July 4, 2013

July 4th this year wasn't what we thought it would be.  We had plans to be in Canada at the Henderson Family Reunion, but because Travis' boss wouldn't allow him to take that Friday off we stayed home.  Travis had the 4th off so we drove to Lindon, loaded the horses, and then drove to Blackhawk to spend the day with his family. 

Blackhawk is an absolutely beautiful area.  I was happy to spend the day with The Husband and finally get to ride the horses.  I've known Travis for 2 1/2 years and this is only the second time I've been on the horses.  I rode horses when I was little in Canada, but it's been awhile.  We took a nice relaxing ride through a beautiful area.  It was a really good day.  Here's a thought for you... I own horses!  What?!  Whoever thought would happen? :)

 I got to ride Oreo.  She's such a good horse.

 

 Travis took his favorite horse, Ace.  Ace was having an attitude problem that day, so Travis got to show him who was boss.

 

Can you see how beautiful this are is?  Travis' dad, Russ, rode 2 year old Zeus.  For not being very old Zeus did really well that day.  He got a little worn out going up the hill, so Russ got off for a bit.  I was so impressed with Zeus and Russ.  Russ has worked really hard with that horse and it shows.

 Russ and Zeus

 

When we got done the rest of Travis' family got to take rides.  Here is our nephew on Ace.  The nieces and nephews love the horses and Russ loves having them on the horses.  We have a whole family of cowboys and cowgirls!  Now I just need to own a pair of boots...

Kick Off to the Second Annual Summer Of Fun

June 21 has got to be one of the happiest days of the year... First day of summer and longest day of the year!  Add Amber's birthday and a trip to the Sun Tunnels with amazing friends and you just can't beat it!  June 21, 2013 was the second annual trip to the Sun Tunnels and the official beginning of Summer of Fun 2013.  I was so excited to spend the evening with friends and celebrate Amber's birthday.

It's a long drive to the West Desert, and we made our trek by heading out through Wendover and then back into Utah.

Yay for the birthday girl!  Sure love Amber and her birthday tiara!

Now, even though the signs along the road ask us not to stop it's a tradition to write something with rocks on the side of the road.  Our fun group of friends is known as "The Unclaimed Treasures" so we had to leave our mark in the desert. 

The Unclaimed Gen

 

Showing off our handywork... Me, Amber, Suzie, Gen, and D'Nell

 





We made friends with a couple other people out disobeying the signs on the road and asked them to take our picture in front of the Tree of Utah.

We made a quick "ding trip" to the Bonneville Salt Flats.  There sure is nothing there except this sign.

Suzie and Gen wasting away in the desert...

The birthday girl finding her zen.

 



We stopped in Wendover for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  We spent a lot of the time talking about it being Amber's birthday and our waiter picked up on it.  He surprised her with a song and delicious birthday treat!

We made it to the Sun Tunnels this year without yelling at D'Nell to "drive faster!  We're going to miss it" once.  She was a lot less stressed this year. :)  For those of you who haven't been to the Sun Tunnels before let me explain.  They are these large concrete tunnels in the west desert of Utah.  There are 4 tunnels.  On the Summer Solstice (June 21st) the sun sets directly through 2 of the tunnels.  On the Winter Solstice in December the sun sets directly through the other 2 tunnels.  We don't make the trek during the winter, too cold!  It's super cool and there were lots of people there this year because it was a Friday.

Fun, fun, fun friends!  I sure LOVE these girls!  I am so blessed to have them in my life.

It was a beautiful full moon that night.  We were blessed with clear weather for a great sunset and a beautiful view of the moon.

At the end of the event, right as we were about to leave we saw a guy up on top of one of the tunnels.  He started doing flips (super dangerous on a curved surface).  It looked pretty cool!

 

We had a fun night, perfect way to kick off the summer.