Summer Re-cap

Okay, so we're finally blogging. I don't know whether to rejoice or cringe. No, really though, I'm excited about this new adventure in blogging. I've just come to a realization that this could possibly take the place of scrap booking, which is life changing for me since not one of my four children have scrapbooks (please don't hate me).

For my first posting, I figured I'd better do a little catch up of our fun summer. Admittedly, summer ended a few weeks ago, but hey, I'm obviously a little slow. Summertime around here was amazing. The kids and I all loved the whole not getting up and going thing. We were perfectly content "sleeping in," hanging around in pajamas, not making school lunches, and just taking things a little easier. Our whole family also enjoyed a variety of fun vacations and day trips.

So here's the rundown ...

One week after school ended I headed out as a camp assistant with the young women from church to their yearly summer Girls Camp. It was a lot of fun. The fact that I was only scheduled to stay for two days and ended up staying five attests to that. Unfortunately, no pics (crazy, I know).

A week after returning home we headed out again as a family to the LDS church-owned Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum, WA. We stayed for the week and had a wonderful time. We fished, had a mini hand-cart "trek," swam in the lake, played in the river (my poor phone took a swim), did a LOT of slip-n-sliding, and the kids had led horse rides. The last night we were there was the 4th of July and it turned out that the Ranch had an incredible fireworks show. So much fun! We even had a few visitors during the week (the awesome Hegstead family and Kevin's parents and sister).

We got back on a Saturday and the following Friday Kevin and I left again for our 10-year-anniversary, first to Leavenworth, WA and then to an amazing lodge resort (Sun Mountain Lodge) in Winthrop, WA. It was a beautiful place with amazing views. I have to stop and say, though, how grateful I am for the amazing ten years we've spent together. Kevin is such an outstanding husband and father and has truly been a ongoing, living-breathing miracle in my life! I could not imagine life without him. Okay, and one last detail, I did end up with the flu for part of our trip which really stunk, except that I was able to lounge at the pool and veg in a beautiful hotel room so I really can't complain that much.

Once we returned from this trip, the kids and I pretty much just stayed home the remainder of the summer; the highlight of our days (refreshing to say) was morning swim lessons. Kevin on the other hand continued on to an intense 3-day backpacking trip at Mildred Lakes with a great family friend, where they fished, fished, and fished some more. I would go into more detail, but I know I wouldn't do the experience justice.

After Mildred, Kevin finished off with an outstanding ward (that's with our church) youth conference. He, along with a dozen or so adults and some forty youth (ages 12-18) returned to Ensign Ranch for a rafting trip and an incredible, life-changing sixteen-mile pioneer "trek" (again, no pictures).

The rest of the summer consisted of weekend hiking and fishing trips and just a lot of fun together as a family. It was a great summer! Actually, we did end with one last overnight ward campout. My mom and nephew were able to come along with us, and despite a squirrel in our rustic little cabin and more than one bee bite we had a great time!