Fleeting Summer

Summer is most definitly on its way out, and it is making me a little sad. I love everything about Summer, so it is always hard to watch it leave. Although, I do love Fall so I guess I don't have to be too sad. Fall for me means FOOTBALL - from grid-kid all the way up to the pros - I love it all.

Well, since it has been a while since I posted I better update you all to what we have been doing. A few weeks ago June and I went on our final camping trip for the year with Sean's side of the family. We had a good time as usual. I had done June's hair in a mowhawk before we left, and it stayed that way for the whole trip.
June pushed this bunny around everywhere. It was her little baby. The bunny got very dirty.
And so did June. She has some lovely black lips in this shot. Where is her mother?????
Rose, June, and I went to Rexburg one day and played at the Spray Park. I think Rose and I had more fun, but June had a good time too.
We also watched a lot of Olympic coverage for two weeks in August- all I can say is "Way to go Michael Phelps." I must admit, I once wished I could be in the Olympics, but I am ok with just watching them now. They are better athletes than I could ever be.

Some of my cousins came to town, and it was fun to see them. Nick, Kambria, baby Augustus, Brooke, and her new fiance Matt were all on their way back up to Law School and they spent the night at my parents. I love when they come. Some of my best childhood memories are with these cousins. Ryan, Savannah, and their sweet girl came about a week later. June and Ryannah are the same age, so it was fun to watch them interact - lets just say that June is not a very good sharer.

I also read Breaking Dawn, the last of the Twilight books. I love those vampire stories, and I am very much looking forward to the movie coming out later this year.

Oh, and I can't forget about softball - Sean and I have been playing all Summer, and we just started a Fall league that plays twice a week. It is a lot of fun, and I think I am getting my old form back - I hit a triple last game!!! Ok, I have probably bored you all with my life stories, but I felt like I had some catching up to do.

On Top of the World

Since last summer, my family has been planning on hiking Table Rock on 8-8-08, and on Friday we all accomplished our goal. Our company of hikers was as follows: my mom and dad, Rose, Preston, two of Preston's friends, Uncle James, Auntie Em, J.T., Max, Sean, and myself. Our little June bug spent the day with my Grandma JoAnn. We ranged in age from 9 years old to 52, and every last one of us made it to the top. Table Rock isn't an extremely hard hike, but it is long and there are parts that are a bit challenging. Teton Creek comes cascading down the mountain and you have to cross it about four times on the trail. I thought it was great fun walking across the logs and rocks in order to get across to safety.
Below is the group that I hiked with most of the day - we all wanted to go a little faster than our parents.
We reached the top at around noon, and we were all excited to be at the summit. The last bit of the hike, the actual "table", is the hardest part because you are up so high that there is very little oxygen and that makes going even 10 yards seem difficult. You just have to take it slow, and you will be alright.
Some of us ventured even further after we go to the top and went over to a spot called Inspiration Point. When you look over the edge it is a sheer drop off into the valley right at the foot of the Grand Tetons. It is a little scary, but a totally killer view - well worth the extra effort.
I'd like to tell you that I wasn't sore the next day because I am in such amazing shape, but that would be an outright lie. My legs definitely let me know that there are muscles that I should consider using more often. I'm happy and proud of all of us for making - we even got official Table Rock medals to prove to everyone that we did indeed come off conqueror

Green Thumb?

I am pleased to say, that our garden has been pretty successful this year. Last year it was a disaster - something about having a brand new baby distracted me from taking care of the garden. June loves the garden now, mostly eating the peas, but she helps me pull weeds too. It isn't very big, but we planted peas, two kinds of onions, carrots, radishes, pumpkins, watermelon, and some peppers. Our favorite are the peas and these first two pictures are of June picking her own peas.
I was picking some carrots the other day and to my surprise I pulled up a white carrot. Sean and I both tasted it, and it tasted just like a normal carrot, but we thought it was kinda bazaar so we took a picture.

These last two pictures are kind of random, but I liked them. The one above is of Sean and June licking the beaters after I was done making peanut butter bars. And the bottom one is of June sleeping in the car seat after a long day (I love that her arm is up like it is). She had been with grandma and grandpa while we went to Batman, and I guess she had played too hard with Rose. What a sweetheart!!

Update

Things have been pretty laid back the past couple of weeks around these parts. We did celebrate my brother Stuart's 22 birthday yesterday. He is now the double deuce - I can't believe he is that old!!! We shot the 22 gun in honor of his age just like we did when I turned 22. Sean, June, and I went up to Island Park over the weekend for the annual Tracy camp out. Most everybody else had gotten there earlier in the week, so we missed most of the fun activities, but we still had a good time visiting with family. On Saturday the three of us met up with some of our friends and went swimming up at the Island Park Reservoir. It was a hot day, and the water wasn't too cold, so we all had fun getting wet. My little June bug just loves the water and I think she would like me to just let go of her and let her swim, but I think I will wait a few years before I let her do that. Oh, I can't forget that Sean decided to have a handle bar mustache for a few days this weekend. I don't really like facial hair, but it did look pretty funny, and he got a lot of comments and weird looks from people. The mustache had to come off before church on Sunday though.
Most of the time it is just me and my sweet girl chillen out together, and I wouldn't have it any other way. She makes my world so happy, and everyday she does or discovers something new. Here is just a list of some of the fun things we do together: go for rides in the stroller, swim in our pool, blow bubbles, ride our bike, read stories, dance to music (Coldplay's Viva la Vida is our favorite song as of today), cook and bake, play with June's toys, and my favorite - give lovies (June gives the best hugs and kisses ever).

Mission Accomplished

They made it!!! Stuart and Preston reached the top of the Grand Teton at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Way to go - I have the best brothers EVER.
Look at the muscles on Preston, what a man. This is Stuart on the Wyoming side of the Tetons

Climbing the Grand

My two brothers are up in the Tetons climbing the Grand today. They left early Monday morning and they will summit on Tuesday morning. I may be a tad bit jealous that they are doing this without me, but it is great that the two of them are experiencing this together. They have always been best buds. So, if you are in the area look up to the Grand - use your imagination - and you will be able to see them. They said they would wave to me, so I will definitely be on the look out!!!!! Good luck Stuart and Preston.

Extreme Camping

The annual Marshall camp out was over the weekend, and we had such a great time. I will be the first one to admit it, but before I became a Marshall I wasn't much of a camper. The Marshall's have changed my way of thinking though. Camping is down right fun when you are with them. Our campsite was up near Spencer Idaho, and even though it was a little on the dusty side, it was a very scenic spot. We went on lots of 4-wheeler rides, tried out my nieces new dirt bike (which totally rocked), got into water fights (Sean and I have killer squirt guns so we were the King and Queen of the water wars), ate way to much camp food, stayed up late chatting after all the kids had gone to bed, fished, and competed in an obstacle course on the 4-wheeler where you had to balance a cup of water while riding. Needless to say, there was always something going on.

One of the new things we did this year was a skit night. Every family did one or two skits, and it was very entertaining. The picture above is of three of my sister-in-laws, my niece, and me (I'm in the middle) dancing to "Summer Time" from High School Musical 2. We could hardly breath in those pillow cases, but it was a blast. Sean and I did a "Cool and Creamy" skit where we sang and then covered each other with shaving cream. We got very messy, but the kids loved it.
My June was a good little camper. She got very dirty, and she loved every minute of it (until I tried to clean her up). I loved this shot of her in the wild flowers - my little pretty next to all of the little pretties out in the wild.