Homegrown and Heartgrown: Utah Trip- Manti Half

Manti was our next stop.

Everyone loves this marble toy. It is ALWAYS the first one to come out.

Notice the swollen cheek on the left... from a mosquito bite (our only complaint about Utah, they grow too many mosquitoes)

While in Manti, we took pictures of keepsakes. (I won't post them all here)

And then headed for the hills. There is a certain smell in these mountains that is only here. A smell that seems to make everything ok.

Deceptively Dry.

The castle.

After twisting the arms of Wayne and Mara's family, they agreed to take us up.

Manti Canyon.

Snow White and Rose Red

Already sunburned, but enjoying the blowing of the whistle with no ramifications.

Moving Mountain

Cool tree.

We went looking for adventure and the mountains, as usual, delivered in spades.

"Front end first," Aunt Mara.

Yup, there he is, Handsome!

Leaving the world (or road, in this case) better than we found it.

Elijah kept asking to get out and "play in the mud" with Daddy.

Manti Mud.

Isn't this picture the very definition of "the mountains"?

Two hot girls.

Made it through that water crossing.

Miriam watching the bumper disappear in the water/ mud.

"Hmmm. How do we make it up this muddy hill?" Elijah gets his wish.

Not really IN the river.

Gathering rocks to help the truck get traction.

Enjoying all the new smells, but not daring to leave the port.

Yup, that is about the angle of the hill.

We made it to the cabin by Mara ferrying most of us up on the four wheeler.

The truck brought up the rear. But Grandpa didn't stay long as there were some ugly clouds on the horizon and he didn't want to get stuck in the mud.

Breathtaking view.

The cabin chair.

The best place to be a boy... or a girl, for that matter.

The beaver ponds down from the cabin.

We watched carefully over our little Cougar Bait, but she had a fun time.

Miriam holding really still to feed the squirrels peanuts.

Cousins had a blast and immediate family lines became blurred.

The cabin is a glorious place to explore.

Huge chip. We took up TONS of food but didn't use most of it.

Hungry or tired? Tired or hungry?

Aunt Mara pulled Grandpa's trick of counting to see who could last the longest without moving. She got to 400 and finally gave up. MOST of them were asleep by then.

"You are gonna have roast dog"-- Mara, when she saw how Tess climbed into the ashes to get warm.

In the morning, after a night spent worrying about Grandpa, knowing that people would be heading up to help us get down, we had a rushed breakfast, left most of our stuff, and started headed down.

The Hikers after getting a lecture about staying together and helping each other.

Tessa got passed around and enjoyed the ride. She also enjoyed the little runaround time she got.

All the kids helped each other through the mud.

Despite many warnings otherwise, two girls only had flipflops. Luckily, Aunt Mara is always prepared. She wrapped their feet with bandage to help keep the flipflops on. This girl gave up very quickly on that and chose to go barefoot. Crazy girl.

Elijah walking on elevated shoes that weighed 10 pounds. I kept saying "stay out of the mud," but he wasn't gonna have me ruin his fun. "But I WANT to get muddy," or "I WANT to get wet" was his quick reply everytime.

Stuck in the mud.

Sporting the new look. Muddy.

Then we came upon the scene of the crime, er accident. So grateful that Keith was with him and Wayne wasn't too far off. And that no one was hurt (other than pride). Love the adventures in the Mountain, but we really could do without the rollovers.