Vacationing at Zion Canyon

As promised, here is my post on our camping trip to Zion Canyon.

I will let some of these pictures do the talking for me...

The absolute highlight of our trip was the river that was just below our campsite, I mean I am standing in our campsite taking these pictures of the river!! We spent most of our time in this river, the water was so cool and wonderful!

This river was literally right next to our campsite!!!

The little head you see sticking out of the water is Eilan, Eric called her our little river otter :)

My Dad and brother hanging out and talking.

Our messy campsite, it was organized chaos.

 Quite a bit of my extended family gathered here to vacation with us. At Christmas or Thanksgiving, we often discuss where we want to go and camp the following summer and try to get our reservations made in January. In these pictures you will see many of my extended family. The cousins  had a great time playing and enjoying each others company while I had fun chatting and hanging out with my sister, sis in law and step mom.

We spent some time in Zion National Park, hiking and riding the shuttle to the different stops. Eilan decided to get her Jr. Ranger badge so she had some activities to complete.

Fearless squirrel, he let me get real close. I was impressed that I did not see anyone feeding the wild life while we were there.

Slightly blurry picture of my Hunky Hunny and younger son. We are at the lower Emerald Pool.

Working hard to complete her workbook activities. She also had to pick up trash and write down animals, trees, etc... that she saw while hiking.

Eilan very pleased with herself on earning her Jr. Ranger Badge, she is determined to do all she can to take care of Zion National Park and any other National Park...way to go Eilan!!

Eilan's Zion Canyon National Park Jr. Ranger Badge

Floating down the river in tubes is the thing to do when you are there. We didn't pay to do the 2 mile river floating thingy that they offer there, which is $20 per person. Instead we purchased our own tubes.

My feet enjoying the cold, soothing waters of the river.

My nephew and niece 

Eric scored us 4 tubes at the store across from the campground, they were in high demand.

My sister in law and my niece (her daughter)

The boys! My two boys left and middle, my nephew on the right. 

We had a wonderful time hanging out with family, while experiencing someplace new that we had never been. I have to tell you, I am always so in awe of God's beautiful creation! So much beauty to behold there.

I hope someday you get the chance to visit Zion Canyon!

Steph

Movin, movin, get that body movin!

We are starting a new 30 Day Get Up and Move Challenge July 1st!!

 Just click on the 30 Day Get Up and Move Challenge tab at the top and you will find out what it is all about.

Here is a link to a terrific list of apps that you can download onto a smartphone that may help with motivation and inspiration.

But...you don't need anything fancy at all, just do what you feel like doing each day and try to do it for at least 10 minutes.

Join my 30 Day Get Up and Move Challenge facebook page  and post your daily progress, workout selfies and encouragement, we would love to know how you are doing!

New Diet Changes

I mentioned in my last blog post that I am seeing a new doctor, that is quite knowledgeable in the MTHFR mutation. She has me tracking what foods I eat and how much in a food diary app. She suggested to me Myfitnesspal, so I downloaded it and found it a bit confusing. I then asked my Facebook buddies what they used and recommended and looked into those. I came across My Diet Coach- Weight loss which is a free app. available for androids and apple. It looked a bit more fun and motivating than the other apps, so I downloaded it and started using. When you complete tasks and challenges, you earn points and different clothing items to dress your avatar...corny I know, but I like it. I also like the way it looks, the colors they use and the graphics. The free version does not allow you to input your meals and any exercise you may have done. So I purchased the Pro version ($4), which is perfect. If you are interested, you can check it out here.

So, I have been tracking my food for a week now, it has been pretty eye opening to say the least. I cannot believe how much I have been over eating! My doctor told me it will help keep me accountable and she is right, I am finding it very helpful. A hassle, yes, but still helpful :)

I was also told I need to eat a half a plate of veggies at every meal or a smoothie (blended whole fruits) is ok too, although probably best for only one of the meals. Leafy greens must be present on my plate or in my smoothie at least once a day, every day. This is a big change from what I normally do, which no doubt is what has gotten me sick in the first place. Well, I am happy to say, I have been following her guidelines and am already noticing some benefits even though it has only been a week. My face is clearer and my hair is softer! I have not weighed myself yet, but I think I may have lost a little weight as well, my clothes are a bit looser!

I should mention how thankful I am that my husband is so supportive of the new changes to our dinner time meals, I think he realizes he needs to eat better too. I will leave you with a picture of this mouthwatering beef stew he made for our dinner in the crockpot. Recipe can be found here. He wanted me to let you know he omitted the peas and flour and added chopped celery and arrowroot in place of flour.

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 Extremely blessed and spoiled...that's me!

Steph

It's good to be back!

Hello faithful readers and friends, I am back! So much has happened since I took a break from blogging that I cannot possibly recount it all for you, but I look forward to sharing my new and current adventures.

Here is an updated picture of me and the kids (my husband is just not the selfie kind of guy). This was taken at Christmas time in 2015.

The kids are getting big! Kade my oldest is now 16...wow, nope it still hasn't sunk in yet! Aiden is now 13 and Eilan is 9, soon to be 10.

Remember when they used to look like this...

Yep, I know!

Truth be told, I am enjoying this stage of life with my kids, we are having fun together in ways we never have before. My relationship with my daughter is a bit extra special, I am now friend/mom instead of just mom and I love it!

We have a new cat, his name is Blizzard since we got him at Christmas in 2014 (literally the day after Christmas). Eric and the kids chose the name Blizzard, I confess I did not care for it, but it grew on me. We don't know much about his life before he came to our home (his forever home) other than he was found with an abscess on his side, the shelter performed surgery on him and placed him up for adoption when he recovered enough. When we got him, his fur coloring was a light grey with some black markings. After about 6 months of living with us, his fur changed to a much darker more beautiful color. I like to think the high quality kitty food and our love made him the happy, healthy boy he is today :) Pumpkin is doing great, he loves his fur brother and they have fun playing together.

Blizzard the day we brought him home.

Blizzard as he is now. Don't you love those blue eyes!

Pumpkin in all his sweet cuteness.

"Move me just a little closer, I can almost taste it"

A little update on my health. I recently found out I am homozygous for the C677T mutation in the MTHFR gene. I believe it is an important piece to my health puzzle. I found a Doctor nearby that is very knowledgeable about this mutation and am very hopeful that she will be able to help me. I will blog more on this later.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Steph