Wow, we’re kind of behind in our blogging…that’s thanks to our transient lifestyle (we moved from that little hotel room into a three-bedroom, three-bath house with a pool to housesit for a very nice family on vacation) and thanks to a busy and fantastic week that Paige spent in Utah for a work conference.
Anyway, almost a month ago now we got to spend a great time with Paige’s family over the Fourth of July. For Part 1 of our adventure, on Friday we flew from the Dallas airport to Albuquerque, where we met up with my family, who were driving on their way from their Colorado road trip in the big white van (affectionately called the Barge). They picked us up and we drove late into the night to Show Low, Arizona, where many years ago Edmund Lovell Ellsworth, a pioneer who crossed the plains, settled with his family. Now the Ellsworth family has a huge family reunion every ten years, and this was the year.
So after sleeping in on Saturday, we spent the day seeing cousins and aunts and uncles and meeting more distant relatives. We played some fun outdoor games with the younger cousins and played a great game of ultimate frisbee with the older cousins and Uncle Keen and Aunt Sunny.
Sadly, we didn’t get to watch fireworks at the end of the day because we were all so wiped out! After the barbecue, we headed back to the hotel, sunburned and tired, and ate watermelon and watched Contact in preparation for Part 2 of the vacation, so stay tuned!
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!
So a new year has started! Life is good. Paige recently started a new full-time job (more details to come later), and Josh is busy with school and looking into internships. But in the midst of all this busyness, we realized we haven’t posted our pictures from our awesome Alaskan vacation last summer! Maybe it’s a good thing because it gave us the opportunity to reminisce about a great vacation. Here are some of our favorites…
FAVORITE FOOD TO TRY
Josh: I tried crab, because I’ve never actually eaten crab. The verdict? I’m just glad I stole some of my brother’s and didn’t order it for myself. ;-) Everything else was totally amazing though! I liked having a real plate of different cheeses (many French) for dessert, how français!
Paige: Baked Alaska! A glorious dessert involving ice cream, brownies, assorted toppings like carmel and berries, and glazed cream. How could you go wrong with a creation like that?
FAVORITE RANDOM MEMORY
Josh: In Juneau, we watched a presentation on the Tlingit Indians (pronounced Klink-it for all of you uncultured saps, but the tl and ng really actually make different sounds in the native tongue) to help us better understand the native cultures and their history. Afterwards, the presenter asked if there were any questions. A middle-aged man asked the brilliant question, “So why don’t you just spell it ‘Klinkit?'” “Uh, because that’s not how it’s spelled. It’s difficult for most Americans to say it properly, so we say it like that to help you,” came the presenter’s answer. “But why don’t you just spell it Klinkit?” O my… American cultural awareness at its highest.
Paige: One of my favorite stories was how Josh’s dad’s rules on food changed over the week. When we first got on the ship and went to our first of many all-you-can-eat meals, Dale told the boys, “Whatever you want to eat, you can! You can have dessert first if you want.” Well, a few days and several dozen ice cream cones later, Dale’s new rule for everyone was, “For every ice cream cone you eat, you walk a lap around the deck!” That story probably shows how awesome the food was, and how much of it there was, and how much we all enjoyed it…
FAVORITE EXPERIENCE
Josh: It was great to have everything at your immediate disposal for the entire week you are on the boat. We got to be around family the whole time, and you could do basically anything you wanted at any hour of the day. Watch a movie, go swimming, eat, exercise, eat some more, see a magician, look at the scenery, eat some more. It was pretty awesome. O, and did I mention that you could eat at all hours?
Paige: I loved the fancy dinners each night! I don’t usually think of myself as a classy or fancy person, but I loved the fancy dinners: getting dressed up, eating new foods, three-course meals, fine dining, visiting around the table…yeah, livin’ the high life! (or at least pretending).
FAVORITE THING OVERALL
Josh: Seriously, spending an entire week with the family was just fantastic. I loved being able to almost get to know them again, as it had been a while since we had been together that long. Paige and I also had the time to just get away, and that was absolutely wonderful! Such a great experience!
Paige: Other than the fancy dinners, it was great to just spend time with the Lyman family and get away from it all. It was a wonderful break from the normal grind. We had so much fun talking, laughing, playing games, eating food (and ice cream, lots of ice cream). What a great experience!
So, we’ve had some great vacations this summer, including the Fourth of July we just spent with the Stewart Family Reunion (Josh’s mom’s side). We had a great time eating food and watching fireworks and talking lots and lots of politics and having forums and playing games. It was great to be with family, relax, and have fun. We played night games with all the college students, teenagers, and kids one night, which was a blast—even though Josh’s brother Luke ran into a fence and got the biggest goose egg ever! Poor kid, but he was tough. We also got to see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, and it’s a beautiful temple. All in all, a fantastic weekend! Here are some pictures!
