Summer: Camping, Scouts, Lagoon, and Cousins

This summer was one thing after the next all summer long, especially for Andrew.  Between, scout camps, EFY, youth conference, a family camping trip, cousins visiting and finally our trip to Brazil (more on that to come) there was never a dull moment.

Jason didn't have any vacation time to use this year since he was taking a full month off to go to Brazil in August so we had to try to fit in vacation when he was off.  We took advantage of the long 4th of July weekend and went camping at Flaming Gorge.  Three nights in a tent is about as long as I can stand with kids but we had a good time.  We did end up stranded out in the middle of no where one night.  We were fishing a small lake and the kids had left the lights on in the truck getting in and out so many times.  We went to start the truck to head back to camp and the battery was dead.  The small shop by the lake was closed and everyone else had left and we had no cell phone reception.  Our campground was a good walk from there but I was starting to think it was our only choice when someone came along.  They didn't have cables but were finally able to track down someone that did.  We kept having to jump the truck every time we had to go anywhere and someone at church finally gave us a set of cables until we could get home and replace the battery.  We had a lot of fun running and biking the overlook at Red Canyon.  Andrew enjoyed photographing the canyon and the boys had fun sleeping in their hamocks and didn't mind the deer walking right through the camp all night.  There was also a herd of big horn sheep running around we were lucky enough to spot. Before we went home we spent a day on the river below the dam.  Jason, Andrew, and Jared fished while I hiked with Kaitlyn and Skyler.  Well, until the thunder storms rolled in and we kept running to the truck to get out of the downpour! 

My niece, Danielle came to stay with us for a few days this summer.  We went to the rodeo and Lagoon.  Neither are my favorite but the kids had a lot of fun.  Melanie, with her kids, and Brittany met us at Lagoon and the big kids and little kids were all entertained so it was a win!  Kaitlyn wanted to go on all the wild rides with the big kids.  I think they rode just about everything there.  I think we left with a few motion sick kids by the end of the day!

In August we had my sister, Rebecca, visit with her family from Ohio and my brother with his girlfriend and Calvin here from California.  We went to the pool to escape the heat and to a Real Salt Lake game since Calvin loves soccer.  It was our first game at Rio Tinto and it was a lot of fun although I felt like I spent half the game in line at the concession stands.  It was a crazy week because I was helping with cross country camp, Jason left for Brazil, and I was trying to get everything arranged so the rest of us could join him.  We didn't get as much time as we would have liked to spend with everyone but it was fun to have all the Brown cousins together.

Andrew's high adventure with the scouts was in the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming.  They camped at the Green River Lakes and backpacked a long trip into Square Top.  It was a much longer hike than they anticipated.  The weather also turned off quite cold for the middle of July.  Many of the boys ran out of food but luckily Andrew caught some fish to keep them alive!

Jared went to Camp Newfork for scout camp the same week Andrew was backpacking.  The scout camp wasn't far from where Andrew was in the Wind Rivers so they also had to deal with the frigid temperatures with many mornings below freezing.  He braved the cold though and even swam in the lake for the swim check and canoeing merit badge.  One night they took canoes across the lake and spent the night.  He was able to finish up all the merit badges he needs for his Eagle except camping.  Jason was able to spend a couple days at camp but couldn't get any more time off work and spent so much time dealing with the administrative issues that he didn't get any pictures of the boys.

The Blackham backpacking trip had to be cut short this year due to the lack of vacation time Jason had.  He took advantage of the long 24th of July holiday weekend and took Andrew and Jared with Brian and Brian Jr. to Red Castle in the Uintas.  Jared was thrilled to finally be included on the big backpacking trip and Andrew didn't complain about another weekend in a tent.  They caught a lot of fish and had a lot of fun.

Fall, a Long Bike Ride, and a New Truck

My dad stayed at our house for a couple weeks.  As always he was busy doing projects I never get around to.  We did manage to pull him away from the house one day for some fun.  We took the kids out to Black Island Farm.  It was someplace I had never been but always wanted to take the kids.  I was worried Andrew and Jared might be too old to enjoy it but there was a lot of fun stuff for everyone to enjoy.

 I'm not sure where this dare devil came from wanting to go down the slide head first!

 When I sent Andrew up with Skyler to go down the slide this wasn't exactly what I had in mind...  But he made it down in one piece and enjoyed it enough to want to go again.

Who would have thought a sand box filled with corn kernels would be so much fun?  Skyler could have stayed in there all day and his older siblings enjoyed it almost as much!

Andrew, Jared and Kaitlyn all took a turn being buried in the corn.  Skyler seemed to really enjoy helping, especially throwing the corn in their faces!  Grandpa even joined in the fun burying the kids.

Last, we were off exploring the corn maze.  By this point I thought Skyler would fall asleep in the stroller for sure but he was having way too much fun and prefered riding on Andrew's shoulders.

And now for some other things that have been happening in our house lately.  Jason offered to watch Skyler for me one morning and I got to enjoy one last beautiful fall morning on the trails, this time on my bike with my friend Natalie.  We did some serious climbing up the sardine trail at Snowbasin and we may not have broken any speed records but the view was amazing and the ride down was fun!

Andrew finished the last requirement for his Eagle!  He and Jason did a 50 mile bike ride to finish off his cycling merit badge.

Here they are ready to start.  Andrew looks excited but I'm not sure about Jason!

One of the last beautiful fall days of the year!

Just over half way when I took them lunch in Roy.  They don't even look tired yet!

50 miles completed and ready for a ride home in West Bountiful!

We have been shopping for a truck for quite some time.  In September we decided the truck we really wanted didn't actually exist so we ordered one from the factory.  It has been a long wait but it finally arrived!

Happy new truck owner.  I hope I get to drive it some time...

I have never actually owned a brand new car before.  I had to get a picture of the odometer at 4!

Who's new toy is this?  Guess where the kids all jumped in as soon as we got home.

Pinewood Derby

I both love and hate the Pinewood Derby at the same time.  It's such a fun event for the boys but I absolutely hate the weeks leading up to it.  No matter how much Jason plans it there is never enough time to finish the car and we are always trying frantically to paint the car and get the wheels on just in time for the race.  The boys are really excited about making the car at first but then it gets to the sanding.  "Is it done yet, Dad?"  "No, go work on it some more."  And then I'll save you from hearing all the whining that comes after that.

This year was no exception.  When it was time to pick out a design Jared pulled out the box of Hot Wheels and started looking for ideas.  He picked out what he thought was the perfect race car.  Jason kept asking, "Are you sure?  That's going to be a lot of work?"  He was determined though and for the most part he was a pretty good sport about working on it.  He asked Jason if they would win.  Jason told him not to count on it.  He'd never built a pinewood derby that won.  I tried to convince him that it wasn't about winning, just having fun making and racing his car.  Finally it was painted and waiting for wheels the morning of the race.  I was trying to get everyone out the door to their various activities that morning when I heard something fall on the floor and Jared and Kaitlyn both say in horror, "Oh no!  It's broken!"  I walked in the room to see Jared holding the broken car almost in tears.  All that work and he hadn't even had a chance to race it yet!  So we pulled out the super glue and hoped it would hold for the race.

Here he is ready to weigh in his car.

Jason did put a little more effort into finding tricks to make the car faster.  In the end a bit of luck helped him out when a "mistake" turned out to give the car a slight advantage.  Anyway, Jared was thrilled that his car won almost every race.  He was so excited to win 2nd place in the pack.  He even wanted to frame the certificate when he got home!

Andrew was a little jealous of Jared's success.  I guess there are advantages to being a younger child.  At least Dad has figured out a little more about things like making Pinewood Derby cars.  Andrew has been keeping busy working on his scouting though.  At a recent court of honor he received his Star rank advancement.  He's earned half the merit badges for his Eagle and is close to finishing several others.  Now if I can just keep up sewing on the patches.

Camping

Every summer Jason and his brothers go on a backpacking trip in the Uinta mountains.  This year it was hard to find a place to go without snow, even in July!  Here are a few pictures from their trip.

Sam, Jason, and Brian (Thanks for the picture, Sam!)

In August Jason took the scouts on an overnight backpacking trip.  Andrew was the youngest scout that went but didn't have any problems keeping up with the 16 year old boys!  Everyone caught a lot of fish and no scouts got lost so it was a successful trip!  I'm not sure who looks happier in these pictures about catching a big fish!

Jared was feeling jealous that Andrew and his dad were off on another camping trip without him so I took him and Kaitlyn on a hike up waterfall canyon.  I'm not sure it was as good as camping but we had a lot of fun.

Busy with Life

The other day I went for a run with a friend I haven't seen in a few weeks and she asked what I'd been up to. I really couldn't think of anything to tell her which seemed strange since it seems like we have been so busy! I guess we have just been busy with life even if it is nothing big or eventful! Here are some recent pictures to keep you posted.

I'm not a huge fan of bathtub pictures but this was just so cute and G rated with that many bubbles. Someone put a few too many bubbles in the tub but it sure was fun!

Andrew is in the middle of his Jr. Jazz season and loving it. He's got a lot of great friends on his team again this year.

Jared was so excited for the skit his den was preparing for pack meeting this month! He talked about it for days before and he was thrilled Jason could have a break from Young Men's activities to come watch. Here he is looking so serious in his part in a Native American tribe!

Jared also got his Bobcat award that night. He didn't want to give me the pin. He thought it was better than the patch and wanted to keep it for himself but I convinced him to pin it on!

Andrew's first court of honor. Jared thought it was a little dull without all the crazy things they do in cub scouts.

I thought some of you might be interested in an update with the pet situation. We've had Herkey almost three weeks now and at least he is still alive! He's been a little more challenging to tame than Charlie was. Maybe he hasn't been handled as much or maybe it's just personality... He's also a lot noisier than Charlie-not sure yet if that's a good thing! The best news is that he doesn't bite!

I know I already posted a bunch of skiing pictures but this was just such a beautiful picture of Mt. Ogden that I had to include it! It was one of the worst inversion days in the valley so it was great for the boys to get up to some clean air. While the boys went skiing Kaitlyn and I went to a girls' day with my mother-in-law. Of course her couple hours project turned out to be a couple days project for me so I'll post a picture when it is finished. My goal is to have it finished before spring so I can actually use it this year (it's a winter decoration!) Like everything my mother-in-law does it is very cute so keep posted for the finished work of art!

One more note on skiing. Yesterday Kaitlyn informed me that Little Cat (bunny hill) was boring and she wanted to go up Becker(intermediate lift). I was a little worried but she was persistent and when we gave it a try she did awesome! She was so proud of herself making it all the way down without help and told everyone that would listen including all the ski patrol we ran into! After she had seen a few adults fall she turned to me and asked "Why are all these people wiping out and I'm not?" Then she laughed!