Father & Sons

This past weekend was our Father & Sons camp-out. Kaleb and I have been excited about it for several weeks in anticipation of being able to get up to the mountains and go camping. As the temperature finally reached over 100° here in the valley it was nice to be up in the pines enjoying some nice cool weather. We headed up around 1:00 on Friday and got to camp about 3:oo. After setting up our camp we just relaxed and Kaleb had fun with some of his friends from the ward.  Later in the afternoon we went on a ride on one of the Rhino's that had been brought up, it was a blast and Kaleb thought he was on a roller coaster ride.

We had some great burritos for dinner, then after hanging out by the fire for a while it was off to the tent to watch a movie (yeah it was rough). In the morning we woke up just in time for hot pancakes and sausage, and the weather was beautiful.

After breakfast, we broke camp and headed off for some more adventure together. I decided to take Kaleb to Tonto Natural Bridge which was not too far from where we camped. This natural bridge is the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. It was awesome. It is a steep 1/4 mile hike down into the canyon, where you can then climb your way though the base of the tunnel. We spent a couple hours exploring all of the cool caves and giant rocks before emerging from the opposite side of the tunnel and hiking our way back up to the top. We even saw a herd of javelina, which didn't seem at all to be bothered by anyone.

We both enjoyed our first visit to this natural bridge so much, that we decided that we would make a tradition of coming here during each father and sons camp-out. After our hike was over we headed back to the valley and over to my cousins house for his son Conner's birthday party. After 2 days of camping, hiking, pizza, soda, and cake, Kaleb was more than ready to head home. However on our way home I surprised him with tickets to his first Diamondbacks game thanks to my Uncle Dave and Aunt Tammy. We had a blast at the game and finally made it home about 9:30pm....unfortunately after a D-back loss.

Overall it was a great weekend and I can't wait until next year when I can take both my boys as Will should be ready to go!!

Kaleb's Special Week

Kaleb turned 8 on Friday and has had a very busy week.

On Wednesday he had a birthday party with all of his friends at the water park. It was very windy which kind of ruined the party, but as you can see they still had a blast.

 

On Friday he was soo excited excited for his birthday to finally arrive. He woke up early and couldn't wait to open his present from Amie and I. It was a new game for his Nintendo DS...just what he wanted!! After opening his gift , Kaleb and I went to Denny's for breakfast before going to school.  When he came home from school he was especially excited that Grandma Ensign had arrived from California.

 

 

Saturday was Kaleb's baptism. He was baptized with the Bishop's son Cameron. There were 4 children baptized in our ward that day, so to make it easier and less crowded they decided to split them up into two separate baptisms. It was wonderful that so many family members were able to be there. My Uncle Dave and Tammy and their two boys Colin and Greg, my sister Becky, my sister Theresa and her husband Justin, Amie's Mom, and my Mom and Dad were all able to make it - which made Kaleb feel very special.

 

After the baptism it was back to our house for pizza, cake, and ice cream.  We really enjoyed being together to celebrate Kaleb's special day.

 

   

 

Kaleb received a special gift from Grandma Ensign for his baptism. It was a new set of scriptures and the case was one that his Grandpa Ensign used. She put a picture of him in the pocket so that Kaleb can always remember they are special.

We Love You Kaleb!!!