Labor Weekend Camping Trip

Our family had so much fun camping in the Colorado Rocky Mountains we decided to skip everything we had over Labor Day Weekend and go camping. We went to Jack Rabbit Mountain Campground which is a campground surrounded by a huge lake up in the Chattuge Mountains in North Carolina. Part of the lake is in Georgia where we did most of our hiking in.

We arrived Friday night around 7pm and came home Monday evening around the same time. We had the best time ever being out in the beautiful nature. The weather was amazing. It was perfect during the day and even the night. We ate lots of good food thanks to Kevin and Rebecca for teaching us in Colorado. We ate Burritos, Stir Fry, Hot dogs, Casadeas, Homemade brownies, homemade M&M cookies, Reeses cookies, Cherry cake, and tons more.

We went fishing on a hike, swam in the lake, hiked up to two different falls. We also found lots of beautiful rocks with quartz and Mica in them. We played lots and enjoyed sitting around the campfire.

Mom's favorite part was seeing her children be so happy and not have a care in the world. She loved listening to their laughter and seeing their big huge smiles. She also loved sitting around the campfire talking about special things and discussing the gospel as a family. We knew none of this would be possible without our Heavenly Father and Savior. It was neat as a family to be together and be able to experience this.

We will never forget all the fun times we shared together. We can't wait to go again!

Rock Shop

On our way home we couldn't drive past the Rock Shop. So we stopped and looked at all the beautiful rocks. It was a great ROCK shop but we came home empty handed from the store because we decided we found enough rocks from here for Mom to put in her Rock Tumbler. But the kids still had a blast. They at least got to get out of the van for a while and look at cool rocks from around the world.

Fishing up at Jack Rabbit Mountain

Just a little walk across the road from our campsite and we decided to cast our lines. What a surprise our kids pulled up!

Over 30 of these little fish. They had a blast doing this. They would just barely cast their line in and within a couple of seconds out pulled a little fish. They put them in a bucket to see how many they could catch. They funny thing is Kody and Kamden dumped it over and WOW did we ever have fish flopping everywhere. We had to scramble to put them all back into the lake.

They won for catching the biggest fish at Jack Rabbit Mountain Campground! Huge whooping 2 inch fish!

Hiking

Mom wanted to go Hiking so she got a map and directions to some falls. Well, Dad fell asleep and Mom took a few wrong turns but it ended up being O.K. She didn't quite get to the falls she wanted to but found something else. We did do to Hikes up to 2 different falls. They were so beautiful. We loved it so much. The air was cool and crisp. The nature was spectacular.

The only problem was Baby would not walk one time. He would not put his feet on the ground because of the dirt and SNAKES! So we ended up carrying him the whole time. Boy, did we get a work out. Which was good after eating all that good camping food around the fire!

Hiking in Snake Territory

Can you believe me out of all people would even go hiking with signs like this all over the trails. But I did it and was so proud of myself. Let me tell you everyone was trying so hard to trick me. With brushing sticks on my legs to putting stuff on my head. By the end, I could of really had a snake and would of thought it was just someone teasing me. But thank goodness we didn't see anything!

Funny moments

There is always funny moments camping but Mom won this time. We all went down a hiking fishing trail that had different trails to take you to the lake to fish. Well, we set off with our 4 kids along with our 4 poles. Dad wanted to try one spot which was super rocky so I said I would take the kids down to the next one with less rocks. Well, we got to the spot but it was covered with fallin trees and rocks. Kallee and Kyle said "Mom lets just go over them." I said, "No, It will be to hard with Kody and Kamden so I will walk down a bit farther and go around them." They decided to go right over them. Well, they made it just fine but I had a whole other story.

I so got stuck in a foot of mud. Holding both Kody and Kamden in my arms along with a fishing pole. I tell you what I could not get out of the mud. Both of my legs were stuck. Kallee and Kyle could see me and couldn't help but laugh. They ran over just in time before I panicked. A huge spider crawled over my covered feet. I was so helpless holding both boys and the pole. So I passed them the boys one at a time and threw them my pole.

But I couldn't get my feet out still. So, I had to wiggle my feet out of my shoes and then dig for my shoes in the mud. I finally fished them out and was covered in mud.

When Mike saw me he busted out laughing and just said WOW! What happened to you.

Later that night as we sat by the fire we compared it to our Heavenly Father. How there is so many obstacles in this life. But no matter what ever happens he is always there for us. Even though the path way may seem so hard it is always worth it. We can't give up but to just keep on going. Whenever you are stuck he won't forget you but will always help you out. I choose the supposedly easier route but it turned out to be the hardest route of all. Just like Satin likes to make everything look so wonderful and sugar coated but it's not the best and easiest route to go. It ended up being the toughest route of all. Just like Heavenly Father and our Savior he is always there for us. Just like Kallee and Kyle came to help me out. I really don't know what I would have done without them. I couldn't have put the boys down in the mud. But I know just like they helped me out our Heavenly Father and Savior will as well. They are there and will always be there even when you feel STUCK!

Family Pictures

We had so much fun as a family camping here at the lake. We had a wonderful spot with lots to do around us. We could see the lake from our spot and walk right to it within about 3 minutes. We found a lot of beautiful rocks that had mica in them and also lots of quartz. We walked down the lake and Mike found a cove that was beautiful. We fished for a while and then we walked and found awesome rocks!

Dad loved being with his kids and playing with them!

Walking around Jack Rabbit Mountain Lake in North Carolina

We had so many smiles over Labor Day weekend with lots of laughter. The funniest part was the smiles and laughter came from the Kool K Kids covered in dirt. WOW! This is going to take weeks to remove! They were rolling in the dirt, having dirt fights, playing in the fire, lake water, and JUST HAVING A GOOD OL TIME!