Ice Blocking

Despite being exhausted from the reunion, we decided to keep the action going and went ice blocking. It was so much fun and so funny!

We have loved having so much family fun.

Family Fun at Bear Lake

On Wednesday, we headed to Bear lake for our bi-annual family reunion. Every family was represented in one way or another, which was great. Northern Utah is absolutely beautiful.

Dianne knew someone who had a rental home so we got a great deal on a beautiful home. There was plenty of room for all of us. The kids got to sleep in a tree house room. They loved it!

The theater room was designed like a mine shaft.

It had bunk beds as well.

And the lights were like lanterns.

There was a big living room.

And an enormous kitchen with double refrigerators and ovens.

The garage had been turned into a game room. There was also a pickle ball court, but I didn't get pictures of it.

This was mine and David's room. It was one of two of the bedrooms that had a private bath.

Billiard room with a jacuzzi through the patio doors.

Another bedroom.

These girls are all within a year of each other and they get along so well. I'm so glad Baylie has these cousin friends.

Each evening we went into town to get famous raspberry shakes.

Asher taught us all how to play Werewolf. He said "it's a fun game where we kill each other."

Each day we went to the lake to play. In doing so, we crossed the border into Idaho, which was our 13th state on this trip.

We had fun playing on the beach and in the water.

I got a little too much sun!

Dogpile! Poor Scotty!

It was a great reunion. We missed those who couldn't come, but had so much fun with those who could.

Bonneville Salt Flats

Growing up in Utah, I heard a lot about the Bonneville Salt Flats, but I never went to see them. I knew that races took place there and movies were filmed there. It was one more place I really wanted to experience on this trip. I thought it would be a cool place to take family pictures. 

Something funky happens with the GPS because both my mom and Baylie's phones said the flats were four hours from Provo, but it's not nearly that far. They're just an hour outside of Salt Lake. On the way there, we passed a couple mounds of salt near factories where they process salt.

There were several different areas with salt flats, but I was aiming for the rest stop because I heard it was a great place for pictures.

We drove past the Tree of Life sculpture but didn't stop because we were racing the sunset. (I got this picture from the internet.)

Jalen loves his Granddad.

We were advised to get there as close to sunset as possible to get the best pictures. We cut it pretty close and I was afraid we would end up getting there too late, but it was just perfect. The pictures were great.

When we walked out on the salt, it felt like we were walking on ice only it wasn't slippery. It looked just like snow.

There were some large salt deposits.

We made salt balls.

My cute parents.

I found the ground fascinating. After dark, these cracks glowed.

My dad drove out onto the flats. It looks like a car advertisement.

Jalen shed his shoes and decided to run. He's fast!

From some angles it truly looks like something from another world.

Sunset

We decided to stay and watch the evening sky. It was so worth it. We were able to see the stars from horizon to horizon. It was like a real life planetarium. We saw a shooting star, Venus, Saturn, both dippers, and the NEOWISE comet. It was breath taking. It would have been nice to sleep out under the stars. 

My camera didn't work to take any nighttime photos so I got these off the internet.

When we got home, the floorboards of the truck looked like this.

The kids got some salt to bring back home.

It was a truly marvelous experience and one I will never forget. I'm so glad my parents decided to join us.