Fossil Springs

Saturday morning we had to pick up our bountiful blessings basket at 7AM so we didn't get on the road and pick up Jereme and Melodi until about 8:30. By the time we got to the trail head it was high noon, nothing like hiking in the heat of the day! Luckily it wasn't too hot. Our packs weighed in at 42 lbs for Jereme, 40 lbs for me and 35lbs each for Kenny and Melodi.

Kenny and I at the trail  head 

Jereme and Melodi at the trail head 

Kenny on the trail. 

We made it down in 2 1/2 hours and were all tired of carrying our packs. 

Here are the guys in our "living room"

I think we snagged pretty much the best spot in the whole place because some ladies had just packed up and offered it to us. Our tent looks like the guest house to their tent. 

 After we set up we went out exploring...

we found springs

a swimming hole with a rope swing (the water was too low though) 

 but I think my favorite was the waterfall off the old dam. 

you could actually jump off the fall and swim under that wall into the little "spa" area - we didn't try it. 

To get under the fall was difficult so just the guys ventured in.

Kenny swam in the pool below the falls to take this amazing picture.

This was a cool spot Kenny found. You could ride the current into the cave and back out.

Kenny and I in the cave

Jereme and Melodi crossing the fall 

 It started to get dark so we headed back to camp.We took a dip in the swimming hole near our camp site right before it got dark and then we all headed to bed at 8! I have to say sleeping in a tent is not one of my favorite things, but it was tolerable. Poor Kenny was a bit tall for the tent and his feet stuck out! We actually slept for 12 hours! Well I should say we were in the tent for 12 hours I probably woke up once an hour.. it was nice to be so near the creek, but it was pretty loud (Kenny and I thought it sounded like and oscillating fan!). The next morning we decided to find the springs on our way out of the canyon. We all knew it was going to be a tough hike out and we wanted to get started. We left camp about 10:00 and played in the spring for awhile.

The swimming hole

Kenny

the spring (see yesterday's video)

Me

the beautiful view 

Off we go... 

About 10:30 we were on the trail out... I am not going to lie it was really hard for me. The hike was rated 6 out of 10 for difficult and the elevation change is 1280 ft. Kenny ended up taking most of my weight in his pack and trudged on ahead of me.

view of the rim

Melodi and Jereme on one of our many breaks!

Jereme and Kenny 

Me and Melodi 

After the first 1 1/2 it got a lot easier, but we were all exhausted by the time we made it to the car! It took us 4 hours to hike 4 miles... We took our stinky, dirty, sore selves to Denny's for dinner in Camp Verde and drove on home.

Fossil Springs

This is a spring we found at fossil springs... just couldn't capture the awesomeness of the spring in a picture. Pictures to follow tomorrow!

Name that Tune....

Please remember we are just learning...

Me 

Kenny

Mooooooooooooooooooooo

I think I might just have a problem with coveting... I talk to friends at work about their weekend, read facebook status updates or skim through people's blogs and then I want to do all the neat things they are doing (because I want to do everything!) ...  Recently, my friend's sister-in-law got a milk cow. Um,  cool!! If you follow my bucket list blog you know that milking a cow is on my list (I don't know about daily, but at least once! LOL). Well, we live in track homes with no immediate plans of moving; so a cow is just out of the question. No fresh milk, butter or cheese for me... unless... ah yes, I have found a way to get these little items from a local dairy farm! The 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month you can pick up this great bunch of items; 1 gallon of milk, 1/2 lb of cheese, 1/2 lb. of butter, 1 quart of yogurt and 1 pint of ice cream. for the whopping price of $32 ! Pretty expensive and I don't get the experience of  milking the cow (although I think I might be able to work that out with the farm!) or making the items, but at least we get to consume fresh fresh dairy products with no poo to pick up! The items are made fresh on Wednesday and distributed on Thursday evening - can't get much fresher!! 

Speaking of cheese, our friend Jereme just got back from a trip to Wisconsin and brought me cheese curds and sharp 5 year old sharp cheddar cheese! This is the first time I have ever tried curds and I thought they were pretty good, sorta like just taking a bite of string cheese. The cheese is amazing too. 

Forgotten Blessing

So, I haven't pumped gas in over 5 years...

My hubby has spoiled me pretty much rotten. He always makes sure the vehicles are full of gas, tires at the right pressure, oil changed, windshield wipers in good repair etc etc etc.

Sometimes I get used to the little things he does and forget to be thankful. But I am thankful I have no idea how much gas cost. I am thankful I never have to sit and wait for my oil to be changed or fit a repair into my schedule. I am thankful for all the money he saves us by doing maintenance himself. I am thankful he does all this and NEVER complains.

I am thankful he still cares about spoiling and taking care of me.

XOXO I love you Kenny!

Coming out of a craft free coma...

I am almost done cleaning, organizing etc.... I might actually MAKE something soon! 

Deja Vu

Saturday morning Kenny and I took my parents to get their first bountiful basket, yardsaling and to breakfast.

after breakfast we took my parents geocaching- 

It was a really nice morning and we had all afternoon to relax... except we can't relax. Kenny went out to wash the trucks and found the Ram battery dead... so he replaced that, changed the oil in both truck and then washed all 3 cars! (way to relax Kenny!) While he was doing that I was cleaning out and organizing the craftroom... I have been working on this project for weeks and I am almost done. 

Sunday morning Kenny's mom came over and we took her geocaching and out to lunch. 

This one was tricky because it was SO small (the size of a bolt) 

Sunday afternoon my parents had a BBQ at their place and we hide some treasure in the back yard for the boys to find. 

And of course went swimming. (see my other post for some videos)

I am just amazing by the boys and how much they have blossomed when it comes to swimming! At the beginning of the summer Jacob wouldn't even let you take him underwater and now he runs off the side and does cannon balls - not bad for a 3 year old! (notice on the video that he doesn't use his arms to swim lol) 

Just the 11 of us!

Apparently blogger will not let you backdate posts anymore so this is out of order... This is for the weekend of 8/27-8/29.
 We picked up the Taylors Friday right after work and hit the road. The boys were so excited squealing "Go Camping! Go Camping!" We stopped in Payson for groceries and headed up the hill to Forest Lakes when the rain started. At first it was refreshing, but then the sheets of rain made it impossible to see the road or even the car in front of you. Terrifying on those winding mountain roads! 

Once we made it to the dirt road Kenny hitched the quad trailer onto the back of my truck and he took the big truck to pick up the travel trailer while my brother and I went searching for a spot... 

It was pitch black, still raining and we were having trouble seeing the camp grounds. I thought I saw a spot that would work to pull the trailer in so I backed up.... this was the result- 

Not good. 

On top of that most of our clothing and blankets had gotten soaked in the rain despite the tarp we had tied on in Payson. We ended up eating a late dinner cozily cramped in the trailer. 

Saturday morning we made breakfast burritos and took turns riding the quads until the Blue one died and had to be towed back to camp. We kept busy in the afternoon by treasure hunting (AKA Geocaching). 

We loaded up (Me, Jacob, Crissy with their dog Princess and Crystal with Little Brian) and headed down a road only meant for quads..

The first cache was easily found by my brother in like 30 seconds... 

The next find was not as easy! We searched and searched this area and didn't find the cache. 

The next one was a little easier (notice the little awning built over it!) 

The boys just loved finding the treasures...

even the big boy! 

It was a long ride back to camp, but the Taylors entertained themselves by getting their dog to "sing" to them. It was pretty hilarious! 

Back at camp we relaxed ...

played in the fire (bunch of pyros~!) 

Then when it was time for bed we all loaded in the trailer-

Crissy on the top bunk, the boys on the bottom, Brian and Crystal on the table bed and Kenny and I in our bed. 

The boys were adorable with their chit chat at night and in the early morning.

Despite the few bad things that happened it was still a pretty good weekend and I am sure we will look back and laugh about me jack knifing the trailer... not yet, but someday. 

Swimming Videos

Moments...

I was blog surfing the other day and came across this blog from a link on this blog. Their stories are heartbreaking, but also inspirational at the same time. They both have an amazing faith in their Church and Jesus Christ. They both had terrible tragedies in their lives, but instead of dwelling on the hardship they are thankful for each day and the people their lives. WOW. Ashley was asked if she would do anything different and she said " There's only two things- get out the video camera more frequently and write more about every day life in my journal."

I already blog A LOT, but it is kind of a reinforcement for me to keep this diary of our lives and the people in our lives, because as we learned (in March 2004 and November 2008) people can be taken so quickly and unexpectingly from your life and your are only left with the memories... the moments.