We love the fall! It’s such a pretty time of year. Each year when the trees start to change colors on the mountains, we think, “Oh, we’ll have to go up and take pictures!” But then it seems like a week goes by and we’re too busy and before we know it, all the leaves are gone. This year we were a little more on the ball and made it up the canyon to take some pictures one evening. So pretty! It was fun, too, to take Carson and feel like we were our own little family on our own family outing. I’m not sure if we got more pictures of the trees or of Carson, but either way we (meaning mostly Josh) got some beautiful ones. :)
Carson is wonderful! Josh and I love him so much and we can’t imagine life without him. Of course, he’s the cutest baby we’ve ever seen and we could just stare at the cute faces he makes all day. He’s a really good baby too and doesn’t cry too much (thanks, Carson!). Anyway, what you probably want to see most are pictures, so here we go! (Most pictures courtesy of my mom. It really comes in handy, having a mom who led a former life as a professional photographer. Most photographed grandbaby ever? I think so.)
You know how, when there’s a contest, or something free to win, or a drawing for door prizes, you usually just kind of don’t win? I guess that’s how life usually is. But then when something incredibly lucky does happen, it just makes it that much cooler!
We had our incredibly lucky experience on Friday night. For date night we headed to a Rough Riders game, a minor league team in the Dallas area. We planned on buying the cheap grass-seat tickets, and we were late getting there because we got slightly lost, but it turns out being late was the best thing that happened that night.
As we walked up to the stadium to buy tickets, a man approached us with two wristbands. “Would you guys want these wristbands?” he offered us. “They let you get free food. My daughters were going to come, but they’re out of town.”
“Awesome, thanks!” we said. “Where do we go to buy tickets?”
“No, you don’t need tickets with these,” he said as he handed us the wristbands. Then we understood that the wristbands he was giving us were magical passes into the stadium that also guaranteed us free food from four different places inside. We thanked the man even more and walked inside, where the ticket collectors enthusiastically explained to us all of the free food and perks our tickets came with.
Then we proceeded to enjoy an awesome baseball game, including nachos, soda, hot dogs, ice cream, prime rib, roast beef, box seats, rootin’ for the home team, and all the other happiness and joy that comes from summer baseball games. Oh, and fireworks.
So thanks to that really nice man who gave us the tickets, whoever you are! You totally made our night.
Though Josh and I aren’t super outdoorsy or anything, we both do enjoy getting out, hiking, and camping. We went once last summer and it was great, so we’ve been looking forward to going again. This summer was quickly filling up, though, especially with our upcoming trip to Dallas. But we wanted to make it happen, so we picked a weekend and said we would go. This past weekend it all paid off as we enjoyed an awesome camping trip.
We headed south of Payson to a campground called Maple Creek, and it was great! The campground was empty when we arrived, so we got first pick and chose the best site and were pretty much to ourselves all night and morning. Starting a fire was a little hard at first, but it all worked out in the end, thanks to Josh’s skills and my constant fanning (if I remember one thing you taught me about campfires, Mom, it’s that they always need air!).
Dinner, desert, and breakfast were delicious, and we had plenty to eat. (That’s because last year we were kind of hungry after half of our meal burnt to the tinfoil. This year, we were smarter, planned it out, didn’t burn anything, and ate quite well.) And the weather was perfect! Not too cold, but cool enough to enjoy a campfire, and not too hot, either. Check out the pictures below!
After we broke camp on Saturday morning, we headed into nowhere, Utah, for some fun exploring quirky places, taking pictures, and looking for ghost towns. We found some great opportunities for pictures in Eureka and though we searched and searched for Dividend (a supposed complete ghost town), we didn’t find it – though we think we were close! (See the map in the gallery below.)
It was a perfect, wonderful trip, and after we got back on Saturday afternoon, put away our camping gear, cleaned up the house, mowed and weeded the lawn, and washed our car, we were exhausted! We spent the evening watching a movie and eating ice cream (oh, and dinner. But the ice cream was the highlight.) So, in all, one great Friday and Saturday! It was perfect, too, to get away and just have fun, right in the middle of the busy summer. We hope to enjoy more camping trips like it!
