A Week in the Life

Hi friends.  I've been too busy to play blog catch-up lately.  But hey, maybe I can play blog keep-up. Despite lots of work craziness, we've still had some fun as a family this week.  Here are the latest photos from my roll.  

Hiking with Zion.  This dog does really well when he's had lots of exercise and mental stimulation, particularly off leash.  But gosh, he demands a lot of time.  It's a good thing I like hitting the trails as well.  Here we are at the top of the Salt Lake Overlook in Millcreek.

It was a good thing we didn't hike any farther because I'd completely forgotten how some of the gals from our block were gathering for lunch at Cucina.  I sure love where we live!  Our house may be imperfect, but the community is priceless.  Here are Hannah, Aubri, and Robin, all of whom live within a block.

That evening we went to an event for Intermountain Healing Hearts at Cross E Ranch.  Annika invited her friend Atticus.  These two bonded over their shared interest in wolves--hence the tails.  Atticus is a grade younger so he and Annika no longer attend the same school but are still friends.  If pressed, they'll both confess that they have a crush on the other.  Ah, tween romance.   

It always makes me happy to watch Annika run and jump.  A year ago she wouldn't have been able to participate without constant beat breaks.

Eli and I enjoyed playing together as well.

While Eli and I were rocking the tubes, Atticus and Annie perfected their climbing skills.

The slides were highly entertaining as well.

Jenga, anyone?

Photo time.

Beautiful sunset.

IHH held a brief meeting, complete with cupcakes to celebrate its 18th Birthday.  Afterward, we headed over to the corn pits and watched the pig races.  Best part is that we got a bounce back pass, so we're looking forward to doing it again!

Evidence that the corn ends up everywhere...

On Saturday we hike a little longer with Zion, heading up to Park City where we checked out the Run-a-Muk off leash dog park.  It was fine, but personally I prefer Millcreek or the Bonneville Shoreline.

Hankering for a more strenuous trail, I brought everyone to explore Summit Park where Zion met the moose earlier in the week.  Still a lovely trail, but thankfully no moose encounters.  Annika did great on the way up, hiking faster than I can and even running uphill in places.  My heart feels so joyful every time I see what her heart can do!  She may have overdone a bit though, because her legs got tired and she got cranky right before the ridge line.

Made it!

Last but not least, we headed to a Halloween event with Mascot Miracles that evening.  It was supposed to be an outdoor parade and drone show, but a huge rain and wind storm moved it indoors to a giant arena.  The wait to get into the booths was super long, but Annika still had a fun time.

Thank you Mascot Miracles for making our medically challenged kids feel loved.

Backpacking to Red Castle

Another post where pictures pretty much say it all.

Backpacking.

Red Castle Lake in the High Uinta Mountains.

Jason, Eli, three teenage boys from the neighborhood, Talia, Zion and me.

Let me tell you, eight people plus eight large packs plus a mid-sized dog makes for one crowded car!

We left on our adventure two days after school started.  Our family has never been particularly committed to school attendance when high-quality education in the wider world is an option, but I felt pretty guilty taking three other kids out of school too.  Eli and Talia assured me that almost nothing happens during the first week of school.

But hey, lots happened for us!  One of the young men in our congregation (Tak) approached Jason earlier in the summer asking if Jason would take him backpacking to this place he had researched--Red Castle.  When Jason brought it up, I thought it was a great idea, assuming Talia and I could come along.  Thanks for the idea, Tak!  Sometimes a little outside encouragement makes it easier to muster the time and planning required to make a trip like this happen.  Plus, Jason really misses hanging out with the youth.

Personally, I was delighted to have this extra time with Talia before she headed off to BYU the following week.

While we provided a packing list, some of the guys brought some interesting extra items, like a beaver skin hat...

...and a toilet seat.  If you count both John and Zion, I suppose we had ten in our party.

Red Castle Lake was more than ten miles in from our starting point at China Meadows, making this the longest backpacking trip I've ever been on.  Everyone managed the trek well, but Tak was the speediest by far.  From left to right in this picture we have Magnus, Eli (hidden), Theo, and Tak.

A long journey, but totally worth it.

Zion couldn't have been happier.  He raced back and forth between everyone in our party, easily covering twice the distance.

You don't really see any large formations until you arrive when suddenly you understand where the name Red Castle comes from.  Stunning.

We found a great campsite at Lower Red Castle Lake and explored the Middle and Upper lakes the next day.

There was even a nearby stream for keeping our perishables cool.  Just don't ask Jason how the eggs turned out...

Three of the teens brought poles and were super excited about fishing.

Too bad a storm rolled in shortly after they started. 

Also, Talia might want to remove the tags from her sweatshirts.  Although, I'm pretty sure this one came from NomiAnn's closet in Omaha, meaning that the tag could have been there for decades.

Good thing I packed ponchos!

Magnus was prepared too.

Beautiful skies after.

The boys caught a fish that needed to be brought back to camp and safely stashed in the stream for safe keeping.  Having hiked so many miles the day before, Talia and I were plenty happy to turn back and relax while the gents carried on.  We named the fish Jerry.  By the time we got back, Jerry was kind of smelly.

We also saw a moose!  We spotted others in the distance near the lake as well, but this was the best photograph.

Meanwhile the boys hiked hard.

Everyone was hungry for dinner that evening.  Except for the fish--they'd lost their stomachs and their appetites.

Having added another 10 miles to our hiking tally, we all slept well that night.

A horseshoe for good luck on the trail home the next day.

Thank you Jason...

Thank you Talia...

Thank you Eli...

...and thank you Red Castle for sharing your beauty.  A couple days of school are easily forgotten, but this was an experience we'll remember forever.