Seen & Heard in Yosemite

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to start crying?"  --Diana upon our arrival in the Yosemite Valley.  Having never been there before in the summer, Conway had told me Yosemite was so pretty it would make me cry.

"I think once you see how awesome these trees are, you might change your mind and want to name your daughter Sequoia."  --Conway falsely assuming that any amount of beauty would convince me to subject a little girl to being named after one of the biggest living things on earth.

"You and your gasps." --Conway exasperated at my dramatic responses to little things like missing a step while hiking.  

"That wasn't me!"  --Diana misunderstanding Conway's previous remark.

"Woof!  Woof!"  --Marley's excited reaction to all the squirrels scampering about the valley.

"These trees were on the earth when Christ was on the earth."  --Conway giving me a short history lesson about the magnificent and gigantic sequoia trees.  

"I think you need an attitude adjustment."  --Some random, obnoxious stranger giving Diana a little unsolicited advice after Conway asked him how far it was to the visitor's center in Mariposa Grove.

"So basically, there's nothing up there that we can't just read about on the internet at home?"  --Diana's comment to the random, obnoxious stranger after he said it was a good 30 minutes to the visitor's center and before he handed out the unsolicited advice. 

"Woof!  Woof!"  --Marley's excited reaction to the deer frolicking in the meadow.

"I feel like a missionary."  --Diana's comment to Conway as we rode our bikes to church in our Sunday clothes.   

"She is so cute!"  --Just about every passing person who saw Marley sitting in her bike seat.

"That was the best church ever."  --Conway expressing his enthusiasm that sacrament meeting in Yosemite lasted a mere thirty minutes.

"This wanker's from England."  --Conway introducing his friend Jeff to some people he met from Ireland.

"Yeah, it's like the most offensive and crude word there is."  --Jeff explaining to Conway why Brittany (his wife) was so shocked that Conway used the word "wanker" in front of the Irish folks.

"Oh, oops."  --Conway feeling just a little bit naive.

"Woof!  Woof!"  --Marley's excited reaction to her first horse.

"It almost looks like a maple leaf."  --Diana noticing the large and painful-looking burn/bruise that appeared on Marley's nose after falling face first onto the hard floor.

"We've got time."  --Conway about three seconds before it started raining.

"I just like to ring my bell."  --Diana apologetically justifying making several pedestrians jump out of my way on my bike.  (It was actually a lie.  I really did ring it to make them move. I'm kind of a hazard behind the handlebars.)

"You know, it's a lot better for the environment if you turn the water off while you're brushing."  --Conway doing his part to make the world a better place for Marley by offering his knowledge to complete strangers in the bathroom.

"A mother's gotta do what a mother's gotta do!"  --Diana sheepishly explaining her breastfeeding-while-hiking-bit to a passerby on the trail.

"Wow, you're a trooper!"  --A few hikers noticing the child in Conway's backpack on the 8.2 mile hike.

"Wow, she's like a princess!"  --A few hikers noticing the child in Conway's backpack on the 8.2 mile hike.

"You won't get wet."  --Brittany telling me that I could keep my shorts on during the raft ride down the river.

"Nice shot, fatso!"  --Conway resorting to his Junior High antics in defense of his baby being sprayed with a watergun by an inconsiderate camper.

"Oh my gosh, you're soaked!"  --Brittany amazed as she noticed that I was completely drenched from the waist down as I exited the raft.

"Woof! Woof!"  --Marley's excited reaction to a crow perched on a nearby tree.

"Marley, what does the doggy say?"  --Diana vainly encouraging Marley to show off her barking skills for a dogowner who stopped to let Marley see her puppy.

"Let's make this an annual trip."  --Diana regretfully sighing to Conway that we were already heading home after an incredible summer getaway. 

Mariposa Grove

Biking Buddies

Outside the Yosemite Chapel after church.

Marley & the Bradshaw Boys

Marley & Daddy checking out the reflection at Mirror Lake.

Future swimsuit model?

The view at Glacier Point.  Also the beginning of our long hike.

One of the 5 beautiful waterfalls we saw on our hike.

A pause on the trail.

Almost done!  (That smile is completely forced.)

Happy campers!

Half Dome.

Mmmm...Marley's 1st ice cream cone.  Think she liked it?

Besos.

"Woof! Woof!"

America the Beautiful.