Sand Dunes / Zapata Falls

We had a reunion with all of my sisters and their families.  The first day we played at the sand dunes and had a big picnic lunch.  Now these aren’t just dunes they are more like mountains of sand.  In some of the pictures you can see little dots in the background on the sand, those are people.

The small creek bed was completely dry this year.  SO we decided to head up to the nearby waterfall.  You walk up a little rocky trail to a creek.  Here are some of the slower hikers, visiting and helping little ones.  The other half of our group are on up ahead .

 

Then you walk in the creek into a cave, in which there is a beautiful waterfall.  You can see the entrance of the cave that Rebecca and Makayla are starting to go in.

  Ashley found a rock that she HAD to have.  I refused to carry any more and she carried it all the way down without complaint.

The view coming down was beautiful.  You could see the dunes down in the distance.  I love hiking with family because it is the perfect time to visit with each other.

Jacob’s Birthday

Jacob has been gone most of the summer.  He went on a high adventure camp with Stephen for a week.  They went white water river rafting and then off the road jeeping.  They both LOVED the adventure. 

The next week Jacob went to EFY.  It is a week for youth 14-18 to go to devotionals, do service, go to a couple of dances, play games, …. basically have fun with a bunch of other youth.  He LOVED it!  I was so glad for the opportunity for him to go to EFY.

Since he was gone during his birthday, we celebrated when he got home on Saturday.  I can’t believe he is fourteen.  He is such a sweet boy and so grateful for anything and everything.

 

Jacob has such good friends and I’m glad that he was able to go with one of them to EFY.  Jacob is very easy going.  He is an incredible artist and enjoys sketching any chance he gets.  He also enjoys playing the piano, reading, and swimming.  We sure love you Jacob and are very glad that you are part of our family!

Giant JENGA

I saw this idea HERE.  I then forwarded it to my dad and told him it would be fun to have this on their patio to play while all of the grandkids were there.  SOOO when we get down to my parents’ house there sits FOUR sets of this giant Jenga.  I said, “Dad, why did you cut so many?”  To which he replied, “I knew if I had to cut one for you, all of your sisters would want a set too!”  He is learning. :)

We set up one for the girls and one for the boys and played us a little Jenga, I mean BIG Jenga….

 

And it was a HIT!

FYI, my dad just used 2x4’s and cut them each 10.5 inches.  He cut 54 for each set.  We didn’t sand them, and it worked just fine.  It probably would be good to sand the blocks though.

Thanks again DAD!

Ice Blocking

One of my college roommates, Trenya lives near the Springs.  I will always remember the first day I moved into my apartment at college and Trenya had left a sweet note and goodie on my bed. Isn’t that funny how such a simple act of kindness is remembered for years!

We need to do more together with our families, but we manage to get together at least a couple times a year.  We went ice blocking at Cottonwood Park and then came back here for dinner and had a fun chat.

I’m always amazed at how fast the ice gets going AND  how one block of ice can entertain for such a long period of time.

Washington Trip

We went swimming everyday that we were there.  Stephen loves the water and you can see it in our kids.  I had to hear from more than one kid that it was no fair that grandma has a pool and we don’t.

 

Yes soccer balls came to Washington via Nathan.  He had his normal size and then this mini.  We were down at the river chillaxin and I couldn’t help but smile at Nathan all propped up on his mini ball.  (Yes the exposure on the river is blown, but Nathan and his soccer ball are captured.)

 

The river has a fun park with a zip line.  The kids always beg Stephen to push them because he REALLY pushes them.

Jacob always has his sketchbook with him.  Here he is out on Grandma’s lawn working on a character.

Ash kept busy swimming, blowing bubbles and doing any firework that her dad would let her help with.

We picked raspberries out of Grandpa’s big patch.  The first day we were there we had three containers the size that Nathan is holding.  Brenda and I made freezer jam that night.  We froze plain berries and then we feasted on them for breakfast with cream and sugar.

We played kickball one evening.  The soft hills in the background are so pretty in the evening as the sun moves across them.

We loved Grandma’s tire swing, until it broke.

   

We played Guesstures outside one evening.  

  We went foraging by the river with Grandpa Thompson.  There were huckleberry trees and gooseberry bushes.  Grandpa is always quick to tell us what each plant is and if it is edible.

We enjoyed this cute little nephew of ours, Gideon.

And we enjoyed Dave and Lindsey AND of course our Grandma and Grandpa Thompson AND that sums up our Washington trip!

Girls’ Date

One morning the boys went out shooting, and since the girls needed a fun time too we went on a little date in the afternoon.  We first went to this fun English tea restaurant.  They had fun hats to try on, and every tea and sandwich imaginable.  We had the peppermint tea, but I think the girls had more sugar than tea.

   We then went to the movie to see Monte Carlo.  It was a cute little girl movie that got the girls dreaming of love.

Can I just say how much I love my mother-in-law!  She is such an incredible example to me and my girls.