Backpacking in the Uintas!

This weekend we went backpacking in the Uintas. We went in about 8 miles near the base of Kings Peak. As a disclaimer, I never agreed to this! So I was taken against my will! It was a good memory. We took Corbett with us and he did pretty good. We went with my brother-in-law, Joe, and 3 of his kids (Natalie, Samantha, & Payton). We were planning to be gone 3 days but we got rained out and had to hike out in mud and rain on the second day. It was definitely an adventure.


Here's the kids before the adventure began!Corbett hiked quite a bit on the way in but when he got tired he got a ride. On the way out Cody carried him pretty much the whole way. With all the rain and mud, and Corbett shivering and wet I felt like the worst mom on the planet! Corbett was a novelty in the Uintas! Everyone we passed would high five him or give him candy. They would let him pet their horse, or just comment on him. He was a real trooper and it made Cody so happy to have his son on his backpacking trip!
On the trail!...Corbett liked to step on each and EVERY rock. There's a few of those up there so it was slow going at times! Natalie taking care of Corbett.
Cody's telling a story to the kids.

Two good looking guys!
Corbett had WAY more energy than anyone else. He slept harder than anyone else as well!
Eating the grub! Cody's pretty happy to be backpacking here.
Kings Peak is in the background but is covered in clouds. It was still BEAUTIFUL country.
Glad to be hanging out together!

Fun in the SUN!

It's been a hot week!! We've made it to the pool 3 times in the last two weeks to cool off! First we went with my sister & sis-in-law & their kids. Then we went with Shauna & her kiddos. Then we went with Heidi & Jared. We had so much fun every time we went! We're hoping to get to the pool a lot more before the summer is out! So I've taken a lot of pictures in the past two weeks, besides trips to the pool, we've enjoyed a family reunion and a visit from Heidi and Jared! (Cody's sister & husband who are visiting from Virginia) and we ran the DAM race in Mantua! Also Cody did a job in Maine...it was his first trip to Maine.

Cody and Corbett coming off the slide, Corbett looks terrified!Emery, Coleman, with Sandra holding Anhder & Camie Jo in the back.Heidi & Jared at the Logan Aquatic Center.Heidi playing motorboat with Corbett!He's our monkey! My mom was in charge of the Thorson reunion this year. We had it at Barnes Park in Kaysville. We cooked hamburgers and played at the park. Me, Grandpa Thorson, Dad, & Corbett at the Thorson reunion.Here's me and my sisters acting like dorks! Rhonda, me, Sandra, & Tammy at the reunion. I made them take a picture because the last time we have one of the four of us was before my mission! The running group!...my uncle Kent, Eric, Sandra, Aunt Janice, Camie Jo, Aunt Nadine, me & Cody, before the BIG race! It was a beautiful race, around the lake in Mantua. Cody & me, looking lovely after the race.My aunt and uncle (Janice & Kent) always win their age division in this race, (and lots of other races). She says you just have to be old enough so there's noone left in your age group! Actually though, they are amazing runners, Kent beat Cody & Janice wasn't far behind them. It was a fun race!!

Cody's Uncle Clinton

Cody has an uncle named Clinton who is a legend in his family. Clinton is Cody's maternal grandmother's brother. He is one of those people that is very interesting and has amazing stories to tell. He does amazing things...I wish I knew more of the stories. We spent this weekend at Bear Lake at the Harding reunion with Uncle Clinton. Clinton asked Cody to stay up late and tell him some of HIS stories. It made me realize in a lot of respects Cody is living a lot like Uncle Clinton. I think of Clinton when I think of Mr. Magorium in the movie. When Mahoney tells Mr. Magorium he has to live, he replies, "I have." So even though it might drive me nuts sometimes!!...I know Cody is looked up to by A LOT of young people! They're often asking Cody to do things with them or share anything or everything they can. Even adults enjoy hearing of Cody's adventures and experiences. I'm just along for the ride I guess!

Independence Day Weekend

Almost every year we go to Bear Lake over the 4th of July with the Thorson family and every year we make a sand sculpture of some sort. (notice Corbett is caught by the Octopus!) Below is the early stages of the Octopus...yes we bring our full size shovels for the event!My little stud!Corbett and his "friends" in the kayak and on the water rocket.
We usually get in a game of 500.
Corbett driving the boat!My dad with Corbett and his cousins. My aunt Maryann has a cabin at Bear Lake with some property for us to camp on. We go to the North Beach because her cabin is on the north side. It's nice to camp there or just go back for dinner and to clean up after a sandy day at the beach!

We had a good time at Bear Lake but we also had a great time on the 4th! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because we had a lot of fun. I volunteered to help out at the hamburger stand our ward youth did at the "Cruise In" so I spent the afternoon over there but then my friend Shauna called and said her father-in-law had an extra truck registered in the cruise-in and we could drive it in the parade! We had a lot of fun having that experience. We drove a truck...I couldn't really tell you what it was and I wish I had a picture. After the cruise-in we came back to our house for fireworks with Shauna and Brians kids and the Dicksons came over too. I'm usually opposed to spending too much money on any fireworks (sparklers are the exception) but the kids reactions to our fireworks made it worth it. (we didn't exactly splurge anyway). I even talked Cody into a watermelon because to me that's a tradition on the 4th.

I sincerely hope all my friends and family are doing well. I feel I should mention that because of the trials some of you are experiencing. I won't go into details but it seems it's been a hard week for many of you and we hope you know we are here and hoping you will let us know if we can be of service. We love you all!

Life is precious

It seems we take life for granted all too often. One of my best friend's life was touched by tragedy this week. With the death of her little niece my heart aches for her and her brother who lost his daughter. I have to admit I was feeling a little sorry for myself that morning as I mowed the lawn and thought of some of life's circumstances that were hard...then I walked in the house and read her blog only to find that my problems were small and inconsequential. We have so much to be thankful for. I feel like because of the circumstances surrounding our son I have an increased awareness of how blessed we are to have these beautiful children. However life gets busy and I still need to be reminded. I hope to absorb every moment I can with Corbett because life is so precious. I love you, Tori. We are praying for your family.


It seems I took a lot of pictures since I last posted. I guess I'll let them tell the story of our life lately! First, Cody and Corbett playing in the backyard. Last weekend we went to Frederico's and then to First Dam to feed the ducks with our good friends Shauna and Brian and their kids. Here's some pictures of the event! This first picture is of Corbett and Ashlyn, she takes good care of Corbett and he loves her to death!Corbett, Ashlyn, Marshall, and Bayler T.J. came over for a morning...T.J. loves kids and pays a lot of attention to Corbett. T.J. is 10 years old but he's not much bigger than Corbett. Of course, Corbett is a head taller than the kids his age and T.J. is a head shorter than his age group!I painted our door red while Cody was away. It took two different colors of red before I liked it, SURPRISE (Cody loves these little surprises)!And lastly, we had a BIG sleepover this weekend. One of my sisters had to leave town and so I had the brilliant idea to let the other local niece and nephews join the party. Here's Natalie and Kelsey, I believe it's nearly noon that they were able to DRAG themselves out of bed. Nice shades Kelsey!