Grand Canyon

We arrived at the Grand Canyon on Wednesday evening after our drive through Monument Valley and our visit to the Navajo Tribal Park.  After setting up camp and making dinner, I was thinking about the last time I was at the Grand Canyon.  It was 1995 or 1996, and Chris and I had a great vacation hiking and mountain biking around Arizona and Utah.  We were deep into our fertility treatments at the time and I was very sad that we didn't have children.  I remember that we wanted to do a rafting trip, but when we were making our plans, I was hoping that I'd be pregnant by then and rafting might not be a good idea.  When the time came, of course, I wasn't pregnant and I learned that I should not be putting my life on hold.  As I sat in our tent on Wednesday night, all those old feelings came back to me - how much we wanted children.

Now, here I am, back at the Grand Canyon with my four children and they have been driving me crazy! It's like I have Israel and Palestine in my back seat and I'm supposed to be the United Nations.  Be careful what you wish for... it just may come true!!

Things got much better after that.  We hiked 1.5 miles into the canyon.  The kids experienced the difference between mountain hiking and canyon hiking, where the hard part is coming back out of the canyon.  

On our way back to our campsite, we saw two elk grazing along the side of the road.  Can you see him in the photo behind Beti and Berhanu?

When we returned to our campsite, the kids were great.  James said, "Mom, why don't you sit and rest.  Let us make dinner."  They got into their teams: James & Beti, Hannah & Berhanu, and started their chores.  We didn't use the camp stove that night, and just cooked on the fire which Hannah and Berhanu started.  I did a little of the prep work, but they took over and did everything.  After dinner, I lied down on my bed and they did the dishes without supervision.  I was exhausted and really needed the rest.  I listened to them work things out and then play for awhile, then I called them into bed.  It was a great day.

We were back on track and ready to go to California!