Grotto Falls

We're Back!

Well we are finally back and settled after all of our summer travels. It has been a blast to finally go and do the things that we want to do for the summer. I quit my job so that we could have the summer off together. Josh can work anywhere with internet so he took his laptop with us and off we went.

I haven't had time to blog lately so here is what we've been up to:

We finally bought a Subaru! We found a 2001 outback in amazing condition and in our price range which is rare. We had been looking for months. This is not our car but it looks exactly like this. (I was too lazy to take a picture). It has been great to travel in and PLUS it has AIR CONDITIONING!!! After three years without it!

Speaking of laptops we finally saved up and got one that Josh has been wanting. It is fabulous and now Josh can take his work with him! (I basically get to claim it as my own while Josh is working during the day on the desk top. BONUS!)

So that is our exciting news. We have been searching and saving and it has finally paid off.

We were able to spend some time with Josh's sister Meisha and our nephews for a week or so. We went to the lake to swim, took them rock-climbing and went to Jump on it. (An indoor trampoline place). It was nice to spend some time with them before we headed out of town. (I wish I had taken more pictures).

For the last week of July and the 1st week of August we went down to our cabin on Echo Lake for the annual Oviatt family reunion. We were all a bit concerned at first because the lake was so flooded this year. But in my opinion it was one of the best years. There was no one else at the beach the whole time. (Mainly because it was underwater haha), and our family had the dock all to ourselves.

Also, there were no boats out to run you over so you could swim wherever you wanted to. (No wake rule this year due to high flooding). For me that was a bonus because I love going out into the middle of the lake, swimming, paddle-boating and kayaking. Josh and I aren't huge into skiing (Mainly because we only get to do it once a year), so it was nice to not have the boat constantly running all day. We could just spend time with one another and enjoy the water.

There are some other lakes that branch off that you normally can't get to because of the really narrow and shallow passage ways. Since the water was so high this year we could troll out to those little bays and ski. We did that a couple of times. But the majority of the time was spent just relaxing and swimming. My kind of vacation!

Josh worked each morning until about noon and then was able to be with us the rest of the day. He loves his job so this worked out nicely.

At one point we pulled the paddle boat behind the boat and trolled around the lake. It was very relaxing, but no quite as red-neck as we were going for. We saw some of our friends pulling the entire dock with hammocks attached all over and tubes trailing behind. Now that's a red-neck cruise line!

We were really glad that we were able to stay for two weeks this year.

Since we have travel-able car now we drove up to Spokane. We had never been there in the summer since we have been married. Dad, Sally, Baylee, and Josh and I took the trailer and headed to Priest Lake for a week of camping. We really enjoyed it. Priest Lake is beautiful and it was fun to explore the surrounding areas. We went on some amazing hikes and played on the fallen trees. Dad also brought the mountain bikes so we could ride the trails. I really love the Pacific Northwest. It is so green and beautiful. I really miss the green...and the ability to breathe...

And of course we have been climbing like crazy. The indoor climbing center had a special going this summer so we FINALLY bought passes. Its so nice to be able to go when you want to, but at the same time not care how long you stay. You don't have to worry about getting your monies worth each time. Sometimes we just go for an hour here or there. We definitely plan on renewing the passes at the end of August so we can keep going. It is one of Josh's favorite things to do and mine as well. (Climbing passes are WAY better than Golds Gym seriously!)

We have had an amazing summer so far. I am sad to see it come to an end. The nice thing about Utah is that it is so diverse. We will do a lot more camping this fall down south since it is too hot to go in the summer. It should be fun. Pictures and posts to come!

P.S You can see all of our pictures from our travels HERE.