Together for Pioneer Day

This was the first summer out of the 3 we've been in Beaver that we were all able to celebrate Pioneer Day together. We went to the parade on Main Street in the morning where Dallen loved checking out the horses and of course eating the candy. Once he had his fill on candy collecting and tasting a few he noticed the bounce houses in the park and made a B-line for them. It's been his favorite discovery this summer- Bounce Houses! It was a good thing we went to place on them before the parade was over though because it was a made house afterward. We played in the park after the parade and then went to the rodeo that night. The rodeo was all about roaming around and checking out all the horses again. Dallen didn't care much about what was going on inside the arena, but more what was going on in the parking lot where everyone' horses were tied up. So Travis and I took turns chasing him around and watching the rodeo the rest of the time. It was a nice holiday even though I still think celebrating pioneer day with all the fuss that goes into it all isn't all that necessary. :P

Summer Visit from Gma & pa Hicks!

One of my most enjoyable trail rides was this weekend when David and Linda came to visit. They had a free weekend and decided to escape the Vegas heat and spend a couple days outdoors with us. We did a trail ride starting at Merchant Valley and ended at Puffer Lake. It was gorgeous! Travis and I rode the Grizzly together which turned out to be the last time we would ride it together since we recently sold it. Dallen rode with Gma and pa in the Ranger and everyone had a great time. We had a little picnic up there too; Grandpa showed Dallen some bugs; Dallen enjoyed climbing all over mom on the ATV and then climbing up on a wall and jumping to Dad. It was a fun day trip. The next day we went out target shooting with all the hand guns we own between the 4 of us. Ok, so I don't own a handgun but Linda is totally into them now and so we went shooting. Dallen brought his truck along for something to do and was good about not getting close to the shooter or targets. It was fun to get out and shoot a little again, although I do prefer my shotgun. :D We really really enjoyed their visit and hope to have them again soon!

Girls Camp in Beaver

Girls Camp! So much fun! It was great going to girls camp again after almost 15 years! I loved girls camp then and it was nice to get up in the hills and spend time with these girls too. I could only go for one day since Travis had to work, and I ended up taking Dallen with me that morning too so Travis could sleep after his long shift the night before. Dallen and I did a short hike with Kellie, one of the laurels I brought up with me, and found the rest of camp having a little devotional at a lake on the hike.  Then we headed back down for lunch and free time playing card games in the rain. Travis came and got Dallen at lunch time so I could spend the rest of the day just being me and not a mom too. It was the last night of camp so there were devotionals, testimony meeting and a tree of life walk along an 'iron rod'. I decided to stay the night in my little tent but didn't get much sleep because of all the noise from the girls all night! Didn't really take that into account. :P It was worth it though and I enjoyed my first night away from Dallen ever.

A Fillmore Fun 4th of July

Happy Independence Day! We started out the day at the Beaver City Parade. It's just a bunch of kids on bikes and ATV's but Dallen was pretty impressed. Afterwards they had a few kids activities and what not at the Main Street Park so we headed over there to see if anything would keep his interest. He decided he'd check out the Bounce House and was a little apprehensive at first, but after 5 minutes or so he was hooked. I couldn't drag him away! He loved it and it was fun watching him. Travis had to work on the 4th but he did join us for fireworks that night in Greenville. We got there kind of early and all Dallen wanted to do was run around the cow-patty field. Even when the show started he wasn't all the impressed and just wanted to run around. All well. We liked it. 

The next day we headed out to Fillmore for the weekend with the Starley's. We 'camped out' in Mindy's Dad's trailer but it had AC so I don't really count it as camping. It was parked in Nick's Grandma's driveway and hooked up to her house. Ha! While we were there we took the kids fishing at the creek up the canyon and then did an ATV ride from Fillmore to Richfield. It was a really nice ride and yummy eating lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. During the down times Dallen loved pushing his truck around the yard and carport and just being outside the whole time. We did some fireworks in the street both nights while Lily hid in the trailer. She HATES the 4th...well more the fireworks, but still. Even though Fillmore is only an hour away it was still a nice weekend away and fun to ride different trails than the ones we usually go on in Beaver. 

The girls 24 hour visit

I haven't seen my 4 little sisters since Christmas and wanted them to spend a little time with Dallen now that he's over his clingy phase. So because Claire and Audra were going to EFY at BYU and because Sarah was out in Denver the week before, she took the 2 of them as well as Charity and Joy, just for fun, out to Utah for the week. After EFY and on their way home, Jordan brought the girls to my house for the weekend. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. It was really only about 30 hours that they were here because Claire realized on Sunday that she had to work the next day so they ended up leaving early Sunday afternoon instead of first thing Monday morning. 

After lunch on Saturday we went swimming at the City pool, but with a stop at Alco first to buy Joy a new swimsuit since she forgot hers at Sarah's. Then it was nap time for Dallen so Joy and I picked and planted veggies out in the garden and I made some salsa at Claire's request. Once Dallen was awake, we went and played with the neighbor's puppies both Ashley and Lacy's. Joy could not get enough of them and let them climb all over her. It was hilarious. We had Spaghetti for dinner and brownies for dessert. I didn't sit down until 11pm that night and was exhausted from all the hostessing. It was nice to chat with Jordan and catch up with what he's been up to this last month and then hear all about EFY from Claire and Audra. Dallen also let the girls play 'I'm gonna get you' with him around the house as well as playing with him and his toys. I was so glad they were able to see his happy side.

So on Sunday we were planning on going to all of Church and then heading up the canyon to go hiking, but because Claire realized she had to work the next day while we were getting ready for Church, we just went to sacrament and then headed home. Jordan needed to sleep a little more before driving the whole way home so while he napped we went on a little hike in the creek in the pasture behind our house. I think Joy and Dallen loved the water hike the most, well besides Lily. Then I took the 3 little girls on a couple rides on the Ranger since we hadn't done that yet. We had sliders for lunch and then they were off. It was a crazy quick visit but I loved it and miss seeing them more often.

Manti Pageant Youth Conference

I've been in Young Womens now for almost a year and was excited to go to Youth Conference with them at the Manti Pageant. I'd never been before and wanted to spend some more time with the girls as well. It was great getting to know Aubrey, Erica, and Adela better on the drive to and from with the Bishop. We had fun playing games together in the park before the show which started at dusk. I ended up getting everyone to play 'Never Have I Ever', a game my brother told me about and I thankfully made note of on FB. It was a great group game for the kids and leaders and we had fun with it for a good part of the afternoon. Before the pageant, I walked around the temple grounds and enjoyed some time alone taking pictures. It truly is a gorgeous temple. The show was unique in it's delivery and stage location being on the side of a hill. The lighting and special effects made the show which was about the Joseph Smith story, excerpts from the Book of Mormon, and the trek to Utah. There were some great spiritual parts of course but it was a little longer than I expected. One of the funny moments of the trip was when 2 of the girls, Ashlynn and Haven were trying to hit on a cute boy in the next section over. So instead of them just ogling at this guy, I dragged them over and introduced them to him. It was pretty funny with the YW President from his ward yelling at us to get away, a Dad and older sisters laughing at the whole thing, me pointing out only one of the guys and telling the other, 'no, not you, him'...It was awesome. So fun being part of the checking out and hitting on excitement. Ha!