My Summer Vacation...

We just had the most awesome time on our trip. We left Tuesday and spent a few days at Jordanelle Reservoir and then headed down to Moab for the 4th. At Jordanelle we spent time with Seth's family and we rented a few wave runners and spent a day at the reservoir splashing around. You should have seen how bad Seth's legs were burned. OUCH!!

A funny story from there...

Arch and I were walking down a little hill. Arch was going a little fast and I could see that he was going to fall so I started to tell him that he needed to be careful because I didn't want him to get hurt. As that was coming out of my mouth he fell. But he was okay and got up and told me that he didn't want me to get hurt either. Then he said, "I also don't want to be killed by pirates!" Now I thought that was pretty funny, but what makes it better is that we were walking by a camp ground of some people that we don't know. And the guy said, "I'm sorry, did he just say he didn't want to be killed by pirates?" (Yes, that would be my son.) I told the man that's what he had said and we would be keeping an eye on them to make sure that didn't happen. He responded with an appropriate "Arrggh!" Good times!

After just a few nights of camping Seth is ready to pack up the camping stuff for good. Well, at least until we have no more babies. It's a lot of hard work and we were really tired. But we were only half way through our vacation.

Then we were off to Moab. (I know... Moab in July?) Well, we got there and we were the first in my family to arrive so we were supposed to get the campsites for everybody. (There was nobody there so there was no real danger in losing the campsite.) Well, we got there and if anybody is familiar with Moab we were at the Sand Flats Rec Area near the Slick Rock bike trail. We pulled up at about 4:30 and decided that we would get a hotel room after we saw this sign.
So instead of setting up camp we checked in, took a shower and headed to Arches National Park (without benches{inside joke}). That was a first for me at Arches but a little disappointing because it was getting dark and we didn't really get to see anything. But at least I can say I have been there.

The funnest day was the 4th. We rented a Jeep and went four wheeling with my brother, who is a pro. Oh yeah, and the rest of my family. As we were loading up we went outside and Sariah said, "It's not hot outside, just really, really warm."

This is the cute little yellow Jeep that we drove. The AC was only so-so but it could have been worse.

My brother took us on some crazy things. But it's nice to know that he knows what he is doing and he knows what Jeeps are capable of. This was our first real obstacle so we had to take some pictures. Seth is driving.

This video is my mom driving her brand new Jeep.

It was such a blast. We did a trail to Gemini Bridges. This is where we ate lunch down in the shade. And this is where we ended up.

On top of the bridges! Okay, we didn't but my brother did. He is awesome.

Here are some videos of us doing our thing. (Me going down some rocks.) It was so steep that I had to duck my head to see out the windshield at my brother who was standing in front of the Jeep.

And here is Seth going up those same rocks.

We went swimming to cool the kids off after a hot, hot day. And while the women folk were taking care of that the men did some other trails that were better if kids weren't in the cars. They did a trail called Hell's Revenge and also Baby Lion's Back. You can Google some pictures of Hell's Revenge and see just how crazy my husband is.

That night we watched the fireworks from on top of Baby Lion's Back. It was awesome. We were right there and when the loud explosions echoed off the rocks you could feel it in your chest. I love fireworks and it was the most awesome show I had ever seen. The only disappointment was the wind was blowing the wrong way and I couldn't smell the fireworks. I love that part.

Another fun story. As we were hiking back down the rock, in the dark, only my sister in law had a flashlight so we were with her. She was shining it on the ground so we could see where we were walking. She says, "Bugs, you just stepped on a scorpion!" And sure enough there it was. I was wearing flip-flops and I didn't get stung but I didn't kill it either. It was a couple inches long, Hugh! And oh so mad. I was so lucky! But for the rest on the night I couldn't put my feet on the ground. Just typing this story is giving me the heebee-jeebees! {shiver}

So we had a great time. Thanks to all our family who came and participated with us. (And split the cost.) Thanks Courtland and Jennifer for putting so much work into planning and getting all the food for us. We had such a great time. We'll have to do it again.