middle school milestone

summer officially left middle school behind this june. clocking in at five feet, five inches tall (one inch taller than her mom).

at her moving up ceremony, she was awarded the presidential award for academic excellence, but even more compelling, and much more telling of who she is, she was voted most genuine by her fellow classmates. 

clear eyes, full heart, HIGH SCHOOL!

footloose

with only ten more days of middle school left for THE REST OF THIER LIVES, it was time for this crew to celebrate and dance the night away with their eighth-grade class. they cleaned up, dolled up, showed up, and showed out. 

and only one of them got to go home with two blisters on her heels (take a look at that footwear, and i'll let you guess who).

worth it.

mama bones

my joints crack when i walk: my toes, ankles, hips, wrists, knees, back, and neck. it's a rather loud and abrupt pop-popping sound that accompanies me wherever i go. and i honestly hadn't given it much thought until my children brought it up. 

they brought it up because it's one of the sounds by which they identify me. 

by which they know i'm there. 

it's a sound of their childhood. of their home. 

of their mother.

to the keepers of the sounds.
of the sights and the smells and the feelings. 

(and to the listeners, too.)

happy mother's day.

the grand canyon

fun fact about me: i was born in arizona. 

my father was stationed at fort huachuca arizona, and i love that i get to say that's where i was born. we would move shortly after my birth to fort lewis, washington, where my brother, kenny, was born (and where my early childhood memories begin), and then on to seoul, south korea where brother matt joined the family (for a complete arc to the story here, oldest brother, owen, née daniel, was born in fort ord, california).

but despite this important connection to the state, i've never seen the grand canyon! it's been on my bucket list for a long, long time, and i was thrilled to finagle a little jaunt from scottsdale up to spend a night near the canyon and a day hiking and exploring. even more thrilled that my parents were able to join.

still on the bucket list is a rim to rim to rim!

stayed tuned for bryan's birthday helicopter tour (otherwise known as dallin's expensive nap).

sedona

on our way up to visit the grand canyon, we made a pit stop in sedona to fit in a quick five mile loop amidst the breath-taking red rock there. we hiked the soldier pass trail to soldier pass cave, and good news, only three of the six of us were pricked with cactus spines. 

10/10 would recommend (the hike, not the cactus spines).

you can't really tell how high up afton is here (probably twenty feet), but she and bryan shimmied up a tight claustrophobia-inducing tunnel and popped up at this windy overlook in solider pass cave.

first hike in the desert

this is the treasure loop trail in the superstition mountains. great hike, great trail, really proud of my mom (accompanied by my dad) for making it to the top, really, really sorry they were attacked by bees on the way back down.

the kids were also excited (and a wee bit frightened) to see their first--and only--arizona rattlesnake on this little jaunt. not coiled up and hissing (whew!), but lazily making its way across a sunny boulder that we were all standing on. shout out to afton and her eagle eye for spotting the snake before it got too close.

but first! all good hikes begin fresh with donuts. these ones hail from hurts donut, courtesy of opa d:

good morning from our little snake friend:

summiting!