Hatch

We love to go to the Bell Family Reunion in Hatch, UT. Camping and getting reacquainted with cousins is always a great time! This year they had arranged a hike through Red Canyon, which was absolutely stunning.

The formations were beautiful and we loved just being together in our huge group hiking the trails.

If you look closely, you can see that many, many hikers have stopped at this tree and balanced small rocks among the branches. Cool.

I love my sisters. At one fork in the trail, everyone else decided to go back to the visitor's center and picnic area for lunch. Of  course, we three decided we weren't done yet and wanted to keep hiking. Well, in a crazy mix-up Emily continued on with my boys, Katy went back to find Dan, and Clara and I ended up lost, or so we thought. It was a VERY long trail and we never saw another person until coming out at the end near the highway. Fortunately, Grandpa Tom came to our rescue and drove us back to the picnic area. Thanks, Em, for watching over my boys and making sure they got back safe and sound.

Back at the Walter Ranch, there were fun and games of all sorts. Jacob took this photo while he was on the hayride. There were also horseshoes, making survival bracelets, water balloon Battleship, a treasure hunt, and rides on the quads. For Jacob and Isaac, one of the favorite activities was throwing sticks and frisbees for the dogs to fetch. For Noah, his favorite activity was hanging out with his cute girl cousins ;).

There was a big horse trough of full of cold water and the kids loved to play with it.

When the day got hot, though, they couldn't stand it any longer and jumped in to cool off!

The highlight that Jacob still talks about was riding in this old, beat-up car. Note the fancy schmancy horns as the hood ornament, and the smokestacks on the sides. No seatbelts, no shocks. My crazy cousins bounced us, high-speed, along the dirt roads and spun maniacal 360's in the parking lots. Good times in Southern Utah.

Later that night we had square dance instruction from a missionary couple who were serving locally. We laughed until our sides hurt. That sweet sister finally gave up when she realized there wasn't much in our talent pool.

We loved being together and it was hard to say goodbye. Love you guys. Soar high!