In the "Adventure" Post, I mention that Bryce had been cranky, however all the pictures in that post he looked so cheerful. Here is a photo of him pretending to smile but... well a picture says it better than I can.
I just see all over his face "Is this over yet?" Or, "Tell me I was adopted." Right after this he tranformed. Not sure what or how this exactly happened but what matters is that it happened!!!
Yesterday, what we thought would be a 3 hour trip turned into an ALL day adventure. We set off early to pick Bryce up from Timberline Camp up near Mount Pleasant, Utah. One hour drive up, a hopefully short program and another hour drive home.
Again, David discovered that if we just continue on this back road it would get us to highway 6 which is the very road that takes us to Utah Valley. Lets take the scenic route once again that took only 4 times longer but we did not see another living soul along the way. It is a good thing too the road was barely wide enough for our car and there were rock walls on either side of the roads!!!
The drive was Incredible! However I could not help thinking 1-I hope this is the actual road that goes to Hwy 6, 2-I hope we do not have car troubles (because we will be stranded for days not to mention no cell coverage there), and 3-Did we take the right side of the fork in all 3 forks? I took a lot of comfort in knowing that we had a tent, two sleeping bags and lots of water in the car.
It was definitely an adventure. No real harm was done except... 
-David and I missed the Osmond/Mormon Tab. Pioneer concert we had tickets to
-A flat tire
-David spraying Ross, the inside and out of the car, and me with muddy water driving crazy through the once dry river bottoms that had water due to the storms we were witnessing all afternoon
-I was in flip flops (because I thought it was a simple up and back trip), try hiking in flip flops!!! OK, this was not harmful but just a little irritating.
-We did not have jacket. Normally we would not have needed them being in a hot triple digit climate but it was chilly day and would have liked having a jacket!
Despite these little annoyances, we would all do it again because this is what we saw/experienced...
-most amazing water and firework show put on by Mother Nature. Thunder is REALLY REALLY REALLY loud when you are only a 1/2 mile from where it strikes.
-The possible start of wilderness fire due to lightening (yes, we reported it). We never saw fire just smoldering.
-The most incredible and beautiful drive of my life, driving over a mountain. Whe
re can you be in the most green and lush meadow and a half a minute later be in a desolate wilderness? We can show you!!! BTW, never ever assume cutting through a mountain will save you time!!! It was well worth it but 12 miles took 45 minutes!!!
-Learning the difference between Picturegraphs and Petroglyphs and getting to see both
-Cave explorations
-Fun with echos
-Learning to love Utah despite my resistance!
-Being beyond thrilled that all the kids left their DS, gameboys, MP3 players at home and enjoying the ride as much as the destinations!
-Seeing the transformation of a tired, cranky, camping pre-teen boy that was not particularly thrilled to see his family (or at least he hid it really well) become a cheerful, talkative (holy cow did he talk), happy to be with his family again after a weeks absent 12 year old son/brother.
-Hair standing up due to the lightening storm (yes, we made sure the storm was far far far a way before we got out of the car).
-Eating Gyros for dinner (I LOVE LOVE LOVE gyros, Umm good)
If only you could have seen our car at its dirtiest!!! We could have gotten a way with a crime because there was no way of reading our license plate. I went out to see the car this morning. Although it is not clean it is no where near as dirty as it was, thanks to the rain storm we drove through on our way home.
Here is a sum of the trip. I quote from my adorable 10 year old Pierce, "It looked like Dad wanted to see the Whole Utah in one day!"
w times as a kid, plus I grew up with a swimming pool but I would not call myself a swimmer.
. I want them to continue through the entire year. I would love my kids to be on the swim team at school! Such a great sport that they will actually use the rest of their lives.
w but how brown and desolate it must have been.
ang as they walked and walked and walked!" The kids all thought they knew how those Pioneer kids felt. HA, we hiked a measly 4 miles with hardly a thing to carry. Then we hopped into a car, DROVE home, took baths/showers and slept in our cozy beds!!! 
to even mention we had sunscreen, bug repellent, great food, the list goes on and on. 
The mosaic: 
1. Yummy homemade taco salad with Cilantro dressing (I'm drooling just thinking about it) 2. Dried mangos
Uncle Peter told me a funny story about my adorable cousin Janell, aka The Frumpster! However before I tell the story I have to give some background information.
ite uncles. Often have I heard these words, "Hi this is your favorite Uncle so and so."
until that particular family will get another chance to get them. I lost a baby and I am pretty sure that baby went to another home." In fact during a blessing I received at the time I was losing this baby, the holy ghost whispered to me this child was going to another home.
As you may know if you have read other posts of mine, we were camping in the Grand Canyon on the North Rim a few weeks ago with my sister. While there my little Ross says to my sister...
On our camping trip Ross and Uncle Jim were playing a guessing game. You each pick a card with a face on it. You then ask question until you figure out which person the other player has.
for our annual 4TH of July camping trip. We had the time of our lives!
On our way home we took a bit of a detour and checked out Bryce Canyon. It is breath taking as well and we look forward to a weekend trip to really see this National Park.
