my cute little fishermen

We spent the past Saturday in Salina working and playing. Matt, his brother Mike, and his dad started at 6:00 am and by 2:00 they had hauled over 250 tons of hay from the fields into the stackyards. What a job! When all the work got done, we all went fishing.

Emmitt and his Grandpa

We stopped into Sportsman's Warehouse Friday night and got Kelsey and Kendal fishing poles. Kelsey got a fun new Ugly Stik and Kendal got a sweet Barbie ensemble. Kelsey did great with her new pole - she caught 4 fish all by herself. She was amazing. Matt wanted to buy Kendal a 'real' fishing pole and Kendal was dead set on Barbie. She saw a Buzz Lightyear fishing pole at the grocery store the other day and that is all she has been talking about. So, Barbie it is. Doesn't Barbie just make you want to go fishing? I love advertising these days!

Kendal was SO PATIENT! I never thought she would last for 3 hours. She did and she got 2 fish for it - she loved it.

Kendal and her dad. Matt didn't get to fish because he spent his time helping the girls with their poles and bait. He loved it too.

See how happy a Barbie fishing pole and the beautiful outdoors can make you!

I spent my time keeping Emmitt out of the reservoir. The banks were so steep due to the high water this year!

He was a good little boy and he sure loves the dirt and sticks!

It was a fabulous Saturday.

snug little bugs

The girls and I slept out on the trampoline the other night. We moved the tramp into the backyard instead of the sideyard so it seemed a little more protected and it made me feel better! Anyway, we had a great time getting all the bedding ready.

The kids were just so cute and Emmitt was acting like a maniac! It makes me giggle when he gets so silly.

Matt took this picture from our bedroom window - screen and all. I got the "new" green sleeping bag I bought at the thrift store a month or so ago (it was only $4 - how can you pass up a bag for 4 bucks!). But I found out that green bag is not as warm as it looks. The girls were snug as little bugs and I was a bit chilly!

The girls were still asleep when I took this one. They are burrowed in so that beautiful 8:30 sun wouldn't wake them up! The girls slept out there again last night and they loved it.

Camping at Strawberry

Matt did his annual Strawberry Fields Forever Endurance Ride this past week. For the past 5 years or so he heads up near Strawberry Reservoir and works as a veterinarian for the endurance ride every Father's Day weekend. This year the ride started on Wednesday evening. They extended it a day because it is becoming such a popular ride. Oh by the way, the endurance part is horses and riders - there is a 25 and a 50 mile ride/race every day Thursday- Sunday. It is pretty amazing.

We took our tent up and set it up a mile or so down the road from the main camp. There are too many horses, people, and dogs for us at the main camp. When we set the tent up Wednesday evening the wind was blowing really badly. We just got the tent set up and we were all inside, except Kelsey, when we heard a huge boom sound. I yelled "Kelsey? Are you okay? What happened?" She said very nonchalantly "Oh, a big tree just fell over."
We ran outside and a rather large quaking aspen tree had just blown over and landed about 15 feet away from our tent. That was creepy to me. I said "Matt, we are not sleeping here in this wind." Well, he slept there that night but the kids and I slept in our own beds. That was the plan to begin with and I was very happy about that plan, but nervous for Matt!

We got busy cutting up firewood for the stove in the tent. We knew we would need it. We also cut up a bunch for a nice little marshmallow roasting fire also. I love the smell of the chainsaw; there is something very rustic and manly about it. Love it love it love it. It reminds me of my dad, my brother, fighting fire, and my husband - all great memories.

Me and the kids on the tree that blew over near our tent.

Emmitt loved gathering wood.

Kendal was pretending this was her motorcycle. She was making great sounds, but I don't think she has even ever been on one!

Matty and Rachel

The girls were in love with the new wash basins the Proctors gave us. Dip your hands in the warm water bowl, then the cold water bowl, warm water, cold water, on and on. What fun!

Emmitt's first marshmallow - he loved it.

Thursday afternoon the kids and I returned and spent the night with Matt in the tent. It was a cozy night thanks to the stove and me waking Matt up every hour and a half to put wood in it! The girls love camping and so does Emmitt, but that lad sure made going to sleep hard for everyone! He was not sad or crying, just happy and wallering!

The kids and I returned Friday evening and spent a few hours with Matt after he was finished with the horses for the night. We took a little walk and threw rocks in the creek - it was a wonderful evening. Matt came home Sunday afternoon around 5:00 and was so happy to sleep in his own bed, but I have to admit his cot is pretty darn comfortable!

cassidy's and hickman's

This past weekend the kids and I, and our friends the Jones, headed south to visit my hometown and old stomping grounds. It was a fun fun weekend. We stayed in the new cabin my dad made and it was just perfect. He has done such an amazing job on it, he still amazes me after all these years.

On Saturday we headed down to Capitol Reef, despite the cold, rainy weather. We were greeted by snow/hail/slush at Capitol Reef. What a desert surprise! We waited for the sun to come out and then started a fun hike - the Cassidy's Arch hike.

The kids loved all the little pockets in the rock walls to climb up in and try to hide. My dad told me when I was little that these little holes were 'Mokie caves' and somewhere there was a little mokie (who knows what a mokie is?) waiting for me to get out of its cave. In the picture below is Kelsey, Thomas, William, Lydia, and Kendal. We left sweet little Emmitt home with Grandma - thank goodness!

Kendal is very distractable and she took nearly every opportunity she had to climb in a hole instead of walk up the trail.

Cassidy's Arch is a fun hike that climbs about 1500 feet in elevation and is about a 1 3/4 mile hike. I have alot of fun memories climbing this rock with high school girl friends, boyfriends, and my family.

About half way into the hike, you get to see what you are climbing to - Cassidy's Arch.

The hike takes you to the top of the arch and it is really scary for moms with distractable and daring children. Kelsey, Thomas, and Mark were there before the rest of us girls, and Kelsey told me she walked across the arch. I remember doing that when I was 19 or so and it scared the holy somethings out of me! I think the actual arch is only 8 or 10 feet wide or so - not very big! I must have blocked it out of my memory!

We had some snacks at the top and the kids were not allowed beyond this point without a mom or dad. The drop off makes my tummy twirl just thinking about it.

Kendal is pointing to the arch. She was so undisturbed by the drop off and hundreds of feet below that it made me very disturbed!

This is as close as we could go - do you see the death grip on my child? Mothers worry too much!

Saturday evening we took a little 4 wheeler ride back at my parents house. The weather was crazy the entire weekend, but luckily it held out for us. Sunday we took another hike - an easier one for the kids. Hickman Bridge is a great little hike for little feet. Lydia, Kendal, and William loved throwing rocks into this large rain storm puddle.

Kelsey and William - on the side of Hickman Bridge. This hike was a little too boring for Mark, so we headed out on our own little hike. My friend Brad once took me up a little canyon on the side of the bridge that was a fun, exciting little diversion. I remember we had to climb up a bunch of fallen rocks and have a little help along the way to get up to the top. So that is the route we took this time around too.

My Kelsey is just like a little mountain goat - she loves to climb up the rocks. She is a great little tree climber, and rock climber also. All the kids did great and loved the adventure of blazing a new trail and climbing up huge rocks. These two pictures show a little bit of the adventure, but pictures never do make it look accurate.

Once on top, we ate our Subway lunches and wished the large black rain clouds away. My friends, the Jones family.

Kelsey and Kendal were good little hikers. Wait, who am I kidding? Kendal was horrible. She whined and wanted to be carried, or else she was more interested playing with the dirt on the trail than hiking. She is 5 I tell myself. Thank goodness Amanda has more patience than I do or that sweet little one might still be up there!

Oh, here is me on the top of Hickey Rock - the place our diversion led us. This formation was recently named and it makes me giggle.

Thanks Jones family for a super fun time. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay with you and for taking care of my Emmitt while we were playing!

On a side note: Emmitt wore his first pair of Wranglers for the first time over the weekend. They were given to him when he was just a few weeks old. Here he is in the cabin on the horse my dad just finished making playing 'cowboy.' I named this horse Roxy over the weekend, hope that is okay Chappell Family! Roxy has a cousin at our house named Thunder. We love Thunder! Thunder and Roxy have another cousin at my sister's house. I can't remember his name. There is also a distant cousin at my brother's house. I think that horse is named Freckles. Roxy was the name of our old horse when I was young - she was great.