Granite Flats Campout

The last week of July was our annual Bateman Family Campout. My dad and I arrived first at our campsite up American Fork Canyon, and he kept me busy helping him set up the most ridiculous tarp above our tent (above the rainfly). My fear of bungee cords came out in full force as I continued to get thwapped by them. If I had been working with anyone but my dad, there would definitely have been tears. It's hard to see the system in the below picture, but let me assure you, neither my dad nor I are tall enough to have just simply stretched to reach the placement around the trees. I had to shimmy up pine trees (this doesn't work well at all, especially in tevas), my dad hired a stick to help guide the bungee where he wanted, and we found a box that he stood on while I braced it. I didn't really know how to brace it, so basically I just stood there with my body against the box, knowing full well that it would break my femur if it gave, repeating, "Please don't break," over and over and over in my head.

Back of Mt. Timp Hike

My Uncle Scott often organizes a hike up the back of Timp, and this was the first year I've ever been able to go. It was so amazing, and I hope we get to do it again next year.

Our first stop at the first meadow.

My cousin Josh (aka Bizarro World Zach) pointing to a deer clambering over the rocks.

The wildflowers were out of control. All of my pictures don't give them any justice.

View from the second meadow. We're going to the very top of that peak. Yowza. Can't say my heart didn't sink just a tad. So much farther to go.

My cousin Jess and our first encounter with a mountain sheep.

Ben at the Saddle.

Everyone pulled out their cellphones and called loved ones.

The tippy toppy!

We pulled out our snacks, Dra gasped, "My Doritos! Ohhh, I must have dropped them." Soon after, our cousin Brandon reached us and shouted, "Did someone drop Doritos?" He saved Dra's day.

Josh perched safely, but it still made my head spin a bit to see the drop.

Next challenge: Heading down to this lake.

Me and my sissy Em at the top, Ben checking out that guy's butt.

Me, Em, and Dra laughed so much the entire way up, and the majority of the way down. It was so much fun to hike with them.

The glacier we slid down.

I was so scared at the top when we were sliding sideways on the muddy rock.

I was so scared to slide down the glacier; it was so steep, and I was convinced a rock would give me another butt crack. Ben went first and laughed the whole way. Em and I sat on our garbage bags and tried to make a train, it didn't work. Dra has a hilarious video. I am scared but laughing, Em is scared and screaming bloody murder. Lots of our group gingerly walked down.

Herd of mountain goats right by the lake.

Can you believe we slid down this bad boy?

Incredibly beautiful.

I hope that Em and Dra post some of their pictures (hint hint wink wink). We had a fabulous time.

Bateman to Malone

I saw Karl Malone at the airport when I came back from Hawaii. He was standing right in front of me as Em and I sat on the bench waiting for Ben to pick us up. I wasn't paying any attention, but then I heard his trademark drawl. "Sounds just like Karl," I thought to myself, yup, there he was right in front of me. I elbowed Em and told her who it was, but she questioned how I knew. How can you not?

Doesn't he look like Brian Fellows?

Ben pulled up right when Karl came back with more luggage.

Ben: "Excuse me Karl Malone? Can we get a picture?"

Karl: Looking straight ahead, tad grumpy, "I've just been on a 26 hour flight, let me put my luggage down."

So I took off my shoes, didn't fix my Superman curl hanging down in front, and snapped a picture of me after a night on a plane standing next to The Mailman.

He shook my hand, and I said thank you, and managed to not embarrass myself like I did when I met Thurl Bailey at one of his concerts up at USU.

Thurl: While shaking my hand, "So nice to meet you. You look very familiar."

Me: "Well I did play Jr. Jazz."

Idiot.

Hawaii Pictures!

I was invited to my adorable friends Karen Conklin and Kahili Woods' wedding in Hawaii. Emilie Decker Ralph and I travelled together. Emilie is good friends with Karen, and Karen hired her to be her wedding photographer. We had a blast together.

Pria the flower girl (Kahili's niece), Karen in the background getting ready, Chelsea (Kahili's sister) helping with Karen's hair.

My camera card was full, and I frustratingly tried to delete old pics, but I could not figure out how to get back to super old ones. I knew it had to be so easy, I even had Emilie the wedding photographer look at my camera, but she couldn't figure it out either. Em took amazing pictures of the wedding, so maybe in a couple of weeks I will re-post about Hawaii with better quality pictures.

Old International Market.

Deep sigh as it took me back to Taiwan and Thailand.

One of the five pools at the Hilton.

Karen and Kahili honeymooned at the Hilton which was conveniently located right across from our hotel: Aqua Palms and Spa. Our pool was a pathetic L-shaped eyesore. Em laughed when I disappointingly pointed out that with a name like Aqua Palms, the place should have a better pool. Karen invited us over to swim in their lagoon and pools. Yes please! The pools even had little kiddy slides connecting them. I waited my turn in between two five year olds, then slid down one of the slides. It was fantastic.

Karen and Kahili getting their picture taken right by the lagoon we swam in.

I loved that it was shark and jellyfish free.

I ran my own little 5k along the beach behind the Hilton. Usually when I run here in Utah, my throat gets pretty dry, but such was not the case in good ol' Hawaii. I was terribly sweaty due to the humidity though. Well, more sweaty than usual. There were a lot of people out and about in the morning, I was pleasantly surprised. There were even quite a few people swimming in the ocean which reinforced my jealousy of people who can swim.

Helicopter Tour!

By far my favorite thing we did.

In the picture: Our pilot in the blue jeans, Em in the helicopter, weird flirty copilot.

This is the beach I ran!

Bruce Willis (aka bizzaro world Brent Bateman) and Keanu Reeves have houses somewhere on this hill.

Hawaii's take on Sea World.

We could see lots of hiking trails. They were beyond steep, I swear, they were practically straight up the mountainside. I don't know if you'll be able to make out the white blur, but we saw a guy on top of one of the peaks. I waved furiously, and he waved back, and I tried to get a picture.

This could be Stairway to Heaven.

I had to reach over Emilie to get this picture. Here's where parts of Lost and Jurassic Park were filmed.

Sacred Falls

Can you spot the waterfall? Our pilot said that they had to close it down to all hikers because too many people were getting hurt.

Pearl Harbor - USS Utah

Our pilot took us on the same route the Japanese took.

Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona

24th of July Bell Canyon Hike

Chicago Shenanigans:

• A guy named Mario mistakenly took my luggage thinking it was his. I would like to thank you Mario for not noticing the incredibly big bright green name tag and for not noticing you had taken my luggage for a good 20 hours. I like to hope that you got curious and unzipped one of the pockets and got a face full of tampons. Hope that made you uncomfortable because I had to make an announcement to a bunch of army guys that I had to make an emergency run to the nearest grocery store because of that much-needed pocket. As much as I want to be mad at you Mario, I am so incredibly grateful that you were honest and brought my luggage back to the airport. I did have to sleep in my clothes and attend a day full of meetings in the same clothes, but at least I got my stuff back. When I was at my lowest, assuming I would never see my luggage again, I made a comprehensive list of my luggage's contents and its estimated cost. Mario, you could have had over $1600 worth of my stuff. I would have been heartbroken over my earrings from Peru. I would have cancelled my trip to Hawaii.
• One of the sessions we had to attend was titled: R U Angry? In the middle of our tables, we found pamphlets, and we were encouraged to go through the list and check off things that make us angry. Bad Drivers? Check. Misbehaving Children? Check. Loud Noises? Check. As I was thoughtfully making my way down the list, one of Ben's buddies whispered my name in awe. I looked up at him, he looked at me wide-eyed, then pointed to his list. I slowly looked at my list, then looked at his list. Then I glanced at everyone else's list at our round table. I had about 15 items checked. Everyone else had an average of 4 checked. He laughed, then everyone else laughed. Ben had a lot checked too. R U Angry? Apparently, yes I am.
• I had to get special permission to leave the session early Sunday morning so I could catch my flight to Hawaii later Sunday afternoon. Ben and Lt. Smith drove me to the airport, they dropped me off, and I checked in and made my way to my gate smoothly. I stopped to buy myself a parfait, went to pay, and mumbled a small swear word. Ben had my driver's license and credit card in his wallet. The night before we were going into the city, and I didn't want to take a purse, so Ben offered to take my ID and credit card in his wallet. I brilliantly forgot to get it out of his wallet. I called Ben, but they were already back at the hotel. I talked my way through my predicament, but calmed myself into realizing that I should be fine because I had my passport for ID, and a backup credit card that I wasn't jazzed to use, but would work fine. Idiot.
• We flew into SLC earlier than planned, so my dad agreed to pick me up at the airport so I could hang out at my parents' for a few hours. Unfortunately, on the drive home, I brought up a picture text message I received from Andrea documenting a hike I missed. I was completely in the dark as to who was in the picture. I can't give any more details, it's little Em's story. It was not funny in the moment feeling like I was the one getting in trouble as my dad furiously described his take on the whole thing, but now it's really fun to laugh about when my parents aren't around.

My one picture of Chicago, and technically, this is in Schaumberg.

Ben's home safe from Afghanistan.

He invited me to his Yellow Ribbon Ceremony in Chicago, and I have lots of funny and not-so-funny stories.

Please stay tuned.

Tell me you don't love this.

Everything Must Go!

So I need to grow up and get a big girl bed.

I am trying to give everything away, but if no one needs/wants a free handout, I should probably try to make a buck or two on ksl.

Let me know!

This mirror doesn't fit in my room, and you need to know that it's a bit clunky and heavy. It could use a little restoration.

Pillows not included.

I love this dresser. I don't love that it's white, but it would be super easy to paint.

Bed/Frame/Mattress/Box Springs it's all yours ...