Flaming Gorge

This has been our third year to return to Flaming Gorge...and it won't be our last. This seems to have replaced our annual Santaquin Canyon camping trip. Unfortunately, Santaquin Canyon is still closed. I'm not sure when or if they will repair the road. Thankfully, we can still access our favorite hike via Payson Canyon, but it's not the same. In any case, Flaming Gorge started as an alternative camping spot for the year the canyon shut down and has now become an annual tradition. Last year, we camped with Casey's family...and that happened again this year. Scott even came back for a third year! (Sadly, Kaia wasn't able to join us.) We left on Thursday and returned on Sunday. We got up early Thursday (August 12th) in an effort to maximize our time on the lake. This was Dallin's first year to join us, but one of his best friends was getting married the same weekend so Dallin only stayed one night with us. However, life had different plans for us. On the way up, the boys were pulling the boat when another vehicle alerted them that there was something wrong with the boat trailer. Fortunately, we were right outside of Heber when it happened. After a three hour delay, the trailer was fixed and we were back on the road. We reached Dutch John (the little town by Flaming Gorge where we have stayed the past three years) around 3:00 p.m. We quickly dropped off the camp trailer, picked up Laurin & Carter (Casey stayed back to help his mom set up their RV) and headed to the lake...only to be stopped at the boat launch due to a medical emergency. We were informed that an individual had been cliff jumping and injured him/herself. A life flight helicopter landed on the launch to assist in transporting the person to the nearest hospital. It was cool to see the helicopter land and take off; it was just sad that it had to be under such circumstances. Finally, we were able to get a little more than an hour on the lake. All the boys were dying to just get in the water and do a little cliff jumping. After that, Dallin got some time on the boards before we headed back to the campsite for dinner and games.

Friday was our river day. We did two runs down the river. Dallin joined us for the first one then left after that. (Amber and Jacob made it up late the night before to join the rest of the weekend's festivities.) I always enjoy the river, and today was no exception. The second run was even better than the first. It was like we had the river to ourselves! The boys wrestled and tried to "conquer" our other boats/kayaks. Unfortunately, Amber, Kat (Scott's girlfriend), and I got stuck in the watery conquests against our wills, but we still had fun. Of course, we found places to pull the boats out of the water so those who wanted to could do a little cliff jumping. Jonas really surprised me this year. I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but he jumped off some taller rocks than last year. I'm proud of him for not allowing his anxieties to overcome him; I just hope he always uses wisdom when jumping.

Scott

Danny

Danny

Jonas

That evening, after dinner, Jeff and I decided to take the boat out for a sunset cruise. I think this has become my new favorite thing! The water was so calm (in most places) and the lake was peaceful (except for our rowdy bunch). Jonas and Danny still insisted that they needed to swim, cliff jump, and surf (for Danny), but we did get some peaceful moments of just cruising down a smaller canyon.

Saturday (August 14th), we returned to the lake for a full day of fun in the sun! I was actually surprised at how little we pulled out the boards/tubes. We never pulled out the tubes and the kneeboards were only out for a little while. Kat and Danny took a turn on the wakeboard, but the water was pretty choppy. However, we spent ample amounts of time in the water. We found this little cove where we could do some swimming and cliff jumping without being concerned about boats buzzing by. Jonas got more than enough time in the water. I'm pretty sure he thought this was the best boating trip ever! That kid just loves to swim! We ended our lake day a little before dinner because the winds kicked up, but thankfully they died down again allowing us another quite evening cruise on the lake. This time, Danny decided to stay at the trailer and Jonas had already maxed out his swimming legs for the day so we were just able to quietly cruise around the lake before pulling the boat out. 

The weekend went by way too fast! It was the last weekend of the summer. I can't believe that we only really have one more summer with Danny because the following summer he plans to leave on a mission. And, I know it sounds silly, but I only have 10 more summers with Jonas too. It sounds like a lot,  but if this summer was any indication, they go by fast! I will admit it was stressful (at times) getting ready for this trip and juggling other obligations. This was the third weekend in a row that we weren't home and that has worn on me a little, but it was worth. From the laughs on the lake, to being rowdy on the river, and everything in between, we made memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. I may make this trip sound completely idyllic; to be totally transparent, it wasn't. There was one morning Danny was so frustrated with Jeff and I (more me than Jeff) because of hard parenting choices that Danny almost didn't join us that day. There were other moments when snappy words were spoken and frustrations mounted. We are not a perfect family...but we are family. We still keep showing up. We keep loving. We keep moving forward. I am truly grateful for this family that we have created. Some people were born into it; some people married in...all are essential! Here's to another great trip and another summer in the books!

(By the way, here are a few pictures from Tyler Chisholm's wedding. Dallin was one of the groomsmen. Dallin had an amazing group of friends in high school. It makes my heart happy to see them all doing good things and moving in positive directions.)

Tanner Pope, Hunter Chapman, Jeffrey Flinders, Dallin, Tanner Dehart