July 2013

On July 4th, our circle hosted a fireworks show. Some people from the ward & neighborhood pitched in money for fireworks, and we all watched them together.

The Garrett reunion was up at the Barn, July 4-7. We had a lot of fun playing around with cousins, having water fights, riding 4-wheelers, having a carnival/rodeo, and visiting with family. 

The girls had their cousin Kaelia over on July 14-15. Here they are dressing up for a fashion show. :)

A random lightning shot on July 15. I haven't been successful in shooting lightning yet. This one was pretty far away.

Beckham's 2nd birthday was on July 17. Grandma Laine was working on his actual birthday, so she came over on the 15th to give him his gifts.

And here he is on his 2nd birthday, July 17th. :)

On Pioneer Day, July 24, I got to shoot the finish line at the Deseret News Marathon/Half-Marathon/10K/5K. It was a great, motivational way to start the day!

That night we did fireworks, of course. :)

The LeVon Henderson reunion was on July 27 at Scera Park in Orem. We did a quick family picture with my immediate family since we knew it would probably be the only time we were all together for a few months.

I took a ton of pictures, and most of them can be found on my Facebook page. ;) But here are some.

July 28-30, I went to the Wind Rivers with my dad, brother Kody, sister Brianne, and uncle Jade. Ever since Jade took me there in 2010, I've ached to go back. This time we went to the Big Sandy trailhead, camped there, and hiked to the Cirque of the Towers. I've been dreaming about going there for a couple of years now, so it was great to finally go. I just wish I could have spent more time up there. 

We had actually planned on bringing the horses, and had them loaded up & ready to go. (My dad can go a lot further if he's on a horse). But when we were hauling them up Parley's canyon on our way out, the truck kept dying. We had to turn around & take the horses home. We rode up with my brother Kody in his truck.

My dad did the whole hike on foot, which is quite the accomplishment after having a heart attack & getting older. And it was nearly 20 miles in one day.

Big Sandy Lake.

Stopping for lunch before the climbing begins. This is about 6 miles in, on a relatively flat trail.

Jackass Pass is our destination, which is coming into view.

Finally, the Cirque! It was absolutely breathtaking.

Watchtowers.

Watchtowers, Sharks Nose, Overhang Tower, & Wolf's Head.

L to R: Wolf's Head (12,165), Bollinger (12,232), Pingora (11,884).

Pingora (11,884)

Arrowhead Lake. Looking back to where we came from.

Dad didn't quite make it up to Jackass pass. He was able to see the edge of the cirque though. He was just getting too tired, and we still had to go all the way back to camp that day.

On our way out, it started raining. It didn't let up for hours. So I put the camera away & just tried to get back to camp as quickly as possible. I was beat.

A couple of miles outside of camp, it finally stopped raining. We had to keep stopping and taking breaks. Our fingers were freezing, and we were pretty exhausted.

We made it back, went to bed, and the next morning the sun came out. :)

The Winds are so remote. All roads that lead to them are winding dirt roads like this one, that go for miles and miles. I can't wait to go back again.

And we went swimming a few times over the summer, but, this is the ONLY picture I took. The whole time! The 3 older kids all took swimming lessons again, and are getting better and better at swimming and being more confident in the water. Beckham would still rather hang out on the sidelines.