Koosharem 2011

We just got back from our annual July trip to southern Utah! I'm very glad we went. But I have to share a funny experience. The morning we were packing to go, it ended up being a bit rough and I began to think we should call the whole trip off. First, I walked/crashed into the bike rack on the back of the suburban 4 different times with my face and the last crash was a doozy! It gave me a huge purple goose egg on my forehead and I actually cried. Seriously, do I have peripheral vision problems or something??? I've decided it was probably just a case of being completely oblivious to my surroundings, and it scares me that I could be that oblivious. :-) Luckily, Joel reminded me to put some arnica cream on it and that took the swelling down quickly so I only had a bit of bruising.

And then, when we finally got packed and left, about a minute after we were on the freeway we had the suburban blow a radiator hose! Thankfully, Joel noticed the temperature gauge before we ruined the engine. He had to do some improvising, which included rerouting, and clamping, and stuffing tools down hoses, etc. It worked well enough for us to limp into Wendell for parts and coolant. So, almost 2 hours after we started, we were finally on our way. Phew!

Now for some Koosharem photos:

We all enjoyed some amazing storms and rainbows during our stay. That part of Utah always seems to have afternoon thunderstorms and they are so refreshing. Look close-- it's a double rainbow.And this sunset. Stunning!
Everyone played a lot of volleyball this year. Good times.
And of course, Uncle Thad had the pasture golf course set up. That's always a hit. It can be quite an adventure because if you hit the ball out of the mowed area, you are searching in the tall grass for your ball.
Heidi decided to do a scene from Anne of Green Gables-- you know, the Lady of Shalott funeral scene. The grass was so deep and lush.

The girls had fun putting flowers in Leif's hair and carrying him around.
Heidi had so much fun with her cousin, Sophia, that she went back to Phoenix with her for a few weeks. I miss my Heidi so much! I hope she's not dying of heat stroke. The end of July is probably not the best time of year to visit Phoenix but she really wanted to go.
Now of course, everyone in the family knows the real reason for going to Koosharem is for the fishing. At least for the menfolk! Here's Reagan with his catch. One day they caught 40 trout.
Taylor took some great flower pictures at the reservoir..........
Hailey captured a good one too......
I brought my sewing machine this year and I was so glad I did. I am notreally a fisher woman, in fact, I've never caught a fish in my life. So while everyone was fishing, Leif and I stayed home and did projects. Well, I did projects and Leif amused himself playing with people's shoes. Oh, speaking of shoes,I have to share this photo real quick, so I'm going off topic for a second. One night, back in Idaho, Leif wanted me to put his shoes on so we could go for a walk, but I was doing the dishes so I ignored his request. Next thing I knew, he was outside, sluffing along in Torsten's shoes, planning to go who knows where. My little cutie loves shoes and loves to escape. He's given me quite a few scares. And no, that is not a busy road he's standing in. Thank goodness!

So back to the original topic. I set up my machine in the attic "pink room". I love the old wall paper up there, though the room has a funny smell that everyone says comes from the bats that live behind the walls. It's such a neat old house.
I pieced some quilt blocks for my quilt along, sewed this table topper for cousin Karen.......... and a made a "hot potato" or "potato sack"......?I can't remember what the heck it's called, but it's supposed to cook potatoes in the microwave better than the normal method. I'll buy some potatoes soon so I can try it out. I know, I live in Idaho and I don't have any potatoes in the house. For shame!

While we're talking about potatoes, here I am mixing up a batch of funeral potatoes for dinner. (proof that I really was there)
One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting Capitol Reef. The colorful rock formations are so amazingly beautiful! It's nice to have the Fremont River flowing through the park to add some coolness and mud to the day. The water almost looks like chocolate milk to me.We're swimming in chocolate!Our annual mud tromp.....Leif had a go of it. I was surprised that he seemed to like it okay. Usually mud scares him. Normally even chocolate icing makes him nervous because it looks like mud.
The whole clan.
The Capitol Reef area was settled by Mormon pioneers and they planted orchards full of fruit trees. The park invites the public to pick fruit from the orchards when it's in season. After we ate a picnic, we crossed the bridge and picked apricots in the orchard area before the kids jumped back in the water. That water was a magnet! Not too cold and not too deep.
Aren't the cliffs fabulous?
The perfect shades of warm orange, corals and reds to pop in contrast against the blue sky and green trees.
After exploring a few caves, we headed home. We stopped in Torrey for ice cream. Delicious!Then back in Koosharem...............we had an impromptu barbershop on the porch as Karen cut everyone's hair and the guys told stories.
Okay, this is the end of what I think is my longest blog EVER. Better hit the sack.