Friday, September 10, 2010

Highlights of Summer 2010

Okay, so this is going to be a SUPER long post, but I'm too lazy to do individual posts for everything. Luckily though, it'll mostly be pictures.

YSA Campout!
First off, I went to a YSA campout in Zion's National Park. Unfortunately, we didn't actually camp in Zion's. We were in this desert-like plain near a reservoir kind of in the middle of nowhere. It was prettyish, but it got SO incredibly hot and since it was a desert, zero shade. So that wasn't so great... but I had a lot of fun. I shared a tent with Cheri Johnson, Shelby Low, and Kate Low (no relation to Shelby). We made pretty good friends with Nick and Sione, who drove us to and from Zion's. Instead of hiking and actually going INTO Zion's when we had the chance, we drove to St. George and saw Robin Hood. There was also a big wind storm and our tent broke. Shelby and Cheri slept under the stars, but I decided to share a hotel room with a couple of girls from a neighboring stake. Movies and hotels? My kind of camping.

Our tent. Those little dots in the background were the rest of our YSA region. We were kind of exiled...

Disneyland!
Next I went to Disneyland! Yay! I got to visit my friends and bask in the glory of Disney. I missed it ever so much. I'm getting antsy from lack of Disney already.... I think another trip is in order.

My bestie, Ali. She's so great. She kept me sane while I lived in California. She's going to live with me in Utah someday.

Tanya, me, and Karin. Tanya came all the way from Hawaii, and Karin still works at Disneyland, but luckily we got to hang out with her a whole bunch!

Crepes Bonaparte. I got a crepe at their truck stand thing almost every single Thursday. I miss them very much. (Apparently they were on some show on the Food Network. They're that good.)

Doesn't that just make you happy? :)

Ohio!
I went to Ohio to visit my sister Melinda and her family. We did so many fun things, including (but not limited to) crafting, going to COSI (and seeing the Titanic exhibit, which was SO great), building a truck with Emerson at Lowe's, and a lot of playing with trains. "Pay trains, Nannie!" was a common phrase during my visit. Thanks again for letting me visit!

Emerson being such a big boy building his truck! Isn't the little hammer so cute?

We got to visit some train tracks by Ben and Melinda's house. E loved playing on them.

E "hoo-hooping" at COSI. He thought he was so big. The hula hoop would usually fall straight to the ground, but his body was all twisted up that to him it probably seemed like it was spinning.

Me and E at COSI :)

Girls Camp!

This summer I was the camp director (with Shelby Low) for the Young Women in my ward. We had such a good time! Despite my lack of enthusiasm for camping and nature in general, it turned out really great! I think the girls had a really good time (I could tell by their high-pitched squealing). Despite all the excitement, I was very relieved when it was over.

Here's the group right before we left to our campsite up Big Cottonwood Canyon

California!

My family went on a fun trip to Northern California to see the Redwoods. We also spent some time in San Francisco. We flew into the Oakland airport, took the coastal highway (which made us all a little carsick) up to Northern California where we saw a bunch of really big trees. Like, really big. We even got to DRIVE THROUGH two of them. We got to go down into a mine where they mined gold during the Gold Rush (?) and stuff. We spent a couple days in San Francisco and went to the Winchester Mansion, the piers and stuff, and the Giants vs. Padres game! It was my first Major League game!

Me, Brad, and Steph inside a tree!

One of the trees we got to drive through

Paul Bunyan and Babe paid us a visit...

Me! On top of a hill cliff thing. I think this is where we saw some whales!

Right before going down into the mine. Aren't I cute in my little hard hat?

The whole family in the mine with our super attractive hard hats.

Brad, me, Steph, and Mom checking out the Golden Gate Bridge

Brad, me, Steph, and Dad at the Golden Gate Bridge. I decided to post this picture too since Dad wasn't in the last one.

The Giants game!

Ohio!

So the last trip of the summer took place over Labor Day. Our whole family (except for Ashley, who we missed a whole bunch) got to go to Ohio for baby Sammi's blessing. She's so adorable and I just loved holding her. We got to go to COSI to see the Titanic exhibit, ride a train (Emerson was ecstatic), and enjoy the general splendor of each other's company. The only downside was that the trip was WAY too short.

Sammi in her beautiful blessing dress

Steph, Sammi, and I after her blessing

The whole family after Sammi's blessing

5 comments:

Melinda said...

Loved this post Nat! I feel so special that two of your major summer activities were coming to Ohio to see us. We loved having you both times, but I agree the trips were way too short! It was really weird seeing pictures of a family vacation that I didn't participate in...I guess that's the problem with growing up and having your own family. :) I'm glad you guys liked the big old trees so much. (They go hand in hand with the old boat parts that we saw at the Titanic exhibit.)

Katie Robertson said...

Dude, you did way more over the summer than I did. I feel semi-unproductive. Normally my summers are so crammed full of stuff that I feel like I don't get a summer break at all!

Grandma J said...

Great post, Nat! It was fun to see your summer summed up so nicely with pictures and all. Mom

Lace said...

travel much? ah i'm jealous. i went to summer school and had surgery, your summer kicks my summer's trash!

you look soo much like your dad, and i never knew you had a brother, but he is a cute kid!

mom/grandmaG said...

I loved seeing your summer in pictures!! I love those big trees too! And I totally remember seeing that Paul Bunyan when we vacationed there!! How fun to get to see Nin and fam twice!! I don't envy you camping tho, I am strictly a hotel camper as well.
aunt karen