June 10, 2012

Making Memories. . . Still!!

Some people might think it strange that our family went camping a month after Denzel died.  But then, again, our family has always been a little strange!  Since we had made our plans for this family camping trip back in March of this year, we'd already paid for the campsites, etc., and Dad and I thought it important to follow through with our plans, we went ahead with our trip.  As it turned out, we couldn't have planned a more therapeutic get together for our family!!




 Dad and I arrived in Sterling, Utah ( the home of Palisade State Park) on Tuesday afternoon around 4:00 p.m.  The campsites Natalee and I had picked out during one of our drives to and from Ephraim the end of February turned out IDEAL!!  We were a few yards from the lake; there were great shade trees; we were close to the restrooms (VERY important for Amelia!); there was grass everywhere,  AND a golf course 200 yards away. . .perfect for our family!!





Now, there WERE a couple of problems...like no firepits...just barbecue grills...so Nat and RJ drove to Ephraim and bought a steel tub that we could build fires in.  Problem solved!!  No electricity at the toyhauler campsite (or any campsite in that area)...other than at the handicap site just across the street...and it was empty...so we paid a few extra dollars and RJ moved the toyhauler over there.  Problem solved!!  The hammock we borrowed didn't have a stand with it (and there weren't any trees close together enough to hang it), so I drove to Provo and bought a stand.  Problem solved!!  And our whole camping trip was WONDERFUL!!






I actually spent time in the hammock, reading and napping, and LOVED it.  But Amelia loved it more with her baby four weeks away from being born, so I made sure she got equal time in the hammock!!



 Nikki was SOOOO much fun to have around!  I think she made everyone smile!  She loved feeding the ducks, going for canoe rides, hugging Kodiak (the stuffed version we brought with us!), and going for motorcycle rides with her daddy, saying "Giddy-up!!  Faster, faster!"


Those of us who tried our hands at fishing, over and over and over again, never caught anything, but we did get a few bites!!  And then we saw huge fish hanging out in the little coves of the edges of the lake...but we still couldn't trick them into biting our lures!


Dad got pretty sunburned on our "short" canoe ride...he thought we were just going to the buoy and I thought we were touring the whole lake...he hadn't put any sunblock on and his legs sure paid!!  Sorry husband 'o mine!

Everyone helped cook and clean up and it was just fun to be together!  The first morning there, while I lay in bed listening to Dad, Dallin and Brandon making the fire and getting water warmed for hot chocolate, I was enjoying the peace and relaxation of being there.  Suddenly, I had a very poignant feeling come across for just a second or two, as I felt DENZEL'S sadness at not being there with our family.  It was a very strange, yet sweet experience.  It was not MY feelings I felt, but I literally felt HIS feeling of sadness at not being there.  It was a very good reminder to me of how important it is for us to pray for Denzel; to pray for his peace and comfort as he deals with the things he's doing on the other side of the veil, and to pray for his reassurance of our great love for him.  It was a very tender reminder to me that the veil is very thin and, at times, we are given special glimpses.  Along with this experience, I also thought of Jaimi and her family and how we missed having them there with us.  We were SO glad they could be there for Denzel's funeral, burial, and the week following.  But we sure missed not having them camping with us, too!!

Wednesday was spent swimming (yes, the water was cold, but manageable), fishing a lot, canoeing, napping, reading, golfing, riding the little dirt bike RJ brought, playing badmitton and volleyball, and eating!!



Thursday was a BLAST!!!  Tannya, Natalee and Kristy had done a TON of work preparing a "Surprise" baby shower for Amelia...and Millie had NO IDEA!!  Early that morning I suggested Amelia and I go for a walk and look for a geocache.  She wasn't thrilled, but I prevailed and she not-totally-willingly agreed to go. (It was only 1.25 miles around the entire lake, so it wasn't FAR!  AND... it needed to take at least 30 minutes to give the girls

time to set up everything.  We walked slowly!)  At the far side of the lake we found the geocache, then headed back towards camp.  I stalled..."Oh look, was that a fish?"  And then, Millie really did see a fish...so, of course, I took my time taking several pictures of it!


After taking a potty stop upon our return, Hans and Brandon met us at the bathrooms (Hans had been locked in his tent so he didn't know about the
surprise, either!)  Tann gave us the signal to come on in, and we did.  There was a sign across the volleyball net "BABY SHOWER!!"  and another sign where we would be eating that said, "WELCOME BABY J."  We then prepared "Baby J" crepes...that were blue, with blueberries and blueberry syrup.  We also played some baby games when we were done eating.


Lunch included Sloppy Baby J's (sloppy joes) and more games, and dinner was "Baby J in a HAYSTACK", complete with blue rice and all the fixin's!  The Mapleton Bartons arrived to help us celebrate and we managed to get some canoe rides and some golf driving practice in, too.  After dinner Amelia opened LOTS of presents that so many friends and family had sent secretly to Tannya, Kristy, or Julie Schram.  It was a whole day of fun, and Amelia and Hans really loved it!!!  

Friday was the only hard day, emotionally, at least for me.  I had not thought about how hard it would be to say good-bye to everyone.  Even though Hans, Mil and Dallin were headed to St. George, Nat and RJ were coming back to St. George in a couple of days, and so were we; and Brandon, Tannya and Nikki were headed home to South Weber and Kristy to Salt Lake City, we didn't want things to end and didn't want to say good-bye.  It was hard enough having Denzel leave unexpectedly, and for an undetermined length of "deployment."  WE LOVED BEING TOGETHER WITH MOST OF OUR FAMILY THERE!!!

This may have to become another one of our HUNT FAMILY TRADITIONS!!

2 comments:

Hilary F. said...

I think it's great that you guys still went. It looks like you had lots of fun and made some wonderful memories. And props to Amelia for going camping the month of her due date. She's one tough cookie!

Rod and Patrice Hunt said...

DEFINITELY props to Amelia for being such a trooper!! 29 Gold Stars for her!