Daniels Canyon

This past weekend we went camping up Daniels Canyon - it was absolutely beautiful! Matt, Amy and little Wesley joined us...we had a blast! Matt brought their horses as well, which made the entire trip 100 times better too. We all LOVE horseback riding...including Gabe! He got his first ride last weekend - yahoo! Matt has Missouri Foxtrotters, which are gaited horses so riding them is smooth. (Not like riding a quarter horse that is so bouncy you feel like your insides are shaken loose. :)) We took the horses up into the mountains without even a trail so they had to pick their way over deadfall and rocks but the country was gorgeous. It felt so good to be up in the mountains with all that fresh air, surrounded by forests of quaking aspen and pine trees. It was a wonderful break from the scorching, dry heat around here. Scott and Cami, friends from our neighborhood, joined us on Saturday with their two little girls. We had a lot of fun riding (albeit poor Scott was violently allergic to the horses), shooting clay pigeons and having a target contest with Matt's trusty, old .22 rifle! Everyone there were really good shots, although no one beats Matt...he's a real gun slinger! (no seriously, it's scary how good he is!) Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the shooting contests - they were a lot of fun.

Denali was having the time of her life! She absolutely LOVES the horses. As soon as she gets around them, she gets so excited she jumps up at their faces and won't leave their sides for the duration! Luckily for her, they tolerate her and a few even seem to enjoy her company. When we aren't riding, Nali will even lay down under where they are tethered. Once I looked over and one horse was leaning down and nipping (with lips, not teeth) Denali's ear as she lay below him - it was pretty funny. Denali's even been stepped on (by accident of course) while we were riding but she still sticks to those horses like glue. They are her pals for sure!The night before we went camping, we went up the canyon for a campfire and hotdog roast with Matt, Amy, Mindy, and Griff. We had planned on going camping that night but couldn't find a spot so we decided to have a campfire anyway. Here are some cute pictures from that night. We were sad Mindy and Griff couldn't join us camping but Mindy had to work and poor Griff was recovering from a dislocated shoulder. (He dislocated it at our softball game the previous Wednesday - what a dedicated player, sacrificing his body for the team!)
And here are our cute boys... loving every minute outside in the mountains!