The Best Adventure Yet

This last week, my friend Aricka asked what my plans were for the 3-day weekend. When I told her that I didn't have any plans yet, she told me that I could plan on spending it with her!

I was so excited for this trip! The days seemed to drag on until Friday when we were supposed to leave. Then, it was time to go! 

We headed to Huntsville, Utah for the night, right after a pit stop to Salt Lake. 

We arrived, got settled in, went on a tour of Hudson's house, then we headed out to the barn. We projected a movie while we all sat on hay bales IN THE BARN, all wrapped up in blankets. Seriously, SO COOL. [I wish that I had taken photos, but I didn't, dang it!]

Aricka, Montana, Kathryn, and I stayed up talking until about two----one of my favorite parts about sleepovers; the late night talks. :)

Then, the next morning we got up, and the boys were already downstairs making breakfast! How adorable, right???

Walker made the bacon.

Ryan cut up the strawberries, and he did a phenomenal job. Seriously, he cut those up so small and perfect for our little Dutch pancake things we ate. 

It wouldn't be a real breakfast without my BACON ONESIES, obviously.

Then, we headed out to the barn to get what we needed to catch horses!

Hudson's family has the cutest dog, too, that came along with us!

How beautiful is this?? It felt a little bit like back home for me!

Round one of catching horses!

  

The poor dog jumped into the creek for a little bit...

as it tried to climb out, it toppled over backwards back into the creek, completely dunking itself. As sad as it was, it was also kinda funny!

Then, came round 2 of catching the horses. A few of us hopped in the trailer attached to the tractor Hudson's dad was driving. 

I loved these trees, so I had to take a picture.

Because of all the weight of us in the trailer, the tractor kept tipping backwards. Brigham sat on the front to try and keep it from tipping, but it still did a little bit. He was such a good sport about it!! We all got muddy, but it was so worth it. 

We got back to the barn, where all the horses were saddled up for us. Ryan was perched up in the barn while chewing on some hay. Naturally, I had to take a photo.

This was his reaction when he realized I was taking his photo. Hahaha!

Aaaaaaaand, I caught him again!

This was the angle I had of my horse!!!! It was time to ride them!!!! I was a little nervous to ride the horse because I have only ridden a horse by myself twice---both times with Karen and Kathy, and only for about 10 minutes haha! I always get a little nervous when the horses start galloping because I never really know what to do, but I was excited, too!!

I didn't get to take pictures while I was riding because the battery in my camera was being weird, and I didn't have two hands to fix it. Riding was super fun! I absolutely loved it. The horse I rode was named Blaze. There was one time when  the horse got an itch or something and starting getting antsy. It kept shaking its head, stopping and itching his head, and finally, his entire body shook for about five seconds. As it did, the reigns fell out of my hands. My stomach dropped as I reached for them, and could not possibly grab them. They were completely out of reach. Just then, the horse starting galloping, and it kept going faster and faster. I literally had no idea what to do! We were also  approaching a creek, and I was afraid I would fall off. Thankfully, I didn't, and the horse slowed down just on the other side of the creek. We were able to grab the reigns, and I was back on my way!! 

We arrived at the house we were going to eat lunch at. We played games while lunch was being prepared. 

Aricka gets pretty competitive sometimes. Hahahaha!

Another tree to add to my obsession collection.

Then, we ate!

Log.

Here is the entire crew!!

aaaaaand the Hudson smirk.

Then, the other half of the crew headed back on the horses!

Nikki said, "I would take owning a horse over having a cool accent anyway." 

Best quote from the entire trip.

Then, THE SWING. Oh, the swing. I had heard about the swing, but I had not experienced the swing yet. But, I will tell you about the swing. 

"The Swing" hangs from a very large tree in Hudson's backyard. The ropes are very long, and also, there is a rope attached to the bottom of the swing. This way, you can have someone, or multiple people, pull back on the rope and get you very high in the air. 

First, while we waited for the boys to get there, some of us girls were taking turns on the swing. 

Then, the boys showed up!

I love swinging. I really think that, regardless of how old I get, I will always love swinging. I was so excited for this. 

The boys had it down to a system. This is how they did it [and we soon learned that it makes you go way high in the air if you do this]. The 6 boys would place themselves strategically along the rope. They would pull you forward just enough to gain momentum. Then, they would let you drop, while they followed the swing with the rope. As soon as the swing hit the apex and began to drop, the boys took off running. You felt yourself climbing, climbing, climbing, and then, you hit the branches. They boys let go, and you have the ride of a lifetime. Because I was the first one to go with the boys, we really had no idea what to expect or how high I would go. I literally flew. I went so high, and it was the happiest feeling. I cannot express how shocked I was or how much I loved it. Maybe you can get a glimpse of my excitement by the look on my face. 

Will biffed it while he was running, and some of the boys tumbled. Will got the muddiest, but he did have quite the recovery!

Next, it was Montana's turn!

Then, Kathryn went!

and Jessica!

Quite possibly my most favorite photo of the day. Check out their faces! The boys were so awesome!!!

I hope this picture can somewhat put in perspective just how high this was!

Walker.

Nikki.

Another wonderful photo full of great faces. 

Ryan.

Hudson.

He started pulling out the cool moves on the swing!

William.

Will decided to try some tricks, too!

Ben. Ben volunteered to try standing up while riding the swing.

Hudson decided to do it upside down. I mean, this is super crazy. 

One of their horses had a brown eye and a brown eye. Isn't it about the coolest thing you have ever seen??

Then, it was time to come home. We caught this beautiful sunset. 

I definitely did not want to leave. I was not ready to come back to Provo. I keep thinking back to the memories that we made this weekend, and I can't help but laugh. I absolutely loved this. It is possibly my most favorite weekend ever since I moved to college, and I am ready to do it again!

But, the best part? The weekend is not even over yet. I still have tomorrow, too!