Summer Fun on the 71!

The Hansen Reunion ended on a Wednesday and then early Friday morning we headed out for Elko, Nevada to meet my family at one of our ranches for a few days. If you want to see what it's like to be a cowboy come to the 71!

I always loved when we'd go out to the ranches as a kid. Mostly because my dad let us drive the van well before we were old enough to! One of the things I was most excited about in moving up here was that my kids would have the opportunity to spend some time on the ranch. I hope that this spring we can go out for the sheep shearing. That was always one of my favorite things to watch...and sometimes they'd let us brand the sheep with paint afterward!

Jonah was in heaven on the ranch. Acres and acres for him to explore and climb and throw things. What boy wouldn't love that. He didn't have the best experience when we took the horses out...his seemed to want to take off into a gallop which is quite scary when you don't know what you're doing. The saddle got loose on my horse, "Roxy" and she started to buck. I don't think I've been that scared for a long time. I thought I was down. But...it all worked out. ;)

We also enjoyed a night time hayride, some trap shooting and exploring the 71 and a new ranch the PX. It is beautiful out there. A little too remote for me, but a great place to get away to and spend time with the family. We were able to see Michael Phelps' races, so we didn't have to miss out on history in the making!

After the ranch we headed to SLC for Rachel's diabetes clinic at Primary Children's Hospital. We spent the week and had more fun swimming, going to Lagoon and the "This is the Place" Monument. For those of you not familiar with Utah landmarks...this is where--when the Mormon Pioneers made it to Utah from Illinois--Brigham Young stopped, put his cane in the ground and said, "This is the right place. Move on." The view of the valley and the Great Salt Lake is incredible.