This summer we’ve taken advantage of the beautiful mountain scenery so close to us here in Utah. These two hikes are some of my all-time Utah favorites.

Gobler’s Knob: 

With a several-month break between graduation and the start of my new job, I decided to pick up some care gigs to make up my summer. I’ve nannied some darling children as well as pet-watched for a family that went out of town. I’ve spent so much time outdoors continued to the last few summers, both because of the nannying job as well as because of the adventures Dallin and I have gone on. Today we went paddle boarding down the Provo River with Dallin’s family; last week I blew up a little pool floatie and floated on Deer Creek Reservoir with my dear sister-in-law Kaeli and her aunt. Dallin and I also went camping with our friends Mug and Michael in a forest only 20 minutes from home. 

After my externship ended, Dallin and I flew down to Arizona. The Lundgreens had no clue we were coming, so it was quite the fun surprise to show up at their doorstep near midnight one Saturday. It was by chance that we booked our trip the same week of our niece Elle’s baby blessing and my brother Eric’s speech at Bachalaureate. During that week we also celebrated my graduation with the Urness family, and we saw Top Gun: Maverick with the Samuelson’s entire flight school before heading to the pool to BBQ. We visited our friends McKay and Brittany who recently moved away from Utah and also Dallin’s cousin Reed and his girlfriend Erica. 

Some funny moments:  

-Nephew Maverick asking me to repeatedly play the dreaded song of my junior high years, Friday, so he could dance and monotonely sing along.  

-Maverick going through a “no” phase and saying no to everything even if he means “yes,” therefore having to request something that he denied seconds before.

-Brother-in-law Matt showing us how to “fart the baby” and then attempting to “fart Dallin” (included in the pics). Thank goodness it didn’t work on Dallin like it did the baby.

-The Samuelson’s cat Rune making everyone watch him eat. He does this by rubbing against your legs and meowing for your attention, urging you to follow him upstairs, and guiding you to the room where his food bowl is already full. After every few bites he turns around to make sure you’re still there, locking eye contact with you so you know to stay. 

 

At the beginning of this hike to Bell’s Canyon, our friend Mug saw the handcuffs on Talon’s belt (from work) and got excited.  Talon watched wordlessly as Mug snapped the first cuff on himself, and just as he was about to shackle his second wrist, Dallin asked, “Uhh Mug, are you sure Talon has the keys on him?” Turns out, Talon did not.  So Mug got the wear a cuff on one wrist for the entirety of the hike. I was laughing so hard I cried. 

This week I was headed to watch Dallin’s volleyball game when the brakes started acting up. They clicked loudly every time I released them. I immediately pulled over and texted the guys to ask if they knew  what was up. Mug met up with me and listened, guessing either the brake pads were worn or a bolt was loose. I didn’t drive the car till I took it into his shop a few days later, but of course the sound had stopped. Mug did some investigating and discovered a very dead mouse lodged in the area of the brake pad.  He had to scrape off the carcass, noting that it was so worn through from my drive here that that’s why the sound had stopped. Gross.