Welcome Heinrich Paul Ward

We have a new nephew that we cannot wait to meet some day!

happy healthy henry

with a package of love on the way

14 days, 2 sore knees, and 6 toenails later...

...here is our grand canyon story.

Hiking in on gabe's birthday I had to try and do something special that involved little materials and even less weight. So many of you contributed to this "grand" birthday experience and that is what made is so special. Gabe received over 20 birthday messages throughout the day and the toughest part of our entire trip.

Our first day, hiking down, Hermit's Rest trail was more of a challenge than I ever imagined it to be. I knew hiking the canyon was going to be difficult physically but I had no idea what it could do to your mind. The second day, while walking on blister covered feet is when I realized; this canyon does two things to people.

1. she will chew you up and spit you out

2. she will chew you up and swallow you whole


I was definitely feeling her chew but was hoping I could hold on to the edges of her throat and pull myself out of this place.

While we were in the depths of it though, these thoughts seemed to fade more and more with each passing hour. The views you get from being with in the canyon are incredible. The walls, sky, river, and ever changing colors of all of these things left us speechless many times.

We spent 3 nights in the canyon and met more people than we expected along the way, each on their own planned journey. One night we were able to sleep under the stars, the other nights rodents came out too early in the evening for us to feel comfortable with not setting up tents. Each night those rodents made sure to make their mark one way or another though.



We were able to sit and relax in cool water twice during the trip which was a huge bonus surprise. Gabe did an awesome job planning this trip, we ate well, had a great route and made great memories with great friends.

I'm glad we all were able to go with option number 1.

Grand Canyon Teaser

Here's a little sample of the canyon, more to come...