And Here it is...

I know you have ALL been waiting for it (sarcasm.. if you didn't catch it) My yearly Flaming Gorge post has arrived!
We had a blast! As always. This year we added another friend. 2 years ago it was just Dylan who joined us for our adventure. Then after Dave heard all of our awesome stories and saw all the photographic evidence of how cool that place is he joined us for last years adventure and this year we had Whitney join the party! It was super fun to have them, especially since we didnt have very many cousins this year. With Nanny and Poppy being in China the Cowley family numbers dwindled but Ambers family joined us which was the best thing that could have ever happened to AnDee and Pep. Ambers kids are seriously awesome. The younger kids play endlessly with my kids and the older kids are so helpful and keep an eye out for all the younger ones. Its so fun to camp with their family!
We fished... and fished and fished! We are really in to fishing this year. AnDee got her new pole for her birthday and it has been put to good use!

 Ike caught his first fish... (there is a baby under that hat, I promise)

 And so did Whit... (ok she said she "thought" she caught one when she was 12. So I guess it was her first fish since the one fish she caught at 12... whatever)

 Dad caught the monster one the left on his fly pole at Calder. The rest were caught at the ever kid friendly Matt Warner reservoir. We also caught our fair share of crawdads or "muscrabs" (A muskrat/ crab high bred?) as the kids kept calling them.

I was really awful about pictures. I took virtually no pics with the cousins. I didn't even take this one. I stole this one from either Dave or Dyl. Cant remember which. Regardless... AnDee loves Aubree!

 We did some four-wheeling! The kids got to go on quite a few rides but again.. No pics.

 We introduced Whitney to the world of camo. She was hesitant at first but is now shopping for her own camo.

 Andrew took me for a ride on the pit bike... it was awful.

 Tree Tipping!!! for old time sake.

We took a little drive around Taylor mountain to see what we could see. We saw lots of deer. Tons of buck but no elk. I was missing the elk. I remember the days when we would drive the loop and see herds of literally 100+ elk. Still no elk despite our best efforts but we did find a nice little camp ground along the way and stopped to roast some hotdogs and marshmallows. The camp ground was even equiped with a fort and a swing. It was a fun little evening, even without the elk.

One day we went with Aunt Amber and family and hiked Leidy Peak.... ok we actually didn't end up hiking it. We ended up going straight up the face in stead of up the trial and the only one who actually made it all the way to the top was Dyl. And that was only because some 9 year old boys said he couldn't  beat them up there. Challenge excepted. But it sure was pretty up there... 3/4 of the way up Leidy peak that is :)

 We call this little number "the sleep chamber" No baby can resist the urge to sleep while wearing it. It is SO perfect for camping in cooler places cause they stay warm no matter how wiggly they get AND they sleep like a baby.... for whatever thats worth.

I always get sad the night before we have to go home. Its like Im leaving this place that has been nothing less than magical for me since... well since I can remember really. I get all melancholy and mopey cause I hate going back to reality. I hate leaving the one place that I might feel more comfortable than any other place it the world except for maybe my own home. Its just me. Its where I am in my element.  And I really dont have one bad memory that goes along with being there. I think God inspired my parents to start taking our family there just for me. I need that place.
The day we had to head home we decided to drag it out as long as possible and head over to Matt Warner to see if we could limit out before we absolutely HAD to hit the road. We caught our limit plus some but put back whatever we could. On the way back out we ran in to a couple of badgers. That was kinda neat. Something you don't see every day. We made it back to camp, hooked up and headed out. We had just pulled off of the dirt road and were making our way down to the switchbacks when I saw them. I began pounding on the window and yelling "stop! stop" Andrew was not happy with me when he realized the reason for my outburst. The elk. I huge heard of them. It was nice to know that they are still up there and to get to see them for a few minutes. I agree. I could  have been more controlled about telling him why I wanted him to stop. But it was just so exciting!