A Weekend in Zion

For Presidents Day weekend, we had a couple things to celebrate other than presidents and a day off from school. Saturday, February 14th was of course the day of love, and why wouldn't you celebrate that when you're married? And Monday, February 16th was Dustan's birthday! To celebrate, we decided to get out of Provo and go on an adventure.

We left Friday evening and drove a few hours down to Hurricane, Utah and stayed in a fun home with a few other guests (airbnb.com is the best, check it out). This was the perfect location as we spent each day exploring Zion National Park. We'll just give a brief overview of our adventures each day and some pictures to share :)

Saturday: Valentine's Day! <3

We LOVED being able to sleep in, which means we woke up at 8:30 am. We miss the good old days where sleeping in was always past 10:00 am. We went out to breakfast in Hurricane in already beautiful weather that just kept getting warmer. From there, we did the 20 minute drive to Zion National Park. Unbeknownst to us, entry into the park was free the entire weekend! There, we got a map, parked, and started our ascent up the hike called Angels Landing.

What an awesome hike! Round trip, the hike was about 5 miles, with 1,488 feet in elevation gain. The first two miles consist of steep switchbacks and a lot of time to soak in some sun.

Part way up Angels Landing hike before entering the canyon.

Those small switchbacks are called Walter's Wiggles. You get a lot of elevation gain there! Also, check out that hottie ;)

Sitting on a rock above Walter's Wiggles.

The last half mile to the top is what will scare the moms. You are essentially hiking on a narrow ridge with crazy drop offs on each side. Thankfully there are chain cables to hold on to while climbing this part. The view at the end was simply spectacular, you could see all of Zion Canyon.

Yes, those are steep drop offs on either side of Dustan.

At the very top of Angels Landing! Apparently everyone who makes it up creates a rock tower on the edge?

After our hike, we drove back to Hurricane to make ourselves pretty for a Valentine's date. Our plan was to drive to Saint George and go restaurant hopping, meaning that we would go somewhere different for an appetizer, main meal, then dessert. What we didn't consider beforehand was that every single restaurant had a ton of reservations and couples waiting to have a hot date. Eventually, we ended up making a reservation for dinner at Sakura, getting crisp bean burritos at Taco Time for an appetizer (childhood favorites) while we waited, eating a delicious teriyaki dinner, then stopping at Walmart on the way home for a tub of ice cream. It was a blast, and definitely an adventure, haha.

All dressed up for our Valentine's Date!

Sunday: The Sabbath

To attend church on Sunday, we found a random ward in Hurricane that met at a reasonable time--11:00 am. It is always fun to spend some time in church in a new place. We loved all the bolo ties and energetic speakers! After church, we ate a quick lunch before heading back up to Zion!

Because it was the sabbath, we kept it easy. First we did the Riverside Walk, which was a nice stroll alongside the Virgin River that runs through Zion. The trail ends when the river fills up the entire entire canyon it is running through. In the future, we hope to hike the Narrows, where you can continue to hike up through the water (wearing dry suits as the water this time of year was a chilly 47 degrees) in the canyon as it gets more and more narrow. This was really a pretty walk, the color of the river was stunning, and the weather was perfect.

Standing beside the Virgin River.

After the Riverside Walk, we did the short hike to the Emerald Pools. There is a Lower, Middle, and Upper Pool, but we just visited the Lower and Middle since they weren't quite as "emerald" as they claimed this time of year. It was neat though to see these pools just up in the mountains, and the view from the Middle Pool was actually quite spectacular.

The Middle Pool on the Emerald Pools hike.

Our Sunday was finished up with a delicious dinner of barbecued steak, homemade banana bread from our hosts, and some sparkling cider bubblies :)

Monday: The Husband's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUSTAN!! Because it was his birthday, Dustan got to choose how the day went (even when it included getting McDonalds as a snack because he loves fast food--gross).

We again started the day early with making and eating a delicious breakfast of french toast and eggs before 8:00 am. Then we packed up our things and left the fun little home in Hurricane.

We had just about 4 more hours to play in Zion National Park before having to driving back to Provo, which we decided to spend exploring Hidden Canyon. We wanted to be able to climb Observation Point, which was the highest peak in the park. But because it was a long, strenuous hike, we didn't quite have the time. Hidden Canyon was a branch off this hike, and we are SO glad we did it. We loved it just as much as Angels Landing, it was a cool hike!

We encountered some paths similar to Angels Landing, where chains had been bolted into the walls because there were such steep drops to the sides. Once we had gotten past winding around the mountain on these paths, we entered Hidden Canyon where we explored as long as we had time.

The ledges on the hike up to Hidden Canyon.

Great view and fun hiking!

Walking through the canyon required a lot of bouldering, which both of us really enjoy doing. We had to climb a lot of rocks and get inventive on how to get past walls blocking the canyon. We finally ended our hike  when we reached a high point where we had a nice view of the canyon we had just walked through. Then, it was time to quickly head back to the car and make the drive back to Provo for some birthday dinner :)

The walk through the canyon.

We legitimately had to climb this log/ladder to get up and continue.

Behind us is one of the rock piles that blocks the path in the canyon. We made it through though!

Once we had made it back to Provo, we quickly got ready and went out to a birthday dinner at Sushi Ya, an all you can eat sushi place. It was really good, but filled us up a lot faster than we expected. Dustan seemed a little bummed because no friends or family were able to come with us to dinner, and hadn't even seen him all day...

What Dustan didn't know was that they were all waiting for us back at our apartment! Somehow 13 friends and family fit into our tiny bathroom, and when Dustan opened the bathroom door, he was so shocked he fell to the ground, feet in the air. In his defense, they all yelled quite loudly when he opened the door. It was a successful surprise! We spent the evening eating delicious homemade cheesecake, playing games, and partying. 

It was definitely one of the best weekends yet as a married couple :)

About Us

Dustan Paul Kraus 

About me:
I'm currently a student at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT studying mechanical engineering. I'm planning on graduating in April of 2016, and then it's time to make big boy decisions (cue scary music): grad school or not, where to live, where to work full time... you get the picture. For now though, I'm just enjoying living in a tiny apartment, working 24/6 (with school and working part time at US Synthetic), spending long nights in the engineering buildings on campus, and making the weekly spare moment to spend with Ellen going on a fun date. For real though, life is great! Even though I'm super busy, things couldn't be better. I'm married to the woman of my dreams, and have the gospel of Jesus Christ to keep everything in perspective. What could go wrong?

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormons), and love it! I believe that the original, true church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth by God the Father and Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith and that the best way to be happy here and forever is to live by the commandments. We exist to have joy, and that's exactly what living the gospel of Jesus Christ brings.  Most people (if not all) reading this are already members of the church, but anyone who isn't should check out mormon.org or flag down some missionaries (the guys/girls in suits and ties/dresses or skirts wearing name tags) and ask them how you can learn more. They'll be more than happy to talk to you (trust me, I was one). I served a two year mission for the church in Jamaica, and loved it!  I grew more during those two years than any other time in my life. Anyway... I digress..

Things I love:
Ellen, sports (specifically downhill/cross country/water skiing, wrestling, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, badminton, ultimate frisbee, swimming, mountain biking, racquetball, ping pong, shinny hockey... I guess I could have just left it at sports), the outdoors, reading, board/card games, playing piano, exercising, and eating delicious food (also known as Ellen's cooking... hoping to score some brownie points with that one... or just some brownies, I'd be happy with either).

Favorite Foods: Thai food and sushi hands down

Favorite Color: Electric blue (it must be electric)

Ellen Rachel (Nielson) Kraus

Being born and raised in the Seattle area gave me a great love of the outdoors and everything PNW... Except the weather. I hate rain and gloomy skies. Give me sunshine year round! But I love an overwhelming amount of green and blue in nature (and sports teams) and as my favorite colors. I love everything outdoors--and that's not just because I want to fit in to the Seattle stereotype. I have so much fun camping, exploring, hiking, getting lost, and just being outside. If the weather is nice and I'm not required to be inside, there is no doubt that I can be found in the sunshine reading a book.

Being born and raised in a great home game me a love of the gospel and a the knowledge of the importance of family. I can honestly say that I think family and the gospel have helped shape who I am today more than anything else. The example of the people around me that were strong members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--especially my close friends and family—have had a huge impact on my life in habits and values. With their guidance, I was the type of person that was blessed to be married in the temple to a righteous and pretty much perfect man (in my own opinion). With our marriage based on Christ and the values of the gospel and family, I know Dustan and I will always find happiness.

Random Favorite Things:

Dustan, copious amounts of food, reading late at night, traveling adventures, chocolate, constantly singing and whistling, hiking, eating Dustan’s cooking (but only Thai curry, the rest are sketchy), touristy things, frolicking, watching movies, camping, Thai food, playing sports (though I will never claim to be good at them), country dancing, turquoise, and anything in water (swimming in the ocean, tubing, boating, etc.)

Current Bucket List Items: 

Sky diving, JAMAICA, graduate college with a Bachelors in Elementary Education without dying, New Zealand, hot air balloon ride, and eat more food without gaining weight.

Why a Blog?

President Spencer W. Kimball said:

"Any Latter-day Saint family that has searched genealogical and historical records has fervently wished its ancestors had kept better and more complete records. On the other hand, some families possess some spiritual treasures because ancestors have recorded the events surrounding their conversion to the gospel and other happenings of interest, including many miraculous blessings and spiritual experiences. People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted."

We have each struggled to keep a journal for a long time. Through the gospel, we know of the importance of keeping a record of our lives. Recently, we began learning more about family history work and how beneficial it is for ourselves and for future generations to record our adventures, challenges, testimonies, and more.

As a result, one of our New Years resolutions was to create this blog and make regular entries (probably about once a month). It will be a lot of fun to write our experiences together and perhaps learn more about ourselves and one another through it. And in ten years, we're sure to get a laugh about what we were struggling with in the first months of marriage!

We hope that this blog will help others to keep in touch with our lives, and maybe even inspire them to keep a journal of their own :)