Jumping Jehoshaphat, July was Jolly

Lucy flew in late on Saturday, June 30 to spend a few days with us without her siblings.
She loved the undivided attention.
She had a fun flight from Denver where the flight attendants made her a
crown out of pretzel bags and martini sticks.

Lucy and I had a spa night where we did our nails

and Lucy had a spa mask.

Scary!

Lucy loved having the pool all to herself.

We drove over to the cabin on July 3 so we could celebrate the 4th of July at the cabin.
Whitney left on Monday from Boise so met us at the cabin.

We woke up on Wednesday morning and it was cool.

The river was steaming.

It was beautiful!

We drove down to Ashton for the big 4th of July parade.
We invited our neighbors and good friends the Manwaring's
to spend some time with us at the cabin.
Jed grew up in Ashton and his family owned a dairy farm and they made cheese.
His brother has continued the legacy and owns Manwaring Cheese in
Rigby.

We met up with the Manwaring's to watch the parade.

Jed entered the parade on his scooter and handed out cheese curds from Manwaring cheese.

Here comes Jed!

Tom was so excited to get a Frost top mug

After the parade we drove back to the cabin and made a picnic and drove to 

Harriman State park. Hunter joined us for the parade and picnic.

 We then drove up to

Sawtell, the tallest peak above Island Park.

We love to take the canoe out on the river.

We had a bald eagle visit us each day. 

He's perched on the back left side of the tree.

We had a fabulous 4th of July barbecue with barbecue ribs,

potato salad, watermelon, and homemade banana/oreo ice cream.

Tom the fisherman

That night we drove back to Ashton to view the city fireworks.

It was a fabulous show, even when the sprinklers came on the football field where we were sitting.

We put together this 500 piece puzzle of Yellowstone.

The next day we drove up to the head waters of

and Mesa Falls

Whitney and the Manwaring's left on Thursday afternoon

and on Friday we drove Lucy to Quake Lake

and Cliff Lake in Montana.

Sara and Jon were on their way from Colorado and were due to arrive

at the cabin that afternoon.

We of course had a picnic by the lake.

We couldn't believe how crowded Cliff Lake was.

Lucy loves Idaho!

We took her on a beautiful drive where we saw lots of Idaho blue birds!

Mine, and my Mom's favorite bird.

We ended up back at Harriman State Park where they were hosting Frontier days.

We learned all sorts of things about living in Idaho in the 1800's.

Sara and Jon and family arrived that afternoon.

We were so happy to see them and they were so happy to get out of the car

after driving from Colorado.

Time to cool off in the river.

On Saturday we drove to Yellowstone and had a fabulous day

exploring the park.

We visited the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Had a beautiful picnic with Uncle Devin.

I forgot to mention that Devin drove up for the weekend.

Sarah and the kids were in Canada.

Sara loves buffalo and we found lots of them.

Dragon's lair

We got a treat in West Yellowstone

and then the girls got to stay in West Yellowstone and go to Playmill Theatres

production of The Little Mermaid.

Leah's favorite princess is Ariel so she loved it!!

More canoe rides after church on Sunday

and another drive up to Sawtell

I love this family!

Cool pic of a few of the hairpin turns on the road up

Goodbye cabin, I never tire of this view!

We drove back from the cabin on Monday,

on Tuesday we met Sarah and the kids at Chick FilA for dress like a cow day
and free Chick FilA.

We also had an awesome swim party and I babysat while Sara, Tom, Lucy, Zach, Eva, Sophie
and Devin went to see Ant Man and the Wasp.
On Wednesday we spent the day at Eagle Island with the cousins.

and that night we ate at Sara's favorite restaurant, Goodwood.

Thursday I had a haircut and then had to serve in the temple.

Sarah P offered to have a sleepover with Lucy and Leah so they went up to Hidden Springs

and Tom watched Zach and Lizzy so Sara could come to the temple

and be a patron in Initiatory.

It was so nice to be in the temple with her.

Friday morning Whitney flew back in to Boise

after her quick trip to the South and RuthAnn's wedding.

Sarah P watched the kids while I took Sara to lunch 

and shopping and to get a pedicure for her birthday.

That night Grandpa hosted a campout in the backyard.

While the boys entertained the kids,

the girls went to Cheesecake factory for a piece of this.

YUM!

The kids loved roasting smore's in our firepit

They all made it through the night except Tommy and Devin who slept in their own beds.

Saturday morning, Tom and Devin took Zach and Tommy to Wahoo's 

to drive the go carts.

The girls planned and prepared for our annual Tea party!

Sophie and Leah working on the fruit skewers

The table set with Grandma Gabe's china and tablecloth

We served cucumber sandwiches, fruit skewers, Sarah's apple slices with toffee dip,

cheese and grape skewers, carrot and cucumber crudites, Lucy made thumbprint cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries, 

my white chocolate raspberry scones, Sara's fruit pizza's and Eva made cupcakes.

These 3 girls loved having their own table

We invited our friend Patricia

She brought gifts for all the girls

After the Tea party, we spent the afternoon swimming.

These two are little buddies.

We had a pizza party that night for dinner.

After church on Sunday, Sara and family, Whitney and I 

drove to Salt Lake.

We stayed at Whitney's new apartment,

then hit the road early Monday to drive to Parker.

We broke up the drive by doing it in two days.

I stayed Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday we got lunch at the new Shake Shack in Highlands Ranch.

Don't you think we look like Muppets?

I got to go to Sara's exercise class on Wednesday night

and then I flew back to Boise on the 11 pm flight later that night.

Tom and I had a free weekend the day after I got home, so we headed to the mountains

for a quick campout.

We drove up to McCall and found a great spot at the Lake Fork campground.

We made our camping trip easy by eating dinner at My Father's Place.

We did have a great campfire that night

and there were huckleberries galore all around the campground. 

Of course we had to have some s'mores.

Home away from home.

We made some delicious huckleberry pancakes for breakfast

and then spent the day driving around the back side of the mountain along the Salmon river

on the road to Yellow Pine

We of course stopped at 16 mile hotspring for a soak

and a picnic along the banks of the Salmon River, so peaceful.

It was a fabulous July filled with family and outdoor adventures.

Just the way we like it.