7th annual sunday spudnut sunday

(I'm so behind with blogging, but I've got to start somewhere. More NYC and October festivities coming to a screen near you soon.) 

And that's a wrap! Our 7th annual Sunday Spudnut Sunday is over. It was smaller than in years past, but in some ways more enjoyable because we could got to actually visit with our guests instead of being stuck back in a tiny kitchen.  We had mostly ward friends come, but it was a treat to have the Eves from Holladay drive all the way up for it as well. 

Since kids have come along, we've debated whether this tradition was doable. But with the help of my dad and Brandon's parents who happily helped fry nearly every one of the 236 spudnuts we made, we've been able to keep it going. We're grateful for their help! (Brandon and I were able to roll them all out during afternoon naps.)

Because we were in a new ward, we had no clue what the turnout would be. We panicked at the last minute and decided to make an extra batch. Needless to say, we could have done just fine with 2. So we made some neighborhood deliveries with the extras or we would be eating spudnuts for weeks. Next year we'll remember to not make as many! 

Spudnuts make us happy. And we love carrying on this tradition that my grandma Helen started so many years ago. 

Here's our traditional family spudnut photo. Previous years here: 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 

adventures with our little campers

What you see: the cutest little campers with Gma and Gpa Sunday // delicious tin foil dinners and yummy camping snacks // throwing rocks into the lake while Grandpa fished // a beautiful backdrop to call home for a night //

What you don't see: driving 2 hours to find out the campground we were planning to stay at was closed for the season // driving to another campground to also find it was closed // the very little sleep we got due to Evelyn not being able to sleep well. it was cold!  // the rain we got in the morning as we tried packing up // some spooky thing that was outside our tent and we yelled it away

Camping trips with our children are far from perfect. They are a lot of work. They aren't relaxing (in the sense that we can just play games and lounge by the campfire the whole time.) But there is something about fresh mountain air, no cell phone service, gravel roads, campfires, and dirt that is invigorating and addicting. And if we can start them young, we hope they'll fall in love with the beauty that you can only find away from it all.