Wyoming Trip

 Paige and Zach were heading to Wyoming to escape the Las Vegas heat so I decided to join the family up in Gillette, WY for a week.  I had so much fun playing with the twins, enjoying the chance to visit with my mom and dad in their new apartment and hanging out with my sisters.

Graham and Cecil having a snack after playing outside in the water

We went to Mt. Rushmore.  I had never been before and it was pretty fun to see.  We hiked the little mile loop that takes you through the base of the mountain and gives you a different perspective on the faces.  During our walk there was a little presentation by a Native American man who told us stories of his people that lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota long before white people came and carved faces on a mountain.  I thought it was a good presentation and very important for us to remember the people who were here before.  The little ones liked when he played the drum and sang songs.

These two crazies love the show "PJ Masks" and DeNae just happened to have their favorites...Cat Boy and Owlette to the rescue!

I couldn't believe when I saw this guy dressed as Donald Trump at the Gillette 4th of July parade.  He isn't the President anymore...what the heck?  But there were very loud cheers as the jeep drove down the road so I guess the people here in Wyoming love The Donald😐

It was such a hot day for the parade but these kids loved chasing after all the candy that was thrown from the different parade floats.

How cute are these boys with their patriotic outfits!  Remy and Cecil were not going to smile...too hot and tired:)

I had so much fun visiting with my family.  Who knows how much longer my parents will be around so I'm very happy every chance I have to visit.

Fun times in June

 

Andrea Merrill and Oma came to Oregon for a visit so we took a big group out for a boat ride on the "Skinny Dan"  We had a lot of fun jumping in the water and swimming around.

Katrina brought her kayaks and we borrowed a few paddle boards, it was a great afternoon on the river

We went to Lincoln City for a few days and rented a house on the beach.  It was really fun to be with family and explore the coast a bit.

I had to get a photo of the "aftermath" of the twins and Sam Doxey staying up all night at the beach house playing cards and drinking beer...ginger beer😝

Took a great family hike to Drift Creek Falls

Fun campfire on the beach

I love my three crazy boys!

We had a beautiful, relaxing time at the beach.

Another family hike, this time to Moulton Falls in Washington State

It was a really pretty walk through the forest and we saw some nice waterfalls

This picture is hard to tell but there were waterfalls rushing down on either side of this rock island

Julian's "last day of 6th grade" photo.  All online, all year.  It was a really tough year for Julian but I'm confident he will bounce back to his regular hard working self next year if school is back to normal.

Townsend, last day of Junior year of high school.  The entire year was a complete mess and the boys didn't really even have to log on for their classes so they mostly just slept in until lunch, then did a bit of school work at their own pace, then played on the computer the rest of the day!  I am so excited for school to come back next year!!!

Emerson, last day of school photo...what a year!

My final day with baby Josh.  It was a tough decision but I told Ruth I would not be able to watch Josh again next school year.  He is such a cute, great little guy but it's a lot of work and I want to be more available to travel.  Paige is going to have a new baby next November and I want to be able to help her out if she needs me.  It was fun taking care of little Josh but I know he will have a great time wherever he ends up next year.

Julian's school did absolutely nothing for their graduating 6th graders so I decided to throw a little party for him celebrate.  

Josh Andreasen, Jacob Greathouse, Brayden Sloan and Jules.  What a fun, crazy group of 6th grade graduates.  I'm glad we could make it work to celebrate their big accomplishment together.

Shave Ice from a local food truck...perfect on a hot day!

They had fun with our archery set and bb guns:)

The twins heading out to the Oregon Coast for the first time on their own.  A group of their friends met up in Seaside for the day.  They had a great time!  I'm so proud of them for the way they get along these days.  One drives while the other navigates with their phone.  They are such great drivers!

Julian got his 2nd Covid-19 vaccination and that meant our entire family was 100% protected.  Thank goodness for the vaccine!!!

An "after shot" treat from Red Robin

Lots of fun evening sailing on the Skinny Dan

Happy Fathers Day!  We went for a kayak/canoe trip down the Tualatin River.  It was about 4 miles from where we put in to where we landed and took us about 2 hours.  It was a pretty warm day on the water but luckily there was shade for a lot of the river run.

Emerson and Townsend in the kayaks

Hyrum and I paddled the canoe which meant Julian was left free to lounge the entire time...what a crazy kid:)

I took my boys and some of their friends to Battle Ground Lake to cool off on a hot day.  We stayed most of the day and the weather and water were perfect for cooling off in the lake.

Julian and his friend Jacob spent almost all day on this paddle board!

I took the boys to Portland for the day, just for a fun excursion.  We stopped by to check out this Celtic Cross.  When we visited Ireland in 2017 we saw this neat old cross and one of the guides mentioned that there was a replica of the cross in Portland, Oregon.  I had always wanted to go and find it so I finally did and Julian was nice enough to recreate the photo for me:)

I saw this post from a friend on Facebook and it totally made me laugh.  Portland had a terrible heat wave that lasted three days June 26-28th.  The temperature was 108, 112 and 115 degrees those three days.  It was INSANE!

In Oregon we usually have people at the gas station that will pump your gas for you.  There was no one outside due to the heatwave so I had to pump the gas...MYSELF!  I almost melted

We spent a lot of time near and in water those 3 days!

Poor Peter with her black fur coat on!  She wasn't very frisky while it was so hot outside!

Girls Trip to Mexico!

 Some of my sisters and I decided that now we are all vaccinated it was time to get out and use our passports again.  We went to Cabo, Mexico for a 4 day getaway from kids and crazy lives back home. It was completely relaxing and fantastic and wonderful and I wish I could do this once a month!!!  We stayed in an "all inclusive" resort which was great because we never had to worry about food or where we wanted to eat...everything was at the resort.  I absolutely loved this trip and can't wait for the next girls trip!

View of the resort from the reception hall.  Lots of pools to choose from to hang out in or you could go down to the beach.  So lovely!

There was a fiesta the first night with lots of music and dancing and food.  It was a lot of fun.

DeNae Israelsen, Riann Johnson, Rachelle Durtschi and Paige Deshetler

We brought these matching dresses to wear at the beach, they were super comfy and we looked dang cute!

Had so many fish tacos and chips with guacamole...soooo goooood!

Riann and I enjoying dinner with a view

This is basically what we did ALL WEEKEND and it was fantastic!

We went into the little town of San Jose one morning to do some souvenir shopping.  It was a cute little town and not too crazy over run with tourists.  I think most of the tourists go to Cabo San Lucas.

In the pool cooling off

Loving our sunny vacation in Mexico!

The last day all my sisters had earlier flights than I did so I got to spend an extra 2 hours doing this.  Listening to the waves, eating guacamole and chips and relaxing!  Adios Mexico, it was a great adventure!