4th of July 2010

Since the 4th was on a Sunday this year and in hopes of keeping the Sabbath, we decided not to go to Payson as we always do, but go to Heber instead. They held a Saturday celebration. We went up on Friday with the Johnsons to Boca Meadows at Black Canyon Lake. The van gave me a little overheating trouble on the way up, but we managed.

On Saturday, we got the kids cleaned up and went into Heber for the parade. The kids enjoyed that, saw lots of fancy cars. Rhett and Whitley were left behind for different reasons, but a good friend brought them up on his way to meet his family. We were so happy they got to join us! Then we went to the park where the activities were. Quite disappointed when we got there. The park is just like the forest. No green grass and playgrounds. It was like sitting at the campsite, but with lots of people around. They didn't have free activities either, everything cost money and was mostly bouncy toys. We only stayed long enough to lose Katy and let the kids all do one thing. After finding Katy on a bouncy ride, which she just got on with no ticket, we left and headed for Dairy Queen. That was our bribe to get the kids to leave. We spent the rest the day at camp and then came back in for dinner and fireworks. We sat in a big field right off the road from where we were camping. By then lots of family had shown up as well.

On Sunday, we held our own little church service. Some of the kids gave talks and some did musical numbers and some just wanted to bear their testimonies. It was nice and the kids behaved far better than I would have imagined. Late in the day Glade had to head back home to be at work. We stayed another day.

Monday, we took the kids to the lake. Most swam, but some just fished. I think the only thing caught was a bunch of branches. There was a little island not too far out that was the goal for the swimmers. They found an old fallen log and rode their way out to the island.

Kimball, Dalin, Stephen and Rhett riding the log.

Stephen actually swam to the island. He was the first.

Dalin made a solo trip out by himself, so proud!

Rhett Daniel

Bo had his first experience fishing. Since there weren't enough poles for everyone, Jake and Jenny rigged some sticks to use. They had a blast.

Stephen finally decided to try some fishing. That's all Nick did, but came up empty. Saw a few crawdads but nothing else.

Brooklyn and Becca took over the log and made a loooonnnngg, sssslllooooowww trip out to the island. Brooklyn was really sunburned on her back from the long swim out there.

I was lame and only took a few pictures the whole weekend. We usually have our cute matching red,white and blue clothes on and do a family picture but this year we didn't. Here are some quick glimpses of camp on our last day.

Whitley and McKenna

Bo, Becca and Brooklyn having lunch in the camper.

Stephen

This is clean Katy. Most of the time the rest of her body was the color of her hands.

Becca and Brooklyn doing a trash sweep.

Rhett cleaning up horseshoes. I love horseshoes!

Katy was always yelling "take a picture of me now!" So I did.

This is how I know the pioneers could actually build log cabins in a matter of a couple of days. The boys threw this together the first day here. They tried to sleep in it the first night but ended up in the van. Poor Whitley was left all alone to defend herself against wild animals.

The way home was way more eventful. We decided to come home Monday instead of Tuesday because everyone was dirty and bored. The Johnson's had left just a few minutes before us. All we had left to do was crank down the camper and hook it up. We spent 45 minutes trying to get that stupid thing down. We have done this a million times and never had a problem. I called Glade and he said to just leave it and we would come back and get it later. I didn't like that idea, but didn't know what else to do. So we left. Glade and I had several calls here and there, most were cut off due to bad reception. He had mentioned that he was coming up that night. I didn't want him to because it would be late and dark. I offered to meet him and give him the big boys for help. The last thing I understood was that he had to go to work so he wouldn't be coming.

When we got to Payson, we stopped for pizza and called Glade to let him know where we were. Turns out he was already past us and half way to Heber. What?? He said he had to work. Ok, whatever. We got home, unloaded the van and SHOWERED! Then the call from Glade came. Where's the hitch? Well, it's on my van, duh. Apparently somewhere in the dropped calls he told me to leave the hitch. I didn't get that. Now he was there with no hitch. By the way, he was able to crank that stupid thing down with no problem. Very frustrating. Now he had to drive an hour to get to the closest Wal Mart to buy a hitch. I felt really bad. So he got his hitch, hooked it up and headed back to camp. When he got there, the hitch was gone. It had fallen off somewhere along the way. He retraced and found it. By the time he was done and back to Payson, it was about 2 am. He pulled over and slept for awhile before heading back home. One big stupid incident caused by poor communication. I offered to sleep on the couch.