Archery Hunt Weekend

The archery hunt brought a big crowd this year. Both Nick and Travis had tags, so Travis' dad came as well as Nick and Mindy, Cael, Savanna, Nick's parents, and Mindy's mom. They brought a trailer to sleep in outside our house and Mindy's mom camped out back in a tent. It was so fun having so many people! Nick, Travis and Jay all have orange four wheelers so we were quite the spectacle in our front yard.

So while the guys were out hunting, we took the kids around town to check out all the animals and get a full small town experience. We saw deer, llamas, emus, peacocks, pigs, and goats. Nick has cousins that live in town and they were the ones to take us to the piglets and goats. The kids loved it! Cael helped me in the garden as well and we sent a ton of zucchini and squash back to Vegas for everyone. Tamara helped me can homemade salsa with tomatoes she brought and all fresh ingredients. It's delicious! We did more than the usual when the Starleys came to scout or hunt so it made the visit a lot more fun. But sadly, no deer.

Kanarra Falls Hike

For a Youth activity we did a half day hike at Kanarra Falls just south of Cedar, west of Zions. My friend happened to go a couple weeks before we went and told me that I would totally be fine hiking the 3.5 mile hike with Dallen in the pack. Travis wasn't able to go because he had to work, so based on my friend's recommendation I decided to go and pack Dallen myself.

Most of the hike is in the river, wading in and out on the sides, climbing boulders and walking on rocks. The deepest spot went up to mid thigh on me! I brought my chacos to hike in which are really sturdy and keep me from slipping at all. But they have no ankle support. So all that weight with poor ankle support and no foot cushioning made my leg muscles work over time! And the youth were booking it so I was trying to keep up and hike fast. Well, I couldn't keep up and gave up on that shortly after starting out. So I hiked with a few of the leaders in the back. We still were hiking at a pretty good pace, too fast for Dallen so he didn't get out and hike at all. We took a break and he got out then and hiked around but not on the trail or in the water at all. So needless to say, it was a tough hike!

There were 2 waterfalls you could climb over, the first one being the more sturdy climb. I did it fine with the Dallen in the pack, but the second one was way sketchy looking to hike with a pack. So we hung out and waited for the youth to come back down. One of the leader's husbands offered to pack Dallen out, so I let him do the hike back. It was a whole new experience without Dallen on my back. Much more enjoyable. :) Even though I came out super sore for 2 days after and a huge blister on my foot, I'm still glad I went. It was a cool hike and look forward to doing it again when Dallen is a little older.

Team Softball!

This summer I decided to play on a city softball team. I played with a group of ladies I didn't know very well and had a blast! I wasn't sure I was even going to be able to hit or catch but I did all right! Caught a pop fly with rain plopping down in my face; hit the ball just about every time I went up to bat; and even made a couple double plays at 2nd which was my position most of the time. I'm so glad I decided to play and will definitely play every year from now on. Fun fun!

Summer Visit with Sarah, the boys and Joe

Because our family camp out was canceled because of Dad having to work, Joe decided to come down from Rexburg and visit for the weekend. Sarah was able to get away too and they came together for another summer visit! This time we headed up to the mountains most of the time to fish and hike. It was Jacob's first time fishing and he LOVED it! Travis caught a bunch and let Jacob reel them in. It was so cute. The sunset was gorgeous at Upper Kents and it was a nice evening. The next day we did the Sky Line Trail Hike. Sarah borrowed a pack from a friend for Caleb and we brought ours for Dallen. He's become such the strong hiker though that we didn't have to use it at all! He hiked the whole way. We had snacks at the tops while Travis looked for deer and elk. Jacob did great hiking too. I think it was his first real hike. He was a trooper. Sarah, Joe and I spent down time at home playing cards which I loved and hadn't done in a long time. Nerts was just calling my name ever since girls camp. We filled in other down time with taking Jacob to the park and swimming during nap time and picking veggies in the garden. It was great catching up with Joe who I hadn't seen since Christmas. Love spending time wtih the fam!

 

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!