Anderson Cove Camping-July Gatrell Family

We left on Monday, July 21st to head up to Anderson Cove campground near Pineview Reservoir. We made it out the door without any problems. After Jimmy got home from work (he left early), we hit the road in less than an hour! I must be getting better at getting ready for camping! My half was done when he got home. The truck and trailer made it up there without any problems! WHEWW!

When we pulled into camp, 4 families were already there. We got set up, and it was GREAT to be up there!! I made the 3 reservations, and was kinda the one responsible for coordinating this party. We love Anderson Cove and we are very familiar with it, so that is why I headed it up. My Grandpa and Grandma Gatrell were there (they are mentioned in other posts-my mom's parents), along with 5 of their 8 (adult) children were there. Three single grandchildren and four grandchildren with families camped up there, and 3 more grandchildren with their families came up and visited. Lots of family-but that's not everyone on the Gatrell side! It is a large family.

By accident I did not bring a bottle for Charlie. He is very dependant on his Ba-Ba. He goes to sleep with it, and we had to go cold turkey and break him off the bottle! It was a hard week! We walked him around the dark campground to get him to sleep at night, and waited for exhaustion to set in for his afternoon nap. It was hard, but no bottle! and so far, being at home, no bottle!

Jimmy didn't have the week off. He went back home Monday night. He had school on Tuesday night. By Wednesday, I think he was finally missing us. He was able to come up Wednesday night, but had to work in the Ogden branch on Thursday for half the day, and then they gave him Friday off. So, it was nice to have him up there more than expected.

The days were filled with the boat and beach. The kids loved the beach. Sand was everywhere on their bodies! But it's ok! We were camping! Messes are OK. My aunt & uncle had there boat up there. My kids got to ride on the boat and the hot dog. The "kids only" ride on the hot dog was slow. I was able to ride the hot dog with the big kids, and got dunked a few good times! I don't think I've had soo much water up my nose! getting tossed off that is fun! I also waterskiied. I had fun trying to jump the wake when I came back behind the boat...hope that makes sense. Had a few good falls. I was able to get up on the wake board! WHAHOO! I was excited. I finally got up and didn't know what to do! Then the next time, I figured out what to do, and had fun. Next time will be better! I was so happy to be on the boat, in the sun, and having fun! My kids also cheered me on!

We took turns cooking meals between my parents and siblings. We had campfires. It was great~
My extended family left on Friday. We had our camping spot through the weekend. The campground got busy during the weekend. We were amazing at the number of people trying to come it. The campground, lake, and beach was full.

Jimmy lost a pair of sunglasses. He wanted to cool off, so he got in the water, did a little dive with his sunglasses on, and they fell off. bye bye! It's the third pair he has lost on that lake! Ugg!

The trailer was great. It was our first time taking it out this year. The girls slept on the table that turns into a bed. Ashley fell off the bed twice when we were up there. Charlie slept in a pack-n-play. He woke up at 6:30 two mornings. He didn't go back to sleep because he didn't have a bottle! We had to charge the trailer battery a few times, so the fridge would stay warm. Lots of good storage in the trailer.

When we left on Sunday morning, we wanted to dump out our waste. It was Jimmy's first time doing it with this trailer, and the waste just dumped/came out so slow. When we started to dump, there were 4 people in line behind us. When we were done, 20+ min later, there were 8 people in line to dump! We were the idiot everyone was cursing!

The weather was good. One night we got a storm, but we didn't get too much rain. Just lightening and thunder. We got a few good breezes. But good, warm weather.

As always, pictures will come. I used my dad's camera to take a few pictures. So those will come.

Camping was great! a good time to relax, and just keep life simple. I enjoyed being with my kids, and family.

Anderson Cove Camping-July

We will be leaving this afternoon to go camping at Anderson Cove next to Pineview Reservoir. I have arranged a family camp out for some of my extended family. There should be 9-10 families there, including mine. It hasn't been too bad planning. Jimmy doesn't have the time off work, so he is taking the kids and I up today, and he'll join us either Thursday or Friday.
We hope we don't have any truck or trailer problems! I think I would cry if we did!!
We will stay until Sunday! Lots of pictures will come! so Bye for the week! Wish us luck!

Famington 5K Pictures

Sorry! I love pictures! Marla and my running friend/neighbor Darci
The Boys! Carl (friend/home teacher), Jimmy, Quinn (My Uncle), Jay (my brother)
Group Shot beforerace
AFTER race
Jay and his daughter Amanda before the race

A few more pictures

Fish Lake Pictures from Jimmy's Cousin

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa Mac! Our Family
Hook in Drews' arm
Almost out (those are my fingers!)
Lyndze, Ian, and Taylor (Jimmy's Nieces and Nephew)

Pictures to come

I know every blog doesn't need pictures, but I love pictures! This week we took a trip to Kaysville. On our way up we stopped in Farmington to see my maternal grandparents. My grandparents let someone board their horse on property by their house. The horse had a baby, so we stopped to see the colt. We tried a previous day to see the colt, but we weren't successful. The owner was nice enough to come over this time and bring the horse for us to see. The kids liked it. I got a picture of my kids along side my grandparents! I had a softball game, and Jimmy was at school, so my parents watched my kids. I decided to bike to my game. Price of gas, I wanted the challenge, and exercise. I make the 12 mile bike trip in 65 minutes. It was awesome! Lost the game, but had fun playing catcher. a few bruises on my shins!

Jimmy has been running with a friend, Carl. They are beginning their training. Carl, Jimmy, Darci (my morning running friend) and I decided to run the Farmington Festival Days 5K. It was Saturday morning. My kids slept over at my parents house, so we didn't have to move kids at 6am. The four of us rode in Jimmy's geo metro to the race. We joined my oldest brother Jay, niece Amanda, and Uncle Quinn at the race too. *again, picture coming. I had to beat Jimmy during this race! I was running more miles than him! I didn't even start next to him, we just each ran our own race at our own pace. I ran with Darci. Before mile 1, Jimmy caught up to me, and smacked my rear! startled me! but I shortly passed him, but I looked back and thought he looked GREAT running! YUMMY! I was happy to have him at the race, and trying something I LOVE! On the downhill stretch, Darci's long legs carried her ahead of me, but I caught up to her at mile 2.5, and we finished together. I pushed her and me to finish. The time on my watch was 27:24. I wanted to be between 27 and 30 min. I was happy! I finished and went to finish with Jimmy. He finished in 31 min. Not bad for his first 5K, and considering he is figuring out his asthma. We cooled off, and headed for the breakfast.

I stayed in Farmington for the parade. My mom bought my kids. We enjoyed the parade with lots of family there. It was fun. We visited the horse again, then came home for naps.

Saturday night, the boys went to the SL Bees baseball game. I went swimming with the girls at jimmy's parents house. I got stung by a yellow jacket that night! I was talking on the phone-serves me right!
BUSY weekend, but it was great! Jimmy also had a hockey game Friday night. The kids were at my parents, so I attended his game! It was great to go to the game without kids! It was like a date! NO KIDS! sweet!

My Pictures

Wednesday

Wednesday we were leaving for our camping trip to Fish Lake! Jimmy’s maternal grandparents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and this was the way they wanted to celebrate, no party, just camping.
I am responsible for packing clothes, food, bedding, toiletries, and things to keep the kids happy. I was fortunate to have the girls playing at a friend’s house for part of the afternoon, and Charlie asleep, so I got some good packing done during those 2 hours. Jimmy got off work early, and he was bringing the ice home for the coolers. Jimmy needed to put air in the tires before we left. He was going to Flying J in North Salt Lake, about 3 miles from home, to put air in the tires. I get a call from him asking me to ask our neighbor to come tow jimmy out of the intersection in front of Flying J. Jimmy told me the truck died and he was stuck in the intersection. Cole, our neighbor, has a truck, and we talked to him this afternoon. So, I run out of the house, and found Cole, and Cole goes off to rescue Jimmy. My stomach goes sick. What do I do? I wait…..Cole came back, and said he got the truck out of the intersection, and Jimmy’s dad was on his way to help. Jimmy’s dad ended up pulling the truck and trailer home with his truck. We decide to still go camping, but load what we NEED into the suburban and head out. So, we move quickly to get things out and ready. Bedding, blankets, a tent, food, clothes, bikes, toiletries, the large grill the Burns cook on and a large white cooler. We shoved everything in, and sent a few things with Jim. He needed to get on the road with the trailer. We got packed. The kids couldn’t move we had so much stuff around them. Got gas, and we stopped and picked up Connie from work, and she rode down with us. Saw 5 deer on our way to camping. We made it to camp after 10:30 or so. Got tents up, and beds set up and eventually kids to bed around midnight.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday

Friday
We did haircuts. Jimmy and Charlie got their heads shaved, and other men got some trims. Ladies washed hair that day. It felt good! A group went out fishing, and again, kids played, and another relaxing day. We went fishing again that evening, and the girls had more luck this time. Ashley caught 5 fish, and Sarah had Uncle Gary catching fish for her to reel in. Sarah would reel the fish in so slow, 3 got away. But it was great. Had fun again!

Saturday
We got a rain storm in the afternoon. Wind and cold! Once it started raining pretty bad, I took the kids and went in the suburban and turned on a movie. Jimmy was waiting out the storm on the other side of the lake. He got in a boat that went fishing, and the storm came and they had to wait out the storm before they came back to camp. They survived.

Sunday
We cleaned up and came home. We took tents down, and got things packed up. Less food to carry home, and no cooler in our suburban made it easier to pack it up. We got more of our things in, and it was packed better. Ian rode home with us. We had kids fall asleep for almost half the way home. Stopped in Nephi for lunch, and made it home around 7pm. Unloaded. It was GREAT to shower and get clean!

Thursday

Thursday
Thursday was filled with kids playing, talking, reading, Ian and Jimmy going driving and evening fishing. We took the kids fishing by the dock of Fish Lake. It was about 2 miles down the road from where we were camping. We shared poles and the fishing gear with the family there. We don’t have our own. The teenagers were happy to go fishing. Small fish were caught and most of them were thrown back, too small to keep.
The highlight of the evening came when Drew, Jimmy’s cousin, Brandy’s husband, was out fishing, just standing in the water up to his knees. He came back to shore, and just spoke, “uhh, can I get some help here?” Drew had hooked himself with the fishing hook on the tricep of his right arm! I heard his call, and went over to help. The fishing hook had a barb on the end, so it wasn’t going to be easy to get the hook out. Drew’s father in law came over to help (we call him uncle Pud). Uncle Pud cut off what he could of the fishing hook, and Drew decided he had to push the hook through to get it out. He couldn’t pull it out backwards because of the barb on the end. Drew sat on a rock, and I was the nurse helping him get the hook out. He used Jimmy’s leatherman *(Thank goodness Jimmy’s good wife packed it! Good thing Jimmy brought it fishing) to push the hook through. I was holding his skin tight, while Drew pushed the hook through. Drew kept his cool. It hurt and he expressed many painful groans, but no swearing! Good for him! Dr. Drew had a successful surgery, and got the hook out. He kept his cool, which I was impressed! Brandy kept an eye on the kids, and took a few pictures. We washed off the area, and got Drew a jacket, and we went back to watching the kids. Man, it was crazy, but I am glad it happened to him, and not one of the kids!

Random notes from Fish Lake

Sleeping, Running, dirty kids, bathrooms

The kids had so much fun. Jimmy’s cousins have kids also, so for the most part the kids always played together. They were soo cute! Aunt Angie brought a bunch of things to keep kids busy too! What a collection! It impressed me. Markers, crayons, coloring books, paper, stickers, puzzles, games and more….the kids played with those things a few times during the day. It was GREAT!
Charlie had fun playing by the water faucet. It had a little leak that he played in front of most the time. The other time, Charlie was playing with toys that other people brought, toy bikes, golfing set, and toy lawn mower. That boy had so much fun. To get him to take a nap, we had to take him for a walk in the stroller. He was so exhausted from playing soo hard every day.
I did go running two of the mornings. The altitude was 8800 feet. Going up hill was definitely hard! Hard to get a good breathe in. I just went running for 30 minutes, and that was good, over 2 miles I am sure. The scenery was amazing, and it was just great! I really enjoyed doing a little trail running. Not having a trailer meant we had to walk far to use the restroom, but we did ok. No kids woke up during the night with the need to go potty. We didn’t sleep the best in a tent and on foam pads, but we did ok. The kids kept warm in their sleeping bags. You can’t have too many blankets!!! The kids had 2 blankets and the sleeping bags. We always forget we can’t put all 3 kids to bed at the same time. It doesn’t work. We tried to do all three the first night. Charlie has to go first, and alone then later the girls and us.

Family Camping

I have spent too much time on the computer, but I probably won't be able to get on before we go out of town. It is only Tuesday and it has been soo busy! We leave tomorrow night to go camping in the Fish Lake National Forest. It should be a 2-3 hr drive down to central/southern Utah. I don't know how to get there. I remember it is under I-70. We've been busy trying to pack up the trailer. This is a new trailer for us and it will be its maiden trip! Wish us and the truck and trailer luck!! The kids should have fun. Camping will be with Jimmy's parents, and some of his moms family, like her parents, and a sibling or two of her, and maybe some cousins of Jimmy's will be there. Jimmy has 1 nephew and 2 nieces from Washington that are here for the month, and they will be camping with us too. Should be fun, and we will return on Sunday night.
More later! I should get packing!