Summer fun

Random summer fun

I thought this was one of the less-active summers, but according to the number of pictures from my cell phone, we did a lot!

Abby's 12th Birthday. She got a nerf gun to "protect" herself from her brothers!

Playing twister at her birthday party with friends.

Augie got his tonsils removed on July 2. We had a quiet Fourth of July after that. 

eating ice cream!

A quick day trip to Rexburg

Hanging out at the green belt with snow cones.

Abby's first temple trip. We did baptisms in the Rexburg temple. 

I grew some beautiful flowers from bulbs this year. My vegetable garden, however, was a disaster.

Jim and Sam after helping at an Eagle project at the school. 

Jimmy's birthday--turned 17!

Pie for his birthday. Yum!

July 31st at Rigby Lake. Just Abby, Augie and I... Sam was at the lake but was with friends, and Jim didn't want to go. 

Reed's dairy ice cream!

The first week of August we went to Utah. We visited all my old favorite places, including Bridal Veil Falls and the BYU Creamery.

The family all met up at Lagoon for a few fun hours of thrill rides and etc. 

 I didn't take many pictures, but here is a funny video on a short roller coaster ride.

Augie took a tumbling class this summer and is continuing this fall. He is wearing the blue cape, practicing his superhero moves. 

We had a fierce hail storm with some of the largest hailstones I've seen in years. 

Goofy picture

Grammy's 66th birthday... but the picture is fuzzy.

Augie and his friend Tiernan enjoy snow cones at a cub scout expo.

racing go karts

Jim's new hair color... he insisted!

Abby's new hairstyle, a nice wavy perm, just a touch different from her straight hair below. 

Jimmy receiving his last merit badges before his Eagle is FINALLY complete!

He's so happy!

First blog update in two years... Reunion highlights

Family Reunion in Island Park
My extended family all got together in Island Park this summer. We scheduled the reunion early before summer got super busy... and it was great to see all the family. We spent the first day in Ashton and Island Park, Idaho, and the second day went to Yellowstone. The third day we floated a river in Island Park. We really had a great time!

At Mesa Falls with cousins... and then at Big Springs, Island Park, where Sam and Abby loved taking selfies!

The Johnny Sack Cabin at Big Springs was one of my favorite spots. It has very cool handcrafted woodwork.

Look at the pattern on the floor that mimics a Log Cabin quilt.

Here are the springs. 

We also took a lot of pictures on our day trip to Yellowstone. Again, Sam was the king of selfies... and anyone he could catch in the same frame. We loved seeing Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Later we spent time at the cabin with the family. Daddy was able to join us for the night and the next day (thanks to having Saturdays off for the first time in about 7 years). We had a very nice cabin we rented up there. We played games, ate good food, and laughed a lot.

Everyone trying to gather for a picture in front of the cabin...

 We had a lot of fun on the float trip... except for Jim. He had brought his own raft, and it went flat in one of the very shallow parts of the river. So he ended up dragging it off to the side of the river then walking in soggy shoes about a mile, finally getting a ride from a kind stranger, and meeting us at the end of the trip. Poor guy... lost his new pocket knife, too.

It was a wonderful time with family. I am glad we all were able to be there, minus some of Rachael's family. We enjoyed it a lot!