Joe's Valley Reservoir

Last weekend, we went camping at Joe's Valley Reservoir with our neighbors.

 

We all camped in a big group campground together.

 

On the first night, we went boating for a few hours. Branden got to Wake Surf for the first time. He also got to wakeboard for a while.

 

Westen was glad to have so many kids there to play with him. He was so excited that they were all giving him so much attention. Here, they are teaching him to give "knuckles"

 

It rained a couple of times while we were there. And because Westen is obsessed with water in any form...we had a hard time trying to keep him dry.

 

One day, we went to Grassy Lake to do a little fishing.

 

And of course...Westen threw rocks in the water... and got pretty wet.

 

He was so good at "helping" daddy fish.

 

 A bunch of our neighbors took their UTVs with them. Westen was a big fan of the "broom brooms"



24th of July Party

Our Neighborhood has an annual 24th of July party. Everyone gets together, eats yummy food, enjoys each other's company and watches the kids play.... 

 

One of our neighbors gave "Train Rides" to the kids.

 

Westen thought the train ride was pretty cool.

 

They also rented a little bounce house for the littler kids to play in. Westen liked it for a minute...but as soon as it got too bouncy, he was out of there.

 

Another one of our neighbors provided rocket-making-material a few days before the party...so kids and adults made rockets to launch.

 

 The older kids had more fun trying to try to catch the rockets when they fell out of the sky.

 

After all of the rockets were launched, some fireworks were shot off.

 

We are lucky to live in such a fun place with good neighbors!



Bear Lake - Family Reunion

 

Just a few days after we got back from Canada, we went to Bear Lake with Mel's family.

On the first day, we went up into the mountains on a 4 Wheeler / Ranger ride (you can see Westen in his car seat in our new Ranger)

 

On our way down the canyon, we stopped to play in the stream (and wash some of the dust off of us)...

 

and you guessed it...Westen threw rocks in the water.

 

On Saturday, we went to Bear Lake on Mel's Grandma's beach. Westen had fun playing in the water all day. He found seashells with Grandma Helen....

 

He played with toys in the sand and the water...

 

And he even went on a short Wave Runner ride with mom and dad.

 

On Sunday, after church, we went up to Bloomington Lake.

 

When we got there, Daddy went on the rope swing....

 

And yep...Westen threw rocks in the water....

 

When Daddy would swim in from jumping off of the rope swing...Westen would have to get in the water too like daddy.

 

We LOVE Bear Lake. It is so pretty and there is so much to do...and it makes it all that much more enjoyable since we get to hang out with Family too.

Oh Canada!

In July, we went with two sets of friends and their families to Canada!

 

Our friend Brian is from Cardston, Alberta, Canada. We were lucky enough to be able to go fishing at his sister's house and the kids rode her horses.

 

We spent a few days back in the US at Glacier National Park in Montana. It was really pretty there.

 

Westen did really well in the hiking backpack!

 

And he loved playing in all of the water that we saw!

 

He was such a good boy. We were often gone all day. On our way back from one of hikes, he slept in his backpack. (and if you notice...there is a yellow container of cholorox wipes in his backpack...gotta love our germophobe daddy:) )

 

Looking over the lake at Many Glacier.

 

We stayed in a small town just outside of Cardston called Leavitt. It was a rectangular cabin with concrete floors. We stayed in one big room on cots and air mattresses and there were 2 bathrooms, 2 showers and a kitchen. Behind the "cabin" was a swingset that Westen liked to play on.

 

We also spent some time on the Canadian side of Glacier which is called Waterton National Park in Canada. Waterton is this cool tiny little town wedged between mountains with beautiful canyons and pretty glacier-carved lakes. This is the view from a hike that we took.

Westen, Daddy and Mommy all made it to the top...

 

The chipmunks were very used to tourists, so Westen fed them sunflower seeds. When he saw them he called them "mouse". We didn't even know he knew that word, let alone that he would make the connection that the chipmunk looked like a mouse.

 

After our hike, we ate hot dogs at a place called Waterton Weiners.

After hot dogs, we went down to the lake...and of course...Westen spent about 30 minutes throwing rocks in the water. 

 

Before we left the little town of Waterton, we stopped by a water fall in the city for a little family photo.

Before we went back to the cabin, we decided to drive Red Rock Canyon in Waterton. It was such a beautiful place...and yes, Westen threw more rocks.

Westen and mommy got a little chilly, so we shared mommy's sweatshirt.

 

No more than 60 seconds after we started to head back down the canyon, we saw a black bear right on the side of the road. We saw 2 more bears before we got to the bottom of the canyon.

 

The last adventure we went on in Canada was to drive through the main part of Glacier National Park. It was really beautiful!

Picture Catch-up

Here are a few random pictures from the past few weeks....

 

Westen is obsessed with "puppies". We went to Don & Leah's house a few weekends ago. While we were there, Westen followed Sebastian around and "brushed" him.

Last week, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and Westen was having fun trying to walk around in Grandpa's boots.

A few weeks ago, Grandma Helen came out and we all went on a family walk. It as a little chilly when the sun went down, so Westen got to wear one of his fun winter hats to keep his ears warm.

 

 This picture kills me...he is just so stinking cute!

 

And here is Westen trying to tell us that he is done with his chicken nuggets :)