops in his truck, so we did. He takes us out to the middle of a field with a bunch of RVs all around us and tells to camp anywhere we'd like, so we did. We basically had the place to ourselves for the night, no set tent spot, and no other tent campers and we never saw a soul come out of any of the RVs. It was actually a little creepy.

The Kirtland Temple. This was the first stop when we arrived in Kirtland and we got the full tour, 2 hours. I think because of the size of our group (there were only four of us total, and the other two were from Washington State, Tri-Cities area of course, we are always running into people from Washington St. It's kind of crazy how many members are out there from such a small place) and because of the slow day they were having. Our Community of Christ tour guide gave us every little detail about the architcture of the building which was very interesting, at least to me, however he didn't quite do the spiritual side of things justice.

Us in front of the Whitney Store in Kirtland. The doors behind us are originals.

Michelle's old house in Amherst Ohio. We decided to take a little 20 minute detour and see the house the Michelle lived in for the first few years of her life until they moved to Washington. As we reached the house Michelle was able to recognize it and we snapped a few pictures as we drove by but Michelle was a little too chicken to go up and ask if she could take a look inside. From the outside it looked like a really nice place and apparently they have built a very large shop in the back that Michelle did not remember being there.

This was Joseph and Emma's home in Nauvoo. We didn't make it inside but we did go around to the back to see where Joseph, Hyrum, Emma, and the Smith Parents were burried. It is a beutiful place right by the Mississippi river.

The Nauvoo temple is now one of our favorite temples. We were lucky enough to do a session the night that we spent in Nauvoo and it was great. The temple is beautiful inside. After being able to enter into the Nauvoo temple it is even more amazing to think about the amount of faith that the early saints had to build such a beautiful building and then leave behind to the hands of the mobs to be destroyed.

This is one of the sunstones from the original Nauvoo temple. It now sits outside the visitor centor in Nauvoo. It is one of the few things that I can remember from visiting Nauvoo as a kid with the whole family as we made one of our cross country road trips, that was before they had rebuilt the Nauvoo temple.

Michelle at the back of Joseph and Emma's home at their gravesite.

The both of us after we got through with our Nauvoo temple session. I managed to forget all of my suits and white shirts in MA but they still let me in wearing the shirt I did, lucky for me.

This was Brighams Youngs home. He actually built it for his family when he returned home from one of his missions and found that his family had crossed the river from Quincy to Nauvoo on their own and were living under poor circumstances in a small home they were able to put together. Again, we were just about the only people in Nauvoo so we had private tours everywhere we went. Very cool

Trip up to MA

Nate and I have been non-stop these last few weeks. Our biggest adventure, as of recently, was our trip up to Massachusetts. Our first stop was Granby, MA (where Nate is from). We hung out with his parents and went to the Basketball Hall of Fame. It was pretty sweet. Actually, I think I'll tell you our journeys as you look at the pictures. It's more enjoyable that way.

Nate with his beloved Celtics display at the Basketball Hall of Fame. I had a picture of my with the Coach K and the Dukies, but I can't find it on my computer. Must be lost among the thousands of pictures on this hard-drive.

Nate and I on the biggest "mountain" around. I think the elevation was close to 1000 ft. It had a great view.

The town our Hadley ancestors started or lived. I should know more about this story. We did check in with Grandma Hadley and she verified our ancestors did come from this town. It is only about 15 miles from Nate's home.

This is an amazing burger joint. It is right accross the street from part of Harvard University campus in Cambridge (near Boston). My brother had an internship out in Boston (he just finished this last week) and we meet up with him to eat. My sister was out for a visit at the same time. So the crew was Nate, his family, my brother and sister, some friends, and me.

One by land...Two by sea. This is the Old North Church. During the Revolusionary Era, the patriots, across the Charles River, could keep watch for the number of lanterns in the church steeple: One lantern meant that the British were coming by land, two meant they were coming by sea. On the night of Paul Ravere's "ride" (Which, according to history, he really didn't make. Sorry if that crushes anyones love for Paul Ravere.) there was one lantern lit. This is the very steeple the lantern was hung in.
The capital building in Boston.
Nate and I at the Sox's game.
New York at 6am in quite peacful actually. We (Nate's mother, sister, her friend, my sister, Nate and me) drove back down to VA and decided to stop in New York for a few hours because I had never been there. We left at 3am so we would get there by 6am to miss the traffic. Because I hate triffic, the idea was great. We were in NY for a few hours. We got breakfast, saw a few sights by car and a few on foot, and went on a free farry to see...

Lady Liberty

Here is the whole crew (minus Nate's mother, she is taking the picture).


We had a blast in MA and can't wait for this next week. We will be going back to MA for the annual Demary family vacation at Cape Cod, MA. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. Life in D.C. this summer has been a blast. We have loved every minute of it (except the thousands of minutes spent in traffic).

4th of July...On the National Mall

I'll have to say, spending Independence Day at the Nation's Capital was an amazing experience. Never have I seen so many people gathered to celebrate July 4th. It was amazing to see so many Americans come together and celebrate the birth of our nation and honor our Four Fathers. If you couldn't tell...I LOVE THE USA!! Ok, enough patriotic preaching.
On July 3rd we went to the rehearsal show of the 4th of July concert on the Capital Building's west lawn. There were lots of big names at the show. Aretha Franklin sang the National Anthem, Jersey Boys' cast sang some songs and even Natasha Bedingfield sang. I liked the performances, but I was surprised they didn't have more patriotic songs. I think, besides the National Anthem, only one patriotic song was sung. The rest were just hits from the past and present. I was a little disappointed, but it was still fun and exciting. The military bands that played at the very end of the concert were really cool. Here are a few pictures of the evening.
Yes, it is a little artsy, but it was a good picture.

We are at least 3/4th the way back, so you can imagine how many people were in front of us.


July 4th!! We spent the day being lazy and making a picnic for the long wait for the fireworks. We were not sure how early we needed to go to the mall to get a good seat, so we played it safe and went about...4 or 5 hours early. I know, ridiculous. Even so, there were tons and tons and tons of people there already. We got as close as we could and claimed our spot with a huge blanket (I don't like when people crowd around me during a show). My cousin and his wife (Ryan and Meghan) joined us soon after we got there. We played games, ate food, napped, and waited for the fireworks show. It was worth the wait. They were AMAZING!! The show was shorter than I thought it would be, but it was awesome.
Nate and I waiting for the fireworks. That is the Washington Monument behind us.
This is only one portion of the National Mall. There were probably 3 or 4 times this many people just on the National Mall.
Ryan and Meghan palying canasta with us as we waited for the show. This sweet old grandpa behind us kept watching and talking to us. Had we had time to play another game, I think I would have invited him to play with us. He would have killed us I'm sure.
Some pictures of the fireworks. My camera and picture taking skills are not that good.

Because of the large amount of people at the fireworks show, we decided to walk the 3.5 miles to our car instead of wait a few hours till we could get on the metro. It was a fun walk. All-in-all, a very happy 4th of July.

Camping at Burke Lake

Our camping trip at Burke Lake, VA was tons of fun. Not only did I convince Nate we should take the air mattress to sleep on, but he also agreed to take food instead of live off the surrounding environment. Although Nate's ideal camping trip would be backpacking to a remote place in the mountains (where wild animals are abundant), sleep on the ground in a "backpacking sleeping bag" (I guess there is such a thing), and live off granola bars and whatever he could find; he was very accommodating to my wishes of going somewhere with other people around and taking the air mattress. Hahaha, I know, I'm a baby. Thanks love!! Here are pictures of our adventure.

Man making fire.


Delicious tinfoil dinners! Nate said they were the best he has had. I thought they were pretty good myself.
Can you really go camping without s'mores? I love s'mores!!
I think it was my fifth s'more or something ridiculous like that.

This is the contraption Nate put together to boil water for our oatmeal breakfast.
We had a marshmallow roasting contest, and Nate roasted this beautifully golden marshmallow. He won, hands down. I would show you mine, but it would embarrass me. Nate then decided to put peanut butter in it. It was very tasty. I recommend trying it sometime. So as I'm packing up the sheets and blanks we used on the air mattress in the back of the car, Nate is supposed to be deflating the air mattress with our deflating pumb. I get back to the tent so pack up the other things and this is what I come back to. Nate's idea of deflating the air mattress. Hahaha, I laughed so hard. He is too funny.
After we packed up camp, we went for a 5 mile hike around the lake. I was called a hike, but it was more of a "nature walk" around the lake.

We had a lot of fun. I have filled my time for the day to work on this thing, so more of our adventures in D.C. will have to wait.