Joe's Valley

We decided to get out of town for the 24th and head down to Joe's Valley which is off of Skyline Drive which is near Manti. It was so beautiful there! There are a bunch of little lakes all clustered right in this valley so the boys would just hop from lake to lake every day trying out the fishing.

We went with Troy and Wendy Hanson (Wendy is trying her darndest to ignore all the fun and finish The Host...Troy obviously has no problem relaxing)

Mal (also reading The Host...and she had just gotten to the good part!)

Justin Schroepfer aka Mr. Fisherman...seriously he is like an all-pro, for real, super duper fly fisherman.

Miss Angie

and Camden and Madison

Jake had so much fun playing in the lake. I was out kayaking and he tried to swim out to get me. I was a bit worried that he wouldn't make it that far so I had to hurry in to save him. He almost knocked me out of the kayak trying to get into the boat with me. He is always in heaven when we go play outdoors and he can just run and run and run and run....he has so much energy! One of the reasons we wanted to go camping was to get him away from the fireworks on the 24th. Unfortunately, on our last day camping, there was a major thunderstorm. We had not thought to bring his sedatives so he had to suffer through his panic attack unmedicated...poor thing!

We had a visitor every night right across the street from our campsite. Jake loved to chase this little doe.
Beck had a blast doing 4-wheelers, hiking, and fishing. He loved spending time with Cameron, Camden, and Madison. He loves those big kids! He also liked throwing the dirt up in the air and catching it with his head. He was a disgusting dusty mess by the end of the trip.
Here are Jake and Oakley as they explore the camp one last time. They were the best of friends during our trip.
And then there was Taya. I think she has outgrown her camping days. She spent the whole trip trying to find something soft to lay down on. It didn't matter what...just so long as it wasn't dirt.
It was such a fun time! I love getting up into the mountains and enjoying nature. Now that we're home I am realizing that nature also really enjoyed me because I have upwards of 15 mosquito bites scattered across my legs, feet, neck, and butt. It was also fun to spend time with good friends and just laugh and joke and have good heart-to-heart talks!