The Trip--Through Anna's Lens

 The unique parts of Anna's camera roll were flowers, sunsets, mini Jesus, and hearts. When she found a heart it reminded her that God was keeping her safe. Facing fear of heights and feeling unsafe was a theme for her on this trip and seeing one more heart in the city lights as we landed was an extra special sign to her of God's protection on her life. 

Jay and Anna worked together to figure out how to focus "Jesus" and the background at the same time. I think Jay was able to do with his camera. 

Anna is happiest watching a sunset. 

These two ladies from London were sitting in front of us. When they left, Anna showed them the pictures she had taken of them. They were so touched. Anna gave them the pictures via airdrop. 

This heart was at the end of our Ooh Ahh Point hike. 

Anna was our car photographer as we drove. 

Taking pictures through her sunglass lenses gave this effect...

The Trip--Day Six

 Isaiah was especially vocal about sad about our trip ending and this being the day that we go home. In this stage of family life, I was a little sad that it was ending but also just really glad that we were all still going home together. I didn't have to say good-bye to anyone. 

We had one more adventure left. Las Vegas.  

For the luxury hotel and casino experience we went in the Bellagio. Bathroom was first on the agenda. Every stall door had a sign with at least three phone numbers and QR codes to report trafficking. I made sure the girls noticed that. They did. And my eyes were on them...and the boys. 

The conservatory and botanical garden was magical. So many flowers and colors. Aliza called it a fever dream.  

We walked out of the conservatory, through the lobby and around the corner into the casino. The casino was a stark contrast to the colors, flowers and beauty we had just seen. I did not mind that all of our children were immediately uncomfortable. 

Our lunch plan was Shake Shack which we thought was one block away. Turns out that block was almost a mile. I'll admit that I was the one complaining this time! I was dressed for travel, not walking in desert heat that was also radiating up from the pavement. We didn't have water with us. I was miserable. 

The shakes were yummy. Josiah hoped that the milk wouldn't curdle in the stomach with the heat. Thankfully no one got sick. Jeremy offered to get an Uber back to our car. By then I couldn't give in and so we walked back. 

Driving to the airport we drove past the dome. Actually we were close enough that we could see the individual light bulbs. 

The overwhelming opinion of the Heslop family is that Las Vegas is definitely not for us!

On the flight home we were all in the same row! 

Somehow I also overlooked our departure time. Jeremy ended up booking one a bit later so that we would have some time in Las Vegas. All of the lights in the Baltimore/DC area was a huge contrast from the dessert. Anna spotted a heart in the lights. 

 

We landed at 12:30am and pulled in to our driveway at 3:30am. I went to sleep with a full heart of moments and memories. And very grateful for this time that we certainly are not guaranteed. We can only steward what we are given moment by moment.  

The Trip--Day Five

 Almost by accident, Jeremy found out that the headquarters for Matt's Off-Road Recovery was just a block from where we were staying in Hurricane, Utah. Unfortunately it was Sunday and the garage was closed, but Jeremy and the kids had fun looking through the fence to see vehicles they recognized from this youtube channel. Matt and his team rescue vehicles in Zion, Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. It's quite amazing where people get themselves stuck!

Today we went into Zion National Park. That entailed finding a parking spot outside of the park, taking a shuttle to the main entrance of the park, going through the ranger station, and then getting on another shuttle to the point in the park where you want to go. 

Our plan was to the the Riverside Walk which was at the farthest shuttle stop. That worked out well. We got to see a lot from the shuttle and the driver gave us an entertaining history of the park as we rode. 

Riverside Walk was a super easy trail. Wide enough, paved in some places, sandy in others. 

It followed a stream that led us to the Virgin River. 

When you walk out into the river, this is the view. This is also the trailhead for The Narrows, which is a river walk trail upriver through slip canyons. 

Aliza, Isaiah, and I changed shoes and walked around. The water was cold which felt really good! 

This was definitely my favorite part of the day. 

Two days ago we were on top of the canyon. Today we were in the bottom of a canyon. It puts in perspective how small we actually are!

And since I planned this adventure, there was another hike today! We did the Lower Emerald Falls trail. The sun was a bit lower in the sky by mid/late afternoon and the trail was mostly in the shade. 

There was a lot of complaining happening--by one person in particular. 

This was the Lower Emerald Pool. There was some mist and trickle that counted as a waterfall. The person who was complaining did not think this was worth their effort at all. 

With the promise of ice cream at Canyon Creamery, when we got out of the park, the complaining lessened a bit and we all made it out of the park with most of our sanity in tact. 

 

Pineapple Pomegranate Dole Whip was refreshing! However, I will never pay the price for Dole Whip again!!

 We had our dessert before supper. It was another pool evening for Isaiah, ping pong, and a movie.