Of course like all our summer trips to Utah, they usually begin with us celebrating dad on his big day. We tried to talk him into joining us on what Jack is calling our new family tradition of breakfast and golfing at Soldier Hollow the morning of the 4th but he was feeling a bit tired and took a pass. Unfortunately this meant him missing out on what Ty had been dreaming about ever since last year's breakfast/golf outing...this stack of pancakes from the clubhouse!
After a fun morning of golf it was time to celebrate dad and his big 75! I don't know who was more excited about the new computer we gave him...him or us, even if it meant the dreadful task of transferring heaven knows how many files from his PC to the new iMac. While dad would claim most of his computer problems stem from faults with the computer, Mom and I would probably claim user error...lol! At least we won't have to hear about these problems anymore!!! We are hopeful that this new computer will remain spam and clutter free for many, many, years! Happy Happy birthday dad!
Next it was Teagen's turn to be celebrated! From ice cream cakes to crumbl cookies, we all had our sugar fix!
While Jack and the boys spent that first weekend up in the mountains of Brian Head visiting Ted and his family Sage and I stayed behind since I hadn't been feeling well. Jack managed to capture this photo of the boys while they were out atv'ing and I thought it was a keeper. Of course, Jack returned anxious to bring Sage and I back to Brian Head.
In all our summer visits to Utah we had never been up American Fork Canyon until Sean took us this summer. Aside from Jack challenging Sage to swim across the lake on her own,(which I nearly divorced him over...haha!) it was a great way to spend an afternoon and will definitely make the return to list. We stopped first at the lower lake before 4 wheeling up to a higher lake.
The lake Jack bet Sage to swim across...
While Jack drove around to go retrieve Sage from the other side of the lake the rest of us hiked around and across the dam.
The next day we headed up Provo canyon to one of our favorite spots, Bridal Veil Falls. Sage and I decided to hike directly up the fall to see how far we could go. Considering we were in flip flops we were both pretty proud of ourselves for making it all the way up to the base of the fall.
Earlier this year when Sage turned 12 she decided she wanted her first temple experience to be in the Salt Lake City Temple. Unfortunately when we arrived over the summer it was closed for cleaning but how sweet it was that her second choice was the Jordan River Temple since that's where Jack and I were married. Sadly, we hadn't even been back since that day so how fun it was to return with our sweet Sage.
After a special day with Sage I was off to meet Heather for the night! She was in town dropping Zach off at the U for his first year of college so how fun it was for us to get in a night together for some girl time. We know better than to take selfies but desperate times require desperate measures...
Next I was rushing back to Provo to get packed up for our weekend in Brian Head! What a nice treat it was for my parents to escape with us, especially since my dad absolutely loves to be in the woods. We spent the weekend roaming around on the ATVs, visiting Cedar Breaks National Park, and going to the look out point at the top of Brian Head. Another highlight was that my sweet friend Michele, who recently moved to Cedar City which is just outside Brian Head, was able to come up and visit us for a few hours at the cabin with her husband Rick. It was so nice for my parents to see her too! And then on our way out of town we stopped in to see their beautiful house! It was a great way to spend an extended weekend!
Here we are exploring some of the trails that Jack and the boys had ridden the weekend prior.
Of course we arrived back to the cabin to find this...
We had to change that though so Ty and Jack took my parents for a spin!
And here is the sweet couple all smiles now that they are safely back!
One of the highlights for me had to be seeing Cedar Breaks National Park. I enjoyed it so much that on our way home we stopped by a second time to look at the view. I felt bad that we hadn't taken my parents here as it was literally no more than 15 minutes from the cabin but I didn't even realize this place was so close until after they left and I was researching stuff to see nearby.
On one of our hikes we found ourselves in this beautiful meadow.
Brian Head look out point!
After returning back to Provo Jack and I made it over to visit the resting spot of his dear mission president and his wife. Very few people have made an impact on a life the way these two did on Jack's. And while it was so heart breaking to watch Jack have to mourn the loss of President Lee so soon after mourning the loss of Sister Lee, how comforting it was to know that these two were back together again. They will be dearly missed and how grateful I am to them for all they did to help mold Jack into the man he is today.
Another nice drive we had never taken until this summer was the Guardsman Pass scenic drive from Park City to Midway. It was beautiful and we stopped half way through to hike to Blood Lake which was also a nice adventure. Of course leave it to Ty to take a dip into the freezing lake from the rope swing...
The three musketeers reunited! Connor, Tyler and Noah...
Visiting the Brigham City Knudsen's! How fun it was to spend a day visiting Gary, Kelly, and the boys. Of course we had to eat lunch at Maddox since it seems to be the one place everyone asks if you made it to after visiting Brigham City! Oh how Sage would love it if the boys lived closer. Her and Boston could have spent the whole day in their pool together!
Our third birthday celebration of the month!!! It would only make sense that this outdoorsman would enjoy something like this... Happy Birthday Paul!
Our last couple days were slam packed! We were definitely squeezing every ounce of fun out of Utah as we could. Jack had been talking about learning how to fly fish for quite some time so we decided this trip would be the time to learn. We hired a couple guides to take us for a day up the Provo River which is actually nationally recognized for it's amazing fishing. While it didn't prove to be as successful as we had planned, Ty and I can at least claim to have been the winners! haha! I don't know that I'll be rushing back to do it again but I can say I was a good wife and gave it a try...lol!
We spent our very last day zipping through the sky at Deer Creek. Jack, Sage and I had done this a couple years ago but the boys had yet to do it so we took them this time. From climbing all sorts of ladders to walking across a bunch of bridges, we definitely felt like we got in a good work out!
And now it's back to reality but not before the traditional photo before we head to the airport! Another shocker...grandma is not in her robe...
