For my birthday this year, Josh asked what I wanted to do. I said I just wanted to go for a hike with everyone - and not have it get cancelled or have someone else's plans ruin it. So he came up with going down to Bryce Canyon National Park! We drove down Friday after Kaley's soccer practice, and got in late. We swam and watched the BYU women's soccer game highlights. (Kaley's team went to the game, and Bella was invited to go to it with a friend.) The next morning, we slept in a little and headed over to breakfast. When we checked in, they gave us a voucher for 2 adults and 2 kids for breakfast - since that is what we told the website that was what we had. We always do that so that we can just get a 2 queen bed room, and then the other 3 sleep on the floor with sleeping bags or whatever. Well, that was going to pose a problem for breakfast! This place was basically a restaurant, so you waited to be seated, and then you could go hit the breakfast buffet. When I told the waitress we had a voucher for 2 adults and 2 kids... she immediately sent us back to a table for 4. She didn't even let me finish and add ... BUT, we have a family of 7, so I need to pay for a few extra meals. So we squished into a small booth - Josh had stayed back in the room to make it not look like as big of a circus. Well, that meant he didn't get seated with us. In the end, our server was SO nice! He was good with me just paying for 2 kids meals. When it came time to pay, he just said it was not necessary! He just gave us those extra 2 kid meals for free! Such a nice guy!
We went into Bryce and took a long hike from Sunset/Sunrise down to Bryce Point and then down through the canyon and then back up through Wall Street. It was stunning! Last time we were there, it had just snowed, and it was cold and muddy! So this was a great contrast! It was sunny and warm - and nobody could go anywhere, but with ME! :) I loved having them all close and enjoying nature together! I think we may have a birthday tradition for me! We even had some luck with nice people offering to take our family pictures there! I love these pics!
Subway lunch that we packed in!
Thomas found a selfie stick in the backpack cooler, and took selfies the whole way! I love them!
FAVORITE!!!
After about 6 miles, these two were hot and tired!
We did another little 1 mile hike. It sprinkled on us a little. When we got to the car and tried to use the wipers, one of them snapped. So we pulled over to check on it. There was a group of tourists - lots of old people - walking from the overlook to their bus. They were staring at our car. And then one of them walked over and I rolled down my window. He said that we had a bad tire on our back tire. So we got out and sure enough, there was a bubble in our tire. The bus driver said that if we drove on it very far or fast it would for sure blow out. I was scared - that's like a big fear of mine! He told us that there was a place in Panguitch called Orton Tire that could help us, but that they may be closed. He also gave us the name of somewhere in Beaver - which would have been a little in the wrong direction, but it was helpful. So I immediately called Orton, and they were closed. I got the number off the machine for the after hours emergencies. It also said that there would a higher fee for after hours. No problem, we just needed help - we weren't going to make it all the way home. I left a message on the after hours phone number. We still hadn't heard back, but drove to Orton Tire anyway. As we pulled up, there was a guy being dropped off. He walked around the lot for a minute, and Josh got out to talk to him. What luck! He was the owner! He looked at our tire, and said he might even have a tire our size! What miracle because our tires are a uncommon size. He came back and had ONE tire! Just a used tire - the only one of it's size. Wow. He got the car jacked up, and got us out in 20 minutes! AND he only charged us $40! He was the nicest guy, and talked to us the whole time, let the kids bounce tires, and explained how each tool he used worked. What a guy! There really are some pretty great people in this world!
So there you have it! Miracles, nice people and family time = the best birthday ever!
