Mount Raymond Summit (Shantel Hike)

I have been able to go hiking many times this summer and i've enjoyed it very much. I'm hiking the Timpanogos Cave Trail each week with my friend Dani (3 miles, 1,000 elevation gain), I've gone hiking with David a few times, and regular hikes with the kids (although not as many with the kids because I've been hiking so much on my own.) 

My dear friend Ali asked if I wanted to take a Saturday morning to hike to the summit of Mount Raymond. It's an 8-mile hike, which is significantly more than the 3-miles that I've been doing each week.  I was a little nervous about the length and elevation gain - but it was an incredible hike. 

I left my house at 5:45 am. 8.18 miles, 4hrs 50 min, elevation gain 3,000 ft. Reached an elevation of 10,225 ft. 

I can’t believe such a beautiful place is so close to my house. As I was hiking, it was easy to imagine that I was hiking through the Swiss Mountains in Europe. If I had paid $5000 and taken a plane ride across the ocean, I would have put this hike on my bucket list and it would have been worth every penny.Utah is incredible.

Such incredible vistas and deep conversations about faith, Jesus, homeschool, travel, and motherhood. Grateful for good friends who enjoy hiking and invited me along as I am increasing my stamina and hiking skills. I've heard that people call themselves "summit chasers" and hike to the summit of all the mountains that they can. I've never really understood that because I enjoy hiking just for the sake of hiking. But after this morning, I UNDERSTAND. Reaching the Mount Raymond summit was like no other hike I've ever done. It was incredble and I loved it. (And have to express my gratitude to David for covering Saturday morning at home so I could have this experience.) 

A Taste for a Taste

I wish that I had a lot more pictures to go along with this post, but it is such a big part of our family, that I feel like we really need a post about it. 

One of my favorite things that the kids do is called, "a taste for a taste." Any time that they have some treat or something where there are different flavors, it is very common that they just turn to one of the siblings and say, "a taste for a taste." Which means that they each take a bit or a like of each others food. In this case we were having some slushie pops, and Caleb really wanted to try the red flavor too, So he and Lucy traded a taste. I love it so much for so many reasons. One, they are such good sharers and almost always will say yes to trading a taste and it is so cute the way they say it. It is something that I feel like really connects them as siblings. They do this with popcicles, candy, cake, or really anything that you can eat. 

Softball Baseball (Shantel)

Another Softball and Baseball Season is in the books! Lydia, Austin, and Caleb all played on a Lehi Rec League team and I think it was a great experience for all of them. 

Lydia played in the Filly League (5th/6th grade) for the Diamonds. Because she's a 5th grader, she had to try out again - but her tryouts went well and she had a good season. She's growing in confidence and with continued practice, her skills will continue to grow. Lydia really enjoys playing softball and I'm grateful it was a good season for her. 

This was Austin's first season playing on the dirt softball fields and it was a big step up for him. He did a great job and had a good experience. 

Caleb played Tball for the first time this year and was in a group with other boys from our neighborhood. That was fun for him and it was a good introduction to baseball. 

Doing youth sports takes an incredible amount of time and dedication and I'm grateful to have the option to do this through the Lehi Rec Leagues. It's only 6-8 weeks and they get a good experience with sports and playing on a team. By the time those 6-8 weeks are over, I am SO ready to have our weeknights back - but I am grateful for the experiences my kids have had. 

I recognize that I need to do more to practice their skills with them outside of their team and although I have the best intentions, we haven't made that happen very well. But with time, I hope that more practice to lead to improved skills, which will lend to having a better experience with the sports.