4th of July Hiking

My brother and his family invited us to go hiking up to Independence Lake. I thought this would be a great hike. Get us ready even more for trek. So the morning of the 4th we headed out about 10 o'clock. When we got up to the trail to start hiking we had a little snack and headed out. The kids took off with the little boys in the lead and us adults at the back. We crossed fallen trees, water running down the middle of the trail, and snow. We, of course didn't want the kids wet because we knew it would be miserable having wet feet. We walked very carefully around every thing. As the trail became steeper we had to encourage a few of us along the way. Brady needed to be carried on someone's shoulders. It was getting tough, but I would say," Let's just make it to the next tree." When the trail was lost our fearless leaders left us women and children behind to find the trail. After about 15 minutes or so we once again took up the trail and we then made it to the lake. It was a beautiful sight. The mountain water rushing into the lake. Snow covered about half edges of the lake. The kids of course wanted to be as close to the water as they could which resulted in some wet feet. Oh, how we didn't want them wet. We refilled our water bottles with Blake's filter. We had a snack. Blake tried to go fishing and Shawn hiked to the second lake with two of the boys following him. We sat at the lake watching the littler boys throw rocks into the lake. After about an hour we decided everyone was getting hungry that we better head back down the trail. This time Blakely and the boys were in the lead. Brady either wanted to hold Jack and Garret's hand or be carried down the trail. The boys wanted to surf down the snow pack; which they did. About halfway down the sky began to rumble and the rain began to fall. It started pouring and hailing on top of us. Those streams that we carefully went over now we sloshed through them not really caring if we were wet or not. We made it back to the cars and quickly made sandwiches under the hatch of the van. We then hurried on our way down the mountain. It really was a good hike and I enjoyed spending time with Blake's family.

Camping @ FS Flats

We were invited to go camping with another family in our ward. We had a house painting project that we should have accomplished that weekend, but we threw caution to the wind and went camping. The Bronsons had gone up to the mountains the day before we joined them. We decided to take the motorcycles with us for some trail riding. Garret and I decided we better put up the tent to see if all the parts were there. It was quite comical as we tried to figure out how to put up the tent with the wind blowing it around. We got it done and then we just had to take it down again. We waited until Shawn got home to load and go. We loaded up in the truck with three motorcycles, tent box, six sleeping bags, six pillows, six blankets, two boxes of food,five backpacks, and six people stuffed in. The kids had no patience has we drove the hour and half drive. When we pulled up it was fun to have the Bronson kids so excited to see us. We ate and set up the tent. We roasted marshmallows and starbursts hoping that between the 10 kids there; no one set anyone else on fire or smeared melted marshmallows on each other.
That night was a very cold night. The Bronsons being more prepared than us offered us extra blankets, but it still didn't prevent Blakely waking us up telling me how cold she was and Garret being so snuggled in the bottom of his sleeping bag that he woke up screaming,"Help!" in the middle of the night.(Can you tell we don't go camping very much.) After a restless night, we were up early making a fire to warm us up. We had a wonderful breakfast and then the kids were ready to ride. I think we taught all the kids how to ride the 50 which they loved taking turns riding around the camp. Shawn and Clint taught myself, Michael, Megan, and Emily how to ride the
80. Shawn and Clint took Blakely and Michael trail riding while the rest of us hung out at the camp. The boys shot bow and arrows. Garret loved that. Shawn and Clint went trail riding by themselves while I took the kids hiking over a little trail. Garret borrowed a bike from Matthew, which had hand brakes; he had a hard time with the hills because he wasn't used to the hand brakes. After we made lunch, the kids just took turns riding around the camp. We had to start cleaning up the campsite and taking down everything. (Too much work!) Before we finished loaded up the men decided to take the oldest three kids on one more trail ride. Jamie and I drove the younger kids around looking at other campsites trying to keep them entertained. Finally, we loaded up and headed down the mountain. Everyone slept on the way home. I loved going, but boy was I tired that night.

Summer is here

Summer has been in full swing now for about 3 weeks. The kids hated to leave school, but everyone needs a break.
We went out to celebrate the last day of school. I had a few more days of meetings and classes then the kids. But,we have now settled into a routine I think. I had the kids list things they wanted to do this summer. Some we are doing, some we can do, and some we might do. So far we have gone to the park, to the library, gotten a snow cone, planted the garden(my list, not the kids), went to Grandma's, oh and walked at 7am every morning - WHAT? Actually Blakely is not so thrilled about this one. In order to get ready for our youth trek the YW have been meeting every morning at 7 to walk. The girls that come have been real troopers, because they don't get to sleep in. We will be doing this until July 8th. I hope we can keep up the pace. I have gotten Blakely to walk on most nights with me also. So she is putting in about 5-6 miles of walking a day. We are good. Now, hopefully we can get to the rest of the list which includes swimming, camping, movies, and the zoo. We will try to keep you up to date.

MacBeth

Katelyn was able to be in a few plays this year within her reading class, but her teacher Mrs. Osterhout decided to put on MacBeth. Katelyn was one of the witches in the play. She had her lines memorized quickly. They practiced during lunch and then started Saturday practices. She went to pretty much every practice except for one. They performed in front of the school and then performed in front of their families. They did a good job even though I didn't quite understand the Shakespearean language. The boys did pretty good of sitting still. I was a little worried about that. Katelyn practiced and practiced at home and spoke in Shakespearean for a few months. She really gets into her work I guess you would say.

Baseball Season has come and gone

Garret was the only one that did baseball this year. So that was pretty easy. One kid to ferry around. We did Declo Rec again this year, so we start games in April and end in May which is always cold. We missed a few games because of busy weekends. I think he enjoyed the season and I was glad it was done so quickly. I did enjoy watching Garret play with his friends.

Re-living the old days

Shawn has always loved to ride his motorcycle. He never could find the time to ride very much, but this changed when he bought a CR450 this past February. He also had a guy who worked with him that loves to ride and they started riding on our track together. Well, Brian convinced Shawn to ride in a motorcross race in Rupert the first of May. (Same day as Blakely's clogging competition in Lagoon.) He was so excited to race. All of Brian's family came and watched him while poor Shawn didn't have anyone. Actually, Grandma and Brady went to see him ride the afternoon moto. Brian was kind enough to share pictures with us that his sister had taken. Garret asked if Shawn won the race or had won any money, and Grandma answered, " He didn't crash, so he is a winner." So true! He continues to ride with Brian 2-3 times a week. He hopes to ride in Rupert on July 16th 2 classes. So that is a total of 4 motos. We hope to be there cheering him on.

Teen Dances

Another first; teen dances!
Blakely was able to go to her first teen dance a week after her birthday. She had this day planned out. I was to pick up all her friends and take them to dance and another mom would pick them up. It just happened that the same day was clogging competition in Lagoon and Shawn raced his motocycle in Rupert(another post). Our day started by driving to Lagoon at 5:30 am. We made it down and she performed. We watched a few dances and then Blakely and I bought enough tickets for one ride. She picked Rattlesnake Rapids(Yes, we did get wet.) We headed home with a few detours. After we had picked up the kids we headed home so Blakely could get ready for the dance. We ran on mormon standard time and even went to a wedding reception before we picked up her friends a little late. I think they had a good time and we all went to bed at midnight.
Fast forward a month to her next dance. This one really hit me as MY DAUGHTER IS GOING TO TEEN DANCES. I can never go back to Blakely being little. It is exciting ,but it makes me a little sad because time is continuing to move on. I loved teen dances growing up, but around here they really could take it or leave it. Each dance has the 7 stakes in the area invited. I went after her and a friend this time and didn't get into bed intil midnight. I don't know if I can stay up this late every night. These pictures are from a school dance, but they're the only ones I have.