Cecret Lake hike

Albion Basin at Alta ski resort is well-known for it's beautiful displays of wildflowers in the late summer.  I decided to take the kids up one afternoon to check it out with our friends the Watsons and Smiths.   We decided to head up the Cecret Lake trail which is about a mile hike each way.   The wildflowers were just starting to bloom so we enjoyed seeing a few and the kids had fun putting their feet in the water at the lake.

Bear Lake

We decided to head up to Bear Lake to do some boating and camping on the lake shore.   Jimmy, Sue, and kids decided to join us for the adventure.  On the way up we stopped in Tremonton for Grandma Newman's funeral and then headed up Logan Canyon to the lake.  We were able to get one of the last camping spots on the south shore of the lake and there is a reason it was the last as it was right next to the restrooms.    We enjoyed some swimming and went out in the boat a few times but it was always choppy so nobody wanted to ski or ride for very long.  We did have smooth water one morning early but that was all.  The kids did enjoy wading, swimming, playing on the Hot Dog, and digging in the sand.    The last night there was a big storm at the north end of the lake that sent waves across the lake crashing on the south shore.   It was a big problem because many campers had boats anchored on the shore that were being battered by the waves.   The next day Jim had a disc golf tournament in Idaho so Jimmy and I and a few other campers worked to get the boat back in the water after it had been partially beached from the storm.   As we were packing up camp and getting the boat running again and on the trailer,  Benson accidentally tripped backwards into the fire pit and burned his back on some hot coals under the ashes.   He ended up with a few second degree burns on his back.   Not the best boating vacation due to the lousy campsite and choppy water but we still had a good time and had Bear Lake raspberry shakes on the way home!

Children's Pioneer Day parade

 This year our stake was selected to have a float in the Children's Pioneer Day parade which takes place the Saturday before Pioneer Day.  Grammy was awesome to make the girls pioneer costumes to wear .   The wards each wore a different color shirt and had matching balloons.  Our theme was Up with Family Values and was based on the Up! movie.   The parade ended at the City Hall and they had a children's festival with activities and crafts for the kids to participate in.  

From the Church News- our ward is the ones with the blue balloons in back

From the cover of the Church News

Cousins come to visit

 

My older brother is moving from Spokane, WA to Oklahoma.   Their first stop was the family reunion in Oregon the last week of June then they left the same day we did to follow us out here.  After a night at Grandpa and Grandma Morgan's house in Idaho they arrived here in time to enjoy the rest of evening activities on the 4th.  We spent the next few days going to the dinosaur museum, boating on Utah Lake, riding bikes, and hiking.  The kids loved having their cousins here to play! 

4th of July

 We hurried back from our trip to Oregon to be home for the Fourth of July festivities.  We are lucky to live in a community that loves to celebrate the 4th.   We started our day with a fun run from the church which Jonas completed the entire 1.5 miles, followed by a community pancake breakfast.  

Afterwards it was time to find our spot to watch the neighborhood parade which runs about 1/2 mile and anyone can enter (with the expectation that you'll pass out candy).  I was helping set up a station for the carnival at the end of the parade so just saw some of the entries as they were coming in.  Here are a few examples:

My favorite was the old car decorated to be Prince William and Kate Middleton followed by Prince Harry and Kate's sister in a sports car.

That evening we did the Circle of Fire in the cul-de-sac in front of the house.  Families around the neighborhood all brought their fireworks to set off in the circle and we had a dessert potluck including homemade ice cream and popcorn and cotton candy machines.  It was nice to have a great show of fireworks and only having to buy a few of our own to contribute.  Afterwards we went to the backyards to watch the view of the big shows around the valley.

Oregon Fun

We enjoyed a fun week spent in Oregon enjoying time with cousins and grandparents.   Some of the adults enjoyed a day of rafting on the Upper McKenzie river one day.   Another day we spent driving to Winston, OR to visit the Wildlife Safari park and then onto the Oregon coast to ride ATV's on the sand dunes.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, nightly trips to the hot tub, a trip to the indoor water park, Chuck E. Cheese, and a trip to See's Candy.    The trip to the wildlife park is the only thing I got pictures of but it was quite incredible except for the llama pictured below that spit at me.   The only between you and many of the animals was the car door so we had some great unobstructed views as we drove through the park.

Mount Hood

The end of June we headed up to Oregon for a week long reunion with my side of the family. We made arrangements to have my parents meet us in Hood River to pick up the kids so that we could climb Mt. Hood before heading down to their place. Mt. Hood is a snow/ice climb so we headed up to Alta a few weeks before to practice our snow protection and using our ice axes to self-arrest in the event of a fall. Notice the incredible amount of snow still on the mountain in late June!

After dropping off the kids we headed up to Timberline ski resort to eat dinner at the historic lodge and then laid down to sleep in the back of the Sequoia by about 8pm. We woke up in time to gear up and start up the mountain at 2am. The first few hours were spent hiking a trail the paralleled the ski runs. Once we reached the top of the resort it was time to get our crampons on.  It was freezing cold once we stopped hiking so we could gear up.  My teeth were chattering in the picture below.

We reached the Devil's Kitchen and the start of the technical part of the climb just as the sun was coming up. 

As there were massive amounts of people on the mountain that morning we opted not to take the most popular route and instead headed straight up to and around the bergshrund (large crevasse) and up the Pearly Gates route. 

Coming around the crevasse, you can see all the way to the base of the resort

The Pearly Gates

The route we climbed

 

We summited about 7:30am with a beautiful 360 degree view. We could see Mt. Saint Helens, Rainer, and Adams to the north and Mt. Jefferson and the three Sisters to the south. 

 

We fought the crowds heading down the Mazama chute and then glissaded much of the way down once we hit the resort runs. Jim got going so fast riding his avalanche shovel down the hill that he even burned a hole in his pants. Red is the ascent route and green is the descent including right over the jumps in the terrain park. 

 

We grabbed some lunch at Calamity Jane's in Sandy, OR (where they had a divine berry cobbler) and then headed to Portland to wait for my brother's flight to land that night.  We went to a local disc golf park to kill some time and catch a nap in the car.  While sitting out next to the car this raccoon run right by us.