A Trip of Firsts

So as you can see from the last entry we posted, we went on vacation to southern Utah to go bow hunting. This is my take on the experience.
Anyone who knows me or my immediate family knows that hunting/camping is not on our priority list of "hot vacation destinations". We do like to camp every once and a while, but lets just say that many summers on the road to Utah staying in KOA campgrounds kinda wore out the camping spirit. (The bugs seemed to congregate in the showers so we joked that we gave the audience of the bug kingdom a little show. On top of that, there wasn't a single summer that my sister Rachel wouldn't throw up right outside our pop-up trailer at any(and almost every) location.) Anyway, I did have a blast on this trip. There were a lot of things that I had never done before.

I went to my grandmas house on Sunday to visit her for part of the week. I had a lot of fun and learned a valuable skill. I spent the greater part of my visit helping her bottle fruit and vegetables. We bottled apples, pickles, and tomatoes while I was there. Everything was done by hand. By the time we finished my hands were all brown and pruney and had cuts all over. While I was there, my grandma told me a couple times that she thought God had sent me to her to help her with the work. I think she was right. Canning/bottling your own food is hard work and I can't imagine doing it alone. The amazing part about it is my grandma is 73, I'm 22, and she came out of there with more energy than I did. She was telling me to go relax and read my book while she cleaned up dishes or made a meal for the two of us. I felt a little bad that I didn't help her more, but she seemed to enjoy my company just the same. Aside from bottling, we watched the Olympics, movies, and she drove me around town to show me the new changes. She also told me that she knew the ladies that started Stampin' Up!. They have a warehouse in Kanab, UT that was absolutely massive. Its funny to think that it started out of some lady's living room. I was also able to visit with my cousins and aunt. I didn't get to spend much time with them, but I was glad that I was able to see them.

Tony came to pick me up on Wednesday morning. We went out early as he said the next morning and shot his buck. While we were riding on the quad I realized how much I love the cold. There is a certain crispness about it that is comforting, reminds me of the holiday season, and doesn't threaten to melt my skin off or spontaneous combustion like heat does (at least for me because my skin is so fair). It was a fun trip because I had never really experienced hunting in its entirety, never drove or really sat on a quad before, and it was really nice to hang out and get to know his family a little better. I have had very limited chances to really hang out with his brother Travis and I am very glad that the opportunity came. I had so much fun talking and joking with him.

At the tail end of our trip we drove up to Tony's sisters house to visit her family and mom. We had a great time and Hilary is such a good hostess. She was very accommodating and her kids are a lot of fun. I really enjoy visiting the Martins. Chris reminds me a little of my family in ways that it kinda tricks me into thinking I'm back home. Their new baby is super cute and it was a good experience to see the home life part of having a baby. To wrap up the trip Tony's parents, Tony and I went to Tai Pan. I had never been before, but there were a lot of really nice things at great prices. I got a couple Halloween decorations, thanks to mom and pops, and just was in heaven dreaming of what my future home would look like. All in all the trip was a nice break to the normal routine and I'm looking forward to our next vacation. The only thing missing from the trip was the Days. We were bummed when they didn't come. Anyway, Sorry for the novel. I tried to summarize it as much as possible.