A Great Time in the Great Outdoors

This past weekend we took one last camping trip to enjoy the great outdoors before the school year begins. We drove about an hour up into the mountains to a spot called Refrigerator Canyon. Perhaps the chilly name of the place scared away all other campers because we literally had the whole canyon to ourselves (except for a couple of mountain goats we spotted on the cliffs above!) It was truly a lovely spot. The towering cliffs make you feel surrounded by God's majesty, and the absence of cars and people make you feel God's presence and peace. As you will see by the pictures, all of us found something fun to do while we were camping:

• Paul thoroughly enjoyed sighting in his bow for the fast-approaching archery season, as well as taking afternoon naps in the camper (because, after all, pulling back that string takes a lot out of you!) :)
• The boys entertained themselves for hours capturing poor grasshoppers in their new bug vacuum, as well as riding their bikes, throwing rocks in the nearby stream, helping daddy retrieve his arrows, learning how to start a campfire, eating Smores, and having pine cone wars with their friends.
• Maria enjoyed capturing all the previously listed events with her camera, eating Beth's amazing "Cowboy Caviar," and making cord rosaries while watching the kids play.

The first two nights we camped by ourselves and then we were joined the following day by two other Catholic families who love the Lord and the great outdoors too. There is something very special and sacred about praying the rosary with your friends around a campfire. It was the perfect ending to a perfect camping weekend.

Paul teaching the boys "Firestarting 101"

Paul sighting in his bow and dreaming of shooting a monster elk

Maria capturing the beautiful wildlife...

...while her boys also "capture" wildlife!

Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy...dog.
All the kiddos (and dog) taking a snack break on our hike.