Archery Hunt Weekend

The archery hunt brought a big crowd this year. Both Nick and Travis had tags, so Travis' dad came as well as Nick and Mindy, Cael, Savanna, Nick's parents, and Mindy's mom. They brought a trailer to sleep in outside our house and Mindy's mom camped out back in a tent. It was so fun having so many people! Nick, Travis and Jay all have orange four wheelers so we were quite the spectacle in our front yard.

So while the guys were out hunting, we took the kids around town to check out all the animals and get a full small town experience. We saw deer, llamas, emus, peacocks, pigs, and goats. Nick has cousins that live in town and they were the ones to take us to the piglets and goats. The kids loved it! Cael helped me in the garden as well and we sent a ton of zucchini and squash back to Vegas for everyone. Tamara helped me can homemade salsa with tomatoes she brought and all fresh ingredients. It's delicious! We did more than the usual when the Starleys came to scout or hunt so it made the visit a lot more fun. But sadly, no deer.

Kanarra Falls Hike

For a Youth activity we did a half day hike at Kanarra Falls just south of Cedar, west of Zions. My friend happened to go a couple weeks before we went and told me that I would totally be fine hiking the 3.5 mile hike with Dallen in the pack. Travis wasn't able to go because he had to work, so based on my friend's recommendation I decided to go and pack Dallen myself.

Most of the hike is in the river, wading in and out on the sides, climbing boulders and walking on rocks. The deepest spot went up to mid thigh on me! I brought my chacos to hike in which are really sturdy and keep me from slipping at all. But they have no ankle support. So all that weight with poor ankle support and no foot cushioning made my leg muscles work over time! And the youth were booking it so I was trying to keep up and hike fast. Well, I couldn't keep up and gave up on that shortly after starting out. So I hiked with a few of the leaders in the back. We still were hiking at a pretty good pace, too fast for Dallen so he didn't get out and hike at all. We took a break and he got out then and hiked around but not on the trail or in the water at all. So needless to say, it was a tough hike!

There were 2 waterfalls you could climb over, the first one being the more sturdy climb. I did it fine with the Dallen in the pack, but the second one was way sketchy looking to hike with a pack. So we hung out and waited for the youth to come back down. One of the leader's husbands offered to pack Dallen out, so I let him do the hike back. It was a whole new experience without Dallen on my back. Much more enjoyable. :) Even though I came out super sore for 2 days after and a huge blister on my foot, I'm still glad I went. It was a cool hike and look forward to doing it again when Dallen is a little older.

Team Softball!

This summer I decided to play on a city softball team. I played with a group of ladies I didn't know very well and had a blast! I wasn't sure I was even going to be able to hit or catch but I did all right! Caught a pop fly with rain plopping down in my face; hit the ball just about every time I went up to bat; and even made a couple double plays at 2nd which was my position most of the time. I'm so glad I decided to play and will definitely play every year from now on. Fun fun!

Summer Visit with Sarah, the boys and Joe

Because our family camp out was canceled because of Dad having to work, Joe decided to come down from Rexburg and visit for the weekend. Sarah was able to get away too and they came together for another summer visit! This time we headed up to the mountains most of the time to fish and hike. It was Jacob's first time fishing and he LOVED it! Travis caught a bunch and let Jacob reel them in. It was so cute. The sunset was gorgeous at Upper Kents and it was a nice evening. The next day we did the Sky Line Trail Hike. Sarah borrowed a pack from a friend for Caleb and we brought ours for Dallen. He's become such the strong hiker though that we didn't have to use it at all! He hiked the whole way. We had snacks at the tops while Travis looked for deer and elk. Jacob did great hiking too. I think it was his first real hike. He was a trooper. Sarah, Joe and I spent down time at home playing cards which I loved and hadn't done in a long time. Nerts was just calling my name ever since girls camp. We filled in other down time with taking Jacob to the park and swimming during nap time and picking veggies in the garden. It was great catching up with Joe who I hadn't seen since Christmas. Love spending time wtih the fam!