Dave and Allyson

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Beautiful and Beautiful...

Sunday afternoon we decided to take a few of the McKinney clan to see the Payson Temple and then to walk the Grotto trail which is close by. It is a lovely walk through the woods and ends at a grotto. We were hoping for more water, but were a little disappointed. The temple was a little disappointing too as the gates were closed! We couldn't walk around it. Only got some pictures from the front. It was still beautiful, we just wanted to walk the grounds a little more. The grotto was beautiful too, just not enough water! But enough for little boys to splash and get wet! Even though it looks like people are on their phones, they are really just getting them out to take pictures. There's not much phone signal up in the canyon. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon with our loved ones who will all be leaving to go home soon.

McKinney cousins and a fun surprise!

Saturday we had a fun BBQ with all the McKinney cousins that were in town. John and April's family (most of them) were here and of course Dave's mom Barbara. It was fun having her stay with us! And of course Clif was here too! We enjoyed our BBQ and visiting. S'mores were a hit as were the hammocks. Collin was here with his two boys, Kirsten and Dave with their three kids (baby Mae is just the cutest!) and John and April had one of Katy's boys and two of Aaron's girls with them. The cousins had great fun playing together. John and April took a cute picture with "most" of their grandkids. They had bought shirts for each family. Too bad they weren't all here. There were 6 of them missing I think. Anyway, later after the BBQ, Nate and Amanda went on a date to star gaze up in Provo Canyon. He used glow sticks for his proposal. Cute! When they got back late that night, she had a lovely ring on her finger! It was a great day all around!

Friday, July 24, 2015

Timpanogos Caves...

We have tried at different times to get tickets for the caves since we moved here. One time we just drove up there and they had just sold their last tickets for the times we could go. Then we actually purchased tickets right before Joel left on his mission and they had to refund our money because of a storm and some landslides. Every time we would check for tickets when we could go, there weren't any available. We knew Clif was coming and we had a free day (Pioneer day) so we looked for tickets and found enough for the time we could go! We purchased them! So after a rest from the 5K and some lunch, we packed our snacks and water and headed up to the caves. It was a STEEP, STEEP hike! It took us about an hour to get up there. It was hard, but it was worth it! There are 3 caves they take you through. It was very cool! (Literally cool too!). I saw a formation that looked like a Hershey Kiss. And we saw the "heart" of Timpanogos cave. I thought I had a picture of my mom by the heart, back when she was newly married, but it's just a picture inside the caves. I will post it at the end of my pictures. I tried to take my picture by the heart (so it would match my mom's) but it was too dark and didn't turn out. They put a red light behind the heart and turn it on, it was pretty neat. We saw some very interesting formations, stalactites and stalagmites. Some water pools and at one point they turn out the lights and it is the darkest black ever! You cannot see your hand in front of your face! It was interesting to hear the history of the caves. I was glad we finally got to go there! Even if it was a very tough hike. Thankfully it was paved! The walk back down was much easier! After we got home, in the evening we did a few fireworks before the boys had to go to bed. The sounds just ricocheted off the houses and trees down here in our "hole" and it was a little too loud for some of us! Our neighbor boy, Crew, came over and did poppers with the boys in the driveway. It was a fun way to end our eventful Pioneer day!