Palisades Lake Hike

We hiked with the McCalls to upper Palisades Lake. It was an awesome 13 mile hike! Everyone got their wish except for Mark. I wanted to see a moose, Mark wanted to see a mountain goat, Bailey wanted to swim in the freezing cold lake, and Sawyer wanted a thunder storm. All of it happened except for the mountain goat.

 Ready to start!

 We hiked along a beautiful stream most of the way. This was a rock that looked down on the water.

 Sawyer and Bailey

 This is the stream we followed most of the way, until we branched off and started up to the upper lake.

 The lower lake.

 Just past Chicken Springs, we saw a moose. We were able to get pretty close to him! This made my whole hike :)!

 This was our final destination. Palisades Lake is gorgeous! We spent a couple hours here. We had lunch, some people swam in the lake, some fished, relaxed, fed the chipmunks, and Sawyer mostly screamed at the bugs :).

 Conner, Anna, Ethan, Sawyer, and Bailey having lunch by the lake.

 Bailey was determined she was going to swim in the lake. It was freezing! We forgot her swim suit, but that didn't stop her. It took her and Anna a while to build up the nerve, but they eventually both dunked under, and swan around for awhile.

 Sawyer and Mark relaxing in the shade.

Leaving the lake and heading back. Right after we took this picture, the thunder clouds moved in. We were all excited about a little bit of rain. The little bit of rain turned into an all out downpour!!! It was crazy! Thunder, lightening, and pouring rain for most of the hike back. Everyone was soaked (even the ones that wore ponchos), the trail was a muddy mess, and it was SO MUCH FUN! Sawyer loved it! I wanted to take a picture of how wet and dirty we all were, but it was raining too hard to even think about getting the camera out. 

We stopped in Swan Valley on the way home and got some square ice cream. The perfect end to a great day of hiking. We were all excited to get home and take a warm shower and rest our sore feet.

Rexburg Rapids

Thursday was the hottest day of the summer so far, so I took Bailey and Madi up to Rexburg Rapids for the day. We had lots of fun! I would sit in the sun reading my book until I got too hot, then I'd go find the girls and do a few laps in the lazy river with them, or go down the slide a few times. Then I'd go back to reading. The girls only came out of the water long enough to eat. They went down the slides right when we got in the park, and then a ton right before it closed because the lines were short. In the middle of the day, they spent most of their  time in the pool and lazy river. Those two are like fish, and they are happy as long as they are in the water.

Let Freedom Ring!

Neighborhood Fireworks

We kicked off our 4th of July celebration on Monday night with a neighborhood block party. It was fun to chit chat with everyone, and watch the Bishop light off fireworks.

 Emily, Marlee, Neesha, and Bailey! I love these girls!

 Sawyer was bored, and kept texting me asking if he could go to Sam's house. We finally let him. Sad day that we aren't cool to hang out with anymore :(!

 Ready for the fireworks to start!

 Once it got dark, we had quite a fireworks show! 

Idaho Falls Parade

We were leaving for the Stadium of Fire, but we waited until after the parade. We love the parade, and didn't want to miss it. Especially this year, cause Bailey's friends were in it as RMMS cheerleaders. We also helped work on our Stake's float, and we wanted to see it in the parade. It won 'Best Themed Float'!

 Bailey and Marlee! This was Marlee's cheerleading debut!

 Sawyer and Bailey watching the parade.

 Grammy, Papa, Mark, Sawyer, and Bailey watching the parade.

Right after the parade, we headed down to Utah.

Hiking the Y

Before the Stadium of Fire, we went to lunch at the Brick Oven. Then we hiked to the Y. We love taking the kids to our old college stomping grounds!

On our way to the Y!

 A view from the top of the Y. It was so hot! The kids didn't even want to spend any time relaxing at the top. They just wanted to get down and out of the sun. We could hear Scotty McCreery rehearsing for the Stadium of Fire on our way down.

 Stadium of Fire

The Stadium of Fire was so good this year! We have gone for the past 2 years, and we might have to make it a tradition. This year Scotty McCreery and the Beach Boys performed. They were both AWESOME! The fireworks were great too!

 Waiting for the show to start.

 Scotty McCreery was really good. We didn't watch his season of American Idol, but we've loved the couple releases he's had. He sounds just as good live as he does on the radio. We love that deep voice!

 The Beach Boys were so fun and entertaining. It was their 50th anniversary performance. They might be old, but they can still entertain! 

Surfin' USA video!

Happy Birthday America!

Chuckars!

The Chuckars season has started! We love going to the games!

 Bailey and Annie won Chik-Fil-A cows!

 It was free t-shirt night, so Bailey had to track down the Chuckar to get her shirt signed.

 I wanted a picture of Sawyer and Sam, and of course Sawyer was being his usual nerdy self. Nice smile, and they just kept getting better!

 Another great look for him :)!

 After my 3rd attempt, I gave up!

Ha! They had to stop the game for awhile because the sprinklers came on. Only in a small town :)!

We can't wait for the rest of the season!