I have so much to blog about!  Our summer began with Andrew's birthday on June 13th and has been steadily and happily chaotic since then.  After his birthday came a weekend camping trip, two weeks of family visitors, then our California trip, and now some getting-ready-to-start-school confusion for both me and Audrey.

To start out, here is a bit about our Dobbins Family Camping Trip:

Two of the four couples (I guess five if you include Bonnie and EJ) in the family have been living in Idaho for the past few years and the other two of us are living here in Utah, so we've been very lucky to have been able to hang out a lot and develop closer relationships during this time of only living a few hours apart.  It's really meant a lot to me to get to know all three of my sisters-in-law better and have my own personal relationships with each of them.  Matt and Hyrum have been brothers to me from the start, even before Andrew and I got married, so I'm so grateful to have been able to develop those relationships into these married friendships now too.  I love their wives, Cassie and Joselid and I love Andrew's sister Brittney .  I love them so much.  It feels like we would be friends outside of having married into the same family and that means a lot to me.  

Matt and Cassie and Hyrum and Joselid have all graduated now from BYU Idaho and are moving on to their next adventures in life.  As one last hurrah Andrew and I suggested a big family camping trip before they all moved away, Matt and Cassie to Southern California and Hyrum and J to Virginia.  

If being a Dobbins means anything, it means CAMPING.  That's like the first thing I learned about this family even before Andrew and I were together.  So it just seemed like a perfect thing we could all do together one last time.  Magically schedules worked out for everyone and it all came together for the middle of June- up the mountains, every other campsite empty, surrounded by forests and big skies and fields of yellow flowers.  And the most perfect hammock hanging trees you could ever wish for!  Good thing...because everyone brought a hammock!  Seriously there were SIX hammocks surrounding the campsite.  

I'm sure some of the more experienced campers in the group could've done with more vigorous hiking and exploring but other than that for a camping trip with six small children I'd say it was almost perfect.  The food was great, the company was fun, the nature was amazing.  I love the smell of campfire on my clothes for days after the trip.  Star gazing in the hammock with Hannah while everyone else went for a night time walk (to use Lynny's new telescope, how perfect is that?) was my favorite part.  We just laid there staring up at the big huge glittering sky, swinging ever so slightly with the wind.    

I'll let the pictures speak the rest.  

I have one regret.  I took too many pictures.  I was too focused on that.  I wish I had just been in the moment more.  From nature comes rejuvenation for me and I wish I had taken advantage of that more.  Next time I will STOP and feel the peacefulness more.

But we did get some fun pictures out of it and a great memory for all of us.  Except Eli.  He probably won't remember when we tell him he went on his first "campout" when he was 3 months old.  Can't wait for real campouts in our future!