July 2018

Hollie, Jozsef, Sadie, Jozsie, Walker and Eden came for a visit. It was the Fourth of July while they were here and we really enjoyed small time parades, fireworks and all the fun of the holiday.

So much candy! It was also hot but not muggy. We were happy to walk over to the Conrad Mansion for the free ice cream and the band.

These cute little enjoyed our time on the boat. Some of them were brave enough to ride the tube, some were happy to stay in the boat. Eden was happiest in her parents laps.

Sadie was concerned but did go for it. What a brave soul! She ended up loving it.

Fourth of July Sunday best.

Brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed it before our Jewel Basin hike to twin lakes. Somehow we got split up and took two different ways but ended up at the same turn around point. Sadie was a bit concerned when she couldn't see her parents for a few minutes. We managed to travel back to the car as one group.

These cuties wanted to do some work for us so I set them to work picking the black currants. They got every last berry from my bush and we made them into black currant jam/syrup. It was amazing! I am cultivating more bushes for next year so we can increase our berry production. We need more than one jar!

The hit of the week may have been the four wheeler rides. These boys were always trying to convince me to take them out for a ride. I quite enjoyed them myself so it didn't take too much prodding.

The east shore of the Flathead Lake has a warm little micro climate that makes it great growing for cherry trees. The farms down there sell their jams and jellies from these cute farm stands. We had fun shopping with Hollie but mostly fun eating the yummy jams. My favorite was chuckleberry honey and chuckleberry jam. It is cherry and huckleberry mixed. Umm umm good. Also, of course the fresh cherries are divine.

Hiking on the trail of the cedars path there is this a set of fallen trees whose roots were all conjoined together. We call it the twins tree or best friends tree. Here it is most definitely the best cousins tree. Sadie and Ally have a lot of fun together. I love watching them interact. It's fun for Ally to get to be the older cousin. You're very lucky if you are one of Ally's littler cousins. She knows how to show them a good time.

The mower...always with the broken mower. This was a photo Byron took so I could get the correct part for him at the Penco store. The workers there are good friends of mine. I am in and out of there all summer working hard to keep the mower and four wheeler going.

We had a fun lesson in young women today about Good Works and at the end we assembled hygiene kids for the local teenage homeless shelter. The girls really enjoyed the service project. It seems the service activities are always their favorites.

This sweet bundle of Eden was charmed by Carter's ways. He spent loads of time holding this sweet one and she loved every minute of it. What a cute baby Eden is. We were so happy to have her around for a week so we could get to know her.

Sweet Walker getting a shoulder ride from Tyler. They were excited for the parade and swimming in the pond afterward.

Parade Groupie with my favorites.

A little ice cream at the neighborhood mansion. Thanks for always throwing great parties Conrad's!

We enjoyed our singing around the campfire as the sun set on the Fourth of July. We even got our jam on with Katy Perry and her Fireworks song. She should hire our group of guitarists/ukulele players and backup singers because we were rocking.

Hollie and Ally out for a crazy tubing ride. Ally is always telling the driver (usually me) to go faster and faster. I tend to listen to whoever is riding with her so we don't scare them to death on their first ride in our boat. It's important for everyone to have fun at their level. It means something different to everyone and we try to keep that in mind when we are boating.

Ally and Sadie had a great time one our hike to Jewel Basin. They loved finding a rock and writing a message to Hollie or I. They would yell back to watch for their message or their drawing and then race ahead so they could work on another one. Yay Hike was one of my favorites. Ally also wrote , "hi mom" on another. We had cute drawings of alpacas and sun rays. It was like a treasure hunt while hiking down the trail. Yay for hiking.

We were invited to the Gardner's for a firework show. It was an awesome evening. Their show was better than the town show out on the lake. I absolutely love this photo of the boys looking up at the fireworks. I love that they are good friends to each other and while they may bug each other sometimes they have got each others backs.

A photo of our ants on a log. They are the cutest little ants out there. Well, mine aren't so little anymore but they're still cute.

This boy is a little love. He is full of mischief and the biggest hugs you could ever want.

Picnicking before our hike. We picked up Subway sandwiches on our way up to glacier park. Got to keep this pack fueled for fun.

Bird watching from the deck. There is always something to check out with the binoculars from Blue Roof. Today we were spotting turtles on the logs. Very fascinating and perfect for littles to be able to spot. They don't move around much when they are sunning peacefully on a warm log.

Sadie and Ally enjoying our day at the beach. Whitefish has awesome sand but also caches of clay which are the real find. The kids love to find the clay and really get dirty. It was the perfect weather for dipping in a cool lake.

Hollie is the best and always offers to do family photos for us when we get together. Luckily she does this or we would have no family photos. It is always amazing that she is so stinking good at it and we have gorgeous photos of our family. Props to a sister in law who is so generous with her talents.

The girls don't stand a chance against these two handsome lads. That smolder Ty has is a lady killer!!

No visit to Kalispell is complete without spending time at Sweet Peaks for ice cream. You'd probably get arrested on your way out of town if you can't show a receipt from the ice cream store. Well, maybe it's not illegal but it ought to be. They had a pine chocolate ice cream this summer that was like eating a chocolate Christmas tree. Sounds bizarre but it was awesome.

Ally heading off to stake girls camp. I am glad it isn't my year to plan it. The Gardeners are graciously letting the stake use their lake house property for the week so it's a sure thing the girls will be having  fun time.

Lane Taylor has been Tyler's scout master while we've been in Kalispell. He did an awesome job but is moving to another town in Montana. We are sure going to miss him and Wendy. They are a huge asset in our ward.

Tyler has started playing church hockey after young men. They have a local group that plays from 9-11 and his friends Brian and Dresden invited him to play. He has been loving it. It's fun to see him excited about a sport.

The peas this summer have been amazing. At first I was disappointed as I thought they were not going to be fat sweet peas but skinny ones for stir fry. It turned out I just needed to leave them on the vine longer and they fattened up and were oh so good. I will be planting peas again next year and probably even more of them. They are a favorite! I often found Ally and her friends out sneaking peas off the vine or little visitors stealing away with a handful. Glad we put in a bunch so we could share the abundance with anyone who wanted them. How could they resist, they really are that good.

When we are working hard on a Saturday and nobody has time to cook lunch we often make a run to Frugals, (it's the closest to our house) and great burgers and shakes. They aren't the best burgers in town but when you're working hard and hungry you get less picky. Love a picnic in the shade by the side of the pond with these cute ones.

Tyler really wanted to go to scout camp with our old ward in North Salt Lake. He found himself a ride down to Utah with our neighbors the Remington's. We arranged for him to drive back with our friends The Powells who are coming up this way to stay for a week. We always try to support the kids when they are trying to connect with their old friends. Moving is hard even after a year and a half. Tyler had a great time and was glad he made the effort to go. As a bonus the Remington's dragged Tyler along to Lagoon for the day. He was more than happy to comply. That would be one of the kids complaints about growing up with me as a mom. I hate amusement parks. We only went once a year and one year we didn't go at all. Fun for him to sneak in a chance to play at Lagoon and also get to know Ryan and Hayden a little better.

Ally has a big heart and a small wallet. She often finds herself wanting to give her friends presents that exceed our friends birthday budget so she works off her debt by doing chores around the house. I taught her how to run the mower and she did an awesome job on the big field out by the river. Unfortunately the second day she was on the mower something happened and she broke a gear box. It was the worst brake yet but luckily after we bought parts Byron was able to fix it up again. We are really testing his mechanical skills this summer.

My goal for getting the driveway garden moved was so we could put in a basketball hoop for the kids to play on. I grew up with a hoop in the driveway and we spent hours and ours out there shooting and playing H.O.R.S.E. I have such good memories of playing with my dad and watching him make trick shots. He was seriously talented at the one hand shot while in his suit holding his brief case. I'm glad we can start making some of these same memories with our kids.

Ward s'mores and hot dog roast by the river. It's always fun to get to share our place with anyone who wants to come and play. The neighbors have a row of large cottonwoods that do a good job of shading the fire pit in the afternoon. It's nice in the summer so we don't get quite so hot.

Ally and Tyler are inviting friends over to go boating as often as they can. This trip we had the Weymouth kids, Savannah Shirley Rachel and Tim plus Tys friend Dresden. They really love the diving board and swinging rope. I like being out on the water and enjoying the sunshine. It's nice to have a reason to take a break from working.

I was so excited to find the first blackberry of the season in my garden. My friends Kisty and Laura were here with their families and I was telling them how I ate the first blackberry of the season out in the garden in the morning. Laura sheepishly laughed and told me her little daughter had been out eating blackberries every morning since they got to town. Early bird gets the worm I guess. We got a pretty good crop for our vines being on their second season in the ground in Montana. I can't wait wait to see what we get next year. We will be at full swing for the berries next year.

One of my favorite photos from Hollie's photo shoot in the canola field across Highway 93. I have wanted to take this family photo since I first saw the canola fields in bloom last year. The blue outfits were planned out by myself and carefully thought through. When we got them back Byron was saying how great the blue looked with the yellow and how lucky that was it worked out that way. I had to explain to him that it was all intentionally planned out, carefully by me. Carter was the only one who didn't wear what he was supposed to as he forgot and went to a missionary lesson instead of coming home after work. He barely made it in time before we lost the magical photo light just before the sunsets.

Our dearest friends were able to come and see us this summer. Kisty and Eddie are our favorite couple friends. Byron and Eddie were roommates at BYU and lifelong friends. Kisty and I were roommates at BYU and also lifelong friends. When Eddie saw Kisty he had to be set up with her and Kisty dragged me along on the date. It was a double blind date and Kisty and Eddie were set up and Byron and I were set up. We both were married within a few months of each other. We have stayed in contact over the years though we haven't been lucky enough to live in the same state at the same time yet. Since Byron and Eddie are both from Dallas and Kisty and I are both from the Avenues we tend to visit the same places at the same time. Anytime we get to hang out with them is a good time. Kisty brought her sister Laura and Craig, and her parents along for the fun. Their kids were a delight to have around. We hope they all come every year. What a fun time we had.

And of course every trip has a stop at Sweet Peaks at some point. This crew was so busy we had to sneak it on as everyone was heading out of town.

We pretty much look exactly the same as we did twenty years ago when we met these two handsome boys.

Laura and I taking a quick photo before they head for the hills. Seriously such a fun week!

We had heard the huckleberries were on. You start seeing posts on Facebook as people find good spots. We went up to the damn to do some fishing and pulled off the road to eat sandwiches. We came across the motherland of huckleberries! Biggest berries we've ever seen and the bushes were loaded. What a jackpot! We didn't catch any fish but were pleased with the spoils we did bring home.

Found this awesome spot for a little antique browsing. This shop is awesome to look through. Antiques mixed with used sporting goods. Pretty much the perfect shop for a family outing.

Carter's friend Sara has been taking the discussions and decided to be baptized. We were so excited for her. Carter met her a few weeks before school let out and Carter's friend introduced him as "Carter the Mormon." He thought he was pretty funny. Turns out Sara had been wanting to ask some questions about our church and she gave Carter her number. He hooked her up with the missionaries and then went to the discussions with her. It was an absolutely perfect pre-mission experience for him.

Sara asked Bishop Matheson to baptize her and Byron confirmed her on Sunday. We are so thrilled for her. It really is such a good decision she has made and will change the course of her life forever.

Sunday drive to check out a new camping possibility. This lake was gorgeous and the lighting was phenomenal. This may be one of my favorite photos of all time. The kids aren't always excited when we head off on these adventures but they are very good at putting on a happy face and making the most of it.

Ally asked if she could borrow my rain boots. She said she wouldn't get them wet. They're not wet, their filled with water. I'm not even sure if she caught a frog or not.

Carter has been enjoying riding Smokey around the property when he gets a few minutes off work. That is when he can find the key. Smokey's key has been lost for a significant portion of the time we have lived in Montana. Good news is the found it-it was in the ignition. Then it was lost again within a month of finding it and when it was found the second time it was behind Carter's dresser. We need to make a copy quick while we can still find the key.

The fruit of our labor. Huckleberry/raspberry cobbler is a definite must make again. Our neighbors brought over a tupperware full of raspberries from their garden and we had the huckleberries from our fishing trip. Yummy snack!

The kids enjoying more boating time. Tim and Tyler brought the drill out with us and we had picked up a new diving board plank from Lowes. They made quick work of installing a fresh platform. The old board was nearing the end of it's useful days. They were very proud of their craftsmanship and enjoyed jumping and flipping off the board all summer.