Grand Canyon July 2007

Several friends from my ward and I made a trip to the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon this summer. It was an awesome trip. You hike 10 miles in and 10 miles out carrying everything you need for camping.


The morning of the second day we were awakened by local Indians warning us of an incoming flash flood which would wipe out our camp site so we quickly moved all our tents and stuff up onto the rocks at the base of the canyon walls. The floods came, slowly but surely and turned our gorgeous blue water to an opaque liquid chocolate for the rest of the trip.
















Here is a before and after shot of some of the falls near our campsite.



The second night the rains came and some of us had to abandon our wet tents for a dry cave that was just near our camp, about 30 feet up the canyon wall face. We took refuge there for the night and the next day when the blistering heat rolled in.


Despite all the "Man vs Wild" experiences, we still found plenty of time to climb, explore caves, and swim, even in the chocolate water.

Family Trip to Chicago July 2007

It all started with Melanie's family going and before long it ballooned into all the siblings going to see my sister Nadine in Chicago. We did all sorts of things ranging from bike rides, zoo trips, ferris wheels, mini golf, crashing the new batman movie set, hailing cabs, boat rides, going to a Cubs game, and lots of walking! We all made the trip except for Curtis' family and my parents. since my mom is recovering from a hip replacement.Since I was in charge of steering one of these things, I found a way to make it more like a bumper car experience, not to everyone's amusement.

This is everyone who made the trip, standing in front of the famous metallic bean near Millennium Park.