My Draper Neighbor Mommy bike group

I had lived in Draper for two years and been slowly putting out my feelers to see who would come bike with me.  Amber L was the first to jump on.  I wasn’t sure she would come again after the first ride but she did!  Over the course of time we had a whole bunch of moms start to come.  We covered lots of different trails.  Red Potato Hill with Lacey, Amber Lisa and Natalie.


At the junction with Lisa, Natalie, Whitney, Brittney and Lacey


Great view from Anns at the tunnel with Brittney, Lisa, Natalie, and me.



We made it to the suspension bridge with Mischelle!  Vy came a few times.  Natalie and I made it to the flag one day in July when the flag as flying high over the canyon entrance.

And all our kids… we rotated between houses so the kids had big play dates while moms biked!

So nice to rice in September too!  Amber and Cassidy

Lake Powell

We had a magical few days with some great friends at Lake Powell.  That is a magical place with WARM water!  The sand stone wall were breathtaking.  No cell phone service to bother with.


We had a fun house boat that we got to call home for 4 days.  4 families… 3 of them sleeping on the roof.  We had meals out side so it wasn’t squishy.  Our chefs were amazing… Amber and Brittney make an amazing team.  I was floored by all the good food we ate every single meal!

We had kayaks and rafts.  waterskiing. tubing. cliff jumping. Just jumping into the water at any moment was wonderful.  warm water is magical.  

After a few days we did wash our hair .  So fun to scrub and then jump in to wash off.

We found an awesome crack to go explore.  I am a tiny dot in the center of the picture.  We explored up a small slot canyon.  Had a fun fox visitor.  Slept under the stairs.  Every night I told the kids a bedtime story.  And 15 kids went to bed after a long busy exciting day.  The drive home was easy.  Every one just slept…. 

Summer Hikes

My cousin Julie and I have been doing hikes every summer for almost 10 years.  It seems to be getting a little harder every summer but we always get a few hikes in.  Kids schedules get busy and then planning around vacations….. but its always a delight when we make it happen. 

We made it to Suicide Rock this summer.  We climbed to the top of the rock… covered in layers of graffiti but so neat to go to the top.  Then we continued on down the path to where the river is.  The kids had a great time playing in the cool water before we had to hike UP and out of the trail.  

We also finally made it to Lundstrom Cave in Big Cottonwood.  It isn’t a big cave but just the right size for kids who are just venturing into cold dark (wet) places.  The older boys had to act brave since there were littles in the group who were looking up to them.

Mid Week Mnt Bike Races

These races have  been a big part of our lives for a lot of years.  They are getting so big now it isn’t quite as much fun.  But our kids still love them, and Darren enjoys the competition and workout.  This is pictures of the last race of this season.  Up at Solitude.  They do a great dinner after and have awards and raffles.  Darren won his division one year - but had to move up since he won… he competes agains some tough competition.  He may never win but thats ok.  They give every kid who races a prize and a certificate.  (and a chance to stand on the first place podium)

Bear Lake with the Hyldahl

We enjoyed the weekend with Rob and his kids at his place in Bear Lake.  From Lagoon straight to Bear Lake… these kids have it made!  The Hyldahl have so many fun things to play with in the water.  The kids loved tubing.  Paddle boarding was a hit!  The view from the trailer we stayed in was pretty amazing.  4 wheelers were fun.  Hot tubbing.  Trampoline jumping.  The adults even snuck out one night to get a shake from La Beaus!

Lagoon and Logan

Every August Darren's work takes us to Lagoon.  While the big kids went on a fast and crazy ride Abby and I did a nice slow train ride and took some fun pictures.  She wanted to pose for lots of photos.  Then we drove up to Logan after.  The kids are growing so we tried a different way to let them sleep in the bed.