It's Glorious!

Melodie was on the go all day yesterday... she didn't get home til late but had to get up early and be on the go again today with orchestra practice down town at 9, then flute lesson at 11:30. She seemed a bit frustrated and shared that she was feeling the burden of "busy". I feel it too Mel. Time for a break. We decided after we got home, we'd have lunch and then go for a hike.

Joseph and Ethan were gone on a scout trip, so after Natalie went down for a nap, I loaded the remaining 6 kids in the car and we headed out. Corey stayed home with Natalie, and we were gone for 3 hours. 1:40 pm and we were headed up the canyon. The views from the car were a huge distraction. Melodie and I were hardly able to contain our amazement. It was truly and amazingly glorious out every window and on every side of the canyon ~

Just a short drive from our home and it's like driving through a Dr. Seuss book and visiting the Lorax's forest! What a spectacular show - so over the top, it was insane. Lots of cars up the canyon enjoying the color that the mountains and trees were showing off. I'm glad that they aren't modest about their colors I'm glad it's abundant and over the top. I mean, what an idea to come up with! "Let's have all the leaves and trees just explode with color when it gets cold and before they die." Snowflakes are crazy too - I am in awe at the creativity of the Creator. God is glorious.

The ridge between the canyons - huge and majestic and wow. Melodie and I were not able to put our feelings into words, so we were mostly just screaming the whole time.

The kids were such good little hikers too, it was so fun. And look!...

The trails up there are literally paved with gold!!! I was singing Glorious the whole time, specifically the line "it's like a symphony" ~ each little leaf plays a part, the mountains play a part, the trees, the rocks, it's amazing what it's all creating! Just an abundance of color and wonder to behold.

The air was a bit hazy, so I did turn the camera on "vibrant color" mode for some of these pictures. That mode could almost capture how bright and beautiful it was.

We made it up to the mountain stream where it splits to the White Pine or Red Pine trail. The kids played in the water briefly and then we tried to go a little further.

I didn't want to make them go all the way to the lake, just to the spot on the trail with the huge view of the canyon that was the inspiration for this family outing. We found it. Vibrant color filter applied again and I think it about captured the beauty.

I carried Sophia for about half of the hike, but that's okay. I was planning on it when I brought her along and I didn't mind, we just needed to make it out into the lovely world of fall in Utah.

We took like 100 pictures. One last one, laying on the trail of gold. Perfect afternoon. Heaven.