June's first camping trip!

This past weekend we went camping in the mantti la sal national forest! It was a first time for us to go south for camping that wasn't Zion and it was so fun! We were planning to go camping just us, but then Samantha told us her family was already up there so we decided to join them! It was a 2 hour drive that I was pretty hesitant about with June, but it was so worth it!

We hurried and packed everything we would need for tent camping, got some gas, and left. Everything was taking longer than I wanted it to and at one point I said, "Let's just forget it and go home." Haha I was so annoyed because we were going to get there and it was going to be dark already and June was going to be ready for bed. But in the end, the drive was just fine and she was pretty happy staring at the fire when we got there.

Camping with Sam's family is always so much fun! Sarah and Rachel make the best food and their kids are crazy and fun. Especially Gigi! Last October when we went camping with them, she was SO scared of Jake. Every time she looked at him, she would cry. And then this trip she was obsessed with him, it was the cutest thing! It started when she woke up and he was grabbing me some diapers out of the diaper bag. He was sitting on the floor and she got out of bed, still sleepy, and thought he was Cam. She gave him a side hug and said, "good morning daddy!" It was so sweet to watch, and she didn't even freak out when we told her that it was Jake, she just laughed. The rest of the time she was moving her camp chair to be next to his, she was holding his hand, showing him all her cool moves and things she was making in the sand. She kept asking him to lay in the hammock with her. At one point Cam said, "So this is what it's like for your daughter to get taken away from you." It was the sweetest to watch, I can't wait for June to be like that!

That night, after making s'mores and hanging with Wic and Sam, we were lucky enough to sleep in Cam and Rachel's trailer! It's probably a full sized bed that we all snuggled up in (they offered to have Jake sleep right across the way in another bed so we could have more room but of course we all wanted to try to sleep on the bed together). It was pretty cold that night so it worked out pretty well, other than when I realized June was asleep . . . I had to pee SO BAD. I risked it and got up to use the bathroom and then got back in bed. Jake and I may not have slept very well that night, but June barely made a peep! I was so relieved she didn't wake up Rachel's kids. June's a trooper... in reality, as long as she's snuggled up, she's good to go.

Sunday morning we woke up and Adam and Sarah made breakfast burritos. We had brought some of our eggs and then Adam brought sage flavored sausage and it was amazing! We are so grateful they are willing to share with us, because all we contributed was a dozen eggs and some pineapple.

During the day on Sunday, we went to the Dinosaur Quarry which was about an hour away. It was on Jake's Utah Bucket List and I'm so glad we got that out of the way... because honestly, it was LAME! You have to pay to do one of the hikes and you're literally walking in a hot, flat desert with no view. It's still an active excavation site but you don't really know what you're looking at if you do find something that looks like a fossil. I would've rather sweat my butt off doing a killer hike with a nice view, but at least June and I got some sun! Trying to make sure she gets enough Vitamin D!

That night for dinner, we had the best dutch oven lasagna and bread that Sarah made. Seriously, they don't mess around with camp food! We all sat by the fire and enjoyed chatting with everyone. I fed June and then I could tell she was getting tired again so we needed to make a run for it. We said bye to everyone and headed back. That drive was rough -- I think June had just been in the car too much that day and she wanted to be snuggled. When we got home, we all showered and there was literally dirt running off our legs. We were all so sick! So we got clean and then slept soooo soundly. Our bed felt like it was straight from heaven, and June even slept in her rock n play.

We are so proud of June for sticking it out with us (she has no choice but...) She didn't seem bothered at all by the cold, the smoke from the fire, sleeping in a full sized bed with both her parents, or even the hot sun. We love this girl and hope she always stays that tough!

Laughing at the fire 

Rookie Mom Move... I underestimated how cold it was going to be and didn't bring her a jacket, hat, or socks. So we had her wrapped all weekend when it was chilly out. Luckily she didn't mind too much! 

Hal and Gigi.... oh those kids! They're cute! 

You can see the lovely scenery in the background... 

Camping in IDAHO!

A few weeks ago, I wanted to catch up with Hailey and see what they were doing for Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately her husband had to work but she said they were going camping the next weekend if we wanted to come. I made sure with Jake (about a hundred times) that he didn't have any tests or anything extra to study for and although he did have a test the following Monday, he said we could still go... We wouldn't be studying at home Saturday, anyway! I was excited!

I was able to get off work Friday. Earlier that morning, we had gotten all our camping stuff together. When I got out of class, we packed our clothes and left. Jake had been busy making guacamole, cowboy cavier, and his favorite pineapple/mango SPICY AS HECK salsa.

Hailey and Kaden told us we'd basically be playing hide and seek with them once we got up there because there was absolutely no service unless you came completely off the mountain. At one point, they needed to reach us to ask us to bring firewood and they had to ride over 6 miles to a church to get wifi (Thanks, Pioneer47)!

When we got there, we just kept going up and up, hoping we'd see one of their red four wheelers somewhere. As we were on this dirt road, we saw them coming down. That was lucky! They showed us the way to the campsite and holy cow - IT WAS AMAZING.

Highlights from the trip include:

• making tin foil dinners, where we accidentally break open Kaden's on the fire and he has to eat it anyway. 
• When my meat was a little burned (because it was a smaller patty) and Jake was like, "Is that burnt?" And Hailey said, "It looks like a black rock." And I was like, "No.. It tastes good.. It's not burnt.. I mean, I guess it's a little charred..." Then they ALL STARTED DYING LAUGHING. (I think you had to be there... It was so funny at the time)
• Going to sleep at 10:30 and sleeping like champs.... Haha just kidding, our mat had a slow leak and we woke up at 2 am with rocks digging in our backs. 
• Waking up at 6:30 am to fish... and being the only one to catch anything ;) 
• Making pancakes, and being the only one to eat them. In their defense, they saw the trouble I went through making them and they didn't look that appetizing... but they really were good.
• Riding behind Hailey and Kaden on the four wheelers and getting completely DUSTED. 
• A guy we stopped and talked to said to Jake (who was completely covered in dirt), "I bet you're not hungry . . . from eating all that dust!" It was so funny, mainly because he didn't say the punchline for another 45 seconds so we were like, "Yeah, we just had a great breakfast!" Hahahaha
• Learning how to chop wood and split logs properly... Kind of properly. I'm not very accurate and it takes me forever to get one done. Hahaha. That is a WORKOUT! 
• Going to the lake at 5pm expecting/hoping it to be kind of warm... It's freezing... Everyone else got in, so I had to.... IT WAS FREEZING. Then sharing a single-person kayak for the both of us and freaking out because we were about to sink in the middle of the lake. 

We got home soooo dirty, tired, smelly, and sore... (Mainly me with the soreness. I should probably go to the gym more often).

But it was so fun and the camp spot was seriously beautiful, I should've taken a picture of it. It was so much fun hanging with Hailey and Kaden too, hahahaha. We were laughing our faces off all weekend! 

ZION NATIONAL PARK. . . PART 2

yeah, I know, I can't believe we went back to this place either . . . at least without going to Moab or something in the middle! my friend Jackie and her boyfriend Cameron were supposed to go during the break with one of their friends, but their friends bailed on them last minute. . . on the same day as Jackie's birthday, and Jackie asked if we wanted to go . . . probably knowing that Jake loves camping and I'd have to say yes. I asked him about it and he got excited IMMEDIATELY. like. so. much. excitement.

It was Thursday night and we'd have to leave early the next morning to (hopefully) find a camping spot. I told the group we should leave at 4 am since it's only a 3 hour drive but they said no . . . this will play into the story later ;). so anyway, we had SO much to prepare for. we were going to go to BWW that night but instead we went to the Mauldins and packed up all the camping stuff we always borrow . . . camping chairs, pots and pans and utensils, mats to go under our sleeping bags, a cooler for water, etc.

we prepared food for the weekend including tuna for sandwiches, snacks for hikes, organizing beef and chicken wings, organizing all the condiments, etc. . . we figured out who was going to be driving, who was going to pick up the ice, what the plan was... and then tyler texted us asking if we needed anything for camping since he was taking care of the chickens and i said yes, a COOLER! and he had one! he also let us borrow his dutch oven (which is terrible to clean by the way. thanks, Jake and Amanda hahaha).

IT WAS FINALLY THE MORNING! our first alarm went off at like 5:15 because we had to pack up the truck and still do a ton of stuff in the morning. jake wanted to take a shower, and usually we're pretty lazy in the mornings so.. we have to set our alarms early! when we finally got everything together, it was SNOWING IN PROVO, and we were headed south about 8:30 am... SO LATE. if you want to go to zions and get a camping spot, you need to get there AT 7 AM!!! no later. seriously. 

it was a fun car ride. we listened to the rest of the first harry potter book and fortunately Cameron loves that so Jackie and I got to sleep while we knew the boys were awake.  

Jake and I went on a bike ride when we first got to Zion... and it was basically all uphill. my bike was being dumb and I also didn't know how to shift correctly I'm guessing, so we turned around a couple miles in and we didn't even have to pedal because the hill made us go so fast. it was super fun. i was grumpy and then got un-grumpy because of the downhill ride. hahaha.

AFTER the bike ride... we went to angels landing. and jackie and i were freaking out. and i was probably freaking out the most because i don't do heights.. roller coasters.. rock climbing.. nada. so we started up and the first part isn't that bad. and then you get to the switchbacks. and I was all I NEED A BREAK and Jake was like YOU'RE DOING GREAT, KEEP GOING. and I was all NO WE NEED TO STOP I THINK I'M DYING. and then eventually you make it through the switchbacks somehow and you get to scout's point or lookout or something. and it's a cool view. and you think you've made it to the top. and then you see that there's half a mile left to the top, and that's where the chains are they everyone's been talking about.

i told Jake, "umm. I don't think I can do this." hahaha. and he said that was fine and we didn't have to. and I said, "no we're doing it." and then we did. and it wasn't that bad, if you don't look on either side of you..... when we got to the top we found cameron and jackie who BOOKED it up there. we told them IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY NOT ABOUT THE DESTINATION and then we ate snacks and made our way back down. the way back down on the chains is probably worse but it's fine.

now we can say we did it and WE NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! YAY YAY YAY.

after that, we were all worn out and we went to La Verkin Overlook to camp out. we got one of the lower spots hoping it wouldn't be too windy and it wasn't too bad. we set up camp, ate wings, tilapia, grilled sweet peppers with barbecue sauce, and HOT DOGS!! it was a feast. and then Jackie and I made peach cobbler in the dutch oven for dessert and it was heaaaavennnlyyyyyy. seriously, so good.

the next morning it was slow going. we made a bunch of eggs and then played like 7 games of mexican trains! and then packed up and started the drive home. we stopped at another part of Zions though a little further south where there's a nice scenic drive and did a short mile hike. it was a pretty cool one, actually, and a lot of cool families were up there. it was a nice little ending to the trip.

when we got home, we got in the shower and we smelled SO BAD. oh my gosh it was almost unbearable honestly. hahahaha. we were scrubbing our bodies with soap so fast because we. smelled. so. so. so. bad. and then i conditioned my hair about 4-5 times because i hadn't brushed or showered in days...

well worth it. we're glad Jackie and Cameron invited us!