Snowbird is always a highlight of every summer. We love spending time up in the mountains and spending time with family. We usually can't get up to the resort until later in the evening on Saturday, but this year we were able to arrive there just after 4:00 p.m., which is the check-in time. Sadly, we had to drive two cars up because I was able to stay most of the week while Jill had to return to the valley for Girls' Camp. She was so sad that she wasn't able to spend the entire week at Snowbird.
After unloading our vehicles, I rushed back to town to see my co-worker's wedding. I've worked with Scott Jones now for about five years and he has been dating Trish for about three of those five years. They got married at a museum close to the University of Utah. A few of my coworkers also attended. Lane Taylor and Dave King were there with their wives. I stayed long enough to see the wedding and wish Scott well and then I headed back up to Snowbird.
Saturday night we hung out and visited and got in a little walk. We love getting steps at Snowbird for our Fitbits. Usually we see Iron Blosam during the daylight so this was fun to see the lights turning on. It looked really cool.
Sunday we went to church at the Snowbird Center.
This year Logan was able to help pass the sacrament. It was fun to see him join with other young men to pass the sacrament. The room was crowded so he and the other boys had to figure out how to reach everyone. It wasn't exactly smooth and systematic, but they did it. When the speaker got up, he didn't dismiss the deacons so Logan got to enjoy the entire sacrament meeting and Sunday lesson from the front of the room.
After the meeting, we took a traditional family picture on the veranda.
This is the GoPro selfie. Corwin had to go back to the valley for a High Council speaking assignment, but Judy stayed up with us.
Our activity after church just may have been the most fun I've ever had at Snowbird. We had been given the assignment to make a video for the annual Bunkall Bash that was scheduled for the end of the week. We decided to do a spoof on the "Sound of Music." We filmed about five songs, shortened for brevity, and choreographed for fun. Jill opened our video out on the nature trail with "The hills are alive with the sound of music." She danced around on the trail for about thirty seconds and then we phased to another scene, Amy dancing to "I Have Confidence." She did fantastic and even included an awesome heel kick! We then filmed the children in Grandma's room doing a little dance and then walking upstairs to the tune of "So Long, Farewell." Corwin got back from the valley so I had him and Judy dance around the Snowbird Center to "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." It was EPIC! Then the next song was "My Favorite Things" and the children danced in the bedroom with Judy. The next song was our big number! We all wore blue shirts and danced around Snowbird at a couple of locations to "Do-Ra-Me." The last big number was hiking up the mountain to the song "Climb Every Mountain."
It was such a great Sunday activity! We usually go to church from 9:00-10:00 (Snowbird church is just one hour), and then have a hard time filling up the rest of the day. We play games and rest, but the day often feels long. This Sunday, though, was so much fun and the day flew by. Everyone got into the fun and had a great time performing. We laughed a lot. I played the role of director and editor and I laughed even harder as I spent time over the next few days editing. In fact, Jill told me this may be the most I have ever laughed!
Here are a couple of pictures of our "Sound of Music" video, but the whole video is a must watch.
Sunday evening, we celebrated Jill's birthday. She got to be the princess and open presents. Sadly on her birthday, she was also in charge of Sunday dinner. It was one of the only nights she was going to be with us, so she had volunteered to take her turn cooking. We cooked carne asada (like in St. George) and she made a delicious chocolate cake. It was really good. Happy Birthday Jill!
Alyssa and Grandma and Grandpa watching Jill open presents.
Monday we hiked Cecret Lake. It was a lot of fun as always. The kids love hiking the trail, climbing on rocks, and playing at the lake. This is one of our favorite Snowbird traditions.
Monday night Jill drove to the valley to pack for Girls Camp, which ran Tuesday through Friday. We missed her but played hard in her absence.
Tuesday the children and I hiked up to the top of Hidden Peak. We had a lot of fun and the children did really well. Logan did struggle a little bit and it really surprised him because he had hiked the entire length of the Grand Canyon earlier in the year. The altitude made it harder to breathe, though, and the hike was pretty hard. It got pretty hot by the time we got to the top, and Logan often struggles in the hot weather.
In previous years, we have followed the road, but this year we diverted from the road and took a trail that follows the ridge line. We should always do that going forward. It's prettier and it is more fun to hike on a trail than on the road.
The views were awesome from up on top of the ridge. Along our trail we found a broken arrow. The children were all excited and wanted to hold it.
At the top we planned to get our celebration Mountain Dews, but they were so expensive and the kids all wanted to go down and swim with their cousins. So, instead, we rode down and bought our drinks at General Gritts.
This is the reason why we hike!
On our trip Landon told Jill "he has to have his caffeine!" That didn't go over well at all.
Wednesday and Thursday I went to work down in the valley and let Grandma and Grandpa watch the kiddos. They swam and played and had a terrific time. I drove back up the mountain to play with the kids after work. One night Aaron and I got to talk and it was good to get back on the same page and move forward. The children loved playing air hockey in the game room and now Landon is planning to save all his money so he can buy an air hockey table.
We had tournaments and now we argue about who beat who. Of course I was the overall winner, but Logan and Landon both played hard and had fun.
Swimming is always a fun thing at Snowbird. I don't recall which day this happened; it could have been any day because they swam so much.
All the while Jill was at Girls Camp. Here are a few pictures I got from the Young Women leaders from their trip. They met Tuesday morning at the stake center and had some "boot camp" activities before leaving for Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway.
Jill enjoyed being at camp with the young women and other leaders. Wednesday morning, they did a service project, doing yard work at a nearby cabin. That afternoon, they went to Jordanelle Reservoir to play on the Aqua Zone, a floating, inflatable obstacle course. Thursday morning, they hiked, and had a big water fight. Thursday evening, they performed skits and had the testimony meeting. Jill gets to work with a great group of girls and women, including Kilie Spendlove.
Friday afternoon, Jill came back up to Snowbird for just a bit before we checked out. We all left early this year because the Bunkall Bash began Friday night at Brent and Tara's home. The theme was "Film Festival" and each of the six families had been ask to submit a short film. The Buxton's brought down the house with an awesome Kung Fu-themed video they filmed at an abandoned castle in Germany. It had awesome effects and it was really cool. All of the other families submitted great videos, too. The Corwin Bunkall family, though, won the Best Picture award with our rendition of the "Sound of Music." We brought the house down and it was awesome! We're not sure if everyone enjoyed it as much as we did, but we laughed and laughed watching the final product.
Along with watching videos there were games for the kids and after the awards, we had a really cool firework display! It was a lot of fun and definitely worth coming down from Snowbird to be a part of.
The next afternoon, we met at a park in South Jordan for lunch and games. Brent and Tara had ordered hotdogs from JDawgs, and they were really good. The rest of the family brought fruit and salads, and made it an amazing meal. There were some inflatable water slides for the kids to play on, and the adults had a lot of fun visiting. It was a great Bunkall Bash.
