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This morning Eli showed us that he is growing up to become a fine young man.

It started our as a normal morning. I was getting ready in the bedroom and Paul came in and started brushing his teeth.

A minute later a knock on the door, Eli asked if he could come in. He was holding a plate of waffles. He calmly told Paul that he wasn’t arguing and he was just letting him know he didn’t like burnt waffles. Eli said he likes his waffles crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, and he was worried if he didn’t let Paul know about this, he would always get burnt waffles. He also said it was very hard to get the wet waffles out of the dish washer and into the trash, but he managed to do it. 🙂 Eli then held out the plate of waffles for Paul that HE made. He said he was sorry and he didn’t mean to make Paul feel bad.

Turned out Paul had a very short night due to work, and this morning he didn’t have any patience with Eli and his complaining over his breakfast. Eli complained that his waffles were burnt so Paul picked up the plate with the burnt waffles, put everything in the dish washer, and left the kitchen.

I am so please how Eli handled this situation. He was so calm and just explained how he was feeling and the reason why he said what he said to Paul.

Eli is a generous, caring, thoughtful young boy. I sure hope he continues growing up this way.

Went on my usual run this morning.

As I was running I thought it would be fun if I ran into Paul and Eli. But what a crazy thought, they never come out and meet me while I’m running. I turned the corner and there they were! Well, wouldn’t that be fun if won a million dollars? Ha!

When I left to go running, Paul and Eli went around the valley and picked up 7 electric lime scooters.

Eli and I jumped on one and the three of us went around the lake.

We called some friends and invited them to come ride with us.

It’s always fun to be with Lauren.

We stopped under a bridge to throw rocks into the lake. I was really hot out! We needed some shade.

That evening I called my brother and we went out again.

I even got my dad on a scooter!

Sorry, Paul. This is the only picture of you 🙂 I had to document that you were with us 🙂

I have been to a lot of donut and dessert places around the valley and this is the BEST glaze donut I have had.

The donut is quite large as well. When I’m down south I will stop by again!

Oh, Hobby Lobby I can’t bring home all the scarecrows.

I decorated a bulletin board for Eli’s school. I wanted something different and came up with the 3-D butterflies. I think they fun!

Since school has started our schedule has been busy and I have been having a hard time keeping track of Eli’s singing and swimming lessons. The next morning I looked at my planner and found a note from him 🙂

Want a delicious cinnamon roll? Here it is!

While we were waiting for our order they gave out free cinnamon rolls. They were delicious. Thinking about them as I type I need to go back and get one. Hmm…are they open at this time of night? 🙂

Another fun day at the demolition derby.

Ferelyn refused to smile for my pictures. I’m posting them anyway! 🙂

Eli had a lot of fun dancing in the stands.

I’m not sure why it’s fun to watch several cars deliberately crash into each other, but it is!

An arena full of damaged and disabled cars with only one still running.

A lot of cars were destroyed tonight. Looking forward to next year!

We started out our ride by stopping at the gas station that makes their own donuts. Paul chose one that was longer than his arm…

Eli chose ice cream 🙂

And I chose the best one 🙂 Blueberry with cream cheese icing.

We took a left to see Lambert Meadow. We drove for several miles and came to a dry river bed. The terrain wasn’t terrible rocky, but a little more than I like. I drove across it and a mile later we decided to turn around.

On the way back Eli wanted to drive and asked to switch. I told him after we cross the riverbed he could drive. He asked again. He said, “Mom, I want to be a good driver, please let me drive.” What? My little boy is right. How is he going to learn unless he drives? So we switched.

On the way back we took the other road to Alexander Lake. Eli drove quite a bit and he did a great job driving. He is becoming a great driver!

Alexander Lake.

We walked to the lake and we found several dragonflies. These dragonflies were HUGE and they were flying around and being very curious about us.

Our crazy boy! 🙂

Beautiful dragonflies with vibrant colors.

This was the only flower we saw on our ride.

Lunch! We freeze dried chicken a few days ago. When we came to the lake, Paul heated water and rehydrated the chicken. Add avocado and Paul had a warm chicken sandwich. He said it was very tasty.

Ready to head back down, but first we explored the area and found a camping site a little further in we are going to use next year.

This was a really fun ride. The roads were nice and easy to ride on.

On the way back down we had to race the weather. We almost made it down and it poured rain. We were soaked. We made it to the truck right in time and it started to hail! This was a fun drive and I’m glad we took time to come up here.

I failed to get a picture of the trailhead, oh well. We started at Ruth Lake Trailhead.

We went with Monte, Brian, Jackie, and Ross.

It was a wet morning.

The rain brought out the flowers lining the trail.

We passed some goats. I’m bringing these next trip!

Made it to Ruth Lake.

Eli gave me many flowers. I love this little boy!

It’s always fun to see water lilies.

Top of Ruth lake looking down.

We passed Liberty lake.

Coming down the boulders into Jewel lake.

2 miles to our camp site.

Just waiting at the bottom.

After we set up camp, the sun came out.

Paul did a little fishing.

Eli did a little fishing.

Monte did a little fishing.

Back at camp I didn’t get Jackie in her hammock, but she looked really comfortable. We need to pick one up for our next trip!

Making dinner. This made us laugh. The men making dinner with a mini kettle and tiny measuring cup. After carefully measuring out water, how much do you put in? Just dump the rest in! Ha!

The next morning we took a different route over the boulders. This way was a little easier than the way we came in, but it was still a tough climb. Look at that blue lake!

Note for next time. When we go into Jewel lake, stay to the left, or the middle trail. The middle trail leads down an easier path through the boulders 🙂

A little pond on the way back.

Saw this guy on the side of the road on the way home.

It’s been a fairly laid back July.

My first 10 miles back to running. The COVID lung set me back. A lot!

I decided to sew Rin a bag for her baptism. I haven’t embroidered in years. I had to dust my machine off and figure out how to turn it on!

Turned out pretty cute.

The family, minus Seth.

Rin is so pretty in her dress!

Went to the library and look what parking space I was able to park in. Electric car parking. I love it!

We went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. The fried cauliflower was pretty good. The sauce was a bit spicy, but I would try them again. Eli sweet talked the waitress into free ice cream. That boy gets free items out of everyone. A few weeks ago at Great Harvest he talked the ladies into giving him 4 cinnamon rolls!

Paul and I finally made it to the temple.

Eli has been begging me to let him ride his bike to Mormor’s house. So today was the day. I grabbed my shoes and ran next to him. My little coxswain encouraged me to go faster 🙂 I can’t keep up with him, he’s too fast! He had a lot of fun. We will have to take another ride to their house before school starts.

Ferelyn and Gauge had an appointment in Colorado so I took Rin for the day. We started out with lunch.

Then went to the arcade.

This was an old school game, but they loved it. Paul thought it looked fun. I guess we are old. 🙂

Lots of laughs with these two with this game.

We then went to the fun center and did a little roller skating. Rin had a lot of fun.

Eli did not. Ha! It took me a minute to remember how to skate, but it was a lot of fun!

The two ran around through the jungle.

The three of us played laser tag.

Shoot some balls.

By the time we got home, this was Rin. Eli wasn’t too far behind. When I got him home he didn’t argue with getting in his pajamas.

It was a fun day! I look forward to next time.

Paul wanted to start out our first backpacking trip of the year with an easy, kid friendly hike. He chose Kamas lake.

We started at the Main Fork Weber River trailhead. Note the distance of 1.5 miles.

The trail started out with a lot of dragonflies.

He needed a selfie with one of the dragonflies, ha!

It was a nice hike up.

Which way? Stay to the right.

We saw a few flowers on the way up. Not sure if we were a few weeks too early or a few weeks too late.

We passed this stream and thought this was a good hike for Eli. We were a mile in and thought this was a perfect hike for him until we turned the corner.

That’s when the climb began. The trail went straight up for a mile! Little Pea was NOT happy. We were not happy. It was a hot, steep, long, hike to the lake. We were not expecting a mile straight up, or the extra mile.

Finally! We made it.

2.5 miles to the lake. Not 1.5 miles. This was not a kid friendly hike 🙂

We set up camp.

Paul did some fishing.

Eli did some echoing 🙂

Eli was pretty excited to do some fishing as well. He wanted to use his new fly case.

I stayed back and read in my net bug free.

Eli joined me. What a cute dimple. 🙂

We ate dinner. Pasta Primavera. Paul thought his picture of me eating was funny.

That night I wore my comfy, cozy socks preparing for a cool night. The socks didn’t help. I was SO cold. Miserably cold. Between Eli and his snoring, the cold, and my insomnia, I think I had about 3 hours of sleep.

When daylight finally came Paul got out of his bag saying how hot he was. Turned out I was in Paul’s bag and he was in mine! Apparently my bag is thicker than his. I won’t make this mistake next trip.

The next morning we hiked over the boulders to the other side of the lake and had a snowball fight.

Eli thought this was funny. See his face. Now that is a genuine smile. Do you see his snowball? Yes, it hit us 🙂

Eli found fossil tracks 🙂

Back at camp we ate lunch, cleaned up, and hiked out.

Kamas lake was a beautiful lake to visit and we had a fun two days. With the downhill hike of a mile at the beginning of the trail and the 1.5 mile up hill to the lake, it was a hard hike both ways. I don’t think we will be back any time soon. Too many other lakes to check out.

Today we went to Myung Rang Hotdog. I’m the one who suggested this one and everyone was surprised because of the hotdog!

They have a table of sauce. You can either use their formula or make your own.

Eli’s is on the bottom. A sausage dog.

The tasty one on top is the potato hotdog. This one is mine 🙂

The outside is potato and the center is filled with cheese! All the meat eaters thought this one was the best! I would have to agree 🙂

After lunch we went down the street to Sweet Churros.

Churro with ice cream!

Chocolate and dulce de leche filled churros for this side of the room.

It was nice of Aaron to treat us to the churros. I drive past this place all the time, so it was fun to try. I wouldn’t come back only because churros are not my thing. Eli was begging to come back because he wanted the churro with fruit. For the price they wanted, I told him we will pick up three churros from Sam’s with several cartons of fruit!

The potato filled with cheese? Will be back tomorrow for another one!