Labor Day Weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend with my family at Camp Liahona in Clarks Fort. Camp Liahona is one of many LDS Girls Camp. My brother called the camp to see if we could use their facilities for the weekend...they said yes but they would be closeing up the camp for the winter. If we (mainly the men) were willing to provide a little service they'd feed us and we could stay as long as we wanted.



Kurt took a half day off from work on Friday - so as soon as we finished packing we were on our way. We did make one pitstop to visit our friends the Basilius' in Mountain House. (Alyse - Logan already is asking when he can go to Charlie's house again) After much holiday bay area traffic we made it to our destination! We split the nurses cabin with my brother's family. Kurt & I each had our own bed, Kelsie had her portacrib, and Logan had a foam pad on the floor. Saturday morning the guys helped board up the cabins, drain the toilets, disemble air-conditioners among all things. After that my brother's and sister's family took off to Kennedy Meadows for a little horseback riding, we opted to let the little ones rest.

We then met up with them at Pinecrest Lake. We rent a pontoon boat/party bardge for the evening, so we all could fit on it! We BBQ'd hotdogs, Kurt let the kids each take a turn driving, Noah helped the little ones fish (Davis & Kylee caught one!), and Art and Kylee decided to dive into the freezing water. It was a lot of fun! I was born in Sonora, CA, about 30-40 minutes from Pinecrest. We have pictures of me here as baby and my family has fond memories of hiking around the lake and coming up for family outings.

On Sunday we thought we were going to have to miss church, so we planned our own little program with talks and songs, but it turned out one of the Bishops was at Camp providing service and had permission to hold Sacrament meeting at camp. The camp actually has an outdoor dedicated chapel. We told the Bishop that Logan & Kylee had talks prepared, so he let them give their talks prior to the bearing of testimonies. It was Logan's first talk ever and he did great! We practiced a couple times during the week. I thought since it was a pretty good size crowd that he would get nervous, but he didn't at all. The talk was super simple and short...but he's not even 3 yet!

After Sacrament meeting we celebrated Autumn & Logan's birthdays a little early. Logan LOVES all of his presents (thanks everyone!). He had been playing with them non-stop since we got home. Logan will be 3 on Sept. 14th and Autumn turned 5 on Sept. 8th.

Monday morning the guys finished up some last minute projects and we packed up our things and headed out. We spent a couple hours in Columbia, a historic mining town outside Sonora. We took a ride in an old-fashioned stage coach, bought some yummy candy, took some pictures, and enjoyed each others company.

Overall, it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend. The kids had a blast and my brother-in-law Art said he kids are still raving about it and said it was one of their best vacations ever!

P.S. Kurt would be upset if I left out that we saw a jeep engulfed in flames in Livermore on our way home. :)