Happy Birthday, America! We love you!

Well, we spent the 4th of July weekend with our great friends, the Bergmann's. We've known them for almost 2 years, and from the get-go, we were instant friends! We were so happy to be able to go camping with them this year. We spent our weekend with them in :

This was a tunnel we went through as we were approaching the National Park. This park was beautiful!!! It reminded me a lot of Moab and Goblin Valley, but the difference was: the color green! There are pine trees and greenery everywhere! The landscape is beautiful with the red rock, the green trees and the bright blue sky! It is awesome!

McKay spent practically the whole time walking around holding Kelly's hand. He didn't want to hold anyone else's hand. I think he has a little crush....







We learned that many of these trees pictured here, the Ponderosa Pine, smell like vanilla. Give one of these a hug, and smell that sweet vanilla aroma. LOVE IT!

This day it rained and the smell up in the mountains was incredible! Seriously, the smell of rain mixed with being in the mountains was wonderful. It was the perfect weather!

This tree is 1,600 years old.

Here we are at the campsite roasting marshmallows and Starburst's.

Kenna got several "owie's" on this trip. She is just a "foot-loose-and-fancy-free" kind of girl and doesn't really pay attention to her feet when she's gallivanting and running around and having fun. (Hmmmmm........sounds like someone else I know......... who could it be?????ME!!!) She fell several times. This was probably the least worst of her cuts, but she made the biggest deal out of this one.We were inside the visitor center while it was raining and Brett was walking to the restroom. He saw a table set-up with a whole bunch of people standing around it. As he walked by he saw that it was an "author-signing". Then the author opened his mouth and spoke to one of his fans. As Brett walked by, he stopped and said to himself, "Wait a minute. I recognize that voice. That is my 4th grade teacher, Mr. Mike Graf." And sure enough, it was! Brett walked over to him and said, "I'm Brett Rush, you taught me in 4th grade!" He said, "You are not!" Then he stood up and said, "YOU ARE!" He gave Brett a huge hug and they visited for almost an hour. This guy was one of Brett's favorite teachers. He would even go over to the Rushes house for dinner sometimes. Brett loved him and really looked up to him. Anyway, it was a great reunion and he writes great kids books. Here's a link if you want to check them out.

The kids did the Junior Ranger program at Bryce Canyon. Here is Ranger Ray swearing them in. The kids loved it and I highly recommend doing the jr. ranger programs at any national parks you visit. It kept them busy and really taught them a lot.


Thank you Bergmann's for a wonderful, long, relaxing weekend! What great friends you are! Let's do it again soon!