Forrest vs Forest

Kyle Forrest has enjoyed working for the Forest Service this summer.

A man in uniform always looks so good.

R & R

Whenever Russell gets the chance, he gets some R & R (rest & relaxation).

Gorgeous George

Tyson knows how much Russell and I really like George Strait and so he gave us tickets to his concert (July 17). THANKS TYSON! Julianna Hough (Dancing with the Stars) opened the show and we enjoyed her (where does she get her energy?). She is a Utah girl and a lot of her family was at the concert...how fun for her. Blake Shelton came out next and we would have preferred to have by-passed his performance. Not a fan. We had great chair seats, had a good time together, we enjoyed Gorgeous George, and we got home WAY past our bedtime. Ryan and Kathi went to the same concert the following night in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Tickets!
Before the concert

Us at the concert at the USANA Amphitheatre. The weather was perfect...not too hot and too too cool.

Not the best picture, but ya get the feeling. He is the best looking cowboy ever! With those Wrangler jeans, cowboy hat, and gorgeous smile, how could you not like cowboys and Country music?

Young Love

Russell had two nieces get married this summer. Kiersten married Jesse on May 15 and Amanda married Aaron on July 11. I don't have any pictures of Kiersten (sorry), but below is a picture of Amanda and her new husband and her family. They both had beautiful outdoor receptions.

Front row: Jen, Aaron, Amanda, & Bill

Back row: Issac, Daniel, Caleb, & Spencer

Havasupi

Kyle and Tyson went to Havasupi at the bottom of the Grand Canyon from July 13-16. This is an awesome place for an adventure. There is a small Indian village at the bottom of the canyon (only assessable by foot, mule, or helicopter) and then just past the village are some beautiful waterfalls. They went with six of their friends. They have both been there before and were so anxious to return. They said that because of major flooding last summer, the waterfalls changed...some of them were gone and then there were some new waterfalls.

They started hiking during the night to avoid the triple digit temperatures.
Tyson & Kyle.
No girls allowed...hmm, then why were there two girls on this trip?
The adventuresome eight.
Front row: Jace, Tally, KayAnna, Haley, & Tyson
Ryan, Kyle, & Jeff
Tyson hiking out of the canyon.

All tired after a few days of fun and a long hike out.

On their way home, a tire blew out. Scary! Gratefully everyone was okay, but they brought the car back with a window that wouldn't roll up (the motor went out), a blown out tire, a new tire that doesn't match the other tires, and an ugly dent in the bumper because of the blown out tire. Oh well, what do you do?

P.S. There are some other great pictures of the waterfalls and the bunk bed-style hammocks that the guys slept on, but because of technical problems, I can't put them on my blog. Maybe later.

The Great Outdoors

We scheduled time out all of our busy lives and went camping as a family! We left after church on July 5th and came home Tuesday afternoon. We went to Payson Lakes, of which I had never been there before. We bought a raft the Saturday before (of course at Cabela's) so we could enjoy rafting on this camp out. It has been WAY too long since we have been camping as a family. When our children were all young we went camping a lot, but as they have grown older they have had activities, other interest, and jobs that have interfered so we haven't gone camping very much as a family over the past few years. We had a great time and it brought back such great memories of when our children were young. We had great conversations, yummy food, played games, went rafting, went on a walk, Russell tried some fishing, we went on a scenic drive, and hiked to a small waterfall. This was a good way to spend time together as a family before Tyson leaves on his mission. The only thing that would have made this camp out better, is having the rest of our children and their families with us. I LOVE CAMPING! I think camping SO good in so many ways. I'm can't wait for our next camping trip.

The menfolk - Russell, Tyson, & Kyle
Kyle and Tyson slept in their hammocks.

Russell & Judy on our walk.

Tyson helping with dinner. There's nothing better then eating a good meal in the great outdoors.

On our walk - Lacey, Kyle, Russell, and Judy.

Tyson, Lindsey, Kyle, and Lacey

Lacey

Russell

Kyle, Tyson, Lindsey, & Russell carrying the raft to the lake.

Lacey, Kyle, Tyson, Aspen, & Lindsey set sail on the first raft exertion.

Kyle is doing a back flip while Lacey watches from the dock.

On our scenic drive we stopped several time to take in the awesome views. You can see Skyline Drive (Sanpete County) behind us. From another view you could see Utah County, Mount Timpanogos, Y Mountain, and the Provo Temple.

Tyson and Russell enjoy the view of Devils Kitchen also, known as a mini-Bryce Canyon.

Tyson

Kyle

Aspen enjoyed helping me with the dishes.

Lindsey is helping Kyle fold his tent as we take down camp.

We rafted over to this leaning tree and then Kyle climbed up it and then jumped off into the lake.

Kyle found a bunch of logs floating in the lake and then he gathered them together to make a raft (Tom Sawyer-style).

As the rest of us enjoyed rafting, Russell enjoyed relaxing in the shade on the shore.

When we walked to Grotto Waterfall, Kyle had fun pushing Lacey all the way under the water. Lacey was a good sport about it. There's nothing like brother and sister love.

Russell & Judy at the waterfall.

Russell, Lacey, Kyle, and Judy.

Lindsey, Aspen, and Tyson left a little while before the rest of us so they didn't get to go to the waterfall.