Recently our family was all together for the first time since Susanna's wedding in 2022. Our son and his family who live in Latvia came for a visit and Susanna and Jay came for a few days from Colorado. So we were able to do some fun family activities over the fall break. Scott and 7 of our children went canyoneering which I blogged about last week. (Well, technically Scott put together that post.) But here are some other things we did. On Thursday, we went to the Aquarium which was somewhat crowded but better when the school groups left. That evening we were able to attend my brother's sealing in the Draper temple. My SIL Lauren sewed their son's suit and her dress and did a great job. Friday morning, Camille and I hiked with David's family to Battle Creek Falls in beautiful weather. Then Mindy went with Susanna and Jay and David's family to Cornbelly's while Camille and I drove to the Draper Temple to get her water bottle which she left there the night before....
On an early Monday morning, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park for a canyoneering trip. The recent rains in southern Utah flooded many of the slot canyons. Since the weather was a little nippy and no one really wanted to go swimming, we decided to try Stegosaur Slot. It's a fun little beginner-friendly canyon with a little of everything: beautiful views on the hike in, fund down-climbing, a long slot section, and a nice rappel at the end. The approach starts at the Hickman Bridge trailhead. The views on the hike are amazing. After passing the Hickman Bridge overlook... ... you trek off the trail to a protected little canyon. Then you scramble up sandstone mound... ... and traverse some of the sandstone features that give the Stegosaur Slot its name. Some of our group down-climbed the first rappel. Then we headed down-canyon to the narrow slot. The narrow slot section was longer than we expected. There was a little water in one section, but we easily stemmed over it. Then...