The Larsons come to Utah

After the fun Marshall Reunion we had a great visit with Heidi and her kids at our house. It was the week of Pioneer Day, which always provides lots of hot Utah fun. We heard about a great float preview event for the Days of '47 Parade in Salt Lake, so we went out to look at the float in the air conditioned convention center. We had the great surprise of balloon animal making clowns and some talent face painters. The kids loved it.

Wyatt was very scared, but also very determined to get his face painted and he was very glad that he braved it. He was such a cute little bear.

Gavin got someone to make him a dragon and was so proud of it.

This also made him decide to have a dragon painted on his far. Pretty cool.

Henry and Wyatt went for the sword ballon. Quick and easy, they must have been a favorite of the clowns. It never takes two tries to make a sword.

Rachel showing off her butterfly which also ended up being an inspiration for her face paint.

All of our painted up kids. Pretty impressive.

We had planned an outing for almost every day of their visit, so we also spent an evening at the zoo. It never disappoints, and since the zoo was open late, it wasn't too hot.

We finished off the last day of their visit with a trip to the Discovery Museum. I take my boys there so often that sometimes it takes fresh faces to get us excited about it again. The kids all loved passing part of a hot summer day there building and having fun.

Lily Pad Lakes Trail

 What a great group of hikers! The Lily Pad Lakes trail was a favorite with our group while in Colorado. The kids all found plenty of of great hiking sticks and we managed to avoid most of the mosquitos. The adults also all enjoyed this hike, since the elevation didn't have as much of an impact as some of the other trails.

Schatzy coming across a bridge.

 Caleb and Finn heading out into the woods.

 Vatti and Wyatt were great hiking buddies. They held hands and managed to keep ahold of a walking stick almost the entire hike. Wyatt also shared some great antic-dotes with Vatti along the way. Things like, "Don't worry about butterflies. I will hit them with my stick." and "I'm not a lefty. I'm Wyatt."

 So many beautiful scenes to take in along this trail.

 Gavin is also great at leading cousins on a hike. He loves to be out exploring, and he was very excited about the Lily Pads when we reached the pond.

 Our smallest hiking buddy having a snack and enjoying a break.

 Heidi and Mark taking a break.

 Caleb and I at Upper Lily Pad Lake, and wearing our matching colors... nerds.

 Duane and Jaxson by the late.

 My cute little hikers.

 The super cool tree seesaw that Gavin and Morgan found on the way down the trail. They had such a great time riding it while everyone else caught up. 

Quandry Peak

While in Colorado for our Marshall reunion, Caleb and I decided to take advantage of the excess of babysitters and the excess of large mountain peaks, and go for a hike. We chose a peak that was close to our cabin with a trail just less than 7 miles. It was our first Fourteener, and felt like a great accomplishment.

About a mile up, just out of the tree line, you can see that our weather wasn't exactly clear and sunny.

 The view down to Blue Lake, the drop off was pretty steep for awhile.

 When the sun broke through the clouds for a few moments. The views were amazing.

 We reached a point at which the weather was getting wet and cloudy with the chance of turning to much worse. We couldn't tell how far we were from the top and the effects of the elevation were getting to both of us and we trudged up the steep and rocky climb. We finally made the decision to go on and push to the summit. It ended up being about another 20 minutes though only about a third of a mile... it was very steep. 

Even though there was really no view, it was a great feeling to reach the top and realize we had made it.

At the summit. Great view of the clouds.

 So glad we got a chance to do this. It was well worth the effort and time, and even the sore legs the next day, and a lot of fun to hike it with my mountain man.

The first SM Marshall Reunion

We had our first official Marshall reunion this summer! And it was a blast. These two being the oldest and the founders of this part of the family, they worked with all of us to choose a location and find a great cabin for us all to stay in. We went to Breckenridge, CO, and couldn't have asked for a more ideal location. Fabulous weather, lots to do. It was great.

 We stayed for 5 days and during that time were actually really bad about taking group photos. It is a little sad that we didn't plan ahead, since there were always some factors of people missing in a group this size. Here we are- just the girls before church... and the amazing view that we had to enjoy during the trip.

 And a lot of grandkids. The only one that didn't come on the trip was Cheyenne, but we are missing at least two others from this photo.

 Finn hanging out with his Vatti on the porch.

 Aside from all of our time just enjoying the great outdoors, we also had a talent show and a dance party night, complete with strobe like and glow sticks. It was awesome entertainment.

 We did plenty of squeezing into cars to head off on our adventures.

 Some of the kids and Vatti before our first hike, which started out dry and ended up very wet. A lot of the big kids got really far ahead with Uncle Duane and Tio, so I got in my first trail run trying to catch up to them to tell them everyone else had turned around in the pouring rain. We were all feeling the altitude difference for sure.

 Caleb's little hiking buddy, who took a couple of minutes to walk with me.

 My hiking buddy, this guy got passed around a lot to save our backs.

 Wyatt trying to keep dry... Not sure why someone was wearing a cardigan on a hike? He says he thought it was going to be more of a walk.

 The last of the Marshall stragglers. Kaylee leading the way.

When we all arrived at the cabin, Kaylee gave Caleb the nickname of "Harry" first for the reason of his insane beard and as an afterthought for his forehead scar. I think by the beginning of the second day all of the kids were calling him "Harry," and asking him to make up names for them.

 With cool and sometimes wet weather, we enjoyed the hot tub quite a bit. 

The under 12 crowd.

 Duane and I put together some reunion shirts and everyone loved them. We attracted a lot of attention wearing them the day we went out shopping on Main Street. And we got to explain to some of our kids what it means to be a "Loose Cannon." (the wording was all Duane's idea, I just worked on the design.)

 Wyatt tried to convince me to buy him these $20 shades. Even his cuteness didn't make it worth that price.

 He isn't easy to see with my great phone camera, but in the driveway is the little red fox that the Red Fox Lodge is named for. Not sure exactly where he lives, but we saw him hanging out and coming close several times throughout our stay.

I loved seeing all of the kids just running around having a great time and "exploring" the mountains.

 This was the view from my bedroom. And that happens to be the peak that Caleb and I climbed. It really was a picturesque place to stay.