Fantastic Family Fun

We have been so busy that I haven't even had time to post. It has been crazy fun. To be honest, I don't even remember the order that we have done most things.

Our trip to Utah was eventful as usual. We got on the flight from Columbia without a problem, but when we got to Houston, the weather was awful and there were numerous delays and cancellations. Our flight was overbooked and delayed several hours. We were planning to spend the night in Houston, but instead were miraculously able to get on - I'm guessing there were misconnects.  We got in a litle after midnight - tired, but grateful to be in Utah.

On one of the days shortly after we arrived, we took my dad's boat to a local reservoir with my brother's family and my parents. We had fun swimming and fishing.

Jalen and Asher are fast friends

Baylie, Camden, Asher and Jalen

With my sister-in-law Shanelle

David & Baylie

Dad, Kolton, Eric and Parker

Eric and Shanelle

The end of David's backflip

My dad comes fishing on a regular basis. He spends a lot of time planning and looking for the perfect spot and bait. He couldn't get over how the kids just kept casting and catching without a care in the world. We caught several fish, but released them all. 

On another day, we went to the new LDS temple in Payson, Utah. I've been researching some family history and we had 46 people that we were able to do baptisms for. Three of my nieces and two of my nephews did the work. It was so fun being in the temple with them.

Ashley, Molly, Parker, Hailey, Erik, Shanelle, Kolton, David, Me

The Payson temple is really beautiful.

I already did a separate blog post about the 5K run, but here are some additional pictures.

Baylie and her cousin Ava

Jalen, Nixon and Asher

I have some blisters from the 5K.

  We rented a dunk booth and it was a hit (literally!). It was sohhhhhhhhh

I'm pretty sure we exceeded the recommended maximum capacity.

Drying out.

After church we headed for the mountains and went camping at Mirror Lake from Sunday through Tuesday. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a blast.

What is it with little boys and fire?

This kid loves to camp!

It was cold! I still can't get used to the fact that it can be cold in July.

There was a nice boardwalk and trail that went all around the lake.

Roasting starbursts. Yum! My brother, Erik, is the master s'more maker. He even uses Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Delicious!

When it got too cold, we all migrated to my parents' trailer for some card games.

My parents have a nice little trailer and they have also purchased a pop-up trailer for their kids to use. My brother's family was using that, so our little family slept in a tent. The kids loved it. It was a little leaky in places, but we managed to sleep dry, so all was well. (Neither David nor I were able to sleep though. I guess we have just become city people.)

Check out this beautiful place.

Gathering firewood.

We went fishing and had amazing luck. The kids were catching one after the other. We threw most of them back, but ended up with four that didn't survive so we kept them for eating.

My brother walked out on a rock in the middle of the lake and had amazing luck. He was hauling them in one after the other.

They call it Mirror Lake because of the way Bald Mountain reflects on the water.

Everyone had their own fishing style.

Jalen and Asher play so well together. They made Grandad's camp chair their captain's chair and spent a lot of time driving the spaceship together.

We wore Grammy and Grandad out.

Grandad decided to teach the kids how to clean their own fish. They had mixed reactions to this wonderful learning opportunity.

Baylie cooked her fish on a wienie roasting stick. I don't like fish, but it was actually really tasty. She was very proud of her catch.

My dad made his amazing Dutch oven potatoes.

On Monday night it poured. You can see the river of water running toward our tent. Baylie slept in the trailer with her cousins, but Jalen wanted to stay in the tent with me and David. In the morning, our top blanket was soaked, but we still slept perfectly dry - thank heavens.

On the way home, we stopped at Provo River Falls. Despite all the years I have lived in Utah, I had never visited this beautiful place. I'm so glad we took the time to stop here.

Clockwise from left: Grammy, Camden, Parker, Kolton, Baylie, Grandad, Asher, Jalen

We were supposed to kiss on the cheek, but Erik cheated

This place looked man made, but it's all natural

Erik's family

My parents

With the grands

More views of the falls. These are the days when I wish I had a better camera.

Tough guy.

Powerful pose.

The guys were exhausted and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

On Friday we went to the zoo. Hogle Zoo in Utah has a reciprocal agreement with Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, so we got in for 50%. This time we were joined by my brother Scott's kids, Ava and Nixon (the blondies). Hogle Zoo is a great zoo and has several things Riverbanks doesn't - polar bear, seals, sea lions, bird show, rhinoceros, leopards, lynx, snow leopard, etc. I think my heart still belongs to Riverbanks though (especially the free carousel, train, pony rides, etc.).

By the time we got the kids lined up, the giraffe was gone

Hogle Zoo puts on a really good bird show. It's always a favorite.

Throughout the zoo they have animatromic dinosaurs. They were really good. Here the kids are fleeing from the T-Rex.

The cheetah got up close and personal. We were grateful for the glass.

At the end of zoo day, Grammy and Grandad treated everyone to humongous snow cones.

When we got back to Erik's house, my brother Clark's family came by. Clark's girls were the ones that had joined us at the temple.

Back: Parker, Erik, Riley, Clark, Dianne, Camden, Grandad, Grammy, David
Front: Jalen, Me, Baylie, Asher, Molly, Jonny, Lily, Kolton

We decided to all go the following day to watch Clark compete in a triathlon at Echo Canyon. I am continually amazed that my three brothers are all triathletes. It's hard to believe I share genetics with them.

Coming out of the water - he's 46 and in amazing shape

Waiting at the finish line

Still waiting

Clark took 7th in his age group. He's often on the podium, but this turned out to be a very fast race. For the first time ever, someone actually pulled on his foot to get past him in the water. Cheaters! After the race, we went back to Clark's house for some lunch. The kids had a lot of fun on the zip line.

My parents were exhausted. I was too, but no one got photographical evidence.

Today was a much needed day of rest. Jalen and I took a very long nap. I was surprised that Baylie was assigned to give a talk since we're just visiting, but then I learned that she volunteered! When I walked by the Primary to check on the kids, they were up front being sung to as visitors. Later I mentioned that they didn't need to be sung to again since they sang to them last week and Baylie replied, "It's okay. I like the attention." That girl!

This upcoming weekend is the triathlon. I will confess that I am terrified. I practiced free swimming with Erik and it did not go well. I can easily do 1/2 mile in the pool, but swimming in open water is a completely different ballgame. I couldn't catch my breath and my heart was racing. While I am terrified, I'm also excited to be challenging myself to do something physically difficult. It's been a long time since I've really pushed myself to the limit.

This week is another one full of activity. I think I will need a month to recover from the month we spend here, but there is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with my family. I love them so much and miss them because we live so far away. I wish Baylie and Jalen could play with their cousins more often. They thrive on the time they have to play with so many relatives. I am so grateful for eternal families.