The Cabin with the Dawson's

We made the trek up to Hebgen Lake, Montana to the cabin this summer.  It was a quiet year, only a handful of Ben's cousins were there, but we still had a blast.  We got there Saturday night and went into West Yellowstone for some pizza. 

Sunday we headed into the park, we figured  seeing God's beautiful creations is like going to church :)  We were disappointed in that we only saw two deer and a couple of big birds.  Not one buffalo.

 

 

at our picnic spot in Yellowstone

 

There was a huge tourist group that wouldn't move from the waterfall lookout spot... so we tried to get a picture of the falls from here.  It kinda worked.

 It started raining, and Yellowstone was very over crowded, so we didn't stay as long as we had intended.

 Monday we hung out at the lake.  Sharla brought a massive floating island for the kids.  Sharla and all the kids piled in and Larry anchored them out in the lake.  It was a nice break for the parents for a bit :)

 

 

 making some delightful tinfoil dinners

 

 Carly wanted a picture without Hailey sticking out her tongue.

 Monday night sickness struck.  Apparently there was a  Norro virus outbreak in Yellowstone.  Carly and Courtney were the first ones sick, then it trickled through the whole family.  Tuesday morning we woke up, declared we'd had enough, so we left a day early.  I would rather have a sick family at home, than on vacation.  We made it home just in the nick of time before it hit me and Ben. 

 saying goodbye to Grandma Ruth with a silly picture of course.  Abigail didn't join in, she had just tossed her cookies in the sand.

 

 

Even though everyone's sickness put a damper on the trip, it was still wonderful.  We played lots of games,  ate so much food (I always look forward to that on vacation), and visited lots.  Eli even came from working in Afgahnastan (I can't spell it).  It was so great to be together.  I love being apart of this family!

Spudman 2013

 

Ben, his Dad, Larry, his sister, Courtney, his cousin, Jesson, and his uncle, Jack, all did the spudman triathalon  together this year.  It was so fun watching Ben do this with his Dad.  I loved seeing father and son out there together.

It Ben's first year, Larry's fifth or sixth (can't remember), and Courtney's 3rd.  Everyone did as they expected that they would and they were happy with their times.

 

 

 eating our breakfast before start time.

 Ben, Larry, and Jesson all started together.  Courtney and Jack started earlier

 The girls made Ben promise to wave so we could tell which one was him

 switching to the bike

 Larry and Ben

 Larry handed out medals of all his past years for the kids to wear.

 

Dawson is the best cousin to my little girls, they love him.



 

 

Packing up camp. 

 

 Sharla and I chased Larry and Ben through all the events watching them.   We had a great time, I am hoping we will go up again next year... we will see.

Jay Jenkins family reunion 2013

 

Jed and Shannon were in charge of our reunion this year, and they picked Brownie Lake up by Flaming Gorge.  It was wonderful, and a beautiful area.  The kids had the best time, and of course we adults did too!

Thanks Jed and Shannon for putting together such a great reunion this year!

 

 

We stopped at a cool park on our way in Evanston, WY.  

 

My Mom handed out bags full of fun stuff when we arrived.

 

Craft time for the kids

 There was the perfect little stream going through our camp ground.  I only brought my kids one pair of shoes, and they were tennis shoes.  They got wet within the first few minutes and they all wore soggy shoes for the rest of the weekend.  Next time, I will bring flip flops too.

 Emma is such a sassy pants... I told her to smile, and she stuck her tongue out :)

 Abigail and Uncle Blake

 We took a dam tour, which I was excited to do since I haven't been there since I was in Y.W.'s  The kids loved it.

 We got to feed the fish at the end, there were millions (ok, maybe hundreds)  gathered waiting for food.

 Uncle Luke checked out a sliver situation

We had lots of good food, visiting, and playing with the kids.  My kids are already talking about next year.  This trip was the last time we were all together for a while.  We had to say goodbye to Brent and Shelley, because they left the next day.

 

The only downside to our vacation was that we got a flat tire :(  It may not sound like a big deal, but it ended up being a huge pain in the rear.  Friday we got a flat, the nearest tire store was in Rock Springs, WY.  So my Dad and Ben went and got it fixed, because we couldn't drive that far on our donut tire.  They got back Friday night and Ben said since we have All wheel drive, we had to get our tires all changed together.  So we had to wake up super early Saturday morning to get to our 8:30 am tire appointment in Rock Springs.  It was the 3rd store they had gone to, to find these 'special' tires.  I had breakfast Saturday morning, so my Mom woke up to fix it for us and help get us packed up.  (Aren't Moms the best?)  So we were sad we had to leave a bit early, but we got to R.S. on time and got our tires. 

I kinda felt white trash at the tire store.... My kids were in their p.j.'s, Abigail refused to come in because there was a buffalo head on the wall... so she sat on by the front door, Luke and Carly didn't have shoes on because they were soaked, and Hailey cried when we left because she wanted to finish the t.v. show they were watching.  Now I can look back and laugh.

family pictures

Luke and Lisa moved back from Montana a few days before Brent and Shelley moved to Arizona.  We had exactly 1 evening when the whole family could get together for a picture.  We called our family friend, Sidney Cottle, to come and do some pictures.  In spite of the tornado like winds, the pictures turned out wonderful!  Thanks Sid!

 

Dinner and 30!

 

Brent and Shelley have started a new adventure in their lives.  Brent was accepted to Thunderbird graduate school in Arizona, which we are thrilled about, and a little bit sad.  When we told the kids they were moving, well they were crushed to say the least.  But then they started talking about how we can visit them lots and lots.  We had a farewell dinner at Maddox one night for them.  We're so happy to see them go and do great things.

 

 7-11 is a really cool birthday, or so I've always thought, they even give out free slurpees on my bday :)  But this year it was the big 3-0.  At first  I was a bit nervous, probably because everybody kept asking if it was hard... moving on from the 20's makes a girl really think about life. Then  I realized that life has been SO good to me.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am so happy, so ya, 30 is no biggie.

The night before my b-day I had a primary meeting. When I got home, there was a surprise party waiting for me.  The kids really love celebrating birthdays, and they had gone to the store with Ben to pick out a cake and balloons while I was out.

 

 

The next night, on my birthday, I rode the front runner down to S.L. to meet Ben for dinner.  My Mom had the kids sleep over at her house so we didn't have to worry about hurrying at all.  We ate at Macaroni Grill, one of my Favorites.  Went shopping, which just goes to show how awesome Ben is.  He really dislikes shopping, and I really don't love it much either, S.L. just has some good stores that we don't have.  We drove back to Ogden, killed some time eating pie at village inn while waiting for our movie to start.  We went to the 10:40 movie... I seriously felt like young reckless children being out so late, usually I am asleep by then :) 

I didn't give myself time to smile before I took the picture, but I had to document my awesome 30th birthday.  Being 30 is great, and I look forward to the years to come.

Also... I almost forgot, my 30th was me and Ben's 10th anniversary of our first kiss.  awwww....