It's pretty dusty out here!

So much to tell!!
Poppa Joe left on Sunday but before he left we were all able to take a nice long and adventurous 4wheeling ride up the mountains. We were able to check out most of the ponds and they were all full. Water is a scarce thing around here and to see full ponds of water is a wonderful sight to see!
A fire came through a couple of years ago and we were all a little tense about how much of my dad's property would burn. The fire, however, only burned a couple thousand acres which in comparison to some other forest fires...that is nothing. Anyway, the land now is just gorgeous because of that fire. Fire weed, an orangy colored flower, is in bloom all over the mountain sides. And then there is a bit of blue and purple sprinkled throughout as well. And boy-do we spend a lot of time picking flowers.
As we were 4wheeling through where the fire had gone before us, it was clear the devastation to the trees, all the bark was burned off. There were these areas where just barren trees were left standing. But then there were the flowers and they were everywhere and much of the scrub oak and sage was burned away so new life could come through, like a new beginning for the land.
We said our good byes with Poppa Joe and no matter how Katie tried to convince him to stay a bit longer, he had to go home.
Later on Sunday, our adventure took a little turn for the worse and we had our first little "emergency" out here. Ben was playing and just tripped and smashed his mouth into a wooden table. He banged his teeth pretty bad. Katie called out and said, "Mom, Ben fell and I picked him up and was carrying him and now I have blood all over my shoulder." We saw Katie's bloody shoulder first and YIKES....well, ya all know how mouths bleed! After the bleeding finally stopped we could see that his poor little gun was all smushed up way higher than it was suppose to be. To make a long story short, after a trip to the pediatric dentist in Prove on Monday morning, the x-rays seem to indicate that he has lost the blood flow to those teeth and they will turn gray. He'll have to have some work done on the teeth and the nerve, so we will have to head home a little earlier than expected. I guess dentists go on vacation too-the last two weeks of July, so we had to take the appointment we could get. His cheek is still a little bruised but his mouth is getting back to normal and when he smiles we can see his little dimples again. The other morning I was checking for infection and Hunter just came up and looked in Ben's mouth and said, "BEN!!!! You teeth are rotten! Yuck!" and walked away. I reassured Ben and am hoping maybe the dentist was wrong and those little baby teeth will pull through this big bang after all.
The dog is holding her own out here. She spends the day running after the squirrels and chipmunks that tease and taunt her. They will probably do no such thing any more. She caught herself a small squirrel the other day and was parading around with it. I would suspect she was disappointed when I took it from her, but Katie's eyes lite right up as did Scott's. He said, "Great, some food for the kittens." She said, "Can I have the tail?" So, out came the Leather Man knife and off went the tail. And, YES, we have it...just sitting there upright in a bowl of salt. Katie can hardly wait and she has much concern about WHO will get it seeing as there is only one...oh, but there is so much time left. What else can we get?
Bird feet...yup, Scott picked up a fresh dead bird, a Curlew, someone had hit while cutting hay. Of course, cat food, right? Both Katie and Hunter had a hay day plucking the feathers out. Then it came-the question-of course, from Katie..."Can we have the feet, Dad?" and sure enough, out came the Leather Man knife and off went the feet, one for each of them. It was so disgusting later when we were back at the cabin and Katie had her little dead bird foot dancing around and pawing and scratching Scott's arm. I just buried my face into the couch pillow and thought, "What the heck will be next?"
We sure do love it here and have already talked about how sad we will be when we go. Katie looked at me, with those big and sparkling eyes, smiled at me with that big gap in her teeth where her front tooth is coming in and said, "I love it here! There is just so much Nature, not like in Wisconsin, they just do not have those kinds of forests (and she pointed up to Log Canyon) or those kinds of mountains (and she looks over to Nebo. When I get big, I am going to live here." I told her that when we get home Wisconsin will most likely seem pretty flat in comparison, but that there are beautiful places everywhere and that she was lucky she is one of those people who truly SEES them.
We went all the way up Log Canyon this afternoon for a picnic. It was wonderful because I had been wanting to do it since we got here and was glad it worked out where we all went together. I just had to focus on what was ahead of me because there were some parts that where WAY down there and the cliff was a little too close for comfort! And if anyone was wanting confirmation about those tracks, they WERE mountain lion tracks we saw that day I took the kids up! I sped up a bit through that area!
Lately, we have been getting extra dirty, our feet, our faces, just everything, but with all that dirt has come lots of hard work digging holes, making our "Hide Out" fort, and moving rocks. I looked over at Ben this afternoon and he had taken off his shorts, filled his boots with the dusty dirt that's everywhere out here and buried the better part of his legs. Just does not get any better than that for a 2 year old! Even if his little baby teeth do turn gray!

Hunter is 4

Poppa Joe arrived on Tuesday. We are all having a great time together. The farm is busy as the hay is all being cut right now so there is much to do with driving around on the 4wheelers and checking things out, such as the ponds, the cut fields and all the fencing. And, of course the kittens! The kids are just loving it!
This morning, I took the kids up Log Canyon road-this road goes up behind the cabin and is part of Uinta National Forest. All four of us on one four wheeler! But we All fit. Ben sat in the very front, then me, then Hunter and Katie all the way in the back on the attached seat.
When we first started out, the kids were just chatting away. But as we got higher up into the canyon, things quieted down. Hunter hugged me close whenever he looked over to the left down the steep cliff below. In this silence, it was as though the kids were just drinking in all that nature had to offer them. I would look back and both Katie and Hunter would have their heads tipped back, looking up at the way the canyon breeze would blow through the leaves on the birch trees or looking deep into the forest in hopes to see an elk or just being in the moment and in awe of nature’s beauty. It was a wonderful morning of truly just "being" together.
We went all the way to the top and kids played in the snow for a while. I am sorry we are a bit behind with the pictures, but having to run everything off the generator and being in the middle of the mountains- things just take a loooong time to upload. But Scott is working on it! We even thought we saw mountain lion tracks in the snow. Whatever it was, it was way larger than a dog or a coyote.
Hunter's birthday was yesterday. What a fun day! He LOVES the pool and asks to go every day. So we all went. I had taken the kids once before and both Katie and Hunter had the greatest time doing belly flops. They would stand at the edge of the pool, call out "belly flop" and flop into the water. I was laughing so hard! Even the life guards were smiling. SO, our older two kids have perfected belly flops. Hunter attempted the diving board but just could not bring himself to jump that day. But for his birthday, it was another story. I knew if Scott was with him, he would jump off the diving board and he did! Even I was too chicken. It was probably 5 feet above the water, but once he did it, he went on to do it over and over again.
He is really into the thought of buried treasures out here and making treasure maps so that is what we decided to do for his birthday surprise. Everyone took off on the four wheelers while Ben and I stayed back and made the cake. I did the best frosting art work I could and created a John Deere tractor design on the cake. He loved it and that was all that mattered to me. "Moooom, I wust wuv my cake!" And then I got a big hug!
Ben and I worked on the treasure map and then buried all his presents under a bunch of logs out in the field. We had him going all over and him and Katie just kept referring to the map and following the clues. Then there he stood in front of the log pile and was like, "this is it, where are all da presents?" So we had to remind him what a BURIED treasure really was. He could hardly believe it when he started uncovering them and the excitement on his face was sweet.
Alex took a break from cutting hay and came up which was a high light for Hunter! He, of course, brought a gift for Hunter. A bunch of little mini John Deere tractors and they were a great hit!
Hunter's birthday is on mid-summer's eve. And for those of you who do not know this that is a night of great festivities for all the fairies, elves and gnomes. And if you build a fairy house or place for them to come and play, they will visit that evening and leave little treasures in return for your kindness. So, Poppa Joe and Katie spent a good part of the early evening collecting great treasures and creating a beautiful fairy play place. And they came!!
We set a candle out to guide their way and by morning they had eaten all the little decorative tiny cookies we left out, brought over a bundle of fresh flowers and robin egg shells, sprinkled little gems all around, left several sea shells and even left a small fairy swing all sanded and smooth! The look on Katie's face in the morning was of magic and delight!
The dog is loving it here and seems to be getting back into her primal instinctual kind of dog ways. The other day we were in the midst of building a fort and she comes running out of the woods carrying something that looked like a small rabbit from a distance. I made her drop it and then could see that is was actually the back leg of a fawn!!!! It had the spots on it and everything! I had my working gloves on and picked it up to only immediately drop it because it was so fresh looking I actually thought it was still pulsating. Even now, I still get the eeby-geebys!
I do not know where our kids get this from but after the shock wore off, Katie started to ask if there was anyway we could preserve it and make it in to something, like a hook. No kidding. Then Hunter started and he wanted a deer foot hook too!! So, I looked at the dog and told her we had to go back and was curious if she would lead me back to where she got it in the first place. And she did!! Katie was going to go with but then decided she would stay back. I followed the dog up the mountain and got to a clearing where then all of a sudden she was just standing there with another leg in her mouth!! So, I am not sure what the plan with them is but as of now they are laying on top of the propane tank. Ah, the adventures in Utah continue!
There is such history here and am eager to learn, read and discover more. There is a place we stopped at the other day where there is a monument marking a place where the Ute Indians came and murdered a family. This family had traveled out from the east looking for a new home, a place, land they could claim as their own. They where all killed at this very spot. It was disheartening to think of this family never being able to pursue this land and what they believed would bring them such happiness, prosperity and move them closer to their destiny and life they believed they were meant to live. To have put such effort into taking all your belongings across the country and then to have your life cut short struck me as such a tragedy.
We talked about that no matter how long ago it may have been ,that everyone in this world seeks a place to call their own, a place to belong and feel "at home". I do believe we are truly experiencing that that place, our own place - our "home" - is far from our house or anything of material that we own but rather we are blessed with this opportunity and these daily experiences for our family to really know and feel that "our place" can be anywhere as long as we are together. There is just a lot of love there!
It has been such a blessing to slow down and surround ourselves with each other. For it seems as though within that newness and freshness of each day, we are able to get a better glimpse into the very soul and spirit of one other and appreciate the beauty that resides there.

Been working hard!

Scott laughed at me the other day after I told him I had done two "loads" of wash. But doing it by hand still counts as a load, right?
We have had an awesome couple of days. Today we had quite the adventure with the 200+ cattle out here that belong to Poppa Joe and his partner, Alex. Alex stopped up at the cabin this morning to ask if we could help move the cattle from one grazing field to the next. Of course, being up for the adventure and wanting to help, we did.
It seemed easy enough...corral the cattle together using the 4-wheelers, get them heading down the side of the highway and then a sharp left into the next field, probably a mile up the way. I had the boys with me in the truck and our job was to wave at the traffic on Hwy 132 to get them to slow down. Did I mention the speed limit is 65? I only had one cowboy stop. He was wearing boots and a HUGE belt buckle, really, to ask if I was in trouble. I am sure I looked pretty out of place with my hot pink flip flops on!
Scott and Katie were on the 4-wheeler. I told Katie that if a bull started to charge them to hide behind Dad. Several of them had fairly large horns and apparently they do not like to be moved.
Well, from down the highway where we were, all we could see was a huge mass of black and it appeared that mass of black was heading ACROSS the highway instead of just sticking to the same side. After all the cattle crossed, they walked through a field and then the 4-wheeling people had to corral them all back across the highway. Scott said some of them were so stubborn he had to give them a smack on the rump to get them moving! It was pretty exciting. Sorry for not having any photos of that, but we had nothing charged up. Go figure.
The few days before were really a lot of fun. I took the kids up the Nebo loop which took us into Uinta National Forest....so beautiful. The first day we hardly made it up the mountain because we stopped at a small river full of rapids rushing down from Mount Nebo. The kids had the best time just playing in the freezing water, collecting rocks and throwing things into the rapids and I did too.
The following day, we went back with Scott and did a little fishing and then headed up the mountain. We stopped for lunch at Bear Canyon and it was just breathtaking. I said that out loud and Katie turned to me and asked what that word meant. I told her that a person uses that word when they see something that is so beautiful it takes your breath away and you could just look at it for a very long time. Somehow that inspired her to talk about promises and how important they are to keep. I could not help but think of that John Denver song, "Poems, Prayers and Promises" - the things we believe in. It was one of the greatest moments I can remember in a long time and I will cherish that moment standing there with Katie on the bridge over the rapids gazing up at the snow capped mountain talking about promises.
Hunter had gotten so wet while we were fishing that he refused to wear his wet pants. So, he did most of his Bear Canyon hiking in his dinosaur underwear! Ben, happy as a clam, just clomped along with the rest of us in his muck boots.
We are planning to head to the city pool tomorrow. It's hot here but the heat is not nearly as bad as the dryness. All the kids had such chapped lips I got them all their own chap stick. I think Ben has already eaten his!
Tomorrow we are also heading back up to Salt Lake to pick up Poppa Joe. He's flying in and staying until Sunday.
Hunter's birthday is on Thursday. Katie and I are very busy getting things ready for his birthday. He justs wants to make sure Alex can come. He thinks of him as a real cowboy and often mentions how much he loves him and how he HAS to come to his birthday.
Oh, I forgot to mention the kittens! Well, we have some mice in the shop and so we got some kittens. They have been a BIG hit. Hunter named his Spiderman.
Love to all!

We got up this morning and aimed to have our first day of something that might resemble a "schedule". Scott is still working on the bathroom project (but the toilet is in which we are all glad about)so he stayed behind.
I do have a funny bathroom story but you will have to promise not to tell Katie you know about it. The other night - Hunter was up crying and moved into our bed and then about 15 minutes later, I could hear Katie crying from the other room. It does get awfully dark out here at night and figured she was afraid. I went into her room and she said she needed to go potty. Seeing as we still had no bathroom in the cabin I asked her if she wanted to go outside or in the camper, she said outside and just took off down the hallway. As I followed her with the lantern I began to wonder if she was really even awake and got my answer when I got to the mud room and saw her with her jammie pants and underwear down, sitting on a white plastic picnic chair. I had to call out her name and shake her a bit to snap her out of it. She DID end up going in the camper and has no recollection of that moment, but loves me to tell her the story!
I took the kids and we walked over to the wash this morning, a ravine where the water flows down from the mountains. They all got to taking their hats off and collecting as many rocks as possible. My mom made them these cute satchels we will have to bring along tomorrow. We saw one lizard, one mule deer, and four hawks. Katie was positive she found footprints in the mud from a mother elk and her baby and she just might have been right! I carried Ben for much of the way back which I was fine with. I can tell that soon he will just want to do it all himself so I enjoy the moments when he feels like he needs me.
It rained today and was actually so cold up here it started to hail. I held Ben for much of the thunder but then Katie wanted to hold him too. Scott and Hunter were in town picking up more parts for the bathroom. Katie insisted on having a fire and it was actually a great idea as it is still burning!
We are all really at peace here (except for the moments I am hollering at Ben to stop whacking Hunter with the plastic bat) but overall, Katie walks around being overly helpful, smiling, and doing a lot of happy sighing. Hunter is completely in his element. I encourage him to use his "big sky mountain voice" as much as he wants and he does and when he finds his quiet place he seems content and truly part of his surroundings. Ben is happy no matter what (when he is not protesting something!) but follows along in his own time and is glad to be part of all the happiness. Scott and I are happy as we quietly watch our kids interact and love one another while we sit back and feel that love and happiness that we are such a part of too.

Playing tag.

Here is a shot of everyone playing tag down in front of the cabin.  Sorry for the lack of pictures so far.  Slow internet so we are having a hard time uploading....but I am working on it.

Location : Unnamed Rd, Mt Pleasant, UT 84647,

Everyone commented at dinner tonight how much they love Utah and went on to list all the reasons. Katie's reasons were so sweet and true to her heart as she shared how much she loved collecting flowers, gathering all the beautiful rocks she can carry in her shirt, how we can save power (YES! she really said that as though she is a little environmentalist in the making!) and all be together.

The bathroom is still under construction -thank God for "Darby" the camper-so I spent the morning sanding and caulking. Lucky for Scott, I had forgotten what a terrible mess of a job that is! Anyway, should be done in a couple days.

We went walking in the field out front this afternoon. Utah, our dog, ran circles around us and we all started to feel a little more like sheep as she would take to running at the speed of light around us, lay down in the grass to rest, and pop back up just to go tearing around us all again. The kids continue to pick me bundles of flowers and am grateful the flowers are everywhere! Even when I can hardly hold one more in my fist full, I cannot help but feel loved when one of them pick one and come running to give it to me. Ben will say, "Here you go Mom." Hunter will come running as though he has made the greatest discovery of all and say, "Mom, I got this one just for you." And Katie will swagger up with a fist full and just stand there with her flowers out not saying anything at all but still speaking to my heart.

Katie and I did our first load of laundry by hand today and I have to admit it was my favorite part of the day. We were pretty proud of our first load hanging out to dry! She cannot wait to do more. I am simply the rinser, but she was sure into being the washer!

The boys enjoyed themselves driving the truck around the field. It was quite the adventure but they thought driving was the greatest thing. Although Hunter thinks his toy gun is the greatest thing EVER! It goes everywhere with us. We told him he can only use it for "hunting" so that is all he does. He just crouches down in the grass and pretends to shoot a mule deer. At first, we were not sure about this direction, but Scott and I both played cops and robbers when we were kids with toy guns and we turned out alright, right??

Let the fun begin! And let Hunter stop asking "when we get to Utah"

We made it! There is something special about the landscape in Utah. As we were driving, we just could not help but think about the times when the land was undisturbed and what it would have been like to look out upon its vastness then; to stand up on top a butte or mountain top and call out, "We're here!" After we saw this sign, the RV traveled up, then down, then up, then down, then up again. But good ol' "Darby" made it! The mountains are amazing! Hunter was beside himself with excitement when he saw they still have snow on the top. We are all looking forward to making summer snow angels.

Location : Coalville, UT,

First camping trip in the RV

This the trial run in the RV "Darby" at Ottawa Lake. Hunter and Katie on the beach.

Location : County Road Zz, Dousman, WI 53118,