Home Visit and Sister Visit

August 17th I drove home to UT to visit family and go to the Brigham City Temple Open House. It was great to be home even though the trip was crazy short. I got into Salt Lake on Friday afternoon, had dinner with family, drove up to Logan on Saturday, ran errands, went to church on Sunday AM and then headed south again on Sunday afternoon.

I had lots of fun playing with my family though. Jon and I went river boarding and that was quite the adventure! We connected a rope to a bridge upstream and then right where the water chutes are, we river board! It was pretty cool and totally worth the bruises and cuts on my legs from falling!

 Of course while I was there I picked up a new straw hat because I couldn't turn down the amazing sale. I had to prove to my family that I'm not the only one in the family that looks good in a cowboy hat!

 Sunday afternoon I picked up Christine and Deborah and we were off on our sisters roadtrip to AZ! We drove through the night to make it to the Grand Canyon about midnight, where we slept in the car until sunrise at 5:51am! It was beautiful and now we can all say we have been to the Grand Canyon!

We met some wonderful fellow travelers and enjoyed an hour with Rex and Judy from Indiana while we hiked to the point at the North Rim Visitors' Center. 

We got to Tucson Monday night and enjoyed sleeping in a bed that night. Tuesday we enjoyed the swimming pool and of course, went out and got the girls some cowboy boots! Then it was off to the ranch! Wednesday we got up early and went for a ride. It was a beautiful, cool, morning at the ranch. I kinda felt the girls missed out on experiencing the real heat of an AZ summer but I guess they just lucked out this visit! Here's some pics of our ride and the horses. It's so beautiful and green this time of year I love it! The rest of the day they just got to visit with the boys out at equine and see what I do here as the Equine Director. In the end, Christine said we should have skipped the Grand Canyon to spend more time at the ranch! When the boys are doing good, Arivaca Ranch is a pretty special place. And when they aren't doing good, it is still special as they bravely work out their issues and commit to a better way of being and living.

 Of course you are going to find this kind of restaurant in Amado, AZ! Longhorn Grill just went out of business and is currently for sale. :( Really sad because I'm just not sure who is going to buy this amazing landmark!

I dropped the sisters off at the airport Wednesday afternoon. It was a short trip but super fun and we didn't kill each other so that was great! Thank you for coming and visiting Red and Deb! I so appreciate having two members of the family really understand what I do on a day to day basis!