Hiking!!

Carson and I have been trying to take advantage of these last few warm weekends, so we decided to go on a hike every Saturday until we declare it too cold to go anymore, I am really hoping that is not too soon, I am not ready for summer to be over. 

Our first hike was supposed to be a water hike, but it had recently rained, and the water was flowing a bit higher than usual, so we really just hiked down to the bottom of the canyon, let baby girl play in the mud, and then hiked back up.

 Kynlee thought it was great!!!

 Our next hike was up the "C" trail. Neither of us realized how long this hike actually was, when we saw the sign at the bottom saying 4.25 miles, we thought that was the round trip total. We were WRONG!! The really terrible part was that the big "C" taunts you as you think you are getting closer, but the trail has you walk all over the mountain without actually getting closer, in fact you pass the C many times and just keep going off to the side for awhile before you eventually start heading back the right way. I was spent by the time we finally got to the top, and I was planning on taking a nice long rest. Again I was WRONG!! As soon as we climbed up over the edge of the hill, the wind about knocked us down, it was sooooo strong up there. We only stayed long enough to take a few windy pictures and share our water with a high school boy who evidentally didn't realize how long the hike was either, and then we were out of there. Now I have 3 nice blisters to prove that I made it to the "C", and they better last, because I am never doing that hike again.

Holyoak Reunion!!

Over Labor Day weekend Carson and I got to head to Moab for the Holyoak family reunion. As usual it was a weekend full of good times. We started off the weekend by going to see this beauty. After a bit of struggling with the company to make it just the way Dad wanted it, it was finally set last week. I must say I spent many hours sitting with Dad trying to get this right. You see Dad wanted the little needle and thread thing saying "She brought us joy," over Mom's name. Not a big deal right?? WRONG!!! Dad told them what he wanted and even drew a little picture so they would get the idea, assuming that they could make it look even better. The samples that we were sent truly looked like a 4 year old drew them, I was appalled that they would think anyone would want that on their headstone. So I took the image and loaded it into Paint (not the most user friendly program on the planet might I add) and erased their lines, printed it out, drew what Dad wanted, and scanned it back to the company.  Well this worked great, but then Dad assumed I could fix anything on it, so he went to work having us redraw the cabin, which was also appalling, seriously, these people don't even know the basic rules for drawing a 3-dimensional image. As you can see we never did get it quite fixed, I am not a graphic designer, and I did not have a fancy or even easy to use program to work with, but let me tell you it is WAY closer to what the cabin actually looks like than what they drew from the picture Dad gave them. And all in all I think it looks pretty nice, and I think Mom would be happy with it, and at least now whenever I go see it I can be happy that I helped design it (although shouldn't Dad and I have gotten a share of the chunk of change Dad paid for it).

 We took Mom some of her own roses, which Dad has kept alive. I had nothing to do with it because I have killed every flower I have ever tried to tend. 

 Then we headed to the reunion where we had lots of good food, and lots of fun. Kynlee really liked this big ball, although she rolled over the top of it and onto the ground many times. 

  Now let me tell you, the Redneck games were not planned as scheduled activities for the reunion, but at a Holyoak reunion, they really don't have to be scheduled to happen. I am not sure you can see really well, but the picture below shows a little rocket with a parachute stuck in a tree, followed by a chain, and a shovel (yes a shovel). How did all these items get there?? Well I will explain. I am ashamed to say it all started when my own husband Carson saw the rocket stuck up VERY high in a cottonwood tree. He jokingly told my nephew Parker that he would give him $10 if he could get the rocket down from the tree. So Parker got a baseball and started trowing it up at the rocket. When all the big boys heard what Parker was doing, they all accepted this challenge. Now the big boys have more resources than Parker and they quickly started pulling them out. First the chain started flying, and not long after it was stuck in the tree as well. Next Nathan got a shovel, and even with a hurt knee he managed to throw it with stunning accuracy high in the air... where it stuck on the first throw. IMPRESSIVE! Then the help of another shovel, a rope, and a water bottle was enlisted. After about an hour or two of perseverance, those boys got first the shovel, then the chain, and eventually the rocket out of that tree. Well done boys!! Carson incidentally never made even one throw towards the cause. The rocket actually belonged to the park maintenance guy, and after it had been retrieved he launched it high into the sky for us. Luckily it did not get stuck again, or we might have been there all night.   

The boys and their toys! Amazingly no one was hurt in this challenge... except a shovel or two that didn't fair so well

 The next day after church we headed up to the cabins for dinner, and the best homemade ice cream in the world, provided by Aunt Cheryl. 

The boys had fun trying out this scooter.

 These tries usually resulted in this.

 I am glad we can come together and have such a good time with each other because even though we drive each other crazy sometimes, family really is the most important thing in the world (even better than homemade ice cream).

Fun Times at the Cabin!!

My Dad took our family to the Clarkston pageant up by Logan a few weekends ago, it is always fun to get together with family. Megan and I headed to Moab to spend the week with Dad (and to clean his house for him). We had a fun time, and these two sure were happy to be back together again.

 Oops someone got their arm stuck after naptime.

 Aunt Val and her kids along with aunt Doh Doh arrived on Thursday and we headed up to the cabin.

More and more family arrived the next day and we had a blast enjoying the cool mountain air and the beautiful scenery.

 The cousins loved playing together

 We had fun shooting.

 I am pretty impressed that I got the clay pigeon in the picture!

 What a stud!!!!!

 Look, I even tried shooting the clay pigeons, and I was 2 for 2 until they made me shoot one more and I lost my perfect average.

There was also lots of good food, card games, and fun stories. I can't wait till we all get together again. 

Happy Birthday Kynlee!!!

My sweet baby girl is 1 year old. She is the joy of my life, and I honestly don't think I could have gotten through this trying year without her. Carson and I are so blessed to have her in our lives. 

Some things about our cute little monkey.

She is such a happy girl, and she has been awesome at sleeping through the night since she was about 3 months old. She has two teeth and she loves to use them to eat anything but scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes. She is a bit small for her age although you would really wonder why if you saw how much she eats throughout one day. Kynlee likes to sleep with a stuffed animal, doesn't really matter which one, although she really likes her giraffe Geri and her spotted dog Dizzy. She is a curious little thing and always wants to know what Mom and Dad are doing. She says Da Da, hi, and has just started saying uh oh. Kynlee has also started giving kisses if we ask, they are wet and open mouthed, and she is never satisfied with just one. If Carson and I are next to each other she gives me one kiss then him one, then me another one and Carson one more, if it is just me, then she gives at least 2 or 3 kisses, I love it. She can take a few steps before she falls on her bum. Her hair is now long enough to put into 2 tiny little pigtails, and I think she is the cutest little girl ever (I'm not biased or anything). 

She had an awesome birthday party!!! And now for the picture overload, but can you blame me, Kynlee is just so darn cute. 

 At first she was a little timid with the cake, We were way surprised because she really goes at pretty much any food we give her, and even food that we weren't intending to give her.

 She pretty much just wanted to play in the frosting at first. 

 Alex must have been getting impatient because he took things into his own hands.

Wait a minute, forget this spoon thing, I know how to do this.

 This birthday stuff is pretty awesome. 

 Her present from Mom and Dad

 Present from Papa Joe, she loves to walk with it.

 Present from Grandma and Grandpa Dalton.

Thanks everyone for celebrating one year of our sweet baby girl with us

Happy Birthday Kynlee, we love you so much!!

Playing at the lake!

We had a fun time playing at the lake the other day.

 The guilty individual who put rocks on Kynlee's head.

Playing in the mud is great. 

I forgot my coupon for a free 2 hour kayak rental, so I guess that means we will just have to go again real soon.

Family Reunion Fun!

This is what everyone does at family reunions right???

The Dalton family reunion this year was a mid evil  theme. The above picture was part of the torture activity. We also had to have duct tape ripped off the back of our necks, walk across rocks on our knees, eat strange food combinations, and hold toothpicks in the crook behind our knees. There was a $20 prize so of course we were willing to do pretty much anything. Carson came close to winning in all, but he settled for second place and a bag of jerky. 

This is how we got ready for the reunion. We were left an air mattress in our rental house, so we were seeing if it was any good before we packed it. Kynlee thought it was great to bounce all over the living room. 

 Kynlee thought the money hunt was great, although she couldn't have cared less about the shiny coins, all that sawdust though.....she was in heaven.

We also had fun fencing, doing crafts, and playing horseshoes. It was a great reunion!!