Bryce Canyon

Warning- Long post with lots of pictures- :D We had a wonderful weekend- Thursday after Ben got off work we headed down south. We found a great campground just outside of Bryce Canyon- King's Creek. We got to the campground LATE Thursday night, set up the tent and threw some boys into bed.

Ben showing the boys how to cut the firewood- yes it's a little green- lol- they'd just thinned the trees in the area- and they were free for the taking for firewood.Friday morning we got up and decided to go for a hike- there was a nice hike that started right in our campground- so we took off. The view from our hike was amazing!

Doodle, Bug and Roo

Look- A Trail Marker!

I have a hard time getting pics of Doodle- he's usually too fast- I think he was a little tired. There was a wildfire on the mountain near our campground. Hope they can get it under control soon!
Doodle is such a goof! He got this hat for his Souvenier- and liked to hide underneath it so I couldn't get pictures of him.

Bug giving Roo a piggy back-

What a view!

After hiking around for a while- we met Ben's mom and Dad, and went fishing. They drove up from Arizona and met us and spent the rest of the weekend with us.

Bug swimming in the lake.

Roo LOVED fishing with Nana,

We went back to the campground and roasted Hot Dogs, Marshmallows and Starbursts. If you've never tried a roasted starburst- you've got to try them! YUM!
Friday morning we went for an awesome hike- We went into Bryce Canyon and hiked down to the bottom. (and yes- back up to the top!)Ben- at the bottom of the Canyon- taking a breakMe at the bottom of the canyon- I made it down- can I make it back up?!

The boys loved it when the trail went through tunnels in the rock.

At the bottom of the canyon- we came across this rock garden- where people had stacked their own little rocks to make their own little Hoodoos.We had to try our hand at making Hoodoos- Way cool Slot Canyon we hiked back up through

Yes- this is the trail back UP! Lots of switchbacks

After hiking all morning we met Nana and Bompa and went exploring with them (they decided they'd rather sleep in than hike to the bottom of the canyon with us. lol)

A Mossy Cave we hiked to with Nana and Bompa.

Roo helping Nana hike down the trail.

Our little family-

A Beautiful ArchBug and Doodle taking the Jr. Ranger Oath-
After a long day of hiking and exploring we went back to camp for a Delicious Dutch oven dinner- Waiting for dinner to cook.

Bug making popcorn over the fire.

Bompa, Nana and Roo relaxing at camp.
It was a great weekend- and I loved seeing all the amazing sites.

Delicious Granola Recipe-

I LOVE granola- but when it comes to grocery shopping my wallet doesn't like it much- it's always too expensive. I've seen recipes for granola before- and tried a few- but most of them aren't quite what I'm looking for- either they call for lots of honey, (too expensive, and I don't usually have it on hand) have wierd ingredients (wheat germ anyone?!) or just seem time consuming. But I've found the BEST granola recipe.

Granola Recipe


1 cup Jam (any flavor- I've done apricot freezer jam, peach jam and runny strawberry jam that didn't set up- and all have been delicious)

1/2 cup margarine or butter (I've been meaning to try it with less fat, but haven't yet- so if you try it- let me know how it turns out)

5 cups oats (I think the original recipe called for quick oats- but all I have are regular- and it works fine)

1 cup nuts or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, walnuts, almonds whatever- I've used sunflower seeds before, and walnuts, and even left the nuts out once. I'm going to try almonds next time I think)

1-2 cups dried fruit (I usually just use raisins and dried apples- we have a few cans of dried apples, and this is a great use for them- though I tried craisins once- and it was yummy)



Preheat oven to 325. Mix jam and margarine in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until it boils. While it's heating, measure out the oats, nuts, fruit etc. into a large baking dish. (I love my old pampered chef casserole dish- it's larger than a 9x13, but nice and deep) When jam mixture comes to a boil, pour over the top of the oat mixture. Mix together well- so that all of the oats are coated. Bake 325 for about 30 minutes- stirring every 10 minutes or so. Let cool. I like to smash the granola down flat in the pan when it comes out of the oven, and when it cools, I have "chunks" to break apart.

Been slacking on my blog lately-

Oops! I lost my battery charger for my camera- and of course- I can't do a blog post without picutres! lol- but I found it. :D

Ben ended up NOT having to go in to work on Saturday- so we jumped at the opportunity to take the kids camping. We went to Bloomington Lake a small lake up a canyon past Bear Lake.

Isn't the scenery amazing?! Yes- that is still SNOW on the ground on the other side of the lake.Doodle helping set up the tent.

Ben and Roo hiking into the lake- it's not a far hike- and it's great fun- next time we are going to backpack in here and camp by the lake.

I found this cute monkey climbing a tree. Roo telling me that the water is "COLD!"Bug swinging off the rope into the water- Doodle catching some fish- or trying to. We caught a few small ones- nothing worth keeping- but they were fun anyhow.

We had a great time camping- and can't wait to go back- hopefully sometime soon!