Torrey 09'

Most of the family spent the 4th of July weekend in Torrey, UT. We were just missing Jared this year. No biggie, right? Well we missed him, but he had fun with his buddies on the east coast. Anything to get out of the Houtz reunion, right? We survived without daddy, anyway.

Torrey is a cute little town outside of Capital Reef National Park. We spent four days in Torrey and really enjoyed it.

Friday was a fun day and we mostly relaxed around the campground, playing games, doing crafts with the kids and going swimming. Kennedy has been our little water baby this summer and I couldn't get her out of the pool.


Alex was happy to hang out on the edge of the pool and shoot people with his squirt gun. Dylan did okay in the water, but didn't last too long.

The evening was spent doing a quick hike to see the sunset (which we missed), but it was still beautiful. Did I mention that Dylan is heavy, even if we are only going 1/3 of a mile!

Saturday, the 4th of July had big plans. We were going fishing, four-wheeling, picnicking, hiking, etc. We ended up at a beautiful lake that Chris took us to and within 10 minutes of getting a fire built, we had a huge downpour. Luckily, Kennedy was able to catch her first fish ever with Uncle Phil before the rains hit.


We waited it out a while, but decided to pack up and head out. Our big day fishing and playing wasn't so big after all.

When we got back to camp, a few of us decided to do a fun four-wheeler ride that took us up some beautiful red rocks. I had Alex and Char on the back of my four-wheeler for the almost 2 hour ride. We encountered several large "streams" that everyone said didn't exist before the rainstorm. Anyway, we got a little muddy, but we had a blast. I'm not sure how we ended up with the only four-wheeler without mud flaps, but we had fun anyway. When we got back to camp, Alex said, "I wanna go again". The kid loves to ride four-wheelers.



Most of the family headed out on Sunday, but we stayed an extra day with the Duncan's. We spent Sunday driving to a fun little place called Calf Creek. We didn't have time (and I have too many kids) to do the fun hike that is there, but we played in the river, fished and chased baby fish with Alex. It was a great afternoon and the kids had a blast.


Monday was our last day in Torrey. We played in the pool in the morning, then headed to the local malt shop for lunch and headed out. I was sad to say goodbye to my family. I have always loved the annual trips that we do and I'm thankful to my parents who put it together every year and make it possible. Thanks, mom and dad for a fun trip.

Here's a few of the highlights of the trip:


Uncle Paul giving Alex a tool from his tool box. Alex was in seventh heaven and pretty much stalked Paul after that. He kept asking me, "where Uncle Paul". Uncle Paul still gets included in Alex's prayers every so often!


The kid races. They loved it!


Alex fishing with Guncle, before the rainout.


Reading stories with Aunt Char every night before going to bed. Ya Ya was lucky enough to get to stay with us!


Dylan hanging out with Grandma. Luckily, everyone pitched in to help the single mom for the weekend.