Wildhorse Campground

Every August is the annual Wayne and Carolyn reunion and this year we decided to go camping at Wildhorse campground over near Mackay a long ways from civilization where there is no cell phone service!! It's the best place ever! 

Austin shooting HIS gun for the FIRST time!

 

Brody had to have a turn too

 

If you haven't already figured it out, we went shooting! We went shooting in Star Hope canyon on 4 wheelers and a truck for everyone else. There were only 2 wheelers so we all took turns riding on them. Austin got the most turns I think but he loves it! We all took turns shooting but the guys did the most, surprise surprise. Austin even got to shoot is gun for the first time. After shooting we continued further into Star Hope where we came to the head of the trail for none other than the trail to Green Lake!! Kevin and I, and Adam and Austin buzzed up the hill to the famous log cabin. This is one of my favorite places and I love going up there. We didn't go all the way to the lake since not everyone was coming up.

 

 

 

By the time we got back to camp we were all tired and dirty, so we got dinner ready and relaxed for the night. The next day we did more stuff at camp however we did go up to the waterfall. It was beautiful there!

 

 

 

Kevin and I snuck down to the water. I sure do love this man!

 

We also celebrated Wayne's "81st" birthday while up there. He really didn't turn 81 but I like to tease him that he's old haha and of course Austin and Brody had to help grandpa blow out the candles.

 

 

We had such a fun trip and going to one of my favorites places with my favorite people made it that much more fun! I'm so glad we get to spend time enjoying the great outdoors and the beautiful creations that surround us. It's always nice to leave the world behind, turn off the cell phones, and have quality family time!

 

Brody was always super dirty but didn't mind at all, even when had an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. What a trooper!

 

Bear Lake

Our next adventure was to Bear Lake, an annual trip we take with the Snarr's! Our plan was to leave Thursday morning but I got called to jury duty and was actually picked to serve on a trial, so I couldn't leave town. Kevin rode down with Natalee and Adam Thursday and I was finally able to go down Friday night after the trial ended. Although it cut my time short at Bear Lake, it was an amazing experience and something I wouldn't have traded for anything!

Saturday morning I was all ready to play in the water but when we got down to the beach it was cloudy and a little on the chilly side. The weather wasn't clearing up very fast, so we played Frisbee in the water for awhile. It's like when you see people on tv playing Frisbee and volleyball in the water and they make it look so fun and yet they're graceful about it. Yeah, there's nothing graceful about it, but it's super fun!! We decided to go into Garden City, Utah which is about 20 minutes away and have lunch, hoping the weather would clear up. The weather never did clear up that day so we never went back to the water. A storm came through while we were eating lunch though and the boat's anchor got pulled out and it beached the boat, so the guys had to push it out and the clean the sand out, but they got it!

Sunday was Austin's 5th birthday! He has always been my little buddy and I love being his buddy in return, even if it means playing lots of trains haha! Can't believe he is 5!!

 It was beautiful and sunny day but I woke up feeling sick and it just got worse. I eventually started throwing up and so we decided it was time to head home. All I wanted to do was sleep and that's exactly what I did from 1-9pm on Sunday. I felt so awful and I had a fever. I can't remember the last time I felt so horrible. I went back to sleep at 11pm and slept til 730 the next day. I still didn't feel very good so I stayed home from work and by about dinner time decided I could probably eat a little. It was about 3 days before I felt like my stomach could handle more than crackers and Gatorade.  Needless to say, my trip to Bear Lake this year probably won't make the top ten list but we definitely made so fun memories! (Sorry for the lack of pictures!)

Cali...one more time

A week and a half after we got back from San Francisco we headed south for one more trip to California, this time to San Bernardino and Lake Forest! 3 days before we were supposed to leave Kevin sprained his ankle playing basketball and I was worried he would have a hard time sitting in the car for so long but we made it work. There was also a heat wave going through the area, so when we stopped in Vegas for gas, it was 111 degrees! It was so hot I think I started to melt a little haha. Going up the pass just over the border into Cali was rough. Cars were overheating left and right and our car started to get hot so we turned the heat on and rolled down the windows. We didn't have to stop and we didn't have any problems besides windblown hair. Good thing Kevin is so smart and knew what to do!

One of my favorite people/best roommates got married and I always told her that because she came to my wedding I would come to hers. She's one of those awesome friends that I feel fortunate to have left some footprints in my heart; she is basically AMAZING, that pretty much sums her up! Danielle, aka D'dub, and I, aka G, had some pretty fun times together and so I was thrilled that things worked out for us to make it to her wedding. Danielle and Andrew got married in the Redlands Temple and it was so beautiful! It's always fun to be able to visit the different temples! We were planning on doing a session but with Kevin's ankle we decided it might not be the best idea. It was SO HOT that day but it was so worth it! After the temple we went to the luncheon and met some pretty cool people and I finally got have a conversation with Danielle and also her sweet mom.  I wish we lived closer but I am so thrilled for her new life and wish her and Andrew all the luck and happiness they deserve!

After the luncheon we again headed south to meet up with our friends the Antis', who we were able to stay with for the next 2 nights.  The first night there we headed to Huntington Beach and enjoyed a yummy meal on the pier over the ocean while we watched the sunset. It was pretty amazing! The next day we spent at the beach playing in the water and trying to soak up some sun. It was kind of overcast that day but we still managed to have fun and get wet. Aaron and Aubrey have a cute little dog named Trigger and for whatever reason he really liked me. At first I was a little weary of him, I'm not much of an animal person, but he was just so cute and I warmed right up to him. I wouldn't have minded taking him home haha.

 

The trip was short, we left Friday morning and got home Monday night, but we had a lot of fun and really didn't mind the drive.

San Francisco '13

In June, Kevin and I went on a little trip to San Francisco, CA with my mom and Wayne! It was so much fun and we really enjoyed our time there.  We decided to drive as that would be much cheaper than flying 4 people.  On our way there we split the drive up since we left after work one night; we drove to Elko, NV.  We drove the rest of the way the next day and arrived in Windsor, CA about 5pm.  (Windsor is about an hour north of SF) We stayed at a Worldmark by Wyndham resort just off the interstate and it was super nice and quiet. We had a small condo with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a kitchen, dining room and living room.  Our patio looked out over the pool and it was so nice to sit out there when it wasn't super hot! That night we got some groceries, barbequed some dinner and went swimming! The pool wasn't heated much so it was chilly but still fun! Kevin and I are fish so we love the pool! My parents really enjoyed the hot tub haha. Then we stayed up late playing games and we always enjoy that!



Our first drive over the great Golden Gate!!

The next day we ventured down to SF with our City Passes in hand.  Our first stop was pier 39, but before that we got to drive across the great Golden Gate Bridge! This was Kevin's first trip to SF but we were all excited.  We went there as a family when I was 13ish but the bridge was so much more remarkable to see as an adult, for whatever reason.  Driving in SF is almost impossible and according to the GPS it takes 30 minutes to go 8 miles! We finally made it to the pier and our first adventure was going on the Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise.  This took us out on the bay under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz, over by the bridge connecting SF and Oakland, and back to port. We even got the see a bunch of seals! It was an amazing cruise and we had so much fun!  When we were packing, I told Kevin to grab a jacket and he didn't think he'd need it until we got out on the water and put it on. It was chilly but amazing! That day in SF the skies were blue and and it was pretty warm so we picked a PERFECT day to go on the cruise we that we could see everything around us!

Next we explored the shops at pier 39 and found a place to eat some lunch, where Wayne and Kevin could get some fish, before we headed over to Candlestick Stadium where we took a tour of the SF 49ers stadium!  Even though I'm not the biggest sports fan out there, seeing things like this are amazing! I was worried Mom and Wayne might be bored, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Kevin!  We walked out on the field, in the locker room, sat in the players chairs and got to enjoy the view of the field from luxury suites that are quite spendy, $25,000 per game! We learned a great deal about the history of Candlestick and the 49ers.

By the time the tour was over we were all tuckered out so we decided to head back to the resort and swim! It took about 2.5 hours to go 60 miles because the traffic was horrible.  We left SF at 4pm, right in the middle of rush hour!  Once we arrived at the resort, we went swimming but all ended up in a small hot tub and had it to ourselves for the night and it was great! The temperature was perfect and allowed us to sit in there til our skin wrinkled haha! We all slept sooo good that night!

The next day we went back to SF and headed to Golden Gate Park to explore the California Academy of Sciences musuem! This museum had so much cool stuff like an earthquake section where we actually got experience an earthquake in a simulator they had; we watched an awesome video in the theater room about earthquakes and fault lines and the screen was so amazing, it felt like we were in the video. 

Next we went back to the pier to shop and eat before heading back to the resort.  Due to traffic and difficutly getting around we ended up not making it to the last museum that night, so we made plans to come back the next day.  That night we swam once again, surprise surprise!

The following day we were treated to a breakfast at the resort and then we headed to SF one last time to the Exploratorium.  This museum had all sorts of hands on activities that people had invented and we got to play with them.  Some of them were things for kids and we could've spent all day in there but after a few hours we decided to head back to the resort to spend the rest of the day swimming and preparing for our trip home the next day. We stopped next to the GG Bridge to take some pictures and we got to walk out on the bridge too! It's a pretty amazing thing!

We made it back home in about 13 hours and it wasn't that bad of a drive at all.  I took 5 books with me and read 3 of them and plenty of candy crush was played on our trip haha! We broke a lot of laws while driving in CA with those crazy Californian's but we came home with no tickets! Some of those broken laws include speeding, and making left turns when there was a no left turn sign, and that's just the 2 that come mind.  We had many many good laughs with my parents and we all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the time we spent together.  We  managed to get lost A LOT even with GPS but between my GPS and Wayne's, we managed to get around pretty good!!