Camping FUN!!!

Byron was gone to China during Father and Son's so we decided to go camping early in June as a family to make up for the missed camping trip. We headed to Camp Timberlane - near Price - for 3 days. We left on June 8th. After we arrived, the kids enjoyed gathering firewood, playing with wood, sticks, dirt or anything else they could find. I don't think we had any unhappy children for 3 days straight. Camping is definitely right up their alley.

The weather was pretty crazy for June - We were in the 45 - 55's the whole time and it rained and even hailed while we were camping. We were so glad to have the heater at nights to help warm us up in the "A frame." For dinner we enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Byron & I each drove up so we could first of all fit all of our stuff, and so we could go for some drives with the children in the back of the truck. Boy did they LOVE being in the truck - going around on dirt roads with their dad behind the wheel made for some happy children and a terrified mom :).

While there, we had some fun going on a small hike. It was never long enough for the kid's, but both parents were beat.

We brought our generator and the kids enjoyed watching movies inside the "A frame" until it was time to fall asleep. All of the children, except for Bradley, stayed up in the loft. The worst part about the night was when we were getting ready for bed, Byron & I noticed that our air mattress was slowly loosing air. That night was definitely hard . . . we were sleeping on the hard cement floor, it was very cold, and Bradley decided that he wanted to sleep with his Dad & Mom. I was quite relieved when the sun came up and we were finally able to get up.

Going to Price, was on our list of things first off so we could purchase a new air mattress. We definitely didn't want the same awful sleep for 2 nights in a row.

During the days the kids carved with the pocket knives, played ball games, and best of all relaxed. The food was great also. We had tin foil dinners for dinner on Tuesday night and they were delicious.

That night we could hear the rain come down all night long. Quite the storm blew through. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come . . . . .

We got all packed up early Wednesday morning to be back to Lehi by early afternoon. It was pretty muddy outside, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. We finally got into the van/truck and headed out. After driving about 10 seconds I realized that this was going to be a nightmare. We were only driving about 5 mph and were sliding every which direction. I literally had NO control whatsoever!!! At this point I was so stressed and didn't quite know how we would be able to get out of here (there were about 2 1/2 miles of dirt roads before entering the highway.). We decided to stop for about 2 hours and see if the sun would come out and dry the roads enough to leave. We went on a fun family walk. Our shoes were caked in mud, but we all still had smiles on our faces. The sun would come out for short periods of time, and then hide again. After waiting for 1 1/2 hours, the rain started, so we decided that we needed to leave immediately.

The roads were 50% better at first. I felt in control, until we headed down a huge hill that didn't get much sun. I was saying a prayer over and over in my mind and pretty stressed out. Byron, Tanner & Johnathan were in front of me in the truck. I had the rest of the children in the van with me. There were quite a few big trucks coming the opposite direction as us, but they had 4 wheel drive, so they didn't have such a hard time. We did see one van off to the side of the road either stuck or waiting it out. I thought for sure that I would be that van also in a few minutes, but we were SO BLESSED!!! It took us about one hour to go 2 1/2 miles, but we did end out getting out of there. I have never been so scared in my life and so extremely relieved when it was over.

We had such a wondeful time together as a family. I am so grateful for these fun moments that we have to make great memories together. This camping trip will be one of those that we will remember years down the road.