Life Elevated

Once again, I have stolen someone else's creativity for my blog post title. This time, I ripped off the state slogan. My Utah friends will recognize it from the Utah license plates, which by the way, we both actually have now on our cars! I used this blog title for many reasons. Obviously it alludes to the fact that we live at a much higher elevation now, but it also alludes to our lives here. Our last few weeks in Louisiana were extremely difficult. I think Jon and I can both say that that was one of the great trials of our lives. We are blessed in that it wasn't a trial like I know so many others are going through. But besides packing up and leaving our friends and moving even further from our family, we had to deal with Brighton's diagnosis, which seemed so huge and scary at the time. Dealing with it during a cross-country move definitely put our spirits at a new low. Sometimes, it's so difficult to think we will ever get out of the valley of sadness and despair, and even the hope of a new adventure can't bring us out of the funk. For this reason, I can confidently say that this particular time, right now, our lives have been elevated. We still miss our beautiful friends and long to see our families, but God has put us on top of a mountain now, pun intended. Will has a wonderful new school with so many new friends that Brighton has also enjoyed playing with, subsequently I have a great new group of Mommy friends, and Jon is getting along very well with his new coworkers. I cannot remember at time in my life when I have ever been so busy. I am blessed to be busy!!! We are out the door every morning for school, and Brighton and I go to the gym, MOPS, or she even has her own little class now-Music and Movement which of course she loves. Jon is working hard, but he secretly thrives on the daily stress. We have visited several churches, and I think we are nearing a decision. And what I am most thankful for is that Brighton just turned three and has had several weeks with not even a minor flare-up. This is a gift. To see our little girl happily being spoiled on her third birthday, playing in the snow, and scarfing down birthday cake made this blog title absolutely necessary. So enjoy the pictures of our many hikes (we try to go on at least one if not two each weekend), our birthday girl (and her equally entertaining brother), our Halloween, our spectacular views (God's creation at its most breathtaking), and our life, elevated.

And for our first hike...

There wasn't much snow at the beginning of the path, so we weren't expecting to see as much as we did at the top. You can barely see the ski lift in the background.

Daddy's turn to haul Miss Brighton.

Will really loves to hike. It seems to bring out the best in him, and I'm always so proud of his determination.

It was a little cold for "made it to the top" celebration.

Lake Mary.

A rare shot of the family photographer. And once again, there are always cool rocks to climb and perch on.

Don't eat these Moose Tracks.

I like this picture because right after he took this and put his camera down, I slipped. I was able to catch myself, and neither of us were hurt. It would've been an embarrassing shot though.

We stopped to pick up some Brighton junk before heading home.

Jon pulled over on the side of the road to take this picture. This is near our house, and I get to see this view everytime I drive home from Walmart too. It helps to calm me down after being there!

This hike the next week was not too difficult, so Brighton didn't have to ride in the backpack. Will was pretending to be an expert hiker showing his little sister the ropes.

Ilove Aspen trees! Their leaves have now turned the most beautiful shade of yellow.

Doughnut Falls-named for the hole in the rock that the water is pouring through. Nothing to do with real doughnuts...unfortunately.

Jon carved the pumpkins after our hike, and they barely lasted the rest of the week to Halloween.

Cave dwellers.

Silliness.

The roads are a bit treacherous through the canyon.

Jon is the daredevil who climbs higher while I hang out with the kids and make sure they don't kill themselves. This was a quick Sunday afternoon hike in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

You can see the canyon and through to the Salt Lake Valley. There are waterfalls everywhere hiding in the mountains.

Will, of course, had to be Lightning McQueen this year. Brighton's princess of choice was Snow White this year. Brighton has no shortage of princess costumes to choose from now thanks to our friends, the Slatons!

We were invited over to our neighbors' house for a pre-trick or treating party. Jon decided to dress up as Tom, the neighbor hosting the party. It was well received, and Tom has a good sense of humor. I went the easy route with the witch costume. And yes, it's the easy route because it's not much of a stretch--beat you to it!

Halloween candy...ugh. Of course, the kids had a late night that night. Sorry, baby girl, no peanut butter for you :(

I hosted a playdate the day before Brighton's birthday, so she could play with her new friends. She is particularly fond of Loralei, who is the sister of one of Will's friends. We have met a great group of people through Will's school, and I had a great time talking with my new friends while the kids played outside for hours.

One of the gifts Brighton received from a little girl in Will's class, Aveline, was a cupcake set. She decided when she woke up on her birthday that she wanted to make cupcakes and sing Happy Birthday to us. I actually caught her trying to put these in the real oven.

Brighton loves dogs, and she has really missed having a dog in the house. Instead of a real puppy, we started her out with one that walks and barks--just doesn't make the messes of a real puppy. We spaced out her presents throughout the day to keep the birthday madness at a manageable level.

This is a pretty cool birthday present too--a snowy paradise!

Let the snow fun begin!

Will had a blast sledding...

...Jon and I had a good time pretending to be kids.

Brighton got to pick out her own birthday outfit to go to Chuck E Cheese. She was a bit overdressed, but she didn't seem to care ;)

After opening her presents from Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandad via skype, we moved the mess downstairs to continue the spoiling from Mommy, Daddy, and Will.

We bought her an inexpensive drumset, and she will no doubt need an upgrade eventually. For now, she loves it!

Princesses for our Princess.

We had our neighbors over to sing Happy Birthday to her since she has become very fond of her "friends."

We decided to take a hike in the snow on Sunday. Alta ski resort is not open yet, so it was eerily quiet that afternoon.

Looking back at the picture of the trail sign on my previous post, it's amazing how fast the weather has changed!

Slightly different experience, hiking in the snow.

Griswold family Christmas tree? If only we had a Ford Taurus to tie it too ;)

With all her sassiness, Brighton Rae has such a remarkably sweet demeanor. I have probably only witnessed that kind of constant genuine care in one other person, another special lady born on November 5-my mom.