Lassen Volcanic National Park

I debated what to title this post because we only hit a smidgen of the actual Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We went to a section of the park not connected to the rest of the park where we were able to hike to a hot springs (hot acidic water lake). It was called Boiling Springs Lake.

We camped the night before at a camp ground called Domingo Springs.  It was right by the fresh water spring, and the water was absolutely fresh and delicious!!  There was a “drinking fountain” of spring water next to the spring, so you could get drinks!

After our hike, we went back to the spring to fill up our empty water bottles because we loved the water so much!

Camping Friday night was an experience I don’t really want to repeat.  It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but I only like camping when I get certain adaptations.  Meaning- I have to have an air mattress and I don’t like sleeping bags.  I would have not survived as a pioneer, but I am so grateful for the sacrifices they made for me. Anyway, I packed enough blankets for us to stay warm.  Josh put air mattresses in the jeep.  We thought we were prepared!! We however forgot one very important thing… the air pump.  Not only did we have to sleep on hard ground- we got cold, too, because we used some of our blankets for cushioning.  Let’s just say, I will be double checking for that air pump next time!

The kids loved the tent.  Payson said he couldn’t remember it from last summer, so he was having a ball, and Avenly loved crawling around in it.

 

When it was finally morning, I got up and took Avenly with me to the jeep. We slept another hour in there while the boys stayed in the tent.  My body could not handle the hard ground any more.  After the boys woke up, we walked to the bridge to look at the water.

Then we headed to the hike.  It was about 2 miles round trip, but it wasn’t the easiest 2 miles.  Payson did really good for about 3/4 a mile.  It was a really slow mile because we went at his speed, but he was a trouper!  We took turns carrying the kids, and in reality, I only carried Payson a little bit before I had to trade Josh.  He is getting so big (either that, or I am just a weak)!

Our Family Selfie!!!

The lake was pretty cool (I mean HOT) looking!!  ha ha  It was pretty, but definitely not tempting!  In other words, we didn’t have any desire to jump in.  It was almost like you could sense the acid in the water.  We saw some pretty cool mud pots around the lake, too.

On the other side of the lake you could see Mount Lassen.  Mount Lassen is an active volcano- hence the name, Lassen Volcanic National Park.

A couple of times on our hike, we checked the map.  Payson loved the map.  He wanted to be the one to hold it, and he loved to look at it with Josh.

On our way back we stopped at the mountain spring water creek.  It was cold like the mountain spring water I grew up around.  I, however, was not expecting it to be that cold because I have lived in the mid-west for the past 5 years, and the creeks are not as cold there.  It did feel good, even though our feet were numb by the time we were finished wading in it.  Josh even put his head in the water.  I thought he was crazy, but he said it felt good!

Avenly was done by the time we were done at the creek, so I hurried back with her to feed her, and Josh stayed back with Payson, who was going to walk back the rest of the way.  When they came to the parking lot I found them like this…

Payson was almost asleep!  I guess he had fallen, and so Josh carried him the rest of the way.

The hike was about 4.5 hours from our house.  Pretty far for only one night camping.  If we had prepared a little better, we wouldn’t have had to drive 9 hours over 2 days just for a one night get-a-way.  It was fun, but IF we would have prepared just a little bit better, our trip as a whole would have been that much better.  As I was pondering this thought- I came up with a great analogy!  This little trip was fun, but could have been better!  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I know that there is life after death, and we will get to have the chance to live in a degree of Glory that God has planned for us.  It is up to us to determine what degree we get to live in forever.  We are sent to this mortal life to PREPARE to meet God, but also to PREPARE ourselves for our Eternal life.  The choices we make now will determine what that Eternal life is (in other words, what glory we will get to dwell).  If we do good, and make good choices, we will have a “good time” or reach one of the lesser glories, but if we do even better and PREPARE by making covenants and keeping them (or bringing the air pump)- then we will reach the highest glory, and have the best life after death experience forever!! 

Anyway, little life lesson, I suppose!!  Overall, it was a fun family get-away!  I am just hoping I can do my very best now in this life and prepare, so I can have the best experience in the next life!!

In 5 years…

We had two beautiful babies, traveled to all of the lower 48 states together, lived in 5 (6 if you count Utah) states together, gotten our Master’s degrees, traveled to 4 foreign countries together, and have had a whole lot of fun living and sharing the Gospel together, as well as, growing together and lifting each other up!  Imagine what the next 5 years will bring, or even eternity for that matter!!! 

I gave a picture map of the USA to Josh.  I couldn’t find a picture for Mississippi, but we did go there together.

He gave me an electric piano.  I am in love with it, and soon you will see a blog dedicated to it alone!!!

For our 5th year anniversary Josh and I went on a date!! (Shocking, I know- we rarely leave our kids.  We did a few times with family when we went to the Temple in Utah, but I can count on one hand how many times we have left Payson with a babysitter if it wasn’t the Temple, or  when he was really little when I finished the school year teaching).  Guess we need to get out more!!  Anyway, a nice couple in our ward watched our kids at their house while we went out to dinner.  They are about my parents age, and have grandchildren, so I knew they would have lots of toys!!  Sure enough when we got back, Payson wanted to keep playing with the cool toys.  We went to a Thai restaurant, and let me tell you- it was glorious not having my tiny little mess makers.

Monday, our actual anniversary, we had a family home evening anniversary, and since it was our anniversary, we decided to do something special.  The same awesome couple that watched our kids for our date have a really cool pool, and they said we could use it, so that’s what we did. I made slow-cooker brownies for when we got home for our treat.  It was a lot of fun!!  We sure owe our new ward friends a big thank you for making our anniversary so fun!

Now for the sappy part!  I just want to say how lucky and blessed I am to be married to the man I am married to!  We fit together better than any puzzle piece does, and even though sometimes we may disagree on something (who doesn’t) we always seem to work it out.  He’s a good guy, and I am grateful for the adventures I have had with him!! 

Here’s to another 5 years and forever!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Molly, Sadie, and Spencer came for Memorial Day weekend.  They brought us our jeep!  (Yay- now I have a car while Josh is at work)! We had a lot of fun with them, and we are glad they came to visit.

Saturday we went to the California coast.  We went to Fort Bragg and ate delicious rock fish. 

We went to Glass Beach, which is a beach that use to be a dumping ground, so now that it is cleaned and cleared up, the rocks and such are from glass bottles.  The glass is smoothed over from the water.  Now it looks and feels like smooth rocks.

Did you notice the crab in the picture? 

On the way to the beach a bird decided to poop on my foot inches away from my face! It was super nasty.  Josh ran back to the car and brought some water bottles back so I could clean it off.

Avenly fell asleep, so Spencer was nice enough to watch her in her stroller while the rest of us went to the beach.  Payson, Sadie, and I all waded our feet in the freezing water, and then we climbed some rocks and took in the beautiful view.

Monday morning, Sadie went with me and the kids to a ward breakfast for Memorial Day. We got to pet some cute puppies. Later that day, we went to Sacramento. We went to the train museum.  It was cool because we could go in some of the trains like the mail train. 

We went to Old Town Sacramento.  It had cool board plank side walks.  It kind of reminded me of New Orleans. 

That evening we went swimming at the hotel. (Molly, Sadie, and Spencer flew home out of Sacramento the next day, so they stayed in a hotel Monday night). I was lazy and tired today from driving home late and catching up from the weekend, but it was worth it because we got to spend time with loved ones!  It was fun!  Thanks for coming Molly, Sadie, and Spencer!!