Plan B

This year for our annual camp out with Aaron's family we could not reserve the guard station like we have done in previous years. Instead we went to Plan B. We camped out in Aaron's parents yard. Yep, all the tents went up behind the house.

We couldn't play in the Cub River so we put the hose down the slide and the pool at the bottom.

 We didn't hike up to the spring instead, Sadie took a stroll through the daisies.

Some things remained the same. For one thing a family get together is not complete without some competition and basketball is always on the agenda.

We also took advantage of the new horseshoe pit they put in just for the occasion.

Jared still entertained us by showing us all how he can bust a move.

 He tried to get John to join him in a sing along....but that didn't go over so well.

 There was still a lot of layin' around doing nothing.

The kids also "hung" out with their cousins having fun.

 Ammon taught the kids to reach greater heights.

 And while Liam is not directly related, he is definitely part of the family now.

Maybe this wasn't our first choice but there were plenty of things I liked about Plan B (Electricity and hot water being on the top of the list). All I know is I'll vote for Plan B any day.

So Much Fun

We went on our 2nd annual campout with Aaron's family a few days ago. We headed to the mountains near his parent's home. There, we rented a cabin. Although, most of us sleep in tents. Whoever is pregnant or has the youngest baby gets to sleep in the cabin (I'm fine to sleep in the tent.)

I don't know if I've mentioned before, there are only three topics of conversation with in Aaron's family: sports, religion and politics. They don't just talk sports, they play sports, lots of them.

They played football, baseball,ultimate frisbee, (I didn't know Esteban had even seen the movie The Karate Kid.)freeze tag,arm wrestling,
musical chairs, (Since we didn't have any way to play music, we took turns being the designated singer, which made the game even more fun.)Hours and hours were spent playing croquet, of which I didn't take a single picture.

The kids played duck-duck-goose with Melanie,Grandpa,the dog,and all of Vanessa's imaginary friends.

This year they started what most people up here refer to as a Polar Bear club. For those of you who live in areas of the world where you play in warm water, you may not understand this sport (Aaron's family can make a competition out of any activity). I live up here and don't understand it either so don't feel bad. This activity involves dunking your body into the frigid water of the creek for fun. (See, I told you, it just doesn't make sense). Let me just point out that the water in this creek is melted snow. It is barely warm enough to be in liquid form and cold enough to slur speech as we all witnessed when John came up out the water. Not to mention that you can get diseases from swallowing water straight from streams. (I won't go into details.) Anyway, this is another thing they did for fun.

As, you might incur, I was content taking pictures. Mike and AJ tied with 5 dunks each. Esteban and John each did it twice. Savanah stuck her face in six times.

We went on a short hike one day. The kids really enjoyed being together with their cousins.

Esteban was a good big brother and helped Vanessa along the trail. The girl's were beauty queens as always.Speaking of beauty, look at this pose Vanessa has goin' on.The final night consisted of an impromptu talent show. Jared performed his signature dance moves. If you spend any amount of time with Jared you will probably see these moves at least once. I also loved his rendition of "Born to be Wild".Hannah sang a beautiful primary song.Mike showed us some doggy tricks.Kayl did a magic trick which I missed getting on film (bummer).

AJ told a joke.

Vanessa sang several songs and told several jokes (none of which made any sense). Is is any surprise that she enjoys the spotlight?

Grandpa ended the evening with some family history stories.On the last day, Aaron and I went for an early morning walk. We ended up on top of a ridge just as the sun came up over the mountain. The view was breathtaking needless to say.
I took the same pictures on our hike that I took last year and every year that I go on this hike. I love nature and the beauty the Lord has created around us.

It's nice to get away from our busy lives in order to be reminded about what is really important in life and we had so much fun doing just that.

The Big Burrito

Esteban went on a winter camp out last weekend. Yep, camping in the snow. For those of you who don't live in a frigid climate, (I'm quite jealous) I will explain. They hike a mile uphill to a campground pulling a sled with all their camping equipment. Once they arrive in camp, they dig a trench and bury their sleeping bags. My parents gave Esteban a sleeping bag that can stay warm even if the temperature drops to -25 degrees. Which it does here in Utah occasionally. I snapped a picture of him wrapping his sleeping bag before he left. He looked like he was laying in a big burrito. He wrapped the sleeping bag in the tarp to keep it from getting wet. If you get wet while you are outdoors in the winter, you will surely freeze. (Isn't that a happy thought?) Then he would become a frozen burrito.
They boiled water on a camp stove. He had cup-of-soup for dinner and oatmeal for breakfast with hot chocolate to drink. He said he slept well except for being claustrophobic from the weight of the snow, all of his food & supplies in the sleeping bag to keep them from freezing, and his entire body in the sleeping bag to stay warm. He seemed to have fun which is more than I can say for a friend of his. Why do they do this? To teach the boys that they can do hard things and not freeze to death. He also recently had braces put on. Ethan will need braces within 2 years (before Esteban's is paid in full). AJ is after that. I told Aaron we just need to set up direct deposits to the orthodontist for the next ten years. I asked him, "Whose idea was it to have this many kids?" He reminded it was our idea. My next question was, "Then whose idea was it to have them this close to each other?" He reminded me it was our idea. WHAT WERE WE THINKING? The boys want to use the money I make working to buy a Wii, I explained to them my salary goes to the orthodontist. Even I'll admit, that just doesn't sound as fun.

Cub River Camping

We went camping with Aaron's family earlier this summer. There was a cabin with a few cots but most of us opted for tents. The kids enjoyed being with their cousins. I wonder what Vanessa is so sad about.We took turns cooking outdoors. Each family was in charge of preparing a meal and bringing a snack to share. Everybody enjoyed the snack table. Something about eating outside makes the food taste better. You can't go camping without roasting marshmallows over the fire for smore's.Every family get together has at least one game of croquet.What would it be like to go camping without Messy Nessy. I can't imagine.There was a creek nearby. When we first arrived the previous campers had built an area in the creek for little kids.Well, Ammon (who is studying to be an engineer) and Aaron (who would happily be an engineer) rebuilt, expanded, and improved the area. As you can see, Lauren is standing next to our watermelon refrigerator. The kids used tree bark for boats with people (rocks) on them to float down the river.

We went on a hike one day. Part of the hike was across this log bridge.

We hiked to a spring. This is where the water gushes out of the mountain. The water is pure and cold.What a cute couple!Another cute couple.By the end of the trip AJ had enough of me taking pictures.

We all had a great time and plan on doing it all over again next year. Same time, same place.