Spring and Summer 2009: Part 2

Spring and Summer 2009: Part 2

In the previous post I included photos of our trips to Moab, Utah and climbing pictures we have taken in both Arizona and Utah.

Thus far in 2009 we have been fortunate enough to visit two different music festivals, spent a wonderful weekend with Jillian's sister Anna, and gone on a guided hike on private land...

It has been a busy year thus far!

The Countdown is now in its final days as we await picking up our puppy at the end of this month. He/She is currently 6 weeks old and we will be picking up the newest member of our "wolfpack" July 31st. Check out the litter here. We have the 3rd pick in the "draft" and will know this coming weekend which of the puppies will be ours. We did some research and found a reputable, small-scale family breeder who socializes the puppies to other dogs and children from an early age. We can't wait to pick him/her up!

Now if we could only settle on a name...

In other news... After many ups and downs, a great deal of uncertainty, and much hand-wringing I learned this week that my teaching contract with the Chinle Unified School District has been renewed for the coming school year. I was thrilled to find out I will have my own classroom of 6th grade students at Canyon de Chelly Elementary School here in Chinle.

School starts August 3rd and I am excited to begin my first full year of classroom teaching.

Here are some more 2009 photos in Part 2 of our Spring and Summer "mid-year" blog

McDowell Mountain Music Festival

April 24-25th, 2009

We ventured down to Phoenix one weekend in April in order to refresh our souls with some live music, sunshine, and shiny happy people. We drove the customary 5 hours down to Phoenix where we stayed with our most gracious host on many occassions Anna MacDonald. Friday night was all about Michael Franti & Spearhead, too much dancing for many pictures from this show, it was incredible!

On Saturday we hung out in our camp chairs and on our blanket listening to great music from Railroad Earth, Matisyahu and The Flaming Lips. It was a gorgeous day, and we left the venue on Saturday night with our eardrums ringing and our thirst for live music thoroughly quenched. For a little while...

The Flaming Lips wrapped up the festival on Saturday night.

I have never seen a musical performance like it in my life...

Opening song and Wayne Coyne is crowd-surfing and singing inside an inflated plastic ball...

for real

Confetti Cannons

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

June 20th, 2009

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival by our good friends Mike and Andra. They have lived in Chinle for a few years, and own a home 2.5 hours from here in SW Colorado. We stayed with them Friday night, and drove to Telluride early the next morning. We weren't blessed with the greatest weather (many hours of rain) but the music was sensational and everyone there was in great spirits. We had a blast!

See you next year!

The aforementioned Andra & Mike, these guys rock for being so amazing in making us feel welcome since we arrived a year ago in Chinle. Thanks guys!

Telluride lies in a box canyon formed by the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado. If you have never been there, think about a visit at some point in your life. More info from wikipedia here

An awe-inspiring place in any season.

The rain and clouds settled over the audience, and the bands played on...

But the clouds eventually cleared for a sweet sunset.

Telluride's Gondola

Peace Train

Patricia, Ryan, Julie, Dave (left to right)

Trip to Ogden, UT

We took off for a long Memorial Day Weekend with Cam and Kelly for a weekend of catching up and hanging out. We had a great time getting to know their new location, eating and cooking good grub, climbing, hiking and biking along the river trail. Most of the climbing pictures from Part 1 are from this trip, and what a great day that was. We hiked out the front door of a friend's house to the end his street, which then turned into a trail up the mountain.

We branched off a few times (always uphill) to the crag, where there were a dozen or so bolted sport routes. Good level of challenge for beginners, and Jillian topped out every route!

A beautiful place, and perfect for two of our favorite people... we are heading back to Ogden for Thanksgiving this year and can't wait!

The valley behind Snow Basin

Spring had just arrived in the mountains, emerald green

Sisters MacDonald Weekend

Jillian's sister Anna came up for a nice long weekend in early June to escape the Phoenix heat and spend time with her sister. On Friday we had the opportunity to go on a guided hike in a canyon 30 miles or so from Chinle. We saw some incredible petroglyphs and some well-preserved cliff dwellings, and our guide talked to us about the history of the canyon, his family, and even the invasive plants that had infested the canyon in some areas.

We then drove up to the Four Corners National Monument where the borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah all meet. We continued on Telluride, Co once again for some sights and a great lunch, and stopped in Dolores, Co for a river festival and some live music.

It was a great weekend with laughs galore!

We are looking forward to the rest of the summer, and the rest of 2009.

Look out for puppy pictures in August!