I have more unorganized memories of the summer of 2019 thanks to the busyness of moving into a new house. So my summaries will have to be based on pictures that I took.
These are the things I know happened: summer trips and fun, still settling in to the new house, George and Nancy's 50th Anniversary party, camping, and Alpine Days. That is all that I had written down to summarize the remaining days of summer. So we will see how this goes.
To celebrate George and Nancy's 50th anniversary, we had a grand party at our house. Spencers, Tuttles, and, Steven and Annette came into town. It was so much fun. Click here to see a video of the party! We were especially excited to gift them our long awaited, long planned and saved for, cruise that would be happening the following January. (We have since gone on the cruise and it was absolutely amazing! We sailed out just in time before Covid-19 changed the world forever! You will be reading about that in the months to come. Click here to get a sneak peak and see one of the videos from that 2020 cruise.)
this patio table came just in time...the assembly crew
Here are more pictures from the fun weekend, including 4th of July celebrations:
Jason took an afternoon to get some pictures of our beloved Timpanogos Mountains. We have since printed it on metal and it is hanging over our bed (a year 2020 addition).
This year, we successfully convinced the Gruber side to join the camping tradition. We recommended the Spruces, because that is what we have enjoyed with the Arbons each year. We were able to reserve one of the last double campsites there. The site itself was actually terrible, but the saving thing about the site was across the street there was an amazingly shaded area with just enough clearing for our tents. So our tents were all near each other on one side of the street, and then we would cross the small road for our tables, food, and fire pit. While that is probably not ideal, we really had a great time with it. Being right on the road made for many bike rides and Kan Jam games. We ate such delicious food, played lots of games, and really just had a lot of fun! We liked it so well we decided we would definitely be camping again next year (which we did).
packing up
scoping out the tent spots
Alex and Mya slept in hammocks
Elsa slept in her own small tent.
I was so impressed that she was brave enough to sleep in her own tent, being just eight years old! I was worried enough for her! Especially with the rare, but potential danger of bears. On the final day of camping, we were by the bathrooms and Elsa looked at the sign that said to not leave garbage out since it was bear country. She quickly asked, "Are there bears here?!?" That is one of my favorite memories.
fishing can be dangerous
early morning moose encounters
Jason's genius idea: bring a sprayer, fill up with water, let the sun heat it up during the day
= warm night shower offs
clearing pathways from pokey weeds
Hiking Donut Falls:
We happened to go on July 24th (Pioneer Day). It was quite the busy spot. Who knew that this was the exact location of the original Pioneer Day Celebration!? Kind of cool.
leaving a time capsule
(that we have successfully been able to find and add to the two following years)
sometimes it's hard to say goodbye
After an amazing three days at the Spruces with the Grubers, we decided two nights just isn't enough. Next year we would make it three nights...and the next year we would make it four!
We got home on a Thursday, which gave us one weekend to wash things, recoup, and be ready for the Arbon camping the following Monday! Some might think that is crazy, but we were so excited to be heading back. We really do enjoy it. It was fun to know that the mountain days weren't over.
these two are seriously like twins!
we did not plan these colors!
more early morning walks...
more moose...
more dirt...
a new rainstorm!
more moose
The afternoon of rain came on our last day. It sent us down into the valley to get pizza for dinner. We were so glad it cleared by the time we got back and we were still able to enjoy a campfire.
Kim says she was "Codemaster" trying not to give anything away...lol
the kids enjoyed the swat/military costumes we brought
Another end to another fun camping trip! It sure is a lot of work, but man is it worth it. We love it!
Well, I can see now that this post is already filled to the brim with events and pictures. It looks like I will be doing a part Part Two with more of the summer happenings.
