It's been 13 years since our family last camped. Connor was just 2 and it was just an overnighter up one of the Cottonwood canyons. He's been asking to go every year since, but for some reason we just never made it work. Well, the reason is that Zach didn't have the desire to. I don't blame him - it's a lot of work. I found that out last weekend when we finally organized ourselves enough to go up for a night with all of Zach's family and a couple of his sisters' boyfriends who luckily had extra tents and gear for all 21 of us.
My father-in-law, brother-in-law and Connor decided to go up a day early to a little lake high in the Uintahs called Lake Chepeta. No facilities to speak of, but great fishing which is what we were going for. They set up a killer camp, or at least I'm assuming it was killer. I'll never know for sure because shortly before we arrived the next day, they called us to say that there was SNOW coming down. This was after we had spent 3 hours on the road getting there. So they broke down camp while we went on back towards Salt Lake hoping to find another area that would fit us all - on a holiday weekend that is usually booked way in advance. Just before Heber when we were about to give up, Zach took a chance on a little dirt road with a sign that said Currant Creek. Audrey's boyfriend Josh had actually been there before hunting elk so we knew it had some promise. We drove and drove and drove on washboard dirt roads until finally a little reservoir came into view and blessed campgrounds with *bathrooms* much to the delight of all the women. They had room for us and we took it. Since Connor and the other men were about 2 hours behind us and we were out of cell phone range, Zach had to book it back to the main highway to try and catch before they missed the turnoff.
From there, we all set up camp, started the fire, got dinner going in the dutch ovens, and finally headed down to the lake for a little fishing. Adri was the only one that night to catch anything, but the kids were all happy to be trying it, most for the first time. All of my kids got new poles for this trip, and I'm glad they at least got to use them.
The two man tent that Zach, Simon and I shared - seriously like sardines in a can but we were warm! I slept in 2 pairs of pants, 2 fleece jackets plus clothing underneath, 2 pairs of socks. Simon did wake up once in the middle of the night and was crying unconsolably for no reason, but it didn't last long. Connor got a tent all to himself.
All the little giggly girl cousins shared this 6 man tent, dubbed "The Hilton" by Zach because it was so roomy compared to our humble abode. They even decorated it with wildflowers and hung stuffed animals from the ceiling.
The men prepared the food, and it was SOOO good. It was called Wicked Chicken and I think I will be sad if I ever have to camp without it.
Adri and Brett
Melissa and boyfriend Nick Larkin
Audrey and boyfriend Josh Ju
Heather, boyfriend Chris and little Kingston
Zach and Simon roasting hot dogs over the coals
Me with my handsome almost-16-year-old boy
Brotherly love... it doesn't happen very often because Simon usually kicks and hits to get away so I have to catch it when it lasts longer than a second.
Profile shots - I can't decide if they resemble eachother anymore?
Zach and his mom - he is the oldest of the family and her first baby boy.
Rocky, Chris' boxer. He just had his ears clipped and this is how they set them to heal so that they have that pointy look. Thought that was how boxers' ears were naturally? Nope.
My father-in-law, tuckered out after setting up one camp, tearing it down in the snow, and setting up another.
The twins - Audrey and Adri (sounds SO weird to say it in that order because they were born in the other order and that's how it's always said)
Simon and I found some charcoal to decorate this big rock with...
When I read this to him, he said, "but I love Grandma!" (thought you'd like that, Mom!)
I took the kids to D.I. (thrift store) to pick out some camping boots that they could get muddy and gross. This is what my little fashionista chose...
Lil' Em Rose fishing for the first time. Good thing she didn't catch a fish because I don't think she could have handled holding it let alone gutting it and DEFINITELY not eating it.
Zach helped Simon cast his line a couple of times, and Simon took the reeling in very seriously until he saw rocks along the shore and then throwing rocks became what it was all about.
Poor Josh brought his pole but I don't know if he actually ever got to use it because he was the fishing instructor for all of the kids and spent the whole time tying hooks and lures and bait.
And I didn't get a good picture of my brother-in-law Aaron, but he is to credit for this whole trip taking place. He pretty much organized it and made it happen. I'm so glad he did. Now let's hope it isn't another 13 years before our next trip. I'm actually hoping for another one this summer, but I don't think Zach is on the same page. We'll see!
