Stadium of Fire

 Caleb came through for the win and got Stadium of Fire tickets. Anthony, Brooke, Caleb and myself went to see Tim McGraw. I love how patriotic I feel at stadium of fire. The show was great. I didn't love Tim but it was still a great evening. He played a lot of songs I didn't know so that was less fun for me. The fireworks at stadium of fire are always amazing so that is a definite win.

One of the benefits of living in Utah is that so many people come here to visit. Pick their kids up from college, weddings, missions . . . . . . It is always fun to see my dearest high school friends. It's like no time has passed and we can just have so much fun with whatever time we have. I feel so blessed to have grown up with the best people.

 

Lodi

 Sunday we left McCloud and then we headed back to Oroville. I had Ben and Katie's kids with me because Ben and Katie headed to San Diego for a work conference. We stopped in Oroville and unloaded cars and had lunch. Then we grabbed Andrew and headed to Lodi. We were all very tired. I was exhausted. It had been a long week with little sleep. Once we got to Lodi we had dinner and took the dogs to the dog park. The kids, dogs and me needed to get out and move after being in the car for so long. Lodi cools off nicely in the evenings so it was very pleasant.

We had a rough evening but we got everyone in bed before 10, myself included. I slept so good. It was so nice to finally feel rested. I woke up Monday and biked while the kids hung out. Then I took the boys on a 6.5 mile bike ride and the girls on a 2 mile bike ride. Then we ran some errands and went to Menchie's.

Monday was pretty low key and just what we needed. Tuesday was Braxton's birthday. We had a relaxing morning where I went on another bike ride. Then after lunch we headed to a trampoline park. The kids jumped for two hours and had a ton of fun. We stopped and got ice cream after to celebrate Braxton.

We walked the dogs again in the evening and hung out.

Wednesday I biked again:) Notice a them here. Bike in the morning and then play hard. We decided to go swimming this day. We went swimming at the Galt outdoor pool. It wasn't the coolest pool ever but the kids played hard so it was a success to me.

We then stopped and had In and Out for dinner. We ended the evening with out favorite activity, walking the dogs!

Katie and Ben were on different flights. Katie's flight back was delayed and so they didn't get home until after 10pm. I decided to sleep another night in Lodi because I was tired. It was so fun to get to spend so much time with Ben's kids. Thursday morning Andrew and I headed back to Oroville. We then went to Chico and spent the day with Angelee. It was really nice to visit and grab lunch.

Friday My mom, Andrew and myself drove the long drive back to Provo. The trip was uneventful but long as usual. I was so happy to finally be back in my own bed. California was great but it always feels good to come home.

McCloud

 McCloud is a small town in northern California nestled near Mt. Shasta. It is a little bit cooler than Oroville. Jan and Lou have a home there. It is also very reasonable to rent homes there so it is a good place for a family meet up. We headed up Friday Morning. On the agenda for Friday was get to McCloud, unpack at various houses, dinner and games. Virginia rented a good size house and so we did most of our hanging out there. It worked great and was really fun. Caleb had his camera out and got lots of shots of people visiting and playing games. Kanjam, spikeball, crossnet, and ladder ball.

Joel brought a giant fire hydrant that was a sprinkler. It was a huge hit as well. The kids and adults played hard. Virginia. Cody and Jen made dinner Friday night. It was really good. It was so fun to be all together hanging out!

Saturday my immediate family was in charge of all the meals. Amanda, my mom and I got up early and started breakfast for everyone. We were cooking for 42 so it took a while. We made breakfast burritos and had muffins and fruit on the side. We got everyone fed and were ready for the day.

The first adventure for the day was to hike the McCloud Falls. There are three water falls. The upper, middle and lower. They are all really pretty. It is a nice hike with multiple spots to enjoy the water. Some people went and hiked, some were in cars and just went to the lookouts and some stayed back at the houses to hang out. The hike took longer than we planned because we stopped and played quite a bit. It was a beautiful morning.

The kids were in the water for quite a while at the middle falls. We finally got them all out and headed to the lower falls. You can jump off of the lower falls. Emerson, Andrew and Braxton all jumped off. It was awesome. Brooke was so nice to help them all. It was so fun to watch them. I couldn't do lake water because I had a mole removed on my shoulder and it was still open. That was a bummer. I love jumping off lower falls.

After we finished the hike we headed back to McCloud for lunch. We had Lasagna and salad for lunch. Those that were still up for adventure went to swim at Lake of the Siskiyou.  Siskiyou is a lake at the base of Mount Shasta. It was a beautiful setting. We had our paddle boards and just played. I was sidelined because of my mole but I had fun watching the kids play.

Caleb also had his camera and got some great shots of people.

We swam for a couple of hours and then headed back to McCloud. We needed to take family pictures and have dinner. All before dark:)

Anthony, Brooke and Caleb stopped on the way back to McCloud and got some great pictures. Mt. Shasta is so amazing.

Back at the house everyone enjoyed visiting and yummy food.

And some group family photos.

We don't all get together very often so it was good to get some group photos. Caleb did a great job to make sure it happened.

 A few more pictures . . . . . . . . . 

Sunday morning we checked out of all our houses and had one last meal together. Lou and Jan did breakfast for everyone at their house. It was a great weekend. Went by way too quick but was so fun to see everyone.