Colorado Trip Part 1

Hmm... where do I even start? I have been so incredibly busy lately I feel like I rarely have time to sit down and write a post. I guess that's a good thing for the summer - staying busy and having fun!

Well, to start, our good friends and neighbors Jared and Whitney invited us to go on their annual elk/deer hunting trip with their family out in Colorado. We were so excited because I haven't been camping in a long time and Jonathan has never been camping, so it was a good experience for the both of us (Plus! I got to cross off one more thing on my bucket list!). We left August 23rd around 2pmish and headed out. We stopped in Ogden and visited with Jared's family where we had dinner and rested. We then continued our fun journey and finally got to Whitney's parents' house in Colorado around 4 in the morning. We were pretty tired by then!

Not even to Idaho falls yet and Daddy's already taking another nap.

Say cheeeeese

Had to keep her entertained somehow haha

The next day we got up and left around noon and headed for our campsite. The next few hours consisted of setting up camp and our tents and meeting her family. They are all so nice and fun to be with. They brought a few dogs and Lydia got to practice her "ruh-ruh-ruh" sounds for "what's a puppy say." She doesn't like it when dogs lick her face, but she sure loves them anyway! I can't remember if they went out hunting that evening or if they went the next morning, but me and Lydia always skipped out on the morning hunts which started at 5am because it was too chilly in the morning. We did go on the evening hunts, which was fun. The family shoots with a bow and arrow, which is a lot different than my family, so it was really neat to see how passionate they were about shooting with their bows! Just about every family member has their own! And even Whitney's mom shoots! Pretty cool!

showing me some wonderful dirt treasure

Lydia's first four wheelin' ride (to the porta potties! yay) *Our tent in the background*

Having so much fun with the dog :)

Lydia trying to sneak up on Valentine so she won't lick her haha

Jonathan, modeling by a tree haha

Got our camo-all ready to go trackin'!! (which ended up not happening haha)

When a family member shoots a deer they wait for it to die off for a few hours and either track it later or the next morning. After the evening hunts when it gets too dark, we'd come back to camp, make s'mores and sing songs and chat around the fire before heading to bed. It was a really fun time. One of the family friend's sons actually shot a tiny deer, so I got to see them cut it, skin it and hang it up on a tree. The last night we were there Whitney's mom actually shot a really nice buck, but the next morning when they tracked it, they found the spot where it bedded down with lots of blood, but no deer. So that was unfortunate. We were all so excited for them because we hadn't had very much luck the previous days.

the family friend's son who got a kill

riding in the back of the excursion during the evening hunt

Monday was our last morning there and then Jared and Whitney drove us back to their house where we met up with Jonathan's dad and he took us back to his house in Lakewood, while they returned to camp. We had a great time camping, but I was also glad to be back to a normal shower and toilet! While camping I actually preferred peeing in the woods versus the 12,000,476,841,321,314 bazillion fly-infested stinky outhouse...but even then I'll take the comfort of the porcelain throne over the woods!

At Grandpa's house!

So many fun things to explore!

In a little hand made Mexican outfit haha

While in Lakewood we spent time with Jonathan's dad and his sister, Laura, and her family. Jonathan's dad was pretty lonely because his wife had spent the last few weeks-month in Mexico with her mother because she has become very ill, so it was nice to have someone at home with his dad. I can only imagine how lonely it would be being by yourself all the time. He would work a lot to pass the time away, so he loved having us and Lydia there. Lydia really loves "bam-buh" :) I really enjoyed being there too.. it was nice to get away from Rexburg, and I love Jonathan's parents, not to mention we didn't have to worry about reality or our duties at home. It was a nice little mini vacation. And Lydia loves playing with her cousin, Anna, and giving "muah" kisses to her other baby cousin, Samantha. :)

We left for Rexburg that Thursday the 30th, which was a trip I was kind of dreading. I didn't bring any toys or books for Lydia (I learned my lesson), and she was used to not being in a carseat when we were up at camp - whenever we'd drive around during the hunt on the dirt roads she sat on my lap- so she haaaaated being stuck back in her carseat. It was a miserable trip back home. I was kind of getting carsick, Lydia had 3 poopy diapers, didn't fit in the forward facing carseat Laura gave us, and then fussed/screamed the rest of the time. Needless to say, I was glad to be home and didn't want to go on another road trip for a very long time while with her.

The one and only nap during the whole trip home. Poor slunched munchkin.

And guess what? The next week after we got home, we left for Colorado again! But I'll save that for Colorado Trip Part 2.