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.