Trip to Philmont

We continued from Martin's Cove all the way down to Philmont in New Mexico. It was a long trip but we saw a lot of land we'd never seen before. The weather was hot and dry and we were reminded often to drink water to prevent elevation sickness.

Each child was able to join a group of youth of their age. During the day they would hike, play, and eat. Then at night we would gather and do family activities like roping, dancing, and dutch oven cooking.

Everyone loved riding small and large horses. The handlers were so great with the kids and the animals and we really enjoyed our time with them.

It sure is harder to get on a horse than to get off it. I think someone had to shove my butt so I could get in the saddle.

Summer Fun

So many fun activities have filled the summer. It's hard to fit them all in here. We enjoyed setting off rockets at Elger Bay Elementary while school was out.

We celebrated Frazier's birthday on a fabulously warm and pleasant day.

We found an indoor swimming pool in Oak Harbor and enjoyed the afternoon playing together.

Trip to Martin's Cove

 We drove out from Salt Lake to Martin's Cove to see where my dear Alice Walsh survived with her children. It was so hot that we had a difficult time picturing it in freezing ice and snow. We kept hoping a small passing cloud would cover us.

There was much complaining on the pull towards the cove. When we arrived at a group of seating, Paul sat them down and gave them the "why are we here" lecture. They were much better behaved afterwards.

Calvin even picked up a heavy rock that looked like obsidian and carried it back to the car. We visited the center and enjoyed the displays.

You can see Devil's Gate back there behind us. After this we drove to Independence Rock and the kids climbed up and down until they were tired. We camped at a nearby site with the missionaries.