Payne Nation: June 2025

Summer!! We love the dog days of summer. Especially when it comes to lounging at the pool...

After previously hiking Burger Peak in Pine Valley, I discovered that there was a full 24 mile loop that you can hike. I had been thinking about it for awhile but never seemed to find the time to make it happen. I suddenly had this feeling that I just needed to go and do it. No training, no prepping, just throwing it all together and making it work within a few days. I drove up to Pine Valley early in the morning and got started, knowing that a long day was ahead of me. I got up to the peak quickly, enjoyed the view, and then realized that there was an even higher peak with even better views. From that point I began navigating off and on to make sure I stayed on the actual trail. It was amazing and so beautiful. I spoke with God as hiked... mostly thanking him for the beauty that I was blessed to encounter, the protection and guidance that He was bestowing upon me, and the incredible blessings that I have received throughout my life. After hiking several miles through the forestry, I came upon wide open meadows that were just stunning. Just as I entered one of the meadows, the loudest thunder that I have ever hear crashed above me and scared the living daylights out of me. It literally came out of nowhere. There hadn't been any signs of a storm before that crazy thunder. Once again, I thanked God for blessing me with safety and continued on. After 27.5 miles and 12.5 hours I finally made it back to my car. I had sausage fingers but otherwise felt great. It was such a great experience. About a week later we learned that Pine Mountain had caught on fire and it was spreading too quickly to put out. It burned most of the mountain and into the residential part of Pine Valley. We watched for weeks as the flames lit up the top of Pine Mountain. When I heard the news, it suddenly made sense as to why I had felt prompted to hike it right away. So grateful for that opportunity.

During my 12 hour hike, Devin took the girls to Springville, our favorite little town right outside of Zion...

This dog...

Carla was in town and we were able to meet up for a walk to catch up. And Devin came across this snake while riding his bike...

For Father's Day, Devin wanted to hike in Kolob Canyon. It is such a beautiful place and it was fun being outside...

The day before, I had stopped to take in Devin's bike to get repaired in time for Father's Day. I then picked it up after my shift at the Temple. As I was walking it out to my car (in a dress and heels) I managed to slice my leg on the crankset that didn't have a cover on it. Because I didn't want to mess up any of the plans that we had made for Father's Day, I covered it up and went about things normally. After we got back from the hike that Devin wanted to do, I decided to take off the bandages to see how it was doing. Devin sent me to the Instacare right away where they gave me 7 stitches and an antibiotic in case of infection.

The older girls went to Girl's Camp. Addy got to be a YCL this year and said that it was the best Girl's Camp ever. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Addy. But a friend sent me a few pics and a video of Quincy...