Lydia at the Ranch

Our July was a little busy, especially factoring in that David was gone 3/4 weeks and we were having significant van repair problems. When my Dad called to tell me that they were going to be haying the fields during the last week of July and asked if Lydia wanted to come help, I just wasn't sure how I was going to get her up there. Through a series of tender mercies and help from others, we got Lydia up there. (Jenna took her with her on her way to Perry, Jacob drove from Morgan to pick her up from Jenna in Ogden, and she was there so that my Dad could leave at 6 am the following morning. She was up there for 3-4 days. 

It was such a great experience for her and she was SO helpful. I'm so proud of her. 

My dad said that they wouldn't have been able to finish the haying without her. This is her second year of going and staying at the ranch to help. I was kind of hoping to send Austin this year (or bring all of us so Austin and Lydia could both help), but it just wasn't in the cards this year. 

On the way to Wyoming from Morgan, they stopped at a store and my dad bought Lydia this cowgirl outfit. I sent her with jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeve shirt. She ended up with cowgirl boots (which she loves), a pearl button long sleeve, her own work gloves, and a pink cowgirl hat. 

It was so kind of my dad and Lydia was so happy to look like a real cowgirl. 

One of the most tender things is that Lydia got to spend SO much time with my grandpa, Ramon Walker, she ate meals with him, watched TV with him, worked alongside him in the fields, and went exploring some of his favorite places in their time off. They went to the summer range and checked on the bridge and fence (Lydia's favorite place in the world) and they also went exploring Church Butte together. My dad sent me videos of her feeding baby calves, working around the ranch, and driving the pickup (all by herself). They had such a fun time together and I love this experience for her. 

This is particularly meaningful because my Grandpa passed away on August 11, 2023. I will write more about that in a separate post, but it happened so fast and I am overwhelmingly grateful that Lydia was able to spend his last good days working and exploring by his side. I love her, love him, love my dad, love this beautiful, wild, Wyoming land.

Summer Range

The Summer Range is a hidden gem, a place on earth apart from any other. When you come here, you feel completely surrounded by the beauty of creation and the legacy of family. I love it here. I may love it here so much because my dad loves it here so much. And my children love it here so much. This year we were able to gather with most everyone to camp, play, ATV, roast marshmallows, explore, bond, and... build a fence around the new outhouse. The new outhouse is actually a hundred years old but was moved from a place on Grandpa's land in Lyman up to the summer range so that we would have a functional toilet (functional in the barest sense of the word). 

It was perfect. 

Except that David couldnt' come with us. 

And that it rained. A LOT. A lot a lot a lot. 

But other than that... perfect. (Ha)

The kids loved riding 4-wheelers with all that they had. 

4 Wheeler Rules for the Summer Range

1- One person on a 4wheeler (unless an adult) 

2- Stick "two" the trail 

3- Check in front of you, behind you, and all around you before you back out. (check 3 places) 

4- Dont "four"d the river (don't cross)

5- Speed closer to 5 than 10

(You have to admit that these four wheeler rules are pretty good!)

My Dad was excited to take the kids shooting. Austin particularly loved this and had a great time learning about gun safety and practicing his shooting. It was neat to see him and my dad bonding over this. 

We built a fence around the outhouse to protect it from the cows. It was a great service project (of which we are the main beneficiaries, ha) and we had a great time working together. (And thank goodness it stopped raining long enough for us to do this )

We love the summer range, just really really really love it here. I love camping with the kids and love this tent, even if it leaked rain all over us during the night. David and I got this tent for our wedding from our dearest family-camping-friends, the Olivers and I'm so grateful for it. We've almost grown out of it, because I'm not sure that we could have fit David in the tent with us this trip now that Lucy is out of the pack and play. But it's been a REALLY really good tent for us. 

Summer Range Camping

"The Summer Range" is a beautiful piece of land tucked into the Wyoming side of the Uinta mountains where my Grandpa Walker takes his cows for the summer so they can free range instead of being fed hay and grain. It's a favorite location of the Walker Family.



We wanted to go camping there this summer and we picked a weekend to go with Jenna's family and my parents. Unfortunately, our family got sick that week and we didn't want to get anyone else sick. We were so sad to miss it, but my wonderful parents said that they would come back with us on a different weekend. Jenna's family couldn't come because it was just too close to Jenna having her baby (and we convinced her to plan to come for the day on Saturday but she ended up getting a stomach bug and they couldn't come). We were so glad that we were able to go, even though we weren't able to go with the Haderlies. I'm so grateful for all the effort my dad put into the camping trip. He brought 4wheelers and rangers from my Grandpa's house, a nice port-a-potty, and an awesome zipline for the kids.



It was a fabulous weekend!

We explored, rode 4wheelers, ate marshmallows, learned cool things about plants from my dad, and just enjoyed being together. Lydia built a lean-to shelter out of sticks, which was pretty impressive. Austin specifically requested that my dad bring his new gun to let them practice shooting it and had a good lesson in gun safety with some turns getting to shoot it. 

And also, it rained. A lot. Luckily we were prepared because Jenna had mentioned that it rained when they were there and that she had seen rain in the forecast for us and recommended we get rainboots. I grabbed a whole bunch from the store before we left and they made a huge difference. (And Lucy's pink rainboots were extra darling.) 

We got there late Thursday night, and even later than planned because my navigation skills got us turned off on the wrong dirt road. Because of that we ended up setting up our tent in the dark and in the rain. But, you know, it was an adventure. We were making memories, right? 

My dad took us on a tour and told us all sorts of stories about the Summer Range, like how my Grandpa Great (Ellis Colvin) used to work at the school and he brought up an old cafeteria table to leave at the summer range for picnics. It didn't last in the elements for so long because it was a formica table, but as we were cleaning up to leave I found a little piece of the green formica top. I pocketed it to bring it home because - family history? I don't know. Ha. I love the legacy of the summer range and the connection that I feel to my Walker family when we are there. My dad taught the kids how to find wild onions and let them eat them and showed us how to identify his favorite flower, monkshood. 

Lydia had been saving up for a small telescope/moonscope and finally earned enough money right before we came. We set it up to look at the moon which ended up being a super-moon called the "Thunder Moon". It was so bright that it was throwing a shadow even in the dark of night. It was huge and beautiful and fun to look at with her. 


We had such a wonderful time and I'm grateful for the time and sacrifice of my parents to make it so awesome for us. I'm also grateful that my grandpa let us use his 4 wheelers because that made it so special and I loved watching my kids learn how to ride as their confidence blossomed. We are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.