Flaming Gorge with the Nielsens

      We've found another favorite place to recreate--Flaming Gorge! Man is it gorgeous. Getting there took a 3 1/2 drive up to Wyoming and back down to Utah, but it was worth it. Speaking of that drive: we did it without movies and I have to say it was really enjoyable. We looked at the scenery and even talked to each other ;).
     We loved our campsite at Mustang Ridge campground. It combined my favorite scenery: red rocks, with Clint's favorite scenery: pine trees. It was fully shaded and looked over the gorge and it was large enough to put up four tents and still have privacy from our neighbors.
     We got in a few hours before our friends, the Nielsen's, so we set up camp, then Clint took the older three down to check out the fishing and adjacent Sunny Cove. They came back an hour later with three rainbow trout!

     Once the Nielsens arrived we served up tacos and S'mores before tucking into bed. Have I mentioned that now that Clint and I have our own tent with an air mattress and double-sleeping bag, it is as comfortable as our own bed? And the temperature was perfect--50's at night.
     In the morning I went for a run while Karly made a gourmet breakfast of french toast with berries and whip cream, bacon and OJ! Heaven! (Cole said the breakfast was the highlight of his weekend).

Then we went down to the beach and had some fun. The dads and older kids did some more fishing and caught seven more rainbows! Karly and I hung out with Trace and Gwen as they helped some boys construct some sand engineering feats of dams and canals.

     At noon we went back to camp and packed up in time for check out, then we went back to the beach for a picnic lunch at the bowery. Then we headed back to the water and went cliff jumping! Paint me surprised that our three older boys repeatedly jumped off a 15-foot cliff! Clint made them a $10 dare, then after that they were hooked! Jack (our daredevil) was the first. Even Trace donned a lifejacket and jumped off a 4 footer a couple of times. "I didn't even freak out when I hit the water, Mom!" Then the adults got brave: Clint and Dave jumped off a 30-foot cliff and I followed. Then Dave and Clint did the highest--about 35 feet. Then we goaded Karly into jumping off the 30-footer. She said, "I just want you to know, I've never done anything like this in my life!" But she did it!
         Talmage was beyond stoked about the cliff jumping. He talked of it for hours. "Dad, that is how you turn a boy into a man!"

     Here is Tal doing some victory push ups after his cliff jumping. His excitement and added confidence  made all our outdoor efforts this summer totally worth it.

Here you can see Sunny Cove and the jumping cliffs in the background.

 Before we left Karly, who was on her high school swim team, observed my swimming and gave me some great pointers, although it was embarrassing how fast she could catch up with me! I have a ways to go to become a proficient swimmer. 

We'll be back Flaming Gorge, and next time we are rafting the Green River!

Swimming with the Laffertys

These are just a couple of photos to remind us of our trips to Saratoga Springs to swim with Aunt Cara, Aly, Tyson and Jake. We love those cousins and Aunt Cara is such great company. And we also love that pool! It is heated by the hot springs, as are the two hot tubs, which are hot (for kids) and hotter (for adults). We hear the pool is open all year long. You can jump from the snow right into the pool in the winter!

The Browns come to Town

     One of the great things about living in Utah is that it is the crossroads for so many of our old friends. We were super glad when the Browns came to visit! The Browns are a wonderful family we knew in Memphis. We arrived a couple of weeks apart into the Lakeland Ward. They came to Memphis from Pittsburgh, where Clayton was getting his Phd. Erin is a super talented musician and was the Primary Chorister and a dear friend of mine.  Clayton is a Chinese history professor and was our Pack Leader for the cub scouts. Ian is their 9-year old son who is just an angel. He has San Filipo Syndrome which makes the waste products in his body attack his nervous system. He could speak about 100 words at age 2, but as the disease progressed he lost his speech. (Although he quite clearly answered in the affirmative that he wanted to go to the park when he was at our house!) He used to walk quite well, now he needs leg braces and a hand to hold to keep him safe. He loves music and books about the gospel. He couldn't have a better family. They are living in Vernal now, where Clayton is teaching at the Utah State extension and Erin is an elementary music teacher.

    This is Anya, Jack's first best friend. It took only a couple of minutes for them to get reaquainted and they were off playing like old times. We had lots of playdates with Anya and she and Jack attended the same preschool together. I feel so rich to have friends like these.

Floating the Great Salt Lake

For some of us it was the best of times, for others, the worst of times. After getting back from the ranch life seemed so dull. It was time to pull out the Bucket List. So off to the Great Salt Lake we went (with Cole protesting the whole way. Sorry kid, you're still a minor and you have to go where your parent units go).

I decided we'd put in at Saltair.

It was a long walk to the water, but the going was easy because the salt made the sand hard as cement.

A few dead fish. Is that thing even real?

Many, many, many dead sea gulls. Why?

     Once we got closer to the water there was a 20 foot stretch of mud the stunk to high heaven. Cole began hollering, "Mom, why did you even bring us here!" Then, at the waters edge, there was a three-foot wall of sand flies to walk through. Cole hit them first and started screaming, "I hate this! I want to go home!" I went to investigate and found that the flies ended the moment you put your feet in the water. Tal dived in.

The water was about 95 degrees and crystal clear.

Jack gave it a try.

Cole: Mom! This is the worst day of my life!

Tal: This is great!

Mom: I can't believe I'm floating in 8 inches of water! How cool is this?

     We were only out there for 15 minutes before I said, "O.K. boys, we've done it." They said, "Mom don't make us come back here again!" I said, "Not to worry guys. This isn't a repeater kind of experience." I rinsed everybody off with water I had brought in four five-gallon jugs of water in the back of the truck. But still, we were really excited to get into the shower and bath tub once we got home.

Phil Hale Reunion

We Cresaps relished our full seven days at the Ranch. We got there late Monday night shared sweet-sixteen birthday cake with Brigham. The Pulsiphers came late Tuesday night. Those first two days Trace was the only preschooler, so he and Ethan got some quality bonding time.

Trace: This is my new friend!

     More families arrived Wednesday: Songers, Memphis Hales, Malmborgs, Herman, Polish Hales (minus Sarah and Eliza) and Jacob and Tiffany McKay. That morning Chad took a large group of adventurous hikers to the Black Hole near Lake Powell. Clint set up a Three-Gun shooting course in the Lower 80 and took groups out there every day for hours of shooting fun. I think he gained some converts to the marksman arts.

     Thursday Joey took a large group to the disc golf course in Torrey. While they were gone we took our boys on a hike up White Box Canyon, which we discovered a couple of years ago while 4-wheeling around the Lower 80. It's just around the corner from Clint's shooting range. When we went up the canyon a few years ago, the boys were to young to navigate a lot of the large boulders and we had to turn around before we'd gone too far, but not before I saw what looked like a dinosaur spine sticking up out of the surface of a large flat sandstone rock. It was my mission to find it. But as it is often the case in this landscape, we couldn't locate it again. But we were not disappointed in the least. The hike was full of wonders. Jack said, "This is my favorite hike, ever!"

A beetle's shell

This rock slab we were standing on was 50 feet by 30 feet.

Here is the end of the box canyon. 

Mike Malborg set up the annual Solleyball Tournament.

The cousins assembling before our treasure hunt in the woods began. Victoria and I had hidden a bagful of dollarstore treasures like water squirters, mustache and hand tattoos, glow sticks and candy. For a better description of the event see here.

Dividing the spoils.

     The 60-Second Talent show. See here. I must feel really comfortable with my family because I didn't put on makeup or do my hair for a week. Yikes!

Other Ranch Highlights:
     I managed to keep up my triathlon training with two mountain bike rides to the top of Miners Mountain and two runs to the Lower 80. Clint came on one of the rides and one of the runs. 
     Clint played an eight-hour board game with Jeff Brown, Katie Brown and Jon Pulsipher. At 2 a.m. Clint came off victorious. He mumbled something space wormholes as he stumbled into bed.
     Hannah led the little kids in a two-hour board game. I was so impressed with their focus!
     Many members of the McKay family, notably Gabriel, Hannah and Wendy spent much of the week holed up in Grandma's room with terrible fevers and aches. It never passed to the rest of us. It might have been Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Luckily we Cresaps have had that. Many younger cousins bemoaned the absence of Hannah.
     Some movies were watched but it was gratifying that after movies ended the kids got up and went outside instead of putting in another movie. The kids spent plenty of time outside jumping on the tramp, building dams under the tree house and expanding the collection at the bone graveyard.
    We all got along and had a wonderful time! How lucky we are that we all like each other so much!