Camping at Anderson Dam

Cooper and Grace with their "pineapples" So cute!

We were unable to attend my family reunion this year with my mom's side of the family- they go camping every year. The boys were very disappointed, because they wanted to sleep in a tent. So we made some quick arrangements with some friends late Friday afternoon, packed up the camping gear and headed out for an overnight camping trip.

Anderson Dam was our destination; we had never been there but heard the camping there was great. I was anticipating a small little dam, but what we found was a large reservoir and recreation area. I think we'll be returning in the near future!

We had a great time with our friends, the McGuffins (who are moving to Nebraska soon :( We're really going to miss you guys!


A cute peak at Carson through the bushes

We camped next to the river, so Randall couldn't pass up a chance to get out his fishing pole. Unfortunately, as Cooper explained, "the fish were being too smart!"


Throwin' rocks!


Lainee, just hangin' out!

Storytime at the Library

We've discovered a real gem in Grand View- the library! The director Kathy Chick is awesome. We've been attending storytime every Wednesday morning all summer long (except when we're out of town, of course). The kids all love going to the library and Mrs. Chick. Best of all, the kids get to pick a book to take home (and keep) each week!


Here are the boys with their library art project: Bunny ears!

A Girl in Shades

These pics of Lainee are just too cute! I just had to share!


Lainee ~5 months old

Apricot pickers

We have some neighbors who have not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 apricot trees. Needless to say, they were very generous in sharing with us. So, I took the kids over and we all picked yummy apricots. Cooper and Carson picked whatever they could reach, so their little buckets were full of tiny green apricots. But they were having fun so that was just fine with me! We made lots of yummy apricot jam and even dried a few. I think we'll try fruit leather next!

Canada, eh?

Randall had a conference to attend July 6-10 in Saskatoon, Canada. Since Pfizer was paying for me to accompany my husband, we left Cooper and Carson with Grandma & Grandpa-- (they split time with both sets of grandparents--- thanks to all of you!)and headed off.

We took Lainee with us and she did extremely well on all 4 flights- she pretty much slept the entire time we were on the airplane! Her only hiccup was that she almost made us miss our initial flight out of Idaho Falls. Who knew you had to pay an international tax for a non-ticketed infant on an airplane!?

There wasn't a whole lot to do or see in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and it pretty much rained and was quite cold the entire time we were there. But I was able to relax a little and enjoy some one-on-one time with Lainee while Randall was in meetings. And we made some wonderful new friends, thanks to Lainee. She's quite the conversation starter, and everyone wants to hang out with the couple with the adorable baby girl!


After dinner one night we had some Native Canadians? come dance for us. We took a picture with Lainee and Natalie- the other baby girl in our group!

A view of our hotel from the river- yep, it looks like a castle!


Saskatoon is a city of 4 bridges, this is one of them near our hotel.




We went to a vacation ranch for dinner one night. This is their guest shower!


Randall helped them deep fry our steaks. I've never had a steak prepared this way, but it was delicious!

4th of July in Menan

The 4th of July is Randall's favorite holiday. And if you've ever been the the 4th of July celebration in Menan, Idaho, you probably know why. This little community increases in size by at least 10 times every year for the celebration. They have a flag raising ceremony and breakfast, craft booths, games for the kids, and food vendors, softball tournament, parade, and firework show. Everyone seems to come home for the day to celebrate with family and friends. Several years have gone by since the last time we were able to attend, so we were really looking forward to spending the day in Menan. We all had a great time and were able to catch up with friends we haven't seen in years!

Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying the day and chasing kids around, so I didn't get very many pictures.



My dad was asked to drive his semi in the parade with the milk trailer--- they pass out chocolate milk (Randall's favorite beverage) to everyone at the parade. Cooper and my little sister rode in the truck with my dad and honked the horn at everyone.
Randall and Carson rode with Randall's dad in a brand new Chevrolet dealer pickup- they were driving around Maureah and the Jr. Miss girls; aka: the snow shack girls- because they all work at the snow cone shack :)

Grand View Days

Last year we were out of town for Grand View Days and missed out on our softball tournament. This year we were around, but Simplot didn't get a team together so we still didn't get to play softball. Oh well. We had a great time going to the Pit BBQ dinner, watching the fireworks and the parade. They even had some carnival rides, which I here is a first for our little community. I must say, I've never seen so many people gathered together here. It was really nice!

Waiting for the parade to start


They tossed out a ridiculous amount of candy at the parade. Cooper and Carson lazily picked it up and we still ended up with a huge grocery sack full. Insane! I told Cooper and Carson they could pick out a few pieces, and then we were going to save the rest for later. I'm thinking family reunion... spread the sugar high around!

Lainee enjoyed the parade from the stroller. She was actually ready for a nap, but everytime she'd get close to closing her eyes another old fire truck would come by and honk a couple times. That kept her awake and bright-eyed until the end of the parade.


This military Apache helicopter landed before the parade started and took off afterwards. We were able to watch it lift off. The neat thing was that the pilot used to be in our ward, so he let Cooper and Carson climb up inside and take a look around. Pretty cool!

3 boys in WSU Cougar hats watching the fireworks :)