June 20-22 we took a family trip to Manti, Utah to see the pageant and camp out. It was so much fun and great family time!!! The weather was perfect--in the 70's during the day and 40-50's at night.
Had to stop a few times on the way up to let the doggies out to potty.
When we first got there we set up camp and all went on a short little hike/walk. Porter was insistent on walking a dog so we let him walk Chancho (the obedient one) and he did great! It was adorable. Found some gorgeous wild flowers on our little outing and the scenery of the mountains and landscape are amazing.
The one complaint we had during the trip was the horrible plague of bugs and mosquito's. Yuck! We we not prepared with bug spray (never need it in St. G and didn't think of it) so bought a $6 can of it at the convenience store. Worth every penny.
Porter took Daddy for a ride in an abandoned boat; what a good little driver!
A boy and his dog. Cute cute cute!
We stayed at the Temple Hill Resort RV and camp ground. Our site was right in front across the way from the playground, pool (we never got in), shower/bathrooms, and office/store. It was perfect. Only had to walk a few feet to a real bathroom...except for the second night when those were out of order and had to walk all the way to the back of the grounds to use the other bathrooms. Not nice for a pregnant lady who often has to pee in the middle of the night or early morning...and that morning I did at 6am.
We LOVE our pop-up trailer. We pack everything in it, dogs in the kennel in the car, and go. It's great. The trailer sleeps our little family comfortably and it's nice to have a stove to cook on. We brought a tent shade but didn't use it so took it down the second day.
We brought spaghetti from home (thanks to my friend Kacey) and put some corn and sausage in it and had a great dinner Monday night. Food always tastes like gold when you're camping. It was so good.
Good family quality time around the camp fire!
The camp ground is right next to the Manti Temple so you can see it from the play ground. It was so beautiful.
Porter kept "getting Daddy" while on the swing and Daddy would "fly" back. Porter laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. He has such a fun dad.
Daddy: "I'm gonna get you!" Porter: *Squeal squeal laugh giggle laugh*
Daddy climbing trees...per his usual.
Porter got to watch a show on the iPad before bed and slept all by himself. He did so good. Aaron and I slept on the other side where the dogs joined us. It was Aaron's idea to bring the dogs with us on the trip and he later regretted it. It was just a lot and hard when they couldn't roam around like they can when we go camping out in the wilderness.
While Porter watched a show Aaron and I enjoyed hot chocolate out by the fire. Once again, hot chocolate never tasted so good. Something about camping makes everything extra yummy!
The next morning Porter and Teddy watched Diego while eating cereal for breakfast. I took a shower (felt so good to be fresh and clean, and to not smell like bug spray) and Aaron dropped me off at the Temple so I could do a session. There are two temples in the world that do live sessions: SLC and Manti. I did a session in SLC in 2002 before I left on my mission and that was awesome. Same this time around--WONDERFUL session! I loved it. The Temple was gorgeous and amazing and huge and felt like a true piece of history. There was a temple worker every 10 feet, which was great because the inside is like a maze and I would have gotten lost had there not been people to point me in the right direction. The Temple was so clean, quiet, peaceful, special, and sacred. I love going there and I love how I feel when I'm there.
My clean boys after a nice hot shower. Porter was so cute! He loved all the Daddy time and being by his side every second and doing everything he did.
Princess Chia (that's what we call her) was a nervous wreck the whole time. From the second we loaded her into the car Monday until the second we got home Wednesday she was on high-alert and a nervous wreck. She is just so unsure and uncomfortable if not at home. Weenie. Love my little doggie girl still. Chancho on the other hand is totally trusting and fine if Aaron is around. He did bark at other dogs and want to attack but he is very obedient and listens to us.
After the Temple and some time out playing we had ham sandwiches for lunch and some chill time.
Porter picking "flowers" for me--SOOOOO cute and sweet!
The famous BBQ turkey dinner for only $7. It was really good and part of the whole experience. They serve it at the stake center and the Tabernacle starting at 5pm, which is the time we went. The later you go the longer you have to wait. It was delicious!
Porter took his nap as we were driving around in the car, so we got our dinners to go and ate in the car. (Bad blurry pictures!)
While waiting for the pageant to start I took Porter on a short walk to ride the train. It was $1 each for a 4 minutes ride around a couple blocks. Porter wanted to hold his town money so we put the dollar in his pocket and it was his job to hand it to the conductor. So cute!
Porter sat Teddy next to him and I rode behind them. Porter was so excited to ride the train! Except half way through he was done because he kept asking to go see Daddy, Chancho, and Chia. =P
Mommy and Porter on the "choo-choo"!
The gorgeous Manti Temple and the beautiful hillside that acts as the stage for the pageant.
After we ate dinner Aaron dropped me off at the Temple grounds just before 5:30pm to get in line. It wasn't nearly as busy or crowded as I experienced it being last year, but we were also there on a Tuesday whereas last year it was the weekend. I waited in line for thirty minutes until they opened the gates at 6pm. Then I went in and got perfect seats. It is worth the 3.5 hour wait to me to get good seats in chairs. You can do blankets on the lawn to the side or set up your own chairs outside the gates but I like to be close enough to see what's going on and not have the actors be a blur in the distance. The time goes by really fast. Aaron walked over from the camp ground with Porter in the backpack and we took turns taking him out to run around. There is food close by the pageant where you can get hamburgers, Navajo tacos, turkey, ice cream, drinks, and look at booths where vendors sell their products. Porter and I went and got vanilla frozen custard with raspberry Italian ice after the train ride. It was heavenly!
The pageant was just over an hour and a half and it was WONDERFUL! I loved it! They do such a great job and it amazes me how many people it takes to put it on. Several time the entire hillside was filled with actors. So many costumes and it has to be so much work. The pageant depicts scenes from the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, with the history of the pioneers who traveled to Utah, and actual accounts of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas as told in scripture in The Book of Mormon. Porter sat on Aaron's lap and was captivated the entire time. We were so surprised! He kept asking Aaron questions like "What are peoples doing?" It was adorable. During the scene where they depict Christs' visit to the Nephites here in America Porter said, "Oooooo!" He loved it. This was the second time I have seen The Mormon Miracle Pageant (went last year with the youth in our ward for Youth Conference) and we want to make it an annual family trip. =D
June 20-22 we took a family trip to Manti, Utah to see the pageant and camp out. It was so much fun and great family time!!! The weather was perfect--in the 70's during the day and 40-50's at night.
Had to stop a few times on the way up to let the doggies out to potty.
When we first got there we set up camp and all went on a short little hike/walk. Porter was insistent on walking a dog so we let him walk Chancho (the obedient one) and he did great! It was adorable. Found some gorgeous wild flowers on our little outing and the scenery of the mountains and landscape are amazing.
The one complaint we had during the trip was the horrible plague of bugs and mosquito's. Yuck! We we not prepared with bug spray (never need it in St. G and didn't think of it) so bought a $6 can of it at the convenience store. Worth every penny.
Porter took Daddy for a ride in an abandoned boat; what a good little driver!
A boy and his dog. Cute cute cute!
We stayed at the Temple Hill Resort RV and camp ground. Our site was right in front across the way from the playground, pool (we never got in), shower/bathrooms, and office/store. It was perfect. Only had to walk a few feet to a real bathroom...except for the second night when those were out of order and had to walk all the way to the back of the grounds to use the other bathrooms. Not nice for a pregnant lady who often has to pee in the middle of the night or early morning...and that morning I did at 6am.
We LOVE our pop-up trailer. We pack everything in it, dogs in the kennel in the car, and go. It's great. The trailer sleeps our little family comfortably and it's nice to have a stove to cook on. We brought a tent shade but didn't use it so took it down the second day.
We brought spaghetti from home (thanks to my friend Kacey) and put some corn and sausage in it and had a great dinner Monday night. Food always tastes like gold when you're camping. It was so good.
Good family quality time around the camp fire!
The camp ground is right next to the Manti Temple so you can see it from the play ground. It was so beautiful.
Porter kept "getting Daddy" while on the swing and Daddy would "fly" back. Porter laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. He has such a fun dad.
Daddy: "I'm gonna get you!" Porter: *Squeal squeal laugh giggle laugh*
Daddy climbing trees...per his usual.
Porter got to watch a show on the iPad before bed and slept all by himself. He did so good. Aaron and I slept on the other side where the dogs joined us. It was Aaron's idea to bring the dogs with us on the trip and he later regretted it. It was just a lot and hard when they couldn't roam around like they can when we go camping out in the wilderness.
While Porter watched a show Aaron and I enjoyed hot chocolate out by the fire. Once again, hot chocolate never tasted so good. Something about camping makes everything extra yummy!
The next morning Porter and Teddy watched Diego while eating cereal for breakfast. I took a shower (felt so good to be fresh and clean, and to not smell like bug spray) and Aaron dropped me off at the Temple so I could do a session. There are two temples in the world that do live sessions: SLC and Manti. I did a session in SLC in 2002 before I left on my mission and that was awesome. Same this time around--WONDERFUL session! I loved it. The Temple was gorgeous and amazing and huge and felt like a true piece of history. There was a temple worker every 10 feet, which was great because the inside is like a maze and I would have gotten lost had there not been people to point me in the right direction. The Temple was so clean, quiet, peaceful, special, and sacred. I love going there and I love how I feel when I'm there.
My clean boys after a nice hot shower. Porter was so cute! He loved all the Daddy time and being by his side every second and doing everything he did.
Princess Chia (that's what we call her) was a nervous wreck the whole time. From the second we loaded her into the car Monday until the second we got home Wednesday she was on high-alert and a nervous wreck. She is just so unsure and uncomfortable if not at home. Weenie. Love my little doggie girl still. Chancho on the other hand is totally trusting and fine if Aaron is around. He did bark at other dogs and want to attack but he is very obedient and listens to us.
After the Temple and some time out playing we had ham sandwiches for lunch and some chill time.
Porter picking "flowers" for me--SOOOOO cute and sweet!
The famous BBQ turkey dinner for only $7. It was really good and part of the whole experience. They serve it at the stake center and the Tabernacle starting at 5pm, which is the time we went. The later you go the longer you have to wait. It was delicious!
Porter took his nap as we were driving around in the car, so we got our dinners to go and ate in the car. (Bad blurry pictures!)
While waiting for the pageant to start I took Porter on a short walk to ride the train. It was $1 each for a 4 minutes ride around a couple blocks. Porter wanted to hold his town money so we put the dollar in his pocket and it was his job to hand it to the conductor. So cute!
Porter sat Teddy next to him and I rode behind them. Porter was so excited to ride the train! Except half way through he was done because he kept asking to go see Daddy, Chancho, and Chia. =P
Mommy and Porter on the "choo-choo"!
The gorgeous Manti Temple and the beautiful hillside that acts as the stage for the pageant.
After we ate dinner Aaron dropped me off at the Temple grounds just before 5:30pm to get in line. It wasn't nearly as busy or crowded as I experienced it being last year, but we were also there on a Tuesday whereas last year it was the weekend. I waited in line for thirty minutes until they opened the gates at 6pm. Then I went in and got perfect seats. It is worth the 3.5 hour wait to me to get good seats in chairs. You can do blankets on the lawn to the side or set up your own chairs outside the gates but I like to be close enough to see what's going on and not have the actors be a blur in the distance. The time goes by really fast. Aaron walked over from the camp ground with Porter in the backpack and we took turns taking him out to run around. There is food close by the pageant where you can get hamburgers, Navajo tacos, turkey, ice cream, drinks, and look at booths where vendors sell their products. Porter and I went and got vanilla frozen custard with raspberry Italian ice after the train ride. It was heavenly!
The pageant was just over an hour and a half and it was WONDERFUL! I loved it! They do such a great job and it amazes me how many people it takes to put it on. Several time the entire hillside was filled with actors. So many costumes and it has to be so much work. The pageant depicts scenes from the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, with the history of the pioneers who traveled to Utah, and actual accounts of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas as told in scripture in The Book of Mormon. Porter sat on Aaron's lap and was captivated the entire time. We were so surprised! He kept asking Aaron questions like "What are peoples doing?" It was adorable. During the scene where they depict Christs' visit to the Nephites here in America Porter said, "Oooooo!" He loved it. This was the second time I have seen The Mormon Miracle Pageant (went last year with the youth in our ward for Youth Conference) and we want to make it an annual family trip. =D
