…we like living here is the close proximity to the mountains. Even though we were fairly close in Colorado, it was not like we are in Orem.We are able to eave our house and be in the canyon in just about 5 minutes from a couple different directions.  We can be to a number of different trail heads pretty quickly and enjoy this benefit of living here.

This last Saturday, I took the three boys and went up the canyon through Pleasant Grove to the Battle Creek trail. It was fun because it leads to a waterfall that is about half a mile from the parking lot so even Clay can come along. I ended up carrying him on my shoulders for about half of the time, but that is not a big deal, he had fun so it was worth it.

We took our time getting up there and stopped a number of times for snacks, water and to throw rocks into the river. The boys even went in it a couple times on the way.  Eventually we made it up there and played around in the water for about a half hour or 45 minutes, then decided to head back down the mountain.

Here are a few pictures of the day up Battle Creek:

There is a cave about half the way up to the fall that the boys like to take a little break in. There is also a wooden bridge just before this cave that they call the “Cowboy Bridge”. Then this is the “Indian Cave”.

Here we are on the way up. Shortly after we started we all had hiking sticks, including Clay. He thinks he has to be exactly like the older boys.

Koby jumping through the river up by the waterfall.

Here we are getting back down the mountain. There is this small pool of water part of the way. It makes for another good place to stop and throw rocks and get dirty, so of course it is a good place to spend a few minutes.

Now up this coming weekend is our wards “Fathers and Sons” campouts and Koby and Spencer have been really excited to head up to it. I’ll keep you posted on the fun!

I have some more pictures on my flickr page here.

Over the last couple weeks, we have done a few fun things as a family. I have been a slacker in updating my blog recently, but I wanted to write about a few things we have done in the last couple weeks.

A couple weeks before the break, our priests quorum had a planning meeting where we talked about what we wanted to do over the next 6 months. One of the things that was suggested was a winter campout. We planned it for the Friday night before Valentines day. I admit that I was not too excited to go, but eventually agreed that I would attend. A week or so before we went, I went to Sportsman’s Warehouse and got a bunch of cold weather gear. Things like wool socks, hand warmers, new gloves and a poncho. I felt like I was pretty prepared and got layered and went.

We decided to go to Lehi to some hot springs out there. We went and set up camp for about a half hour, then headed off to the hot springs. The parking lot was about a quarter of a mile from the hot springs and walked down to them. It actually was really warm and quite nice. I was pleasantly surprised.

We spent an hour or so there and then headed back to the camp where we had a little fireside presentation and we hung out and tried to stay warm. That night it snowed a couple inches and was very cold. I was not too excited to set up a tent to sleep in, so I offered to drive, then slept in the back of the van. While it wasn’t super warm, it was certainly better then being out in a tent. We got up, cleaned up and then headed home. Overall it was a lot of fun and I would do it again if asked.

That Saturday, was Valentines Day. Cami always does such a good job with Holidays and getting the boys excited about the little things. We always make little heart pizza’s and have fun together. This year was no different.

On Sunday of that week, we went up towards Park City, Utah and spent time with my Aunt and Uncle at their cabin. There were other family members that I haven’t seen in a while and it was a lot of fun to spend time with them. Koby and Spencer met some cousins that they had a lot of fun with.

We got there Sunday afternoon and stayed up eating and playing games well past midnight. Then we got up early and played on the snowmobiles, played more games, went out sledding with the boys and played more games. Then we stayed there and helped clean up and play more games then eventually headed home at about 5:30 that night. It is only a hour and fifteen minutes away, so it was close enough to get to very easily.

It was a lot of fun to catch up with family and spend time with them. We are looking forward to more chances to see them  and play some more games.

The next weekend, Tim and I took the boys to the UVU basketball game. This is one of the very fun things that we love to do together. There is a big practice gym behind the stands that we sit in that they go mess around in while they are not watching the game. Every once in a while they come watch a bit with me and eat popcorn and treats, then it is off to play some more and pretend to be college basketball players themselves.

Then tonight, the boys decided to make a tent in their bedroom that they are sleeping in tonight. They were pretty creative and excited about their tent. They wanted to get bathed and brush their teeth at about 7:15 tonight so they could lay in their tent and read books.

Finally at about 8:00 we read scriptures and said prayers, then they settled down and are sleeping right now. They are a blast and I love hanging out with them. I wish that I could spend more time with them, but love the time I do have at home with everyone and look forward to coming home after work and seeing them all.

As some of you may (or may not) have read, Cami and I spent a couple weeks out of town this month. We spent some of the time in Orem at her parents house and some of the time in Bear Lake. It was our annual family reunion and we had a lot of fun with them.

I am not going to go into a lot of details, but it was a fun trip and something we will probably do every year together.  A number of years ago we talked about having something that we could do each year together. We have tried various things such as Grand Junction, Southern Utah and California. One thing is for sure, we need water and a beach. The only problem with California is that we have to drive a long way to get there.

Bear Lake, for us was perfect. It had a great beach that the kids could play in without parents worrying too much. It was warm. And it is only 3 hours from Orem and 7 hours from Colorado. The water is a really great color of blue and there is plenty to do there, although for us, we like the beach and spent three and a half days straight there.

Here are a few pictures.

Every once in a while you tend to have one of those days that is just a great day from start to finish.

This last Saturday was one of those days.

Actually it started on Friday night when we went with some friends of ours – the Jacobs to their lake to camp Friday and play all day Saturday.

Our family is just made for the beach and since we do not have an ocean in Colorado, a lake is the next best thing. Actually, the lake has some benefits that you do not get with an ocean, one being the waves (expecially with little kiddos). Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade a day by the ocean with my family for much, but not having to worry about the kids getting too far out in the ocean is one less thing to worry about.

Anyways, we spent the day playing in the sand and on the dock, digging in the sand, eating, waterskiing, etc, etc. It was just a fun day all around.

It has been a couple years since I slalom skied, but I got up on one of the first times and it was great, but the best time of all was watching Spencer (4 years old) ski for the first time. He kept bugging me to go ski, but when he realized that he was going to be pulled fast behind the boat, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go through with it. He did though and was great. He learned to kep his center of gravity pretty low. So low infact that he never even stood up, just crouched the whole time. It was pretty cool. Koby then wanted to give it a try but didn’t make it as far as Spencer but at least gave it a shot. We were proud of them. They also went on the tubes and really liked that part of the boat.

 Thanks again to the Jacobs for a great time.

Here are a few pictures.

Spencer was ready to go early in the day.

This is the shot and moment of the day. Way to go Spence!

Clay just enjoying the sunshine (and a little chocolate).

Koby and Spencer enjoying a ride on the tubes.

Koby giving the “GO FASTER” sign.

Feel’s good.

For all the pictures, visit my flickr set.

Okay, after the couple nights at the campsite, the rain all Tuesday night and everything else, we were happy to head over to the hotel and take good showers, sleep in comfortable beds and have a little shelter. We got there and checked in and the kids wanted to go directly to the pool, which was okay with everyone else. They had it checked out before we got our room keys. We parked right by the room and got unpacked while the kids rode their bikes and waited to hit the pool. It was nice that the cars were right there and we didn’t have to lug everything upstairs and down halls. The doors were outside and opened right to the doors, it was sweet.

All the rooms were connected. There was one kitchen that had a hide-a-bed that Tim and Shelbie slept in. Adjoining to that room is where we slept that had two queen beds. Koby and Spencer slept in one and Cami and I shared the other. Jonny and Cara slept on an air mattress at the foot of our bed. The room right next to us was where Jonn and Judy slept. It had a huge king bed in it. Then the next room is where Kim and John slept with there family. It was quite the little set up. It was a great layout.

Jonn, being the tour director that he is, had a lot of activities planned out for us, so after we got the cars unloaded and dinner out of the way we headed out to the Colorado river trail that goes for a few miles along the river. It is paved so the kids could ride in the trailer and ride their bikes,  which made it fun for everyone. We went a few miles and had a good time. It was really hot out and the kids had a hard time being out too much without being in the water.

The next day we went to the Colorado National Monument to go hiking on a couple trails. We went on one called "Serpents Trail" that went back and forth up a road that used to be the highway back in the early 1900′s. It was really neat and had some very cool views. Koby and Spencer did pretty good, but of course were not as fast as the rest of us so we stayed back and took our time while the older kids like Jonny and Cara went ahead and did the whole trip. We tried to do the hike early in the morning before it got too hot, but it got hot early. After the hike we went to the pavilion and had lunch before heading back to the hotel for some time in the pool. Cami and Kim went to the shops downtown while we stayed back with the boys.

Later that night we went to the farmers market to check out the sites and sounds of Grand Junction. There were a lot of weirdos out dancing and singing, but it was pretty fun.

Friday, we got up early (well, at 7:30) and got ready to go because our tour guide had a river run trip planned for 9:00 in the morning. We went towards Fruita to a company called Rim Rock Adventures. We did the Blue Heron route that lasted for 3 hours. It was awesome. We had time to swim in the river, splash each other and just have a good time. There were two boats and we just had fun. The kids said that this was one of their favorite things about the trip. We got some good pictures and I will put them up as soon as Cami gets them on the computer.

That afternoon, the Hansen’s and the Jonas’ went over to Fruita to the Dinosaur museum. It was interesting and the kids really liked it. There were things for them to do that were related to dinosaurs, obviously. They had a dino dig that was like a big sandbox with bones in there and it was filled with crushed walnuts, which was cool. They had a few other things that they liked and we spent a couple hours there before heading home.

We all went to dinner at Red Robin that night, then to a park in the evening. It was a pretty good day, full of adventure.

The next day was Saturday. It was just getting up and packing the car, leaving for home. We got the car packed and had a couple hours before we had to go, so Jonn, John, Jonny and I went to the Colorado National Monument again to do another hike. We did the "Devils Kitchen" hike that was pretty cool. A lot of it was right a long the cliff that looked over a big valley. It was pretty interesting, and very beautiful.

We headed home after that and got to drive along I70, which is a great drive. We went through all the great mountain towns that I dream about owning a home in one day. Poor Cami had to listen to me talk about it again.

The first two days of or trip were spent at the Highline State Park, west of Fruita, CO. We met there on August 14, 2006 and were excited because we were going to eat s’mores, play at the beach by the lake and tell ghost stories. We did all of that and much more. The only bad thing that happened was that it rained the 2nd night and rained and rained. It kind of drizzled for about 2 hours then let up a little. Then it started raining again and the wind started. It continued on and on for a few hours. Luckily we were in our tents and dry, but it kept Cami and I awake. Luckily the boys slept through it. The wind had our tent all mis-shaped, but it wad pretty fun. Quite an experience.

Other then that, we rode bikes around the lake and around the camp. There was a pretty intense bike ride that went 3.5 miles. There were a few parts that had pretty good drops down the hill towards the lake, but nothing too intense. A lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of the park from the Colorado State Parks Website. I will put some of ours up here when I get time.

Most of the time, while not at camp was at the swim beach. We went early in the morning and stayed until the evening. A lot of the time there was only a couple other people there and we had most of the beach to ourselves. It was nice because there was a big grassy area right by the beach that had shade, tables and a play area for the kids. There were hills they could ride up and down and plenty of room for Frisbee. There were lots of rocks to throw into the lake and the boys did a great job doing that. It was great.

At camp, we played games, mostly "the Bidding Game" (or "Mormon Bridge" as the Hansen side calls it). It turned into the game of the trip and we played it any chance that we got. Dinners were good, as were all the meals. We had the chance to use the dutch ovens a couple times. The first night we used them both. One for chicken and one for potatoes. The next night we used one for a peach cobbler desert that was pretty good.

Spencer was sick with his respiratory/allergy sickness a little before we left and we were worried about how he would do. We took the nebulizer and medicine and hoped that he wouldn’t need it too much. Because we were outside and that aggravates the problem, he didn’t do that great. He is a little trooper and tried to breathe and didn’t  complain about it but we heard him wheezing a little from time to time and tried to catch it before it got to out of hand. I had to give it to him in the middle of the 2nd night and luckily it had stopped raining by then. He never fought it too much and I think that is because he knows that it makes him breathe better so he is okay with the medicine. We typically gave him 2 doses, which took about 30 minutes in the nebulizer. After we got to the hotel we could hear him clearing up right away and we only had to give him a treatment a couple times, so that was good to get him inside, if only just for that reason.

Well, it is getting late and I am ready for bed. I will catch up in the next day or two about the rest of the trip. It was pretty fun and I look forward to the trips in the future.

We met the Claybaugh’s this last week out in Grand Junction, CO for our 1st Annual Claybaugh Family Vacation.  We spent the first couple nights is tents at the Highline State Park and then moved on for three nights to the Country Inn in Grand Junction.

We had been planning for a family trip for the last couple months and
decided that there needed to be a few requirements to make it
successful. After a few years of watching and experiencing the BASS Lake family trip that the Garlock’s have been doing since before Cami was born, we knew that there were a few things that could be improved upon.

1. It had to be a central location. While it is always fun to go to the lake in central California, it is not an easy commute for those of us not in southern california. I am not complaining about it because the vacation was started when the whole family lived under one roof and it was super easy to go to BASS Lake together and they are not going to change it not, which is cool.

2. We all need to stay for the whole time. This is an important aspect. Again, comparing to the BASS Lake trip, people come and go as they please and it is much more fun to all be there the whole time together. This will be more and more difficult as time goes on. We are going to try Lake Powell in the future and have a house boat that would make it virtually impossible to get off the lake until the vacation is over, but that is a couple years down the road.

3. There needs to be water involved, to a heavy degree. As Judy has said about our family "Just add water"

4. The meals will be planned ahead of time and we will have a community kitchen where we combine snacks, etc. This makes it easy and keeps people from complaining about who is eating what.

These are just a few things that would make a successful family vacation, at least in our limited experience of planning and conducting said events. (Although after the fact I must say that it worked out pretty good.)

The next couple posts will detail the trip itself.