Kolob

Back in mid June we went camping with some friends of ours up at Kolob Reservoir. This was our first time taking Joseph camping.

We got there kind of late, but still found a pretty good place to set up camp near the lake. It's nice because it doesn't cost anything to camp there and it's really pretty. The sun was down by the time we got the fire and dinner going. I am extremely proud to announce that I've still got it in me... it was a beautiful one match fire! :)

We cooked tin foil dinners and then had s'mores and banana boats. It was the first time for everyone else to try banana boats and they loved them. Of course. How could you not? Banana stuffed with marshmallows and chocolate and roasted over the fire... mmmmm!!

Everyone else had tents set up and we had decided we were going to sleep in the back of the truck. We laid a sheet of plywood down to cover the ridges, then a thick foam mattress and then all our blankets and sleeping bags. It was windy that night and surprisingly chilly, but we still slept good. When we finally laid down John used another sheet of plywood to put over the top of us in an attempt to shield us from the wind, and he put the tailgate up too. I felt like we were little matches in a matchbox. It worked, but halfway through the night he became claustrophobic and had to pull it down and put the tailgate down.

It was probably around 4:30 in the morning when he pulled the wood back down and after he did that I couldn't fall back asleep. Especially since there was this one duck out on the lake that was quacking his little heart out! Then after a while the birds started singing and it started getting lighter and lighter, and I knew there was no hope for me to fall back asleep. So I got up WAY before anyone else, started a fire (because it was really cold!) and read my Ensign. It was a lovely morning. There's always something special about being out in nature that early in the morning like that. I love it. It's a special thing that I make happen oh, about every five years or so... that's how much of a morning person I am!!

I had pretty much burned up all the wood by the time the others started waking up, so we went and gathered some more. We made pancakes and eggs for breakfast on our little grill, packed up and then drove down the mountain a little and did some hiking along some of the Zion trails that lead to the super hard hikes like the Subway. The "hike" we did was more of a walk. It was perfectly wonderful, beautiful and enjoyable.

On our way driving down we wanted to stop for a picnic lunch and ended up going off on this side road where it was really sandy. We were following our friend who was in a big 4x4 pickup and John was pretty sure that we would get stuck. And.... he was right. We had to tie hook his truck up to ours, pull and push to get us out, but as Devin said, "what's a camping trip without a little adventure?" I was just grateful that I wasn't the one that had to push us out!!

here's the how deep we were in the sand

We have so enjoyed the friendships that we've made since we've lived here! We both agree this is the most social we've been since we were married and we are loving it. Thank heavens for good friends!!

Ryan & Tamie


Bri, Devin & Kohl

Katie, Nic, Addi & one on the way. Katie's sister came too but she somehow managed to avoid the camera.




Joseph's playmate, Addi

Blog Attack

So my mind's been on fire for like the past month at least. I have 23 blog posts that I'm anxious to share with you, so this is a post to prepare you for A LOT of posts coming. I'm about to attack my blog. I hope ya'll enjoy! :)