July goes by too fast!

Whitney came back with us from Utah so we enjoyed her 

company for almost the whole month of July.

It was so fun having a hiking buddy.

July started off with a BANG with the 4th of July!

Tommy modeling his patriotic mustache for the 

big Hidden Springs neighborhood parade. 

FYI - this shirt he's wearing was his Dad's back in 1981.

Eva and Sophie are ready to go

Here they come!

Sarah and Tommy joined in the parade.

After the parade we had a Pool party with our neighbors the Manwaring's and their family.

We headed out to John and Cindy's that evening for a

4th of July barbecue.

Ali and Justin were on their way to New Mexico, so it was great to see them.

Whitney made this patriotic cake.

Sophie and Ali's Amelia became little buddies.

Tommy and Daniel were entertained for a minute by whatever movie they had playing.

Ready to watch the fireworks!

Sparkler time!

Snakes anyone?

It was quite a show with Aaron, Ben and John in charge.

Justin had purchased the fireworks in Washington at an Indian reservation,

so I think they might have been illegal ;)

Some roman candles launched from the paddle boat.

I taught Whitney how to make strawberry freezer jam.

Yum!

We watched Devin and Sarah's kids while Sarah went to a family wedding in Utah.

Chick Fil A is always a hit.

As is swimming and eating creamies

Whitney and I spent a Saturday afternoon at Rhonda Sarantis' house doing ceramics.

Rhonda had invited Whitney so I tagged along.

It was so fun!

Rhonda is so generous with her supplies.

Stephanie Mayes joined us so she could finish her project.

Rhonda joined us on a hike later that week

July means the Cardon family will arrive for their annual visit.

Lucy got to fly in 3 days early and spend some one on one time with us and her cousins.

We celebrated with a few pool parties

Sophie overcame her fear of jumping into the deep end this summer by jumping off the rocks.

We packed up and headed to the cabin and Tom and I took the girls in our car.

Girl party!

We arrived at the cabin on Wednesday, and drove to Bear World in Rexburg on Thursday.

We saw lots of sleepy bears.

and then rode the rides.

Tommy wasn't so sure about this roller coaster

but the girls LOVED it!

I think they rode it 20 times.

It was hot, so after a few hours I was ready to head back to the cabin.

We love walking to the dock and playing Pooh sticks

The fireweed was in bloom, so pretty!

I'm amazed Tommy never fell in

It was fun having Sarah's sister Katie and her husband and baby join us on their way to Canada.

Sarah and Katie make a great rowing team.

Lucy, Eva and Sophie had a fundraising Spa on the deck.

My hand rub was really nice.

Katie enjoying her foot rub

I tell you, I never get tired of this view.

We took the kids on a hike into Sheep Falls

Taylor, making his mother nervous.

Tommy hiked the whole way out.

We spent one day in Yellowstone Park.

We drove to the Firehole river and had an awesome picnic 

and then swam in the river.

We had fun making some crafts.

This is our bracelet craft.

and they drew pictures so I can make their drawings into plastic plates.

We found some delicious huckleberry ice cream at Mack's Inn

and took a few more canoe rides.

The Cardon's finally arrived from Colorado on Saturday afternoon.

Wahoo!

Just in time for family pictures.

 

After church on Sunday we drove to Mesa Falls

and Whitney showed the kids how to make Gak.

Devin and Taylor had to leave Sunday afternoon to drive back to Boise for work,

so we had our annual rock throwing contest.

The weather was perfect so we had a relaxing afternoon,

playing in Taylor's hammock

Taking some walks

and bikerides

 

and a few more canoe rides.

We hung out on the deck and played some games

and had our annual marshmallow roast.

 

 

 

I sure love these people

These cousins get along so well

Tom spent a few minutes teaching Jonathan how to fly fish

Lucy and I took a walk all the way to Harriman State Park

We cleaned up the cabin and drove back to Boise.

Bye Morris cabin, can't wait until we see you again!

Tom is the young men's president in the ward and I'm the young women's president.

We had enough money in our budget this year, after our fundraiser,

to take all the youth white water rafting.

We had a fabulous afternoon rafting on the Payette.

While Sara, Taylor and Whitney were visiting,

we walked to Delsa's for ice cream,

and had our annual Girl's Tea Party.

We missed Sarah, Eva and Sophie because they were in Canada.

They drove on to Canada for their family reunion when they left the cabin.

Tom took Whitney, Devin, Taylor and our friends the Anderson's

on a high mountain adventure.

They hiked into Loon Lake,

while Sara and I and the kids enjoyed our weekend at

 

 

 

Eagle Island

Here comes Lucy!

Leah!

Sara!

Zach!

The kids had so much fun playing on the beach

We took the kids to the Westside Drive Inn and had to try the icecream baked potato.

Yum!!

We also took the kids to the Snake River Stampede.

They loved the rodeo!

Sara and the kids and I left Boise on a Tuesday to drive back to Colorado.

That's a long drive for Sara and 4 kids so I tagged along.

The kids were really pretty good, but we were so glad to pull 

into Sara's driveway after 12 hours in the car.

I always enjoy my time in Colorado because I get to go to Sara's

exercise classes.

I also got to see Zachy play baseball

I flew back to Boise on Saturday morning and found these little friends

in my garden.

Yay for summer tomatoes in July!