Independence Week!

I recently spent a week vacationing with the family. The Mathews Reunion was again held in Heber City at the church camp. And this year, Grandma outdid herself and took us for a train ride on the Heber Creeper before heading to camp. She even got everyone train conductor hats and scarves! It was pretty awesome to have all 30+ of us matching on the train. After the train ride, we headed to camp where we enjoyed home movies, viking spiel, and a treacherous ropes course. Logan headed back to Logan after the reunion to finish up some work and Jack and I jumped in with my mom and went to Gunnison for the rest of the weekend. I enjoyed playing with Adam and Will and attending Alice's birthday dinner. Then on Tuesday, Logan picked up Scott at the airport and they met us in Gunnison late that night. Slowly, the rest of the Pickett family trickled in and on Thursday, we all headed to Maple Grove for more camping. We got back Friday night just in time for the Gunnison Independence Festivities which included fireworks and a dinner at the park. We even heard Neil Diamond himself (almost) perform. Go Gunnison! The next day we did all the regular 4th activities; the parade, park, eating and napping. That evening we played Minute to Win it (more posts to come on that). Finally on Sunday, it was time to head back to reality- wa wa :( and back home we went.

Our week was full of so many fabulous things including:

Grandma and Grandpa Mathews on the Heber Creeper. All Aboard!

Jack wasn't loving the hat.

So we made his into a do-rag instead

The most terrifying zip line ever. I was totally peer pressured into it. Wait, I thought this was a church activity!

Grandmas Alice's fun swing.

An awesome cape made by Aunt Diana

Lots of napping and camping.

Matching family t-shirts made by yours truly.

And matching a bandana for people who refuse to wear t-shirts

Jack's first real injury which was accidentally inflicted by his dad. The first of many to come. Poor little head.

Logan trying to be friends with Jack again.

Logan climbing the face of the infamous "Big Rock"

Hiking!

The grandkids.

Crazy Old "Bill Jones" and his ideas

A sneaky and delightful squirrel who got into our trash.

A sister piano duet! Just like old days.

Fireworks!

The parade. I used Jack as a decoy so I could round up bags of candy without looking greedy.

We may have overdone it with activities. Jack was exhausted in the end.

Dilly bars. Nothing better than a dilly bar.

Swimming in ice cold water.

The Backhoe!

Backhoe rides with Grandpa.

River Walk

I discovered a little walk way that runs along the twin creeks next to our house. It's a little ghetto, but we love it and it is so much better than walking along the road next to all the traffic. Jack and I usually make a trip there once a day or more. Ducks are common and sometimes we even get to see things like dogs, cats, snakes, crows, and the river monster. Jack's favorite thing to do is to pull leaves off the trees as we pass and then eat them. It has almost become an instinct. In fact, today I had him in my arms and I walked past a plant in our house; immediately he stuck his hands out and ripped a handful of leaves off and my plant fell to the floor. Looks like we have a little herbivore on our hands.

Jack's stump. We always stand on this and let him stick his toes in the water.

He just loves those leafy greens.

Miss Utah

We recently spent the weekend in downtown Salt Lake with Logan's family to support Hannah in Miss Utah. That's right, I'm related to royalty, Miss Sanpete/Gunnison herself. Logan's mom and dad outdid themselves and got everyone hotel rooms to stay in. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures until the very end, so all I got was when we took Madee and Lafe to Boondocks. I smoked everyone in mini golf. Didn't know I had it in me. We didn't have a score card, but I did have one of Jack's diapers (clean) in my bag so we kept score on that. Later, Jack proudly wore the diaper around with my winning score. Hannah did so good at Miss Utah and it was a blast watching her!

Me and Madee at Boondocks

Logan smoked me.

Madee and Lafe duke it out.

Again, Lafe what are you doing? Crazy Uncle Lafe.

I fell on a metal bolt. Seriously, my arm is injured here, but no one helps me, they just laugh.

Cups

Jack is learning to drink out of a cup. He is quite fascinated by them and rarely seems startled when he dumps the entire cup down his shirt.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail

We hiked the Boneville Shoreline trail recently. Its simple, short, yet beautiful walk that overlooks Cache Valley. We took Jack in the backpack Staci and Scott generously gave to us. Jack loves being outdoors and smiled the whole hike until he smiled himself to sleep.

I love this sign. The poor hiker is the loser. Lucky horses.

There is a cute little bench you can sit on and overlook the valley and ponder the meaning of life.

A day in the life of an Ogden Citizen

Staci and Scott made a last minute trip up to Salt Lake and so we decided to meet up with them in Odgen. I stumbled upon some information about a program that was hosting a free day at a bunch of locations for children. I think it was mainly for Ogden citizens, but we decided to join the fun anyway. We went to the Aerospace Museum and to the children's museum, The Treehouse. It was so much fun. Especially when the hurricane hit Ogden and almost blew us away, don't know what that was all about.

The Treehouse Museum

President Adam. Oh no.

Adam loves Jack.

The Aerospace Museum. We've finally landed on the moon!

Community Garden

It makes me sad that we live in apartments with no real yard and definately no room to plant a garden. Well thankfully, we found out about the Community Gardens here in Logan. You pay 30 dollars for a plot and its yours for the summer. And what makes it even better is I think it has magic soil because even our garden is starting to grow. Thank you secret garden gnomes!

The beginning- our weed plot. Notice the plots around us are already nice and planted.

Finally!

Free Fishing Day

I am way behind on my posts so these next couple are going to be brief. We went to Hyrum Reservoir for free fishing day. We didn't catch a thing. In fact, since we moved to Logan, the only thing we've caught is a tiny little guppy fish. We just can't hack it here in Cache Valley.