Willow Creek Canyon

After breakfast, Dad put Bridger and Chase on the back of his ATV and Mom put Maddy on the back of her ATV. Mylissa and I headed out on our bikes so we could meet them on Willow creek canyon. I quickly realized that my bike tire was completely flat so I went back to the cabin to pump it up. Unfortunately it didn't stay pumped up so I switched over to Rob's bike. I met up with Mylissa and Mom and Dad in the canyon. I love that I don't feel like I'm going to die when I bike this canyon. I love the trail. It's shorter and more flat than the other trails. While Mylissa was biking, a deer crossed the road right in front of her. The ATV's were right behind her so they saw it too. The kids were so excited to see a deer and have it be so close. Everyone had a great ride. All though Mylissa's bike is not working. Her gears are not shifting so after our ride, Marilyn and Mylissa went into West Yellowstone to drop her bike off at a repair shop. She took my tire in too. We're hoping they can fix her gears. While they were in West, we just stayed around the cabin and relaxed. That's what I love the most about the cabin...relaxing! The kids were so good to play together. They love to play playmobil and "house" in the camper. Tonight after dinner, I drove the boys out to the "phone booth" so we could call Matt. While I was driving, a coyote or fox ran right across the road. But it was so fast that the boys didnt see it because once it crossed the road you couldn't see it in the bushes. We haven't talk to Matt since Friday so it was good to hear his voice and catch up on things. We've really missed him and can't wait for him to come on Friday.

A Relaxing Sunday

Today has been such a relaxing day. The day stared with a wonderful surprise. I was getting out of bed when dad knocked on the camper door and said that there was a moose outside. I looked out the camper kitchen window and saw the moose and a BABY moose. Dad was cooking bacon outside when he saw the moose. He ran inside to tell everyone else. We gathered in the front yard where we had an excellent view of the mommy and baby moose. We sat and watched them for over 20 minutes. What a great way to start the day! We ate French toast and bacon for breakfast. I love breakfast at the cabin. Afterwards I went for a nice walk. It's been wonderful to have a quiet, and relaxing Sunday. The kids have played so well together. I love what great friends they are. Julie told me yesterday the "she and Bridger are starting to get along." I didn't know that they didn't get along. She then told me that she kissed Bridger. I was a little surprised so I started asking her some questions. I found out that she's pretending to be a princess and she pretended that Bridger kissed her on the lips. It made me chuckle. The kids have had so much fun swinging. Luckily Mylissa captured the moment with her camera. My boys can't get enough of Caleb. They love to make him laugh. Bridger thought he was so big when he got to "carry" him. Tonight everyone sat out on the back porch and ate otter pops and then we read stories out of "The Friend." I love moments like that. We saw a huge rock chuck or "yellow belly marmot" this evening. At first we thought it was a badger, but as it came closer we could tell that it wasn't.

Happy Birthday Marilyn!

Happy Birthday Marilyn!!! We always celebrate her birthday at the cabin. We love Marilyn so much and appreciate all she does for us. This morning I slept in til after 9. It was heavenly! We had a quiet morning because Mylissa had been up most of the night with Caleb so she was exhausted. The kids loved playing playmobil. After lunch we got ready and went out on our adventure. Mylissa and I wanted to ride our bikes so we put our bikes on the top of the pilot and rode on the back of the ATVs with Dad, Rob, Chase, Bridger, and Maddy. We were a little tight riding down to canyon 327. Marilyn and Mom drove the pilot with Julie and Caleb in it so Mylissa could ride for a little. While we were unloading our bikes, a man stopped to tell us that just a few minutes ago, they saw a mommy grizzly with two cubs out in the canyon field. I'm ok with seeing a bear while I'm in the car but I don't want to run into one on my bike. It made me a little nervous. But we never saw it. Dad and Rob took off up the canyon with the kids . They were really sweet to come back and check on Mylissa and I. I absolutely love this canyon! It is so beautiful but I had forgotten how hard it is. I joked with dad and said we should have started with something easier for our first ride. Mylissa did great! We had such a fun ride. Tonight Rob made an awesome dinner for Marilyn and us. It was similar to my chicken and black bean recipe but so much better. Marilyn didn't want anything fancy for dessert so we just made caramel brownies. Marilyn and Dad opened their birthday presents and then we ate the yummy brownies with dad's four different flavors of ice cream.

Yeah!!! We made it to Island Park!

Yesterday we left for Island Park. I was impressed that I was out the door a little after 9. But....I had to stop by urgent care because I found out I have a sinus infection with a nasty throat infection.  So by the time I saw the doctor and filled my prescriptions two hours had passed. So unfortunately I didn't make it to the W's until noon. Rob spent the morning up at mom and dad's loading up the trailer. By the time we got the camper loaded and hooked up, it was time for dad to meet us. We ate a quick lunch at Tasty's before we headed out. They have the best donuts!  We met up with dad after a while on the road. Mom stayed behind and went up with Marilyn after her doctor's appointment. They were about 45 minutes behind us.  The kids did such a great job with the long drive. Once we were on the road, we made really good timing. One stopped only one time. I noticed that dad's back trailer tire was occasionally smoking.  We luckily stopped at the Phillips station to fill up with gas one last time. We found out that all the lug nuts on dad's back tire had come off. We couldn't believe that the tire had stayed on. We felt so blessed! Dad left the trailer at the gas station to be repaired. We unloaded the trailer and luckily everything fit. So Mylissa drove one ATV with the girls on the back and I drove the other one with the boys. By the time we made it to the cabin it was about 9:00 and we were freezing! But it was a great way of coming back to the cabin. We were so tired by the time we unloaded everything. We're so happy to be here!

Chase's First Swim Meet

Chase tried out for the summer swim team in May and luckily he made it.  He was so happy when his best friend Raeder made it too.  He's only been swimming for a couple weeks so he was a little nervous for his first meet.  Matt was on-call so I figured he wouldn't be able to come.  But by some miracle he was able to see Chase's last two events.  Chase had to be there by 4:00 to check in and start warming up.  But then he didn't swim for two and half hours.  It was a long wait but finally he swam his first event.  He didn't want to do the back stroke but last week they were working on it so I talked Chase into doing it.  He's hit his head several times so that's why he doesn't like swimming it.  But he had to swim a 50 meter back stroke and he did great.  He had a hard time going straight but I was so proud of him for even trying it.  He took 6th place.  

Chase's second event was the 50 meter freestyle.  I think this is his strongest event but there are lots of kids that do this event.  Chase looked so strong in this event.  He took 4th place!  He almost forgot to put on his goggles but at the last moment he remember and quickly put them on.  He looked so good! His final event was almost at the end of the night.  He loves to swim the butterfly so he did the 25 meter.  I think the butterfly is the hardest stroke so I'm amazed by his strength.  He took 2nd in that event.  Bridger loves to cheer for his brother.  While we were waiting around for Chase to swim, Bridger worked on his "homework."  He gets so into it that it borders a little on OCD.  I love this picture of the boys.  They love each other so much.  Bridger is always putting his arm around Chase.  He wants to be just like him.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!  Matt didn't have to be to church until 9:00 but he specifically told me to not make him breakfast.  I teased him and put out his favorite cereal, Cocoa Puffs, next to a bowl.  The boys love to give their dad lots of hugs.  Matt opened up his presents after he finished his delicious breakfast.  Matt opened up a t-shirt and Bridger said "it's a Real shirt." But it wasn't and Matt knew about the Real shirt so we both laughed.  Eventually Matt opened up his Real soccer shirt and he was very excited about it.  The boys have been dying for Matt to open it.  Matt also got a styling bike helmet so now he can be safe when he rides his bike.

After church, Ardel and Charlene and the R family came down for dinner.  We had such a great time celebrating with our families.  After Dad was done opening his presents, Bridger came to me and said "I want a picture with Grandpa."  I love this picture of Dad and Bridger.  Shantelle and Mylissa gave Dad a Real soccer shirt.  Dad was a little surprised but we told him now he can wear it when he goes to his annual game.  Marilyn gave Dad an early birthday present.  It's a little cabin bird feeder.  It's perfect to remind us of our fun times in Island Park.  Mom surprised Dad and gave him a nice camera.  His face was priceless when he opened it.  But hopefully they'll love it for their Africa trip.  Shantelle made the cute "Happy Father's day sign."  She's so creative.  I'm so grateful for the wonderful "fathers" in my life.  I'm grateful for my Dad who is such a hard worker and would do anything for his family.  Matt is a great dad who loves his family so much.  He is such a great dad to the boys.  He does an amazing job of providing for his family.  Ardell is another great example of a wonderful dad.  How lucky the boys and I are to have such wonderful "Dads" in our lives.

Chase at Scout Camp

Last year we were out of town during scout camp.  Chase was so excited to finally go to scout camp.  We went to J.J. camp.  Because I'm his bear leader I was able to go with Chase.  I love being his bear leader.  It's great to be with Chase.  We had 22 boys from our ward going.  We had 100% attendance.  The boys had a wonderful time.  Chase shot a bb gun for the first time.  He had the biggest smile on his face.  Shooting the gun was his favorite thing.  We spent almost four hours at the camp.  We also did archery, pulled hand carts, panned for gold, played games, made a hand cart craft and sling shots.  The cute boy scout running the sling shots taught the boys to say "fancy" a funny way.  It's turned into a silly joke.  Chase had a great day with his friends.  

Little Red

So Saturday morning we woke up around 5:45 to get ready.  Our hotel offered a little breakfast.  We stayed in two rooms.  I was so excited that so many of my biking/swim buddies were able to come.  It was a great girls weekend.  Sarah, Krista, Beth, Lisa, Jenn, Pam, Savannah and Nicki were there.  We had a fantastic day riding together.  I love these women so much.  They have become wonderful friends.  They are great examples to me.  They have such positive attitudes.  

We all started together but unfortunately Beth's back was bothering her so she and Lisa kicked back after the first 10 miles and only rode 30 miles.  But they were waiting for us at the finish line, cheering us on.  I love how goofy these women are.  They know how to have fun!  I always have a great time when I'm around them.  I feel like I'm constantly laughing with them, sometimes at them.

Okay, this picture cracks me up because at lunch we took a bunch of pictures.  I didn't realize that I still had my helmet on.  So when everyone posted these pictures on Facebook the next day, guess who everyone was laughing at?  "who's the idiot that still has her helmet on?"  Nice!  Thanks girls for telling me that my helmet was still on.  It's turned into quite the joke.  We've had some great laughs over it.

This is my favorite picture.  I didn't think that I would see Mylissa so I was so happy when I ran into her at lunch.  There are over 3,000 participants so I can't believe that I saw her.  I was proud of her for doing this ride.  It's been really hard on her coming back from the pregnancy and the "no sleep" thing.  I know that this was a huge accomplishment for her!  I love it that she fights on a daily basis to stay strong and healthy even though it is so tough some days.  I love my big sis!  She sent me a funny joke a couple of months ago.  It said "Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a bike and that's pretty close."  We love our bikes!!!!   

This picture totally captures the storm that was chasing us the last 30 miles.  We lucked out because it only sprinkled on us a couple of times.  We could see the lightening and hear the thunder.  We just kept waiting for it to pour on us but it never did.  Luckily I think we stayed ahead of it.

We drove up to Logan Friday afternoon.  We went to the Little Red site and checked out all the goodies.  I bought some biking socks and new biking shorts for a killer price.  I was so excited!  I love a good deal.  But Krista is all about good deals.  She went around to all the tables and got a ton of free Luna bars.  At every food station, we would do a "Krista" and stock up on the Luna bars and the GU blocks.  I have enough to last me until next year.  Thanks Little Red!

Friday night we went out to dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant.  Krista told our waiter that it was Pam's birthday so they brought her out an ice cream and sang happy birthday to her while she wore a big sombrero.  I love my crazy friends!  Later that night, we went back to the hotel and sat in the hot tub.  I love that we can be together and talk for hours.  They are wonderful friends!

School's Out!

Earlier in the week Chase received an invitation to a neighbor's party.  It was to celebrate the last day of school.  The invitation was addressed to Chase only.  At the bottom of the invitation it said "please don't bring anyone else."  So when Matt read the invitation to Bridger he said "Well! Apparently I won't be coming."  He says the funniest things.  Where did he get the word "apparently?"  I was feeling all bad for Bridger for not getting invited and I was thinking of just doing something as a family.  But on the day of the party, the little neighbor girl came over and talked to Bridger and said that he was invited too. He came running inside and was so excited that he could go too.  The kids had a blast at the party.  It was a water party with lots of games.  At the end of the party they handed out cans of shaving cream to every child.  You can see that it was a BIG hit!  

Another Free Soccer Game

 We are utilizing our pass of all passes!  We went to another FREE soccer game.  Our seats were even better than last time.  We sat on the west side in the $40 seats!  I love it! We ate at Crown Burger before the game so we could get free parking. Chase is showing off his new summer buzz.  I buzzed his hair last night.  He LOVES having a buzz.  The boys love coming to these games.  Chase is glued to the game the entire time.  Unfortunately Matt couldn't come because he was on-call.

  We went with the C's.  Aliyah just cracks me up.  She is so fun to be around.  She is so good during the games.

Memorial Day Breakfast

Monday morning I was getting ready to go for an early bike ride when I heard the fire truck sirens.  I realized that we forgot about the race we normally do and the breakfast.  I still had to go on my bike ride because my friend was already at the house and Matt had a meeting.  Towards the end of my bike ride around 9:30, I called the boys and asked them if they wanted to go to the firehouse breakfast.  They said "YES!"  I told them to hurry and be all ready and I would take them.  I peddled even fast and made it home at 9:55.  The boys jumped in the car and we were at the firehouse by 10:00.  We were the last in line but at least we made it.  Matt met us while we were in line.  Shantelle, Robby, and Aliyah had just finished their breakfast so they came and stood in line with us for a little.  The kids had a great time playing on the firetruck.  Shantelle saved our place in line while I took the boys over to the rescue helicopter.  I'm so glad we were able to continue our tradition and go to the breakfast.  

In the afternoon, we went and spent the rest of the day with the Adams.  Mike and Amy and all of their kids were there.  The boys love playing with Mike and Jake.  Ashtyn brought her guitar and gave Chase a lesson. We had a wonderful time hanging out with the A's.  

Mom's Birthday Party

 Happy Birthday Mom!  For Mom's birthday we met at Mylissa's church and had a big family party.  Mom made sloppy joes and we had lots of salads and fruit.  Mom broke the rules and made her birthday cake.  It was ice cream sandwiches with lots of caramel and hot fudge with toffee on it.  It was delicious!!!  The kids loved playing in the gym.  Shantelle made this awesome present for mom.  It's a sign so she can measure the grandkids inside of marking up her wall.  Shantelle is so creative!

I love my mom so much!  She is such a great example to me.  She is constantly serving others.  She has a heart of gold!

Children's Museum

 So Bridger's preschool ended a couple of weeks before Chase's ended.  I was planning on just taking Bridger and his friend Brody to the Children's museum while Chase was at school.  But that morning, Chase was complaining that his stomach hurt.  I asked him if he wanted to stay home and go to the museum with us.  He got a big smile on his face.  Sometimes Chase doesn't like to go to the museum.  He says it's for babies.  But I guess this time, he didn't want to be left out.  I'm glad I let him play hookie for a day because we had such a great time.  We ended up staying at the museum for over four hours.  It wasn't very busy.  Brody was totally mesmerized by the the rescue helicopter.  He had never been to the museum before and his mom told me that the next day he said "that was the best day ever!"  He is such a fun friend of Bridger's.  The boys put on several plays and their costumes cracked me up.

 We went to a class on "liquid to solid."  They taught the kids how to make ice cream.  Every child was able to add an ingredient and then at the end of class, we ate the "solid" aka ice cream.  It was great!  There are so many fun things to do at the museum.  They played with the horse for almost an hour.  It was a great day!