We've been having so much fun lately! I'd definitely say that we are trying to take advantage of Utah, complete with our family and friends, before we take off for four years!
We decided to take an overnight camping trip with Christina and Jeremy. Not planning very well (and not anticipating how PACKED the canyon would be), we went up AF canyon thinking we could snag a campsite. If you weren't at an official campsite, you weren't allowed to have a fire. BUMMER! What is camping without a fire, lets be honest :D.
As we pulled up to the ranger station, they asked us where we were headed and said that all the sites were full! Luckily, there is a church campground-type-thing up this canyon called Mutual Dell. If you are going to Mutual Dell, you don't have to pay the canyon recreation fee, plus they have FREE campsites! Couldn't be better for this pinching-your-pennies couple :D We had to wait til 6 pm, but then we could go find a campsite. Our's was called "Boogeyman Hollow"... um, k? No, it was fine!
The ONLY downside... because we were at Mutual Dell, and they have lots of youth groups there, we weren't allowed to have a fire, even though they have designated areas. The fire restrictions are so high right now, and youth groups don't tend to be the most responsible, so.... Good thing my mom let us borrow her little propane camp stove!
Let me just say, Bennett was in HEAVEN. I was trying not to be a paranoid mother, and just let him throw dirt, eat dirt, play in the dirt, etc... he LOVED it!
We set up our tent and then grilled our hot dogs over the propane stove and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and being with our friends.
Bennett was so quiet after we put him down in the pack-n-play, so we thought he was asleep. We were roasting marshmallows and making delicious smores! And tell yo' mamma jokes :D As soon as we unzipped the tent, Bennett was peaking his little head out! We climbed in bed and were trying to be quiet so he would sleep, but in the pitch black we kept hearing "Hi!". It was so hard not to respond to that cute little voice!
Breakfast was interesting as we forgot a spatula(!), but we made due and enjoyed the not-so-pretty looking food :D. Then we packed up so the boys could go fishing at Tibblefork resivoir. Christina, Bennett and I sat on the beach while Jer walked around the perimeter of the lake trying to find the best spot, and Bryan paddled around in his float tube. It was BUSY there! They didn't have much luck... But it was such a fun little trip! Thanks Pendletons :D
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| A few of Bennett's faces... he's got several! The bottom one is what I affectionately like to call his "whiney" face :D |
On Tuesday, I got a call from my sister telling me that Lambert Park (a field in the foothills of Alpine, a few blocks from her home)was on FIRE! Oh my goodness... I was panicking... my beloved Alpine, on Fire? What?! She hadn't been ordered to evacuate, but decided that it would be a good idea to start gathering things in case it came to that point. Then she scooped up those cute kiddos and came over to my place. We lived in panic for a few hours as we watched the news, seeing our mountain go up in flames...
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| The fire at the beginning stages... |
Luckily, no homes have been burned thus far. One barn burned, and several homes have suffered heat damage, but what a blessing! Thanks to the wonderful firefighters helping to keep homes safe. Today it rained! It helped in some ways, and didn't in others. It wasn't enough rain to completely stop the fires, but it did dampen everything pretty good and lower the temperature a lot. However, it made for bad visibility for the helicopters who were working to go up and down the mountain, and also provided bad footing and slippery conditions for ground crews... I still think it's a good thing!
Last night we got to go to Stadium of Fire! My family and I waited out for the really cheap tickets from Daily Deals (if you can call $26 cheap!). We had SO MUCH FUN! It was the Beach Boys and Scotty McGreery, and it was a blast. I didn't really know what to expect with the Beach Boys, but it ended up being so much fun. My sisters and I were dancing and having a party! And of course the firework show was INCREDIBLE! Everything is timed to music and is just awesome.
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| Tyrell, Katherine, Doug and Rick |
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| My two cute boys :D |
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| Scotty McGreery! He's there... I promise. |
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| Our little dance party! Needless to say, we had fun :D |
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| Trying to protect Bennett's ears from the extremely loud music and fireworks. He was super tired so he just sat there and chilled :D |
Thanks for a fun evening everyone!
