Utah "layover"

On my way back from Nebraska I had a multi-day "layover" in Vegas before flying back to Maui, meaning I got to visit my family for a few days.  Luckily my brothers happened to have a few days off of of school, so my mom planned all kinds of activities for us.  We spent a night up at my parent's cabin at Panguitch lake.  My mom made us some delicious dinner, I whipped up some guacamole, and we finished things up with warm razzleberry pie and ice cream.  It was delicious, and somehow we got sucked into this super boring Kevin Costner movie about cowboys because none of us had thought to bring a good movie to watch.

The next morning we drove over to Bryce Canyon to enjoy some four-wheeling.

After driving around on the 4-wheelers for a while we came across this amazing vista!  You can't tell, but those are pretty much sheer cliffs next to Mitchell.  Funny story.  Apparently I'm afraid of heights.  It totally freaked me out to get too close to the edge.  Maybe it's because I kept imagining that if I fell I'd end up clear at the bottom.  Fail.

They did manage to get me close enough to the edge to get a picture.  They did have to protect me in the middle, though.  Also, I would like to call attention to the fact that almost all of my "little" brothers are now taller than me.  I have a family of freaky giants!

My parents bought this crazy four-wheeler that honestly looked like a golf cart to me.  My brothers kinda freak me out with their driving so I was pretty grateful for the shoulder harness seat-belt.  They finally convinced me to ride in it, and then I didn't want to get out (mostly because I somehow managed to find the harness too complicated).  We drove back out to the main road, and we were totally covered in dust.  We then got some yummy dinner at this rustic little place where my turkey sandwich with "cranberry sauce" was actually turkey with super thick slices of cranberry straight from the can!  It was delicious once I managed to tone down the cranberry preserves.

That night we attempted to make it to the hot tub at the hotel, but somehow we missed the fact that the pool closed at 10, not 11.  We got kicked out by this obnoxious hotel worker literally 5 minutes after we got in.. so we stole a bunch of towels.



The next morning we actually went into the park and wandered around a bit.  My parents and Carson went up and down the trail, and Mitch, Calvin, and I totally watched them from above!  Mitch busted out some music on his phone (which echoed halfway down the canyon) and we had fun taking random pictures.  Honestly I was slightly concerned I might pass out trying to climb back up any switchbacks since I had been living at sea level for a couple of months.  Hence the fun perched on the rim!

I may live in Hawaii, but I have to say that Bryce Canyon is one of my very favorite places to be!

That evening I got to spend some time with a couple of old friends from High School.  My friend Lindsay recently moved back into the area, and her, my friend Reece, my brother Blake, and my other friend Blake drove down to St. George for a haunted corn maze.  I had a really good time, and it was nice to be able to catch up with those people!

Next morning we drove up to meet with my mom's side of the family, who had gathered for the deer hunt.  There were several cousins there whom I hadn't seen for years, not to mention all their kids I didn't recognize!  Extended family is such a blast.  We had even more yummy food, and got a chance to catch up.  All-in-all the entire trip was a nice break.  It's a bit strange when having a vacation actually means leaving Hawaii, but I couldn't believe how nice it was to experience the fall weather and see the family!

October in Nebraska

Last post I was in Nebraska for a wedding.  I ended up sticking around Omaha for a couple of days to spend time with some friends, and to soak in all the Halloween festivities I could possibly get myself involved in!

The wedding was on Saturday, and Monday we took a trip out to Vala's pumpkin patch for the day.  Funny story, Zach and Laura totally came with us.  It was just like old times, and it was amazing!!

I just love Halloween, and everything associated with it!!

"Hold the pumpkin for a picture."
"I don't want to pick it up."
"Okay, well touch it then!"

Laura and her super cute green pumpkin.  She doesn't discriminate.

Our awesome hayrack ride.

We went on a train ride, just like all the kids!

They had these ridiculous peddle carts you could race around on. 

They had these giant trampoline bubbles, and luckily there was one for the adults to jump on.

Me, Zach, Gabbi, Will, and Laura.
After jumping on the bubbles, we sat around and watched all the ridiculous people with their children.  Also, judging by some of the jokers we saw, holding hands and getting all cuddly while jumping on a trampoline is much harder than you would think.

Later that day we went and saw Hotel Transylvania, then hit up Amsterdam for dinner.  Yum!  What a fun blast from the past.