memorial weekend

we had prepped ourselves all week and were waiting for the kids to finish school so we could take off for the weekend.  we were so excited to use the new trailer.  the girls tested it out while they ate their lunch and waited for the other kids to get home from their last day of school.

we spent the weekend up at strawberry reservoir.   

so so glad we took these guys.  they had a blast at the lake.

addy was being sweet and cuddly with aunt darci.

the weather wasn't the best.  it was cold and very overcast.  at times it sprinkled, then rained.  towards the end of our trip it started snowing on us.

the kids didn't care what the weather was like, they had a blast.

at points i struggled with even being able to keep coats on them.

we did a lot of fishing, eating, and relaxing.

i made the comment that i think all senses are blurred while camping because everything seems to taste better and no one seems to be able to smell each other.  i think it is the campfire and the smoke.

we had a spot right on the bank of the lake.

grandpa loves his grandkids and they sure do love him.

sadly, we only went out on the boat once.  it was windy and very cold.  we had all 17 of us piled into grandma and grandpa's boat.  everyone was quite discouraged because no one even caught a fish, no one even got a bite.  lily struggled to get into her life jacket then promptly fell asleep with her hands stuffed into the jacket.  grandma brought every treat she could find and i think there were no treats left when we got back to camp.  we were all so thankful for ryan who brought his fishing boots and carried everyone on and off the boat.  poor thing almost fell on his face when he was getting out.  it was funny when we all knew he was okay.

the twins celebrating their birthday in their favorite place.

 it's not camping without making smore's.

we made smore's with the largest marshmallows you have every seen.

darci brought the largest marshmallows ever to share with everyone.

even grandma made herself a smore.  

they made the biggest mess.

smore lovin

collecting firewood.  firewood was hard to find.  everything was still so wet.

cold morning breakfast.

we did manage to catch some fish from the shore.  jared and ryan just left their fish on the stringer in the lake to clean at a later time.  ryan continued to fish by the stringer then went around the lake to the other side.  he watched some pelicans fight over the stringer of fish and tried to scare them away but not before one swallowed the whole stringer and five fish whole.

i tried so hard to keep coats on my kids.  it really was cold especially when it was windy and down by the lake.

i had no problem keeping this kid bundled.

our campsite.  we made reservations in this campground because we thought there would not be any spots when we got to the reservoir.  when we arrived on friday night there were probably only 7 spots taken out of approximately 45 campsites.  our spots were on the other side of the campground and were filled with water.  we asked the hosts if we could move and i think we ended up with the most prime spots in all of the campground.

freezing down by the lake.

gunner and penny had the time of their lives down at the lake.

gunner has never been one for the water but he couldn't get enough of fetching the stick out of the water.  penny would wait until he was to the shore to take the stick from him just so she could get some recognition also.

we are so glad we brought our dogs because on monday morning our dear sweet gunner passed away.  he hadn't been feeling very good on sunday night and we were worried about him.  but on monday morning when jared let him out of his kennel, he seemed so much better.  jared said he went over to get a drink of water then came back up by the trailer where he collapsed.  he never got up.  we were so broken hearted.  he was a member of our family for 11 years.  we brought him home and buried him in jared's parents pasture.

on our way home we stopped in heber and visited jared's grandma's grave.  the cemetery looked so festive. 

jared's grandparents have the best spots in the whole cemetery.  see the trees straight on?  their plots are right in the middle of the clump of trees.  it is so beautiful there.

we miss our dear sweet grandma.  she was such an angel.