Wesley Cameron Isakson



Halloween/Birthday/Prego Belly Update

 Happy Halloween!

 Here is my class celebrating Halloween.  Our classroom theme was Monsters Inc.

 Sully and Mike Wazowski

 Happy Happy Birthday Ryan....the big 28!

 Ryan has been wanting this Lincoln book for a while and he always thought it would be a good time saver shaving in the shower.  All of his dreams came true:)

30 weeks along and growing...

Updated Belly Shot

Here I am at 23 weeks along.  I'm a little over half way there and it's already so hard to bend over!  I can only imagine how hard it will be in January!  He is kicking and punching away, I love feeling him move around inside of me:)

It's a Boy!!

This is a picture of his little face.  He is laying on his back with his face up, so yo can see his little nose, lips, and chin.  So cute!

Well, there is no doubt that he is a boy!  Ultrasound pics are sometimes a bit tricky to see so let me explain.  The picture looks like a sideways "W", the outsides are his legs and the inside is his little boy parts:)

We're having a baby!

Woot! Woot! We are having a baby!  I am due January 25th and we couldn't be more excited!

Unfortunately I have been soooooo sick!  And let's just say morning sickness is a big FAT lie...how about all day sickness plus the weekends.  These are some of the remedies that I take when I'm not doing so well:)

I debated whether I should post this.  Ryan took it while we were at the lake when I wasn't paying attention.  This is my belly at 13 and a half weeks....only 27 more to go!

Isakson Escalante Utah Trip 2010

Just last week we went on an Isakson family trip to the Escalante/Highway 12 area, one of the most scenic places in Utah. This first picture is the early morning view off of Boulder Mountain looking down into the Escalante Canyons. Todd and I camped out the night before to get an early start on hiking and we saw dozens of deer, a few elk, and a number of cows grazing along and sometimes on the highway.

Todd and I did a really cool hike in Capitol Reef National Park called Upper Muley Twist Canyon. The hike was about 15 miles long and very beautiful. We saw about eight arches along the way including this one, apparently called the Trinity because it is a triple arch (the third one is a tiny hole on the middle right side).

This arch, called Saddle Arch, is probably the most famous and most striking on the hike. It hangs off the slick rock at a strange angle and is quite beautiful.

This is my favorite picture from this hike. These mounds stick out at a 45 degree angle and make for a fascinating formation. I have never seen anything quite like this.

Here's a picture of me on the hike. It was a fairly hot day, but the biggest challenge was the endless swarms of gnats. I ended up with probably twenty bites and couldn't even sit down to eat my lunch without being covered with gnats.

The hike has incredible views of the Waterpocket Fold, which is a 100 mile long wrinkle in the earth's crust that makes up most of the formations of Capitol Reef.

This is the first arch you see on the way in and the last one you see on the way out. I don't know the name, but it is very unique looking.

I would definitely recommend this hike. I think I didn't fully appreciate the scenery until I went back and looked at the pictures. If you enjoy looking at arches and seeing a variety of beautiful desert scenery and vistas, this would be a good hike for you.

One bonus of this hike is the beautiful drive to get to it. We took the Burr Trail Road from Boulder for about 18 miles to reach the trailhead. This was a particularly beautiful spot with a steep dropoff a few feet in front.

After we met up with everyone that evening at our awesome and spacious cabin Escalante, a number of us headed to Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. Unfortunately the reservoir had been drained, but the hike to see the petrified trees was worth it. Previously I had only seen small pieces of petrified wood, but to see an entire petrified tree is quite different. The variety of colors and the pretty sunset made this a nice time.

P.S. My pants are rolled up because it was surprisingly warm even in the evening.

Here is an adorable picture of our niece Sara that was taken by Candice. Isn't that hair just awesome?

On Sunday we headed down Hole in the Rock Road near Escalante. This is the famous old Mormon trail that leads to the Hole in the Rock that was widened by Mormon settlers to allow their wagons to pass through and descend a steep cliff to the Colorado River on their way to the San Juan River. The story of these settlers is the theme of the novel, "The Undaunted," by Gerald Lund. Because of poor road conditions and other factors we only made it part way down on this trip.

This picture was taken at the Metate Arch in Devils Garden, which is a cool section of hoodoos and rock formations that are similar to Goblin Valley. The area is smaller, but the individual formations are larger and more fun to climb. In spite of the heat we had a good time playing around here.

After some of the ladies headed back, the rest of us continued down the road until we reached the Dry Fork trailhead. We descended down in the canyons and after some wandering eventually found Peek-a-boo canyon. This is an awesome slot canyon with several arches and a narrow twisting path. I think it about killed my dad to get up into it, but it was very worth it.

On Monday, I planned what was supposed to be an "easy" hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls. It didn't end up being quite so easy with a newborn, a sick person, and a middle aged woman who was not properly dressed for the occasion. The hike is 5.5 miles round trip and ends at the beautiful waterfall shown here. Candice was a trooper to make it to the end and we were saved by dipping our shirts into the frigid water on the way out.

It's pretty incredible to find a beautiful waterfall and marshy area in the middle of the desert like this. The water was below 50 degrees and was very refreshing after the warm hike in. This was a fun hike with some cool things to see along the way such as Indian rock art and granaries. Give it a try if you're in the area.

The drive between Boulder and Escalante has to be the most incredible stretch of road I've ever driven on. The canyons on both sides are beautiful and I took a few pictures to try and capture that.

We ended our trip with a great short hike on the Mossy Cave Trail on Highway 12 just outside of Tropic. The hike lies just on the other side of Bryce Canyon and has the same type of formations and a stream with a waterfall all for free. This was a relaxing hike with beautiful scenery and easy access to water to stay cool. Another worthwhile hike if you don't want to pay $25 to get into Bryce Canyon (which I personally think is still definitely worth the money).

Another recommendation for anyone staying with a group of about 8-12 in the Escalante area: Red Rock Ranch Escalante. This was a huge 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath with a fully supplied modern kitchen and a very homey feeling. The owners are very good to work with and even provide a canoe to use at one of the local lakes or reservoirs. Check them out at Redrockranchescalante.com. Enjoy!

May Update

Congratulations to us! We are finally an aunt and uncle. Also, congratulations to Mike and Jenny for getting it done! Our first niece, Sara, is now about 3 1/2 weeks old and she is as cute as a button. It is awesome to see such a small, innocent, and pure little thing. She warms our heart and we're glad that we live a few minutes away from her, so that we can visit often.

I am putting this out as a public service announcement: Cheese graters pose a hidden and potentially deadly threat to anyone who might handle one in an unwise or risky manner.

About a month and a half ago, the plastic on a cheese grater broke and the sharp metal edge went directly into the joint of my thumb. I had to get nine stitches, but luckily the tendon was not injured. My thumb is still somewhat numb and I have not yet and may never regain full motion.

Please spread the word about the danger of this common household item.

Back on the second week of April, we had an awesome three day trip to the Goblin Valley area of south central Utah with Melanie and her boyfriend, Aaron. We hiked and camped in the San Rafael Swell, including its most popular hike Little Wildhorse Canyon (shown above). This is a really fun hike through a narrow canyon that was filled with a few ice-cold puddles that we were required to climb over. I highly recommend this hike to anyone who might be in the area.

We had intended to camp at Goblin Valley State Park, but unfortunately the whole campsite was full. We settled for a spot out in the middle of nowhere with no water and no bathroom. I was proud of Candice for her hardiness and good attitude about doing things the way nature intended.

Pictured above is Goblin Valley. It is really a fascinating place where your imagination can run wild. We had fun there and have heard that little kids really love it here. This picture was taken around sunset when the park becomes especially beautiful. Another highly recommended place for camping and hiking.

We also did another lesser known hike into Horseshoe Canyon in a separated section of Canyonlands National Park. It takes an hour on dirt roads and then a 7 mile roundtrip hike to see some very impressive Indian pictographs. Pictographs are different from petroglyphs in that they are painted onto the rock while petroglyphs are carved into the rock. This is considered one of the most significant archaic rock art sites in North America with art from as far back as 2000 BC. The figures are life-sized and quite strange-looking and some believe them to be Native American depictions of aliens who came into the area to refuel on uranium when their spacecraft ran low.

This was a beautiful hike through a slickrock canyon with a sandy riverbed to walk through and amazing history to study. If you really feel like getting off the beaten path and seeing some history, then this place is really worth your time.

This area, in general, has some really cool stuff to see that even many Utahns are not aware of. Go check it out!

Back in April, we were happy to have Dave and Curtis spend a few days with us to attend LDS General Conference. We were able to attend several of the sessions and also got to give these Californians a taste of the snow with a snowshoeing trip in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We also had fun receiving Pam and friends for a few Days for BYU Women's Conference at the end of April.

Job update: I just started a new job last Monday. I will be working on health programs for a non-profit called the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein and assists refugees throughout the world including those who are resettling in the United States. I will be working in Salt Lake City specifically with Bhutanese refugees who are Nepali speakers driven from Bhutan starting in the late 1980s. You can check out more at http://www.theirc.org/ and http://www.bhutaneserefugees.com/.

Life is good.