I finally got to go camping!

All summer I have been wanting to go camping, and with all the busyness going on we just haven't made it. Finally, Paul needed a load of stone over in Arizona, so Monday afternoon we took off. He had to be back Tuesday evening for Scouts, so it had to be quick, but it was really nice. It wasn't a full blown camp out with all the food, but we did sleep out in a tent in the forest, so it was good. We stopped in at Jacob's Lake for dinner. We had a so tasty chicken, vegetable, fruit salad with an orange/basil/olive oil dressing. I highly recommend it. And, they had a piece of their have to have it coconut cream pie for me. It's a bad place to stay slim. Then we drove on to Flagstaff and past and out into the ponderosa forest and found a nice spot and put up our tent. It didn't look like rain, so we left the fly off the tent and could look out at all the stars. It was the perfect temperature. I slept better than I ever have camping. We got up and had breakfast on the back of the truck and then headed off to get our load of stone. We stopped again at Jacob's Lake and got a sandwich and some of their scrumptious cookies (ahhh...the lemon zuchinni ones are so good...along with all the others) and ate on the way so we'd make it home on time. We did see one bad thing on the way home. Right by the Vermillion Cliffs, before Jacob's Lake, we could see a huge plume of black smoke over the hill. When we got close we saw that somebody's giant motor home was pulled off the road and was in flames. As soon as we got phone service, we started trying to call 911, but before we were able to get through the forest service trucks headed past us going that way. We saw a bunch of other fire and police vehicles heading out there too. There was a big truck stopped there helping the people. No one seemed to have gotten hurt. Pretty awful thing to have happen and ruin your vacation.

Happy 'beefday' to Supe!

Sunday evening all the family that resides in this neck of the woods got together to celebrate (one day early) Supe's #23 birthday. Gaige has a unique way of pronouncing birthday - beefday - and he says it so cute, that it's catching on. Supe wanted brownies instead of cake. He got lots of help blowing out his candles. Presents were mostly getting ready to go away to school and be his own cook type. He did get a nice cycling jersey too. Brenden simply can't stand to hear singing other than high soprano voices, so he screamed through the birthday song. Happy beefday Supe! We love you! PS - Bean and Tavin are coming up next:o)

They made it!

Last week Paul got to go and visit one of his favorite places...the Colorado Rockies. He shared the trip with the Young Men from the ward, the YM President and a dad of one of the boys. They left on Monday morning and returned, having hiked 50 miles, late Saturday evening. They were able to do 21 miles coming out on Friday qualifying for the hiking merit badge requirement to hike 20 miles in one day. On Saturday the visited Ouray Hot Springs to soak their sore muscles and clean up a little before heading home. He says it turned out to be a great trip. He was pretty worried about a couple of the boys being able to make it, but they all did it. Bonnie enjoyed a week of catching up on needed projects, reading, going to the temple, etc. while he was gone.

This could be a great family camp spot for this year!

Paul and I went family camp site hunting for the 4th of July. We got up early and went to the bi-ward 4th of July program/breakfast and then headed out to the mountains above Beaver. There were several things we wanted to do, and it was a long day, but we got most of them that were possible done. We wanted to check out any possible camp sites along the road to Big John's Flat. The road was open, so we went up every side road along it and to the end of it. We found what looks like an excellent spot that has very good road to it. No one was there and it was so beautiful. As you head up the road to the mountains you take the turn off to Big John's Flat. About 2.4 miles down the road is a turn off to Hamilton Flat & Kay's Meadow. We went down that and found a beautiful, open, flat meadow. There's plenty of room. After that we tried to go up the road to the high mountains where went and played in the snow on another family camp in that area, but it still had the gate closed. We went back out and drove over to our last family camp site in those mountains. It's still a beautiful spot, but it was occupied for the 4th. Then we headed down the other side of the mountain and on to Marysville and headed up the road toward that old mine site that we went to with Jay and Brynn and on further. The road got really bad, so we headed back and then went up the turn off to Cottonwood Canyon. We went as far as we could and realized that we had been on that road another time...coming from Beaver and over the mountains where we had played in the snow on that other family camp. We had been wanting to find where those roads connect. We stopped because there were some trees down in the road, and knew the road was closed on the other side anyway. (It would be really fun to drive over that mountain and down to the mine for a family camp activity. The road should be open by then.) It was getting late, so we headed back up the mountain and over and down to Beaver and on home. It was cool, sprinkly, and a beautiful day! (We had a picnic at a fun spot with a log bench and table.)

A quick trip and a great visit

Last Friday we made a quick trip up to SLC to see Bonnie's mom. She is on a little break from her mission. Marilynne brought her down to her house from Washington for a few weeks. We had to hurry back home on Saturday afternoon, but it was great to get a chance to see mom and a lot closer than driving all the way up to Washington. The Sanderson's were great hosts and we also had a nice visit with them and some of their kids. Too bad we all don't live a little closer. We made a quick pit stop in Fillmore on the way home and got to see the Randalls for a few minutes. Their garden is looking good and Brady can ride his bike like a pro...with no training wheels!

Father's Day & the June birthdays!

The latest family get together was to celebrate the June birthdays and Father's Day. Unfortunately we didn't have Lance here to be a part of the June party. On Father's day we met up and had cheesecake and very chocolate brownies to celebrate all the good things happening. Derek, Moss and Bonnie all got a little older and Paul got remembered for being a great pop. Thanks to everyone for the good company and the presents!

We made it!

Beautiful stream & ginormous tree in route

Our intended destination...Anderson Valley

Anderson Valley Trek

Paul and I took a new hike on the Pine Valley Mountain trail system yesterday. We had been wanting to go and check out family camp spots, but when we called the ranger station in Beaver, they said the road we wanted to check out was still closed...so we opted for a local hike instead. We decided to go to Anderson Valley and find the old cabin there. The trail we took started in New Harmony and according to the not too good map we had was from 7-9 miles one way. Let me tell you, this is one strenuous hike. We decided that a three-word description would be steep, rocky and overgrown. But, it was also beautiful. The weather was so perfect with lots of cloud cover to keep things cool. We did find the cabin. We had hoped to find a connecting trail over to Mill Flat, but didn't see it. We also added a few extra miles hiking on a trail that may have ended up in Browse at the sequoia. We started the climb at 10:00 and ended up getting out by 6:30 pm. We think we did somewhere between 18 and 20 miles. There are magnificent views of Kolob Fingers to be seen. Actually, we could see all the way to the mountains in Beaver some of the time. Looking down on New Harmony was very pretty too. All in all, we are glad we did it, but it's one we won't do again, at least for a while!