McCall Idaho

Every four years, Mike's family does a destination vacation/family reunion. This time, we all met up in McCall, Idaho. The beginning of our trip was pretty rough. We had to stop in Boise to buy unexpected new tires. That's always fun, not. But once we got to the Lake House, all was well.

The lake house was right on a shallow, beachy cove with a dock. It was perfect for the kids. We went down to the lake at least once, if not twice, a day. 

Because a beach trip would not be complete with a mermaid and merman. Oh Sam, how your life would be so different if you were the older sibling instead of a sister.

 Our first "hiking" trip. We made it 200 yards before everyone was eaten alive by mosquito. It was bad. So we went back to the parking lot and threw rocks in the pond and played in the dirt.

The local State Park was having a Junior Ranger Day. It was a lot of fun. They had all these different booths with activities for the kids to do. When they completed the activity, they got a stamp in their book. When their book was full, they got a small toy. 

 The highlight of Ranger Day was watching Maggie "climb" up the tree to retrieve a feather. She was so scared to do to, but after a long talk and comparing this to Mulan climbing the pole, we got her up. The worker pretty much pulled her up, but she was very proud of her purple feather that she grabbed.

 One of the days, we were able to use the cruiser boat. We took out a couple of trips to the middle of the lake and I was so proud that our kids were brave enough to jump off the back. I even got to drive the boat for a bit. Not going to lie, I felt really cool driving it.

 We went on quite a family bike ride. I was so impressed with some of the little kids peddling their one-speeds up these long gravel hills that made me huff and puff.

 A night out on the town getting burgers and McCall's famous ally ice cream, known for their giant cones. And yes, they were huge.

This was our real hike. I didn't quite make it to the waterfall because it was so steep going down, which I didn't think mix well with a no-fear one year old. 

 This pretty much sums up the trip: play hard, sleep harder.

Fourth of July with the Price

We had a great Fourth of July with Dusty and Janecce's family. They were here for only two days, but we filled it with a lot of fun things. They rolled in late Friday night. We had Rita sleeping in Maggie's room. Poor Rita was tired from the road trip so she just wanted to go to sleep, but this was the first time that Maggie has had someone sleep over in her room, so she just kept bouncing out of bed to talk with her. Finally, around 10:30, both girls were asleep. Saturday was the holiday and we spent it going hiking, playing at the splash pad, having hamburgers and lighting off fireworks, and ending the night with Brigham City fireworks (one of my favorite things). Janecce got the girls matching skirts, which Maggie thought was the coolest thing ever (Janecce-she still wants to wear "Rita's skirt"). 

The next day was Sunday. We enjoyed church in the morning, good naps in the afternoon, and went to Temple Square in the evening. It was so fun to be able to have family come stay with us, as we have never had a place big enough. We really like Dusty and Janecce. The kids got a lot so well. I loved how Phillip became quick buddies with the neighbor boys because they had a basketball hoop.

Week in Ceder City

My mom was in Ceder City for a week, watching my brother's kids while they were on vacation. So we headed down there to try to get as much Grandma time was possible. I didn't get that many photos, but we did so fun things during the week. We went to the Aquatic pool, the lake, visited a couple of parks, drove up the canyon, got in a lot of dog time, and played with lots of new toys. At the end of the week, my mom took Maggie on a date to get ice cream (which she mentioned how much fun she had on it again today because she is wearing the same dress that she spilled ice cream on). The boys were really nice to Sam, pushing him around in the cozy coupe. The dog was tolerate of all of Sam's body slams. Plus the kids slept so well, so in my mind, it was a goof trip.

Thomas Matthews Family Reunion

About a month ago, we started the most family-filled month we have ever had. Crazy at some time, but a lot of fun. First on the agenda was the extended Matthews Family Reunion in Heber Valley Girls Camp. They were a bunch of people that we haven't in many years. Both Maggie and Sam ate way too much junk food and stayed up way too late. So I guess you call that a true reunion. They loved every minute of it. One of the high lights was watching the Family slide show with all the old photos of the grandparents as kids. Holy smokes, Sam looks just like Mike's dad was he was a baby.

**Little side note, I didn't have to watch Sam for much of the time because there was always some cousin playing with him or sneaking him some treat.

**We took Maggie out on her first canoe ride. I was trying to convince her that there were mermaids in the lake, but when she asked the full time missionaries, they were truthful.

Hiking in Ogden

These first few weeks, we have been trying to do as much outdoor stuff while Mike has the time and while weather isn't too hot yet. Here are photos from a Hike just a few miles from our house. It was so go to be among the forest after many years of plains.

The kids eating their "hiking sticks".

Backyard Fun

Can I just say how much I love having a backyard? This is want I wanted so bad when we moved. I had such great fond memories of dragging the hose into the sandbox, building forts in the forest, and playing Mississippi flooding on the play structure. I wanted that same innocent fun for my children. So here are a few, or a bit more, of the kids just being kids in the backyard.

This is how every slide experience ends up as. You can tell they are brother and sister, already teasing each other.

Due to the last frost, we only have three apples on our tree and they happen to be right under the slide. Mr. Sam here discovered this week that they look like balls. I don't think those apples are going to survive much longer.

This is him saying "cheese"