Table Rock

The day after H's birthday  E, Nathan, and I along with Nathan's cousin Marc hiked Table Rock in the Grand Tetons.  Table Rock's elevation  is around 11,000 feet.   Nathan had made the hike many times.  I had never had the chance since I was always pregnant or nursing.  Nathan also decided that E could come this year.  We started out great and made great progress up the mountain.  We made it to the top (I realized just how out of shape I really was) before lunch.  Unfortunately I found out how much I didn't like heights once we were on top.   The view was spectacular even though it was a very cloudy day.  Going down we decided to go down the face of the mountain.   Not a good idea.  With all the loose rock E and I really struggled.  I slide a lot and my knees started to hurt.  We made it down and were very excited to see the truck.  It was quite the experience and I am glad that I did it.

 The Grand Teton.

E, Nathan and I at the top of Table Rock!!

The big 4 year old.

H turned 4 mid August.  We opened presents early in the morning, then spent the afternoon swimming at Rigby lake with cousins.  After swimming we went home for a yummy dinner of chicken, rolls, salad and a chocolate horse cake.  It was fun to celebrate the day with all the cousins!  We love having H in our family.  She is so enthusiastic about everything and always curious.  We love you H!!!!!

Sugar City and the Gee Clan

The kids and I left Utah and made the trek to Sugar City Idaho.  It was a relief to make it to Nathan's parents home and know that Nathan would be joining us shortly.  We had a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa by ourselves.  We went to a park for a picnic and had fun playing dress ups and reading and watching the Olympics   Nathan finally made it Friday after being delayed long enough with one flight that he missed his connecting flight and ended up getting to his parents house around 11:30 pm. 

Saturday we met as the Gee Clan at Porter Park in Rexburg and went on a couple carousel rides and played at the splash park.  The older kids didn't last long at the splash park because the water was too cold, but A loved it! 

 Saturday evening we all were together for dinner and pictures and visiting.  This is the first time in a couple of years that we were all together, but we were ALL there.

 The kids had so much fun playing with all of their cousins.

 J learning how to shoot a BB gun with Uncle Even.

Nathan's sister Jodi set up a slackline between two trees and everyone go the chance to walk across it.  It was really hard.  Nathan learned the hard way that it is best with bare feet and not with socks!

Cousins

After leaving my parents in Idaho we spent some time with my sister Teresa and her family in Nibley Utah.  

 E having fun with cousins.

After a couple days in Nibley we headed down to Orem and my sister Rebecca's house.  We met my younger sister Heidi and her girls at the BYU Paleontology museum then went and got Slushies and Sonic.

 We also went swimming and had a BBQ with sisters Shelly and Heidi and family.  I also did a lot of school shopping for the kids since my sister lives 5 minutes from the mall and in PA we live far from everything.  It was so much fun and we loved being right by the mountains!!!

Council Idaho

After the family reunion was over we dropped Nathan off at the airport (actually my sister did because they both needed to be to the airport around 5am).  Nathan worked for 2 weeks while I drove all over the west with the kids.   Our first stop was at my parent's house in Council Idaho.  The kids had been looking forward to fishing with Grandpa.  We woke up early every day that week so they could go fishing.  Thankfully there was a little stocked pond close to the house.

 H trying to catch a fish.

 Morning view!

 J was the first one to catch a fish.  He was very excited.

 E and her catch.

 K and her catch.  

My Dad also helped H catch a fish, but before I could get a picture she walked right into the fish as my Dad was holding it up and freaked out.

 

A had fun hanging out and watching everyone and their fish.

 One evening after my Dad finished work we headed up to a lake to go canoeing.  It was a beautiful evening and the kids had so much fun.  My phone took a dive into the water, but luckily no harm was done.

Linford Family Reunion

At the end of July most of my family gathered at the Oregon Coast for a Reunion.  It was rainy and foggy, but we still had a lot of fun.  We did props charades,  had talent night, seashell hunts, sandcastle contests, crafts, and much more.  It was fun to see some family that we hadn't seen in years.

 Here is the whole gang (minus a sister in law who ended up getting sick the first night. Sad)  We were missing my oldest sister and her husband and 3 of her kids.  One of my sisters had to stay and teach because school had just started.  Another sister ended up leaving her husband and 4 kids at home because of school starting to soon after.  Even with those missing it was a big bunch of people :)

 H was made into a mermaid!

 K was our Crab Goddess for our family's sand castle.

 My youngest sisters and some nieces and nephew made a Little Mermaid Castle along with singing!

 My younger brother and sister teamed up to make this beehive sandcastle.

My sister Rebecca and family's sand castle.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait until the next one!!!

80 Days of Summer Vacation

4 weeks after moving back to PA we started our family vacation.  This vacation would take us from the east coast to the west coast and we ended up driving around 6000 miles.  We left on a Friday night as soon as Nathan finished with work.  We made it into Ohio.   Next day we drove through Chicago and stayed the night in Minneapolis.   We attended a Sacrament meeting there then drove all the way to Montana.   Monday we made it to Spokane WA.   Tuesday we made it to Seattle where we stayed with our great friends from Rochester the Standages!  For Dinner we went over to our other Rochester friend's house the Jones.  All of us served in the Rochester 4th Branch together so it was so much fun to be together again!

 This is E and her first best friend AE.  They had so much fun seeing each other again!
After a fun evening and a good nights sleep we left for the Oregon Coast and the Linford Family Reunion.