Payson Lakes Grotto

The morning after the 24th, we were sitting around and my sisters kids wanted to do something, as well as her husband. Her husband doesn't like to sit still and likes to keep busy, he also likes to be outdoors. There were a couple of hikes/walks they knew about that were close to their house and so we tried to decide which one to do.

We eventually decided and probably half of my kids complained. Shaylyn was concerned cause she didn't have 'real' shoes. She only had flip flops. I told her she'd be fine and we were on our way.

The boys wasted no time getting their butts dirty...

The rest of us tried a more laid back approach.

Jace was really taking his time and that meant I was falling quite a ways behind. My sister's awesome husband, Cody realized what was going on and asked if he could carry Jace. I wasn't sure Jace would go with him as he's kind of funny around people he doesn't see very well - but apparently Uncle Cody was an okay guy and he went with him just fine.

We made it to the grotto and found it incredibly crowded. Which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise as it was the day after a holiday AND a Saturday. The kids managed to have fun anyway. And Tanis was a great helper with Jace.

There was a way to get to the top of the waterfall, but it was a steep climb. Therefore, only Shaylyn and Lex went up with Cody and his son. My brother Logan took his son Vincent up as well.

It was then time to head back to the car and back home.

{..Yup she's barefoot. Her concern about not having real shoes wasn't unfounded. There are the ocassional times you should listen to your children...}

There's a story to the next picture.
My dad is getting older and while he's not in as bad as shape as he thinks he is in his head, he does have some issues with his knees. He was a little nervous crossing one of the little bridges and he was honestly shaking a bit. He asked Cody if he wouldn't mind helping him keep his balance and Cody did just that. He made sure he was right there helping out and ready to do what he could should something happen.

The kids weren't thrilled to go back home afterwards as they wanted to spend more time with their cousins, but I was anxious to see Eric. He was going to be at the store all Saturday night as well, so I just wanted to touch base and see how he was doing.

We stopped by the game store on the way home and went and said hi to Daddy. He was glad to see all of us and I think we were all glad to see him. There are things that are hard to do without Daddy around and we miss him when he's not with us.