Saturday I had to wake up at 6:30 to be ready to leave by 7:00. I was so tired driving up there. I had a huge Dr. Pepper to keep me going, but all it did was make me have to stop and take a bathroom break a few times! HA! We got to the Snow Bowl around 10:30 and started the hike. I started off hiking pretty fast. After about 15 minutes I was breathing pretty heavy and started getting nervous knowing I had another 3 hours and 45 minutes left! I was honestly panicking thinking "I can't do this, but I have to b/c my brother is really looking forward to this!" After 30 minutes we took a short break, and then I really started to get into a groove. We took a 5 minute break every 30 minutes and the hike ended up going pretty fast! The hardest part was the last 200 ft that led up to the "saddle" of the trail, which is about 40 minutes from the peak. When he got there clouds started to roll in . It was actually a pretty cool sight to see the clouds surround us. We then started to hear thunder and see some lightening far off. The saddle of the hike is where the trees end and we are in the open. We realized we couldn't finish the hike up to the top and then quickly started hiking down to some trees. I told Joe we should wait it out and see if we still could go to the top.
While we were waiting I checked my phone and noticed I had coverage. I called Ben and he said all was well and that Sophia went down at 11:00 and that she was still sleeping. It was 1:30 at the time and Aubrie's tryouts were at 1:00. I asked Ben "who took Aubrie to her tryouts if Sophia was sleeping". He then yelled "oh no!! I got to go!" So I was sitting around waiting for the call. They still let her try out after all, but she missed out on some things. She will do performance group next year I guess!;)
About 15 minutes of waiting, the weather started to clear. We got our packs on and started the hike back up and noticed some huge clouds forming west of the mountain. After feeling some raindrops, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to hike back down. I was a little disappointed to have come that far and not make it to the peak, but it was still quite the accomplishment. ( It is the tallest mountain in Arizona!) It was also a real eye opener of how out of shape I am!!! The hike back down was enjoyable, but oddly enough seemed longer to me than the hike up. At the end of the hike we were lucky enough to see some deer, so I tried to make lemons out of lemonade by telling myself we would had seen those deer if we went to the very top:)
On the way home we stopped for some dinner and had the slowest service ever, so we didn't leave flagstaff until 6:00. Then on the freeway we saw someone broken down. He needed some oil, so we drove to Sedona, 15 minutes there and back, to get the guy some oil. When we got back he wasn't there anymore. It was a big disappointment, but tried to remember that we did what we were supposed to do. We ended getting home at 8:45! Talk about a long day.
When I got home I had a little surprise....a new cat!! The kids took Dad to Petsmart while I was gone and suckered him into a new cat. So now we have a black kitten added to our little family. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but she is cute and now the boys have a cat to call their own! Boston picked her out and called her Puma. 
Today we had church in our new church building. It was nice to finally get in there, but it was a little weird getting used to a smaller building. Our old building was the Stake Center so it was much bigger. The testimonies were wonderful and the kids did well with our new rule of no toys or food during sacrament. Someone mentioned that they did that and their kids were more reverent. We will see how long this lasts. When we got home Ben and i took a good nap...we both needed it from our long day yesterday. After my nap I soaked my aching muscles in the hot tub. Sophia joined me in her new floatie!! 
