Over the 4th of July weekend, we went camping at the Tushar Lakeside Campground on Beaver Mountain. It was the Morwood Reunion and we had a really fun time camping and being with our family. The weather was great and it was really nice to get out of the heat of St. George even though had to wear jackets.
Near the campground was a little reservoir that was fun to fish in and go canoeing on. I like going on the canoe because my job was to just hold Emily and Russell had to do all of the rowing! I think I had the better deal. I warned Russell not to tip us over because a couple years ago, when I was pregnant with Emily, we tipped over and it was not fun (but it was pretty funny!). Anyway, the little lake is full of moss and seaweed so if we tipped we would probably be tangled in the underwater vegetation and never come out alive. It was fun nonetheless and Emily loved riding on the boats and surprisingly held so still while we were canoeing. Below is a picture of my mom and brother, Clint, riding in the canoe. My mom was a little worried about getting in the canoe with Clint because she was worried he would tip her over but she finally agreed to go and even though he rocked the boat a little to scare her they didn't tip.
We also brought our four-wheelers to go riding on the fun trails on the mountain. This is Josh's skeleton of a four-wheeler. He had to take off all of the fenders and the seat so he could get to the battery to jump it because he is to cheap to by a new battery. We had a good time laughing at Josh as he rode his little 4-wheeler up and down the road, riding wheelies.
Emily loved camping. She especially loved playing with all of her cousins and playing in the dirt. She even rolled in the dirt. Her nickname was Pigpen. Emily also loved playing with my parents' dog, Scooter. As you can tell from the picture the dog is bigger than Emily and wasn't quite sure if she liked Emily petting her (or should I say hitting her).
My sister, Tami, gave my mom a dinner bell for Christmas or something one year. As a joke, my mom rang the bell whenever dinner was ready. In this picture, Emily is ringing the bell telling us all it was "dinna tom."
Emily loves reading books so we took some camping with us. She would grab a book and climb up on the couch in the trailer and read her book. Her favorite for this trip was "Snow White," she especially likes the dwarfs and sings "HI-HO HI-HO!" everytime she sees them.
After reading books it is time for bed. Emily is usually not this happy to go to bed, she usually throws a fit. But tonight she saw the camera on the counter and wanted me to take a picture of her. "CHEESE!" she says each time I bring out the camera.
This year my parents were in charge of the family reunion so they had to plan the activities and everything else. Lucky me, I was put in charge of the family games. I decided to do a "Fear Factor" sort of game. For the first portion of the game, we decorated our team flags and balanced on cardboard pieces to get from one point to another (see above pictures). Then the next event the teams had to decode a secret message (this gave Russell and me time to dish out the Fear Factor Food!) For our "Family Lunch" (Fear Factor style) we had rattlesnake meat, brain matter, bloody scabs, cockroaches & night crawlers, Devil's poop, raw fish, monster fingers, cat food, and slime. Doesn't that sound delicious!? The funniest was watching everyone eat the Devil's poop (jalapenos) and the raw fish (Kipper snacks). After our "lunch" we started the final portion of the games, the obstacle course. We did bubble gum blowing, three-legged race, clothes-pin ring toss, balloon kangaroo jump, and the grand finale... the CANOE RACE to get the team flag. The canoe race was the fun to watch because some people were really good at rowing and others just rowed in circles because they couldn't figure out how to go straight. Some teams even tried to tip the other teams over in order to get ahead. Unfortunately we were one canoe short so the last team had to run around the lake the get their flag instead of canoe. Surprisingly, this team actually beat two of the canoeing teams! The games were a lot of fun, even the people participating said they had a good time.
The next day we served homemade donuts and ice cream and had the award ceremony for the games. I made little trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place out of Styrofoam cups, and I also made individual team awards for each team. It was fun to hear everyone cheer for each other and laugh at each other when they received their awards. My family (pictured above) were the winners! I gave out the following awards: The Purple Team (Janet, Jaw's family, and Terral) won the Most Team Spirit Award. The Blue Team (Brooke and Dane's family and Jess and Josh) won the Hot & Spicy Award because they had to eat the most Jalapenos. The Green Team (Rick's family) won the Extra Mile Award because they were the ones that had to run around the lake instead of canoe. The Orange Team (John & Hollie's family and Tami's family) won the Lean on Me Teamwork Award because during the three-legged race they carried their partners instead of walking with them! The Yellow Team (Don Lynn's family and Clint) won 3rd place and the Best Flag award. The Red Team (Chad's family) won 2nd place and the Fastest Canoe Rowers award because their arms were rowing so fast trying to get to their flag. But they couldn't beat my dad and Clay! And finally the Brown Team (my family) won 1st place and the Most Competitive award!
During the reunion we also tied about twelve quilts for a Humanitarian project. Each year we try to do some type of Humanitarian project like school kits, newborn kits, picture books, hygiene kits, toy cars, or quilts.
We also went on a big four-wheeler ride on Monday July 5th.
I had never been on the trails on Beaver mountain because this is the first year we have had our four-wheeler. As you can see from these pictures, the trails were beautiful and the scenery was amazing. We rode pretty much all day and it was so nice to just get away and relax.
Emily and Chrislyn picked dandelions for Terral and me while we were stopping to stretch. Then later on in the trail, we stopped to eat lunch near a stream. All I can say again is it was beautiful. We saw a few deer and drove passed the Three Creeks Lake and the Beaver High Adventure camp. It was a lot of fun and we were so dirty afterward because of the dust! I had a great birthday because I got to spend it doing the things I love, being with family in the mountains four-wheeling! Even though I am a quarter of a century old now which means I am officially OLD! I am feeling great and loving life!
We had a great reunion and it was so nice to see all of our family and spend time together in the beautiful mountains. Now that we are home I want to go back.
Russell has to be the greatest marshmallow roaster ever. I don't have enough patience to slow roast the perfect mallow, I tend to catch mine on fire. So now Russell roasts all of my mallows. Emily loved the fire, I think she was fascinated by the bright flames. I made her sit on Russell's lap because I was worried she might want a closer look. She was okay with that especially when we gave her her first S'more. She was so sticky but she loved every bite.
We also took a four-wheeling trip while we were camping and found this beautiful waterfall. The water seemed to just come out of the mountain because I we just happened to find it. The water was cold when we put our hands in it. Emily's favorite part was splashing her hands in the water. But she was upset when I wouldn't let her actually get in the water.
And no camping trip is complete without a tea party with Grandma! My sister, Lacie, gave us this tea set because her kids had out grown it and we just keep it in the trailer so Emily can play with it camping. She brought out her "party" every chance she could to play with grandma.
