The Subway took my breath away!

Is this beautiful or what?! Our amazing friends, Jesse Moore and Kim (soon-to-be Moore) invited us on this awesome adventure in Zion National Park. Austin and I are always up for a good adventure! But, I seriously had NO idea just how gorgeous the Subway is and how much fun we would have going through it.



Getting to this lovely spot is no nature walk. It was 8 miles long and consisted of repelling down waterfalls, overcoming the obstacles (usually requiring a rope and my man to help me out) :), and even swimming for a good while (all our important stuff was in waterproof bags)! There were a few areas so narrow that you literally had to swim. It was SO FUN! We were having so much fun that we pretty much laughed the entire time!





A few other fun highlights were the natural water slides, jumping over a waterfall, swimming through a hole in a rock underwater, and seeing pre-historic dinosaur tracks (Austin told us everything about them and more than we probably wanted to know).







Near the end of the long day we ran into a few mishaps...! It rained pretty hard and although it was nice to have warm rain pouring down on us, we were a little paranoid of flash floods (which hit other narrows but not the subway, thank goodness)! AND, we got a tad bit lost at the end of the trail which made me a little grumpy because we were hungry and tired. It didn't take too long to find the parking lot and then we went straight to an overload of carbs at Olive Garden! :)

Overall, the trip was LIFE CHANGING and we made a pact with Kim and Jesse to try to re-live this experience every summer! We absolutely loved it!

I love my Grandma

With rapidly growing cancer, doctors have said that my Grandma, Ellice Prince Whitney, may only live a few more weeks. Even though I have always lived far away from my Grandma, I’ve always felt very close to her. My parents named me after her by giving me “Ellice” as a middle name, which I plan to pass on to my future daughter as well. Because of this, Grandma has always called me her “Little Ellie”.

When Austin and I heard she may not live much longer, we decided to go visit her. It was such an incredible experience for me. We spent time brushing her hair, holding her hand and visiting with her. We also read her old letters between her and her mother which was so neat! It was cool to read about my relatives even though I have never met any of them.

I know that life will be much better for her after she passes, especially since she will be reunited with her husband of over 60 years, my Grandpa Howard Grant Whitney. But, she will be greatly missed! I felt the spirit so strongly with her and I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with her life and can’t wait to have her in His presence again. I also know that all of us will be together again someday! That is such a comforting thought to me and always keeps me going when the going is rough. :)

OREGON!!!

Between Spring and Summer term Austin and I made a road-trip to the beautiful land called OREGON! It was such a fun and relaxing trip, which is exactly what we needed! We ran everyday, went on several hikes, went to bed early every night, etc. SO NICE!

The last day was the Grand Finale! Every single member of the fam was in town and we spent the whole day together. We all went on a jet boat cruise on the Rogue River and saw tons of wildlife and had a huge brunch at a restaurant on the shoreline. We were soaked by the end, especially Dev, Chris and Bailey. Haha!



Later that day we took family pictures in Ashland and had a birthday bash/fathers day party for Chris, Dad, and me. The Cunninghams and Grandma and Grandpa Andersen came over to celebrate together. We grilled shrimp and fish and partied hard! :) I love my family SO MUCH!