Silly Sophie!!!!

 Sophie likes to play a little game with herself when she's board.  She'll put her front paws up on the trampoline and then drop a tennis ball onto the trampoline.  Sometimes she goes underneath the trampoline and moves the ball around with her nose.  But most of the time she just jumps up on the trampoline and gets her ball and then jumps off.  Then she does it all over again.  She's crazy!!! But it cracks me up to look out and see her on the trampoline.

So this picture sums up Sophie.......the ball!  She always wants to play ball.  She's just like Bailey.  We are constantly playing ball with her.  She loves it.  She sneaks balls inside and then tries to get us to play with her inside.  If we don't play with her then she plays a game where she pushes the ball under the end table and then tries to get it back out with her paws.  She loves her balls!!!!

It has been SO hot this summer!  The boys have wanted to play in the pool all the time.  Sophie has decided that she likes the pool too.  She drops her ball in the pool and then jumps in to get it.  I think she likes to cool down too.

Luckily Sophie is having more good moments.  She's turning into a good dog but a very spoiled dog!  Bridger can't walk into a room without mauling her.  He can't just pet her.  He has to lay on top of her.  She just puts up with him.  She's definitely a good companion.  I love having her follow me around the house.  If I go upstairs to switch out the laundry, she follows me.  We've almost survived our first year with Sophie.  So in about two to three more years, she's be more mellow.

More Fun at Lagoon

 On our way home from Bear Lake, we decided to stop by Lagoon for a few hours.  The few hours turned into a little bit longer than that and we stayed until it closed. It was perfect because I've never seen Lagoon so slow. We hardly had to wait for the rides.  It was perfect!!! I was too tired to drive home, so we stayed at moms.  The W's came over for a couple of hours.  I took Maddy with us and we hit the big rides.  I took a dramamine and I didn't get as sick.  But I've realized that I just can't do the Fire Dragon. It makes me so sick at the end.  I really thought Bridger and I were going to loose it.  He was so white by the end of it.  

 I love going on the white roller coaster with Bridger.  He screams at the top of his lungs.  It cracks me up.  By the end of the day, he always complains about how bad his throat hurts.  But he loves it.  The first time we rode the roller coaster Bridger told me that I broke the rule because I put my hands up.  But now he puts them up just a little to be a dare devil.

Wicked is one of our favorite rides.  I can't believe Bridger likes it because it scares me!!! Chase and Maddy love the twisty, crazy, fast rides!!  Their favorite one is the rocket.  Bridger feels a little left out because he's not quite tall enough for the rocket but everything else he goes on.

Our escape from home....Bear Home

After we thought everything was over with all the fertility stuff, we decided that we needed to escape.  Originally we were going to stay in the city at one of our favorite hotels for just one night.  But then Kaye called and offered us her cabin for the long Memorial day weekend.  She knew that we needed to run away from everything!  We jumped on her offer and blew off all of our other responsibilities.  Matt even came with us.  Mom, Dad, and Marilyn came up too.  Kaye and Allan joined us for a couple of days.  It was a piece of heaven to escape everything.  I told Kaye that her cabin is very healing!!!  Our hearts have been so sad!  I was able to get back on my bike and go for a couple of beautiful rides.  The peace, solitude, and beautiful scenery were just what we needed to start to mend our hearts.  May 24-27.

Kaye called mom and told her that the cabin is pretty booked for the summer but there were a few days still available.  At first I just didn't think that I would pull it off but then I decided to drop everything and make it work out.  We always love our time in Bear Lake.  So Mylissa did the same thing.  Shantelle couldn't come with the new baby.  Mom and Dad came up on Sunday and stayed for just a day.  But Marilyn came up and stayed the whole time with us.  We stayed June 20-24.  On Friday, I went for a bike ride heading south along the main road.  On my way back, before you get to the main part of town, I came around a corner and saw a big moose crossing the road.  At first I thought that someone's horse had gotten out.  Then it registered that it was a moose.  Once it crossed the road and was farther away, I grabbed my phone and took a picture of it.  It was so awesome!!!! When I'm on my bike, this is one of my favorite views.  It's closer to the south side but I always stop and just enjoy the moment.  

On Friday afternoon, we took the kids to the "beach."  We love to go to the north shore.  We were worried with the weekend it would be busy but it was perfect!  The majority of the people were packing up to go home.  We went around 4:00 and at first we thought it was going to be too cold because it was around 70 degrees.  But the kids loved it!!!  We stayed for two hours.  The kids played and played in the water and sand.  They were coated in sand by the time we left but they had big smiles on their faces.  I was going around taking pictures of everyone and then Marilyn said "we need a picture of you to prove that you were here too.  So I love the picture of Marilyn and I.  It's a "Shantelle close up."  

 One morning after breakfast, I took the kids on a little hike.  We went exploring on one of the trails behind the cabins.   It was perfect because we saw Mom and Dad coming up to the cabin.  They stopped and gave us more water. About halfway through our adventure, we came across a little river.  The kids were so hot so they cooled off in the river.  We played in the river for over a half hour.  The kids would throw a rock to Sophie and then she would try to find it.  Then they found sticks for her to retrieve.  Everyone was so happy playing in the river, especially Sophie.

 Everyone was really dirty by the end of our hike.  Our shoes were caked with mud.  Everyone had to get in the shower afterwards.  But it was a very fun adventure.  We had a beautiful view of the lake!

 I love this picture of Bridger and Julianna.  Bridger LOVES to go out and look for animals.  We didn't see too many animals this time.  We saw just a few dear and then I saw two moose.  When we were driving back on Saturday night from Megan's wedding, a moose crossed the road in front of our car.  I had to slam on my breaks but luckily we didn't hit it.  The boys thought it was really exciting.

We celebrated Marilyn's birthday on Sunday.  We fixed a really nice dinner for her.  Sweet mom made her lemon pie since that's one of her favorite desserts.  It was fun having mom and dad come up even if it was just for a night.  We gave Marilyn a ticket to a soccer game.  We also celebrated Dad's birthday so he finally opened our present.  I've been teasing dad about it saying how excited he's going to be.  I told him that it's not a want but definitely a need.  We got him a head light.  His face was priceless. He didn't know what it was.  I told him he can use it when he mows the lawn and waters his flowers in the dark.  

Megan and Jordan's Wedding

Our sweet niece Megan was married to Jordan on June 22, 2013.  Matt felt very honored because she asked him to marry them.  Matt was very nervous but he did a terrific job.  The ceremony was short and sweet but that's what Megan and Jordan wanted.  They seem so happy.  Jordan is darling with Megan.  We wish them all the happiness in the world.  

The Mendoza's drove all night and made it in time for the wedding.  We were so excited to see them.  We can't wait to spend a few weeks with them.  I had been up in Bear Lake but came down for the wedding.  We stayed until the end and then drove back up to Bear Lake for a couple more days.  On our drive home, a moose walked out right in front of us while we were in the canyon.  Luckily I didn't hit it.  

Megan wanted the wedding in Grandma Cheryl's backyard.  She wanted it there because she has so many fond memories.  Everyone especially Cheryl worked so hard to make the backyard look beautiful!  Mike built an arbor for Megan and Jordan to under during the ceremony.  It was incredible!  Cheryl asked Megan if she wanted to have the swing set moved but Megan wanted it to be a big party.  So kids were jumping on the trampoline and swinging on the swings.  There was dancing.  Ashtyn sang a song for Megan and  Jordan.  It was a great night!  

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Matt!!!  Earlier in the week we went shopping and bought Matt lots of new clothes.  He really needed them.  That morning, the boys and I made Matt French toast for breakfast.  He didn't have meetings until 10:00 so he was able to sleep in a little and then eat breakfast with us.  Later in the day, we went up to the A's and had a yummy dinner with them.  Then we stopped by the R's for dessert later that night.  Matt is such a great dad to the boys.  They love him so much.  They love to wrestle with him and cuddle!!!!  Thanks for being such a great dad!!!!

This picture makes me laugh because I went to take some pictures and Matt did this.  He didn't want to be in any pictures.  I told him too bad and luckily he was a good sport so we got a couple of pictures of him for Father's day. 

Chase's New Long Board

 Chase came to me a few weeks ago and said that he wanted to get a long board.  He tried his cousins and really like it.  Plus a lot of the kids in the neighborhood have them.  We went to a shop and looked at some.  But we found the best price on Amazon so we ordered it through them.  He had to wait a week for it to come but it was worth the wait.  Every day we would wait  to the UPS truck to come.  It seemed like the longest week ever.  I was surprised by how much long boards are.  But Chase has done a really good job of saving his money so he bought it.  He's had a lot of fun learning how to ride a long board.  He looks so big when he rides it.  I feel like I'm looking at a teenager.  I know I'm going to blink and he will be a teenager.

Summertime Fun!

Mylissa talked us into getting season passes to Lagoon.  At first I was so hesitant but then I figured that if we went two times, then it covers the cost.  Plus we need to take advantage of having the kids hang out with us instead of their friends.  We met the W's, Mom and Marilyn and went to Lagoon for a few hours.  Matt got out early from work so he was even able to come.  We got their before everyone else arrived so we hit the big rides first.  We did the roller coaster, Fire Dragon a couple of times and then Wicked.  Not a good idea because I got really sick!  It ruined the rest of the day for me unfortunately.  But luckily Matt was there so he took Maddy, Chase, and Bridger on the bigger rides.  Bridger is finally tall enough for the bigger rides like Wicked and the Fire Dragon.  He is such a dare devil.  But it's really sweet because he still likes to go on the kiddy rides with Julie and Caleb.

We were only going to stay a few hours but we stayed more like six hours.  It wasn't very busy so we kept going on more rides.  We were having too much fun to go home.  Mom and Marilyn stayed until 9 and then we left when the park closed at 10.  I love seeing how much fun the kids have together.  It was great to have Matt with us too!!!