Watkins World: Utah Trip

I left on Friday, July 13 for a trip to Utah and our Clark Family Reunion. Bryan stayed home to work for a few extra days and Tiffany was driving with the girls from Southern California to Utah, so Tyler and I had a road trip together. We made it in 9 1/2 hours - I think that's a record. We only stopped once for gas and we ate along the way. Poor Tiffany had rain most of the way, but Tyler and I only had a few drops - and we were only about half an hour ahead of her. It was nice to finally arrive. First thing Sadie did was find Grandma Clark's dress ups. she is modeling a few of her outfits for us:

Tyler was resting on the chair in the basement, but the girls managed to put a hat and sunglasses on him.

The evening of July 13, we were able to go to a wedding reception for my nephew Jeff and his cute new wife, Peta. The reception was in Kay's sister's backyard, which was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, it rained most of the evening, but it was still fun and turned out great. It was actually a treat for those of us there from Arizona - we don't get rain much here. I loved that Jeff & Peta had a photo booth at the reception for all of their guests to get their picture taken. Then, they put your picture next to what we wrote to the bride and groom in their guest book. Here are some pictures of my Mom and I.

The next day, Saturday, July 14, was Jeff and Peta's sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, followed by a luncheon at Mimi's Cafe. I was so glad I was able to be there for the wedding festivities.

On Sunday afternoon, all of Doug's family, Kathy & Dennis, my Mom, BJ and I all went to my Dad's grave to leave some flowers from the wedding. Tyler and Tiffany went to Park City to stay for a couple of nights at the Canyons, where my Mom has a timeshare. BJ and family were able to use it for a couple of days after Tyler's family left to stay at the Watkins cabin.

On Tuesday, July 17, Bryan arrived from Arizona and Holly & Jeff & kids came to Utah County. They had been in Idaho for most of the month with Jeff's family, and came to spend some time at the Watkins Cabin, near Sundance. The cabin is for sale and this might be the last time we're able to use it, so our kids wanted to be sure to spend some time there this summer. Tyler's and Holly's families stayed there for 3 nights. BJ's family, Bryan and I and my Mom went there for dinner 2 nights. We loved it! The kids had a blast and we enjoyed the nice cool weather. Actually, the whole time we were in Utah, the weather was fabulous - especially coming from Arizona. Sadie and Ethan are such cute little buddies. They played so well together.

We decided to hike to Steward Falls in Provo Canyon. Here is Papa with Sadie, Claire, Ethan, Kylie and Lexi before our hike.

Papa and Sadie

Ethan, Sadie, Claire, Lexi and Kylie on our hike to Stewart Falls

After a long hike, we finally made it!

While we were at Stewart Falls, we got some good pictures and enjoyed the beautiful falls.

Some of us (not me!) even went very close to the falls!

We had somebody take this great picture of all of us. From left to right, Claire, Jeff, Holly, Ethan, me with Lexi, Tyler, Tiffany, Sadie, Bryan and Kylie

Sadie had new shoes on and got huge blisters on the back of her ankles, so Tyler had to carry her all the way back down the mountain on his back. Poor Sadie - and poor Tyler!

When we got back to the cabin, we had some lunch, played UNO and relaxed. Bryan went to Orem and brought my Mom back to the cabin (and the dinner she had prepared for us - thank you, Mom! The kids collected rocks and sold them to us - yes, we bought rocks from the cabin! The kids had a great time.

This is the view from the back porch of the cabin. BEAUTIFUL!

Sadie, Claire, Lexi and Kylie had a great time together down by the creek.

The next morning, July 19, we all hiked up to Timp Cave - except for Hannah, who stayed home with Grandma Clark. We started at 8 a.m. when it was nice and cool - which was great because it was getting pretty hot by the time we finished. Here we are on our way up the mountain.

Sadie wore her flip flops since her ankles were still sore from the day before. The kids all did great on the hike! Fortunately, the trail is paved all the way up, so that helped!

We stopped to rest in a few places along the way. L to R - Ethan, Sam, Brodi, Lexi, Claire, Kylie, Sadie

Papa and Lexi

Tiff, Lexi, Shannon, Sam, Brodi, Kylie

Ethan, Jeff and Sadie

Bryan, Tyler and Claire

BJ and Holly

Me at the top of the mountain

Entrance to cave

BJ, Shannon and Sam

Shannon, Sam and Holly

Tyler, Sadie, Kylie, Lexi, Nana and Papa being silly

Sadie and Papa

Claire Bear

Tyler and Kylie

Getting ready to follow tour guide, Molly, into the cave

Inside the cave

All of us inside the cave

Coming out of the cave - on our way back down the mountain...

There were some picnic tables across the street from the Timp Cave Visitors Center where we ate our lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

We all had rests and then we bought pizza and took it up to the cabin later that evening. We took my Mom with us again - we're so glad she could join our family at the cabin. The kids did some fishing - Kylie caught a fish.......