Ward Campout

Jeff and I have a great ward. Our Activities Committee knows how to put together a fun camp out with great food, fun, and entertainment. The end of August is a beautiful time to get outdoors in Utah. Kelly's Grove is far enough away from home.... but not too far-- and its a gorgeous location just up Hobble Creek Canyon. We got there just in time to put our dutch oven dessert together before a yummy BBQ dinner and then the kids enjoyed running around in the trees and the river with their friends. There were also water rocket launches and a water balloon launch. The "big boys" aka- DADS, got in on that action as well.

Quinton followed me around with the camera and was quite the poser. Here he is standing on the bridge, right in the middle of the water balloon launch.

Q insisted I take his picture next to this sign. I guess he wanted to be sure we knew he was there... at Kelly's Grove Church. Pretty cute little smile though.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the dutch oven desserts. Several of us were split up into teams and competed against each other much like Food Networks' Iron Chef. We all had to make a dutch oven dessert with peaches as the main ingredient. My peach cobbler with crumb topping won the award for the tastiest dessert. I was very proud considering my competition and my amateur dutch oven abilities. There are some mean cooks and bakers and dutch oven camp chefs in our ward!

Of course Hobble Creek Canyon is where Jeff's aunt and uncle live (right off hole 16 of the golf course) so Jeff took the boys on a "nature hike" and came back with his uncles 4-wheeler. Corbin and Quinton's friends thought the 4-wheeler was pretty cool and they played on it for quite a while..... which thankfully kept them out of the cold river water!

My 3 boys catching a ride on the 4-wheeler with their good friend Evelyn as their chauffeur.

Even at 10 months it's evident Deagan is ALL BOY. He loved the 4-wheeler and squealed in delight to play on it.

Once it started getting dark we gathered around for some fun games and entertainment. The adults and kids got in on a great "Minute-To-Win-It" game... in which the females dominated. Tasks like picking up sized paper bags off the ground with your teeth and placing them on a table were A LOT harder for the men and boys to do than the women and girls. Interesting.

A lot of the games LOOKED a lot easier than they were. Such as this sucking up an M&M with a straw and placing it on top of a vertical straw. That is tough!

After the games there were Paper Bag skits and songs before camping out. This camp out happened to be the weekend that I hurt my back and thus we didn't end up camping out, much to our boys' dismay and disappointment. Apparently we missed a really great breakfast the next morning, but we didn't mind sleeping in our nice warm beds and getting a full night's sleep.

Especially this little boy. It would have been much too cold camping in a tent next to the creek for Deagan. Maybe next year.

Bear Lake

Labor Day weekend was a blast! We headed up North to the Utah/Idaho border to a nice little place called Bear Lake. I had never been there before but heard much about the nice sandy beaches and crystal blue water.... and it's no "little" place. The lake is huge! We had a great time with Jeff's sisters' families the Christensens (Haley) and Youngs (Nichole) and a few friends. We got there late Friday night and set up camp. The next morning the kids had a great time exploring their new surroundings with their cousins. The boys enjoyed digging in the rocks...

...or just laying in them.

Cole is quite the camper/mountain man. He hauls his nice trailer (and lets crying kids sleep in it) and tons of food and loves to cook for anyone and everyone. He's quick to make sure you have a seat and a drink and is always asking "what can I get ya?" It was good to see him sit and relax for a few minutes.

Quinton and Krew sure enjoyed playing in the dirt and rocks.

Corbin loved the endless amount of swords-- I mean sticks available to play with....

... he had to be armed for all the bunny/chipmunk hunts the kids went on.

After breakfast we loaded the kids up in the truck and headed down to the lake for some fun in the sun. We were worried the weather wouldn't cooperate, but it turned out to be the perfect weekend, not too hot or cold and NO RAIN!

The boys were a bit apprehensive at first, but soon they were both in the water quite a ways out.
Quinton loved wading in the shallow water and walking through the tiny waves.

After he'd had enough water he enjoyed eating endless snack on the beach.

Corbin found a friend JC, a little girl his age and they followed each other around the beach, through the water, and kept each other quite entertained.

Scott brought his boat and Jeff took Corbin out for a tube ride (that's Jeff in the black shirt and white hat walking out to the boat with Corbin). I guess Corbin was too scared to get on the tube in the water, but he watched Jeff do it and when Jeff fell off the tube Corbin screamed to Scott... "STOP, that's my daddy, get him!"

Later, back on the beach, there was an intense and on-going game of Lasso golf that kept the guys entertained for like 3 days straight!

Grandpa Dick and Grandma TeeTee joined us for Saturday afternoon. They enjoyed relaxing on the beach and watching their kids and grandkids play.

I tried putting Q down for a nap in the back of the Tahoe because he was so tired from the sand and water. I went to check on after about 10 minutes and found this:

(little monkey had climbed into the drivers seat and locked the doors.... with the keys inside! Luckily the windows were cracked enough and the sun-roof was open to fish the keys out.)

He never really went back to sleep very long, but was nice and cranky and tough-looking the rest of the day.

The next day we headed up to the Minnetonka Caves in the Cache National Forest. Q and I napped in the car while the rest of the group walked through the caves.

It was a pretty lengthy walk with lots of steps and 40* inside so I'm glad I didn't go, but the others said it was amazing inside!

One of the great rooms. (Kind of dark, I know.)After the caves it was back to the beach for some more fun. Ty and Tanzynn brought their cool kites to fly in the windy shoreline.

Corbin could have sat there all afternoon flying them.Krew loved the kites as well and its a good thing someone was nearby to coach him or his little 22 lb. frame would have lifted off with the kites.

Brandon and Nichole enjoyed the scenery and the tube. Still look like newly-weds after 16 years!

Getting buried in the sand to make sand monsters...

...and sand angels.

Even Q loved the sand up to his chin!

But the funnest part is washing it off in the water. Quinton and Krew loved throwing sand in the water.

There's my man walking hand in hand with his baby on the beach. Moments like that remind my why kids are worth it.

Thanks to Haley my 8-month prego belly got captured in all its glory. I feel so much bigger than i look here. I guess chasing around 2 kids toddlers will do that to ya. I realize I haven't been documenting my growing baby bump this time around, so here it is for all of you to see.

I think Bear Lake is a place we could go back to often. It was a great weekend and we'd love to do it again next summer!

Ephraim Canyon

The third weekend in August we had a great time camping up Ephraim Canyon with some of our Moss extended family. Jeff's Grandma Moss was born and raised in Ephraim and used to fish at Snow Lake often. She came up for a day to fish with a bunch of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. It was a beautiful place to camp!
(Thanks Haley for letting me "steal" some pics... I left my camera at home for the weekend)

The view driving up the Canyon.

Quinton is certainly our thrill seeker. He's a dare-devil at heart and we're pretty sure he'll be an X-gamer some day. His favorite part of camping is climbing and riding on the 4-wheelers (with sound effects and all).

On Saturday morning we rode down from Skyline drive to Snow Lake and enjoyed an afternoon in the sun... fishing. (There was still snow up there in late August!) Corbin and Quinton enjoyed fishing with their dad and throwing rocks in the water the most. Most of Jeff's Moss-side aunts and uncles were there with a few of their kids. What a fun family activity, eh? Perhaps we'll do it again next year? Grandpa Royd strolled the coastline collecting rocks for Krew to throw in the water...

What is it about little boys and rock-throwing... especially into water?

I left a day early with Quinton... but Jeff and Corbin enjoyed more time in the great outdoors with the family. Corbin skipped a few naps and on the ride home was WIPED OUT! Poor kid.... too much fun (and sun) for one weekend.

He had a great time with his dad.... and extended family. Camping and fishing are his new favorite activities.... well, anything with dad is fun. This little boy wants to be just like his daddy.

Can you tell?

Thanks to the Moss' for a fun weekend!