Insta-Catch-Up

Summer is always full of fun activities... Here are a few things we've enjoyed so far!

 Fishing.

 Cloud shapes... this one looked like a Viking Gondola... well, it was better in real life ;)

 Bible Reading. Verse 14 made us giggle... "Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out." So true! Haha!

 Teaching friends to rock climb.

 Local baseball games.

 Eating watermelon - my favorite!

 Binding a quilt while camping :)

 Grizz was pretty amazing - he started a fire with just a knife and a flint.

 Trying to go for a hike. We had to cross like ten streams just like this one!

 Birthday cake for Grizz; made by Neighbor.

 Birthday cake from the restaurant... there was enough for all of us! Definitely one of the best places we've ever gone for a birthday!!

 Fourth of July parade... so thankful for this country.

 Waiting for the fireworks show...

Fireworks!

Hope you enjoyed the brief snapshot into our summer life :)

Rock Climbing 101

Last weekend, Grizz and I took a group from our church out to the Rocky Mountain Front to do a little rock climbing. We had a good mixture of adults and youth - some had repelled before, but no one had ever rock climbed. Grizz was a supervisor at an indoor rock wall back at our college (I would often bring my girls there to support me as I tried to get to know Grizz more, haha!), so he was a great teacher to everyone who joined us for a fun Saturday afternoon!

There are some bolted routes in Blackleaf Canyon; the one we climbed was called "Rock Climbing 101." Grizz had climbed here before, but it was new to me. It was fun to be outside and get to know some of the church members a bit better in a new environment!

 Even our Pastor did it! We had an informational meeting after church the Sunday before, and one of the elderly ladies told Pastor that "this is not for you." Well, it took some effort, but he finally made it to the top. It's amazing what determination (with prayer of course) can do!

 I got to go up once too - it was a great route with lots and lots of hand and foot holds - just the way I like it!

 The sun may not have shined, but it was a great Saturday... lots of laughs and no injuries  (well, other than a few scrapes here and there - but really, you're not climbing 'till you're bleeding, right?!)

... and even a little time to take some pictures!

Rock Climbing... and Scrambling

This past Sunday, we went rock climbing after church. Two of our friends came along, so we had a full vehicle as we drove toward our destination... Sheep Mountain!

Grizz has hiked around this mountain before. He went last fall by himself in hopes of finding other people climbing in the area (there weren't). We did see several cars at different spots as we drove the rough, gravel road toward the parking area. Equipped with a guidebook and packs of water and climbing gear, we set off to find "7 Sisters."

There was a path toward Right Rock, so we followed that. As we neared where Grizz thought the climbing area was, we had to do more and more scrambling over rocks in our path. To make things even more interesting, the entire ground was covered in old pine needles. You wouldn't think pine needles would cause a problem, but they are slippery!! And they get caught in your shoes...

Our scrambling over rocks got more and more intense. Adventure time! We found "Multiple Screamers Block" and "Stooges Slab." From there, Grizz wasn't sure exactly where we had to go next. Thus, more scrambling! As you can see in the picture, we had to descend a bit to get to our destination. Thankfully, the boys did it without a problem. They were there to help us by giving us feet and hand holds! Lots of trust here.

Finally, we got to "7 Sisters," a climbing area named for the 7 cracks. The boys scrambled up a bit more to set the top rope - there were already chains at the top to attach the rope too. They rappelled down and we started climbing!

Now, the cracks are supposed to help climbers, and I admit, I did try to use them. However, after a year hiatus from climbing, my feet have to get used to my shoes again. They are a little small for my feet so when I stuck my feet in the cracks on the rock, they hurt even more so than usual. You want climbing shoes to be small, as then it is easier for your toes to find little foot holds... I just need to get used to the tight feeling again! The rock out here is a lot like the Black Hills - granite. This is unlike the Palisades, which has a lot more visible hand/foot holds. Granite usually looks smoother, but there are hand/foot holds... they're just a lot smaller!

Here are a few pics from the day!

That tree gave us grief all day - here they're trying to get the rope unstuck from it.

We finished the day by almost getting lost while looking for Oslo (the Xterra) and by stopping at Buffalo Wild Wings for supper. All-in-all (even though I never made it to the top of the rock face we climbed), it was a glorious day! Outdoors + friends = FUN ADVENTURE!