Everyday Life

Jan. 24 was my first day back guiding. It ended up being an outstanding day. I could not have asked for nicer folks to work with or better weather.  And to top it all off, Aven did pretty well with Michael for 4 hours and Rachel for 3.  I am so happy.  The day began by meeting my clients at the Watson Lake boat ramp and hike out to Time Zone wall. Time Zone is a south facing wall, so it was sunny and warm there for us. I was in a Tshirt for a couple hours.  My clients, Jeff and Diana, climbed every route very well so I gave Diana a little lead climbing clinic.  She did amazing and was really excited to take her new skills back to her climbing gym in Canada and apply them there.  There was still a bit of time left in the day, so we head back down the trail to Thor's Wall and I set a top rope up on a 5.10 for them.  After working out the moves for a while Diana succeeded in climbing through the crux of the route with no problems. She was definitely the star of the day.

I had another guiding day on Thursday of the same week, and again, it was perfect conditions, with perfect folks.

My mom got into town on Jan. 25 and left on the 31st. We had such a blast together while she was here. We spent most of our time outside, and she pretty much took over all my cooking and cleaning duties. :) I don't think I did the dishes once while she was here!

I picked her up in Phoenix and we went straight to Echo Canyon on Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley. It is a sacred spot to my mom, and where she spent a lot of time as a teenager climbing, hiking and playing. The trail up to the top of Camelback sees a thousand + visitors on a 70 degree day, and Echo Canyon sees virtually no one.  It was like this for us while we were there. Its so amazing to be 300 yards away from the main trail, tucked back near a boulder and watch endless waves of people go up and down, and not one person saw us. We also went up to Groom Creek and bouldered for an afternoon and spent a day climbing at the Peavine Dome, off of the Peavine trail. On my mom's last day here we went to the mall and went shopping together. I love shopping, and I especially love it with my momma! I miss her so much already and am kicking myself for not getting any pictures of her.

Aven and I went for a run two days ago out the Peavine. It was 30 degrees out and I was feeling good. The jogging stroller has a cool weather shield that protects the baby from the elements, so Aven stayed nice a toasty for that hour. I am so blessed that she tolerates my running.

Another thing coming back into my life is gymnastics. Today I went to open gym at the Y gymnasium and played. I did some front flips, some back flips, played on the bars and did handstands on beam. It would be so fun to be a coach there again, and it's in the works!  Gymnastics is HARD.  My body feels so sore this evening, but it's a good sore. I am continuously surprised at how out of shape being pregnant got me.

Aven is amazing as always. Her personality is so sweet and cheerful, and she has a bit of mischievousness about her too. She has a small green basket with circles cut out of all the sides that we keep some of her toys in. Today she emptied the whole thing herself and put the basket on her head...I cannot believe I didn't get pictures. It was priceless. While the basket was on her head she looked at me through the holes and cracked up laughing. She is such a delightful little girl!

Happy Happy Girly!

Aven and her daddy in the kitchen

Peavine Dome

Doggy, Baby, Mommy, Daddy.  Peavine Trail