cousin hike!!

The week of July 4th all the men-folk congregated and we had our cousin hike. It was a fantastic trip. the only downer was Grandpa had hurt his back so badly that Grandma would not let him go. We really missed him

Here is the motley grew, ready to embark. It was SUPER hot that week (triple digits in Cache Valley - ikk).

After only a 30 minute drive we arrived at the trail head and started hiking. It was 5.1 miles up and quite a bit of elevation - plenty hard for everyone (except Mel, who carried all the heavy food and hiked in and back in the same day. She does not like sleeping over night and had to drive to Provo for rehearsal that night anyway - she is an animal!).

You cannot see it in the photo, but this whole bowl was COVERED in wildflowers.

The kids spent hours harvesting them. They were incredibly gorgeous.

We had a great campsite and Uncle Michael's hammock was a hot item.

The kids swam (did I mention it as insanely hot?).

Fished (no fish, but still fun to be manly and try).

Roasted things over the fire. Thank you Uncle Stephen for converting us all to brats last summer; they are delicious. And, thank you Aunt Mel for carrying them up the mountain.

More hammock love.

Good morning faces.

A view from the ridge before breakfast because Ryan can't just be satisfied making it to the camp site. Nope, one must go to the TOP!

Diana and I trailed along. Gluttons for punishment and a great view.

And on our way home again!

You can see us all strung along the trail. The kids did so well, especially considering the heat. Troopers all!

week with cousins

Our last week in Smithfield was lovely -  just lots of playing with cousins.

We had a nice rainy day so, of course, we played outside.

Uncle Brian took the group out for Aggie Ice Cream and it was SCRUMPTIOUS! Yes, that is a brace on Sarah's arm. She broke it - again. She has a buckle fracture so no cast, just a brace for 4 weeks. sheesh!

More rain.

Then the sun came out, so we took all the umbrellas to the splash pad - so fun!

We also tried to eat sunscreen sticks...

And did eat cookies!

Yep, a good week with cousins.

4th of july

The fourth of July was a winner this year. Aunt Jessica, of course, orchestrated cool t-shirts and found the best parade in the Valley (Lewiston). No wimpy safety for that town. EVERY float, car, and bike was loaded with candy and the kids had a GREAT time. After the parade, we headed to the park, listened to the band, the kids shot baskets to earn a soda and we got sprayed off by the fire department. It was pure great!

new summer stuff

I keep telling myself, change is good, change is good. And, you know what?? I'm right! Mom and Dad moved at the beginning of the Summer to Smithfield, Utah to be closer to family and build a home that will be much easier to maintain and will be handicap accessible. We were all very worried summer would be unrecognizable in a new place, but we learned, AGAIN, that the people are WAY more important than the place. Of course, Cache Valley is nothing to sniff at beauty wise, and that did help.

Here are a few of the things we did with our people in our three weeks in Utah.

Jess and Brian and their older children were on trip to Guatemala and so we got Sage and Abe to ourselves for a week - HA! Sage was a jewel and Abe was a joy! It's always fun to have some time with the littlest cousins and try to win them over.

We held down the fort and took a few outings. It was really hot that week, so most of the time we stayed in the shade or the basement.

We had to visit the Logan temple. So nice. Notice Nelson on the side. He spent 85% of the vacation in a very bad, very difficult mood. We are still working on being a happy kid.

An evening walk along the river was lovely. So were the girls.

Aunt Jessica's house is full of great toys, books, and games so even hanging out at home was delightful.