Camping w/ the Hebdons

Camrey's 1st birthday was Thursday, July 8th. We left that morning around 12 to meet Tory's family for camping.

We camped at Lake Cleveland right next to Pomerell Ski Resort, just past Burley area. We got some really nice camp sights.

Tory actually reserved 4 sights there 4 months ago, but the day before we left the ranger station told us that it was inaccessible from a snow drift blocking the road. So they advised we cancel our reservations. We did, and got a full refund, but now we had to take our chances in finding campsites for all of us close to each other.

Tory's brother Chad took his family up a day early and looked at the "Snow Drift" blocking the road which turned out to be almost nothing. Chad said he could easily drive through it with his truck.

The day we left Tory spent a lot of time on the phone with the ranger and they gave us permission to shovel out the snow drift blocking the out camp sights... in the end no shoveling was needed and the ranger drove through the snow himself and unlocked the gate.

The problem now was the campsites were open for everyone. 3 cars went right in after the gate was opened before Chad had a chance to get in and claim our spots! And of course they took the ones we had reserved for 4 months up until yesterday!


But it all worked out because there were some more available that were closer together than the ones we originally hoped to get. And we ended up getting to camp for free!!

We set up camp, had some dinner, and then we had a birthday party for Camrey! She got some Leap Frog fridge ABC's that sing, and a baby doll from Grandma & Grandpa Hebdon, and a doll from Dad, and some clothes; and a teddy bear from Harris Grandparents; and a toy truck to ride on.

Friday, June 9th we went to "The city of Rocks."

We found a nice area to have a picnic, with a big rock formation in the middle that was perfect for little kid to climb and play on.

This is Madelyn...

and this is her little brother Bradley.

This is Jaycee. She is a year older than Chase. Hadley (same age as Chase), Jaycee, and Chase spent all their time playing together. we hardly even saw Chase except when it was time to eat!

This is Avery, Chad's youngest.

I snatched a picture of Ruston's boys who did not want their picture taken!

(Ruston is Tory's oldest brother Chad is second, Angie is 3rd and she is Jaycee and Hanna's mom, then Tory, then Jeremy has Hadley, Madalyn, Bradley, and Brooklyn, and Rodney doesn't have kids... yet..., and Brian couldn't make it because his wife Andria just had their 1st baby boy about 7 weeks ago.)

There was a trail at the sight we were eating lunch so Tory took the camera and the older boys and went exploring for a little while.

And being the nature admirer he is...

took lots of beautiful pictures.

One thing I loved about the place we were camping was all the diverse vegetation growing. There were so many different wild flowers and lots of different greenery. (The florist in me was loving it).

Chad's 2nd daughter
Ashlyn survived a bad crash, on a bike without brakes, going down hill, and smacking straight into a big rock that threw her off the bike without a helmet! She hurt her ankle and hit her head, and had scratches all over, but after a priesthood blessing, and a trip to the emergency room to make sure nothing was broken, she was able to come back.

We stayed until Sunday (July 11), then packed up and came home!

Thanks family for a fun time! We love you all and hope to do it again soon.

Camping at Bulltrout Lake (June 27-29)

On Sunday June 27, we went to church at 9:00 and got out at 12. We thought we had most everything packed,


but camping (being what it is) takes a long time to prepare for.

We didn't leave the house until 5:15. I too just a little over 2 hours to get there. The boys slept part of the way, and Camrey... none of it.


We had hot dogs for dinner and roasted marshmallows. Getting Camrey to sleep was a little rough, but she finally crashed, and spent the whole first night snuggled in her sleeping bag.

We were camped right next to the lake. I was a beautiful area. Our first night there we had a deer come right through our camp sight.

We drove into Stanley the next morning because we left our worms at home. That gave Camrey a chance to get a nap. When we got back we had a early lunch, then tried our luck fishing. Nothing. But throwing rocks in the water is always good fun. Tory and the boys, got in the lake later that day, and Camrey had a bath.

I used her bath tub to wash my hair, I was not getting into that cold lake!



It was nice to escape the heat! We enjoyed 70-80 degree weather while everyone back in town endured temperatures reaching 100. The nights were cold getting down to mid 30's but we were prepared with warm sleeping bags, so it wasn't a problem.

We had hoped Camrey would be walking before we take her camping, but she wasn't.

I'll have to remember to pack more clothes for her. We let her crawl around the 2nd morning in her pj's so her cloths would be some what clean for the drive home.

She loved being outside in the dirt.



We had some very friendly chipmunks in our campground. Camrey got so excited watching them. It started out with just 1, but by the time we were ready to leave we had 4 coming in.

I suppose word got out that we had peanuts!

We didn't really do a lot while we were there, but it was relaxing and fun.
Our 2nd night brought a big rain storm, which got everything wet. But it didn't take too long the next morning for things to dry out once the sun came up.

After we got all packed up on Tuesday and ready to head home we decided to stop by dock and try our luck at fishing again!

The weather was cool and overcast. It was about 12:00.

Tyler threw rocks and Chase and I managed 2 fishing poles.

Camrey napped in the car!

Luck was on our side, and Chase caught a fish. We almost had another one but we lost it.

So on the way home Tory asked Chase, "What was your favorite part?"
He started naming off things like, "sleeping in the tent, catching a fish, chopping wood, building a fire,... (then he paused) Everything was my favorite part!"

Day Trip (June 19)

On Saturday Tory and Alex took the kids to Garden Valley for part of the day.

I didn't go, so I don't know all the details...


But they seemed to enjoy it!

Any chance to get out of the house and into the trees is a good day!

Swimming Lessons.

We decided to kick off our summer with 2 weeks of swimming lessons. So from June 14-25 we had 30 min. of swimming lessons at the Meridian Pool 5 days a week at 12:00.

We put Chase in a "Lower Level 2" class with his cousin Dejah. And Tyler with a private instructor.

He did really good with her. I was sad to have it all end.

I didn't take as many pictures as I thought... but I have quite a few short video's...

Idaho City (June 12)

Last weekend we went to Idaho City for free fishing day!

We borrowed a tackle box form my dad, and grabbed the boy's poles, packed a lunch and headed out the door at 9:15 a.m.

(Of course that was after I went grocery shopping at 6:45 that morning)

There is a pond in the main part of town that is stocked with fish. So we decided to fish there first to guarantee a catch before trying our luck in some river or stream.

It was crowded and the water was mossy and nasty, but we did catch one catfish. A lady held it for me while I cut the line because it had swallowed the hook, then she tossed it back in the water!

I was crushed... I said, "OH, we were going to take a picture!" The only fish of the day and some lady threw it back!

We planned to do a picnic lunch, but the place we were fishing at had free hot dogs in honor of Free Fishing Day. And the local store that provided the hot dogs also had a big drawing; and every child there got a prize: fishing poles, tackle boxes, lures, bait, big and small. The boys each got something small and then we headed for a short hike by the river.

We tried fishing a little, but the water was too fast and after 2 snags and having to re-hook and bait the line I gave up!

Tyler prefers throwing rocks in the water to fishing.







We made it home to Luck Peak area just in time for the road to be sectioned off for the Half Iron Man race. So we sat in traffic at 4:30 for about 45 minutes.

I've decided: It's not about how many fish you catch, but who you're fishing with!

Hiking w/ Alex (June 7-8)

The Monday after Tory's birthday, He and my brother in law Alex Beal had a backpacking trip planned. The went to .......... (Somewhere past Horseshoe Bend direction)

Tory took the camera and a new set of batteries, and just as he suspected the ones in the camera were dead because the boys were playing with it again! So he pulled out the new ones he brought.... Just his luck... they are dead too!

No Pictures!! Alex had his camera so we'll have to get some from him... some day.

(If I get pictures soon I'll post them.)