Wow! You're OLD!

My sweet little Emily just asked what year I was born in. When I told her 1973, she said, "Wow! You're Old. Was Abraham Lincoln the president?"

Funny? Yes, I think so :)

Go to Bed!!!

Here's the conversation Gavin and I had tonight after about the 30th time that he had gotten out of bed.

Mom: "Gavin, if you don't go to sleep, I'm going to start losing my patience."

Gavin: "Oh mom. Please don't be mad at me. I'm just little."

Honestly, that kid knows how to play me. He has me wrapped around his little finger!

East Canyon

The kids and I joined Travis' family at East Canyon for some boating, BBQing, and playing in the water.

Here's Maren

Brooklyn... she is always making some silly face!

Gavin and his partner in crime, Zack. They are such good friends and I love to see watch the wheels turning in their heads every time they get together.

Tyler was the first on the tube, and had an absolute BLAST!!!! I think he would have ridden it all night long, if given the opportunity.

Next up was Emily. She would never admit it, but I think she was a bit nervous. Her knuckles were white from holding on to the handles so tightly, but she loved it as well.

I thought Grandpa Paul would slow the boat down a bit for Gavin. I should know better. In fact, I think he went the fastest with this little thrill seeker.

Last but not least, Emma. She is such a sweet little thing, and made sure that her daddy had a turn.

Here's the kids jumping off the boat for a little swim. I wish I would have had a picture of Emma's face when she went it. After Gavin witnessed her fear, he opted to stay in the boat.

Kate was a little nervous on the boat ride. She had her legs wrapped around mine so tightly that I couldn't have pried her off if I had tried. She preferred the safety of sitting on the bank with her sand bucket. She also liked to stick her toes in just enough to barely get them wet. She was a happy girl. Her aunt Amy always makes sure that she has more than her fair share of treats!

Tyson is such a good sport. He is always playing with the kids. He would sit them all on the banana and try to buck them off. He was also the grill master! Great job on the food!

This was a game of "flying fish". Dustin (aka Grizzly Adams) caught this fish with his bare hands. He threw it at Heather, and a war ensued with this poor, innocent little fish. The fish ended up in Gavin's life jacket and on my shoulder, among other places. I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard in all my life! Sorry, little fish. May you rest in peace.

This just looks like no good to me. The girls were planning how they were going to get even with Dustin.

Megan

Dustin is a great skier. He always makes everything look so easy.

Tyler wanted to try water-skiing. Dustin was such a patient teacher. He taught him everything he needed to know.... except to let go of the rope. The skis were a bit too big, and immediately fell off when the boat started to pull him, but Tyler didn't let go of the rope. We didn't realize that we were dragging him behind. What a little trooper. I'm sure he swallowed more than his fair share of East Canyon. Hopefully it didn't scar him too bad and he'll want to give it another shot with some smaller skis.

I promised Tyler that if he tried to ski, I would too. It's been a long time since I have skied, but it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I got up on two skis on my first try. All my fans were cheering me on and trying to get me to go over the wake. I was surprised how huge and scary the wake looked from my view. I made it out with no trouble at all, but didn't have enough courage to cross over to the other side. The water got a little bumpy and one ski went one way, while the other went the opposite direction. Down I went! Next time, I'd like to try to slalom :)

What a great night! We missed Travis. He had some church business to attend to. I was somewhat hesitant to go without him, but I am so glad that I chose to go. We had more fun than I had imagined. In fact, it was the most fun I have had in a long time.

Happy Birthday, Travis!

Happy birthday to Travis! I hope you had a great day :)

Food, Glorious Food

We planted strawberries a couple of years ago, and they are doing really well this year. I was so excited when I was able to pick this big, beautiful bowl of strawberries. I figured that if I froze this batch, I would probably have enough to make strawberry jam by the end of the summer. I carefully washed each strawberry and laid them out to dry on a dish towel. When they were dry, I placed them into a freezer bag. I noticed the next day that they looked a little freezer burnt. I checked to make sure the bag was sealed up tight, which it was. I thought maybe there was a chance they hadn't fully dried, so removed them from the freezer. My plan was to let them thaw and dry them thoroughly. I was so disappointed when they all turned to MUSH!!! So much for this year's jam :(

As long as we're on the subject, I thought I would include a few more pictures of food...

Travis went to the refrigerator to get some cheese to go with his crackers. This is what he found. I'll give you one guess who the culprit was.

Just curious if I'm the only one who burns the last waffle to a crisp? I ALWAYS do this. I put the last waffle on to cook and completely forget about it until I can smell it burning.

This was an extra cake left over from Tyler's birthday. I decided rather than letting it go to waste, I might as well frost it. I was having a difficult day, and was looking forward to putting the kids to bed, taking a bubble a bubble bath, and enjoying a piece of cake. I don't particularly even like sweets, but I was FURIOUS when I went to cut myself a big slice of cake, and found this. For sure madder than I should have been about a cake, for crying out loud. In fact, it almost brought me to tears. The kids were lucky that they were asleep that night. Once again, I'll let you decide who the culprit was.

Manti

This blog is a little late because I had such a hard time choosing the right pictures. I picked out my very favorites, and there were 51 of them. After much thought, I was able to narrow it down to just 19.

Manti is, quite honestly, one of my favorite times of the year. I look forward to leaving the distraction of phone calls, computer, television and other daily interruptions to go camping. I love the quality time spent with the family playing games, fishing, going on rides every night to see who can spot the most deer, which, I believe, I took a close second! Not to mention, I love soaking in the beauty! Every year I am amazed with the scenery. It's almost like I am seeing it for the first time. Absolutely amazing!

KATE

I was worried about how Kate would do. When we first got there, she wouldn't even put her hands in the dirt and was quite frustrated when they got dirty. I had nightmares of her being a girly girl. What in the world was I going to do? By the second day, she had a change of heart. She LOVED getting dirty and had plenty of friends to show her how. I also really worried about her sleeping habits. She loves her bed and WILL NOT sleep anywhere but her bed. She also loves her sleep, often sleeping for more than 15 hours a day. The first night was a little rough, but after that, she adjusted beautifully. She was even able to catch a few naps. She loved watching the kids fish and found the fish quite amusing. She would giggle with delight every time one was caught. She also discovered her love of pretzel M&Ms and had an aunt that was more than willing to share. She would suck all the chocolate off and feed me the pretzel. So funny!

Eating her pretzel M&Ms, or at least the chocolate

She's definitely got her dad's sweet tooth!

GAVIN

Gavin. Hmm. What can I say about Gavin? He is such a boy. Constantly running, climbing, jumping and getting into mischief with his cousin, Zack. He had no problem getting filthy, and actually enjoyed doing it. He fell into the pond on the first day, but that didn't slow him down a bit. I always thought that there wasn't a thing that he was afraid of... until this trip when we discovered his fear of gorillas. During our huge potluck dinner, someone dressed up as a gorilla and ran through the camp. He was TERRIFIED!!! I have never seen him scared before or run as fast as he did then. He loved fishing, shooting the BB gun, catching salamanders and tadpoles, and especially riding the four wheeler. Uncle Ben was such a good sport. He spent the majority of his days entertaining the kids.

Here he is with his salamander.

This picture cracked me up. He had caught a fish, and right when he got it to the bank, it got off the hook. He was very disappointed and this was his reaction.

EMILY

Emily's highlight of the camping trip was when Dustin took her rafting. Despite the fact that the river was freezing cold, the raft got a hole in it, and one of the paddles broke, she had the time of her life! *Note to self: Bring an extra pair of shoes next year. Hers got soaking wet, so she had to wear mine for most of the day. I ended up wearing Travis' size 13s. A little big and hard to walk in!* She was the only one of the kids that dared to pick up a fish. She even insisted on putting her fish on the stringer by herself. That's my girl!!!

Rafting with Dustin and Emma
The big catch!

TYLER
We hardly saw Tyler. He came around when he was hungry, tired or thirsty. He and Ryan spent their days shooting their guns, and scoping the pond for all sorts of creatures. He has become quite the fisherman this year, even bating his own hook. He also has quite an eye for spotting deer!

The famous Rolfson Creek. The images of the man bathing here the year before will never be erased from our memories!

Tyler and Robbie's frog

Zack, Emily, Gavin, Brooklyn and Kate

I loved this picture of Hailey and Kate. Hailey and Brooklyn spent lots of time taking care of Kate, and I dare say that Kate enjoyed every minute of it.

As for Travis and I, we enjoyed relaxing, playing games with the family, reading books, fishing, watching the kids, playing volleyball and horseshoes, and sitting by the campfire. We had such a great time, and I can't wait to go again next year :)

Travis kept busy keeping the kids poles baited and in the water.

This is the one and only picture of me from the trip. And I took it myself.