Flaming Gorge

It seems we are making this trip an annual tradition! Last year, we came up here for Labor Day weekend since Santaquin Canyon was closed. (It's still closed...so sad!) We had a blast! We also met Casey's parents, Kelly and Becky, for the first time up here...so when Casey suggested we plan a camping trip with his family again, we readily agreed. We are so fortunate that our daughters have married wonderful young men. We have loved integrating Casey and Jacob into our crazy family (and still baffled as to why they agreed to marry into this mess!). We are even more lucky that they have such fun families. We loved getting to know Casey's parents better this weekend. Scott and Kaia (plus Kaia's friend, Sunni) also joined us again this year. It was a family-filled, adventure-packed weekend! Jeff, Danny, Jonas, Scott, Kaia, Sunni, and I headed up early on Thursday so we could have a little extra time on the lake. We enjoyed a little cliff jumping (I stayed on the boat) and surfing before heading to camp to meet up with everyone else for dinner. All I can say is that Jonas is part fish! That kid always wanted to jump in the water. He was a little nervous about the height from which he jumped, but any time the boat stopped, he was ready to dive in! Danny may not be part fish, but he was all adrenaline! He was the first to scramble up any cliff to jump and the first to want to surf, ski, or tube. 

The next day, we decided to float the river...twice. We enjoyed the variety of water activities last year (on the boat and the river) so we decided to repeat it. To be honest, I really liked the leisurely float. Jeff and I are still getting used to the boat and driving it can sometimes be stressful. The river was calm and there was nothing to stress about! The beauty of the canyon we floated down added to the almost serene experience (it can't be too serene with the rowdy Southwicks). We had two rafts. We switched passengers here and there, stopped to do a little cliff jumping, and just enjoyed the frigid water and warm sun.

(Jonas was always so happy when he got to ride with the big kids in the back of the truck.) When we weren't on the water, we had fun hanging out at camp. We ate TONS of yummy food, played games, and simply enjoyed making memories. One night, we went to the little camp store to grab some ice cream as a pre-celebration for Amber's birthday. (She LOVES ice cream!)

There were some early mornings or late nights that Kelly took any of the boys that wanted to go (minus Jonas) fishing. Kelly LOVES to fish! They come up to Flaming Gorge several weekends during the season. Danny doesn't love fishing or eating fish, but he was the one to score the biggest catch! Way to go Danny!

Our final day was spent back out on the lake. I have a feeling we'll be getting A LOT of use out of this boat! We surfed, tubed, boarded, and cliff jumped. Jonas jumped in the water every chance he could get. We laughed, ate, and created moments to reminisce on for the rest of our lives. Flaming Gorge is really breathtaking! 

I think this last picture of Jonas sums up how we all felt by the end of the weekend. We played hard! We laughed hard! We had a blast! I am grateful for my family...no matter how crazy we can get or how intense we may be; we are perfectly imperfect.