This is going to be a long one.. I don't ever have time, let me rephrase that, I choose to never have the energy to update this thing, so when I do, its always a massive glob of stuff. I am always under the impression that we have a pretty boring life, but when I look back at everything that we have done, we really do get out and do stuff! I am amazed...Clear back in August we went on a cruise with some friends to the Bahamas. I am a killer slacker and haven't even written about that. I'd like to say that I will do that later, but I don't want to lie. If it happens, that will be awesome, but I'm not promising anything. (maybe I'll get a few pictures up here, it was the most beautiful place I've ever been).September brought our one and only camping trip this year, but hey, that's one more than we got to last year. We went up to Perception Park (just down the road from Causey Dam) and took Maili and Jaycee with us Friday night. Steph and Merl came up on Saturday and played all day. It was overcast, but the girls insisted on getting in the river and riding it. They just walked up a little ways and Tim would catch them before they passed us. Papa was panning his gold up at the campsite with Lucy by his side (he got a decent amount, it was a good bucket), Steph was snoring in the tent, and Merl and I were sitting on a giant rock, waiting for "Maili and Seesee" to come down the river. It is AMAZING how rocks and water create endless entertainment.
Jacyee Beth- crazy girl, I love her guts
Maili Anne- aka skinny butt, I don't know how she ever stays warm.
Uncle Tim got the privilege of getting the rocks out of the river. The ones in the dirt just weren't good enough. Of course, the one child that we didn't want wet was the one that wanted to get in the most. this was as close as it ever got:) We had a nice lunch, painted our crafts, and just played until Steph and Merl went home. We roasted marshmallows, hung out by the fire and had another chilly night in the beautiful mountains. It was an bittersweet camping trip. Shauna and Tom were HUGE campers. They had, and still have, every imaginable camping gadget there is, from collapsible garbage can stands, to sinks that convert to checkers boards, and many more...oh so many more. They would take their family camping all the time. The first time I ever met them, I went up with Tim to have sit around the fire while his family was up camping. Shauna's one year anniversary of her death was the day before we left, and we all kept saying that "mom would do it this way" or "i wish mom was here so she could help us with this" or "mom would know where that RANDOM thing would be"..Its crazy how when you lose someone you love, you realize how much they did. The saying "you don't know what you've got until its gone" has a whole new meaning when you lose someone you love. The little things like how to cook the pancakes while you are camping have big impacts, and until you have to do it and the girls tell you it doesn't taste like grandma's, that's when you want to ask her how the heck she made everything taste so good...We sure do miss her, but somehow we always manage to get through our tough times.. Sunday Jackie, Ren and Jana came up. We decided after doing about 5 short runs on the river that we would do one big one, have Tom drive us up closer to the dam and float down one time and be done. We all had our own tubes, blew them up, thought we were pretty set to go. Tim was the only one of the 7 of us that had ever floated that section of the river, and hadn't done it in quite a few years. Long story short, the river had changed quite a bit. Flip flops are never a good idea, taking skinny little girls (and Jackie) is never a good idea. We only had one tube pop-thank heavens it was mine, so I shared with Jaycee the rest of the way. My big hiney seemed to hit every possible rock there was. We lost a pair of flip flops, broke another ( that was also mine, i think i was jinxed that day) fell out of tubes countless times, lots of bruises, scratches, and lots and lots of shivers. We only made it down about half way until we decided that the blue lips and uncontrollable shivers on the girls were not a good sign and we needed to get out and find path to the road to walk the rest of the way. We found a house tucked away in the forest and asked them for directions, (this was about when my flip flop broke) and found a road that eventually led to our campground. We ended up making a pretty awesome shoe substitute, if I do say so myself, out of the rope that was tied around my popped tube.
This picture doesn't do it justice. the rope was much farther up my leg, wrapped around my foot and toes a few more times and finally to finish it off, was tucked into my pocket so i could carry Jaycee. Good times
Tim and I were both sick on this trip, but dayquil and sudafed work wonders. We made it through a nice dinner, more s'mores and roasted starbursts, and then to our wonderful beds:) mm I love camping. Over all, it was a good quick weekend get away. We had a good time with our family and friends, and lots of lazy, relaxing in the beautiful world Heavenly Father gave us.
Jana is real pretty. oh yeah, and Wolfgang is pretty cute too :)
Breakfast Saturday morning. pancakes, eggs and bacon
This is the new thing, kissing noses :) Merl was just too excited about throwing rocks into the water. Timmy sure does love that kid...
and we can't forget Lucy. She was right there in the middle of everything :)
