Summer Basketball

Madison has been playing with her AAU team in a summer league. Her team has done so well together. They won half of their games and it probably would have been more if it wasn't for low numbers because of people traveling. Tonight the playoffs started and Madison's team won both of their games. Next week they will be playing in the championship game. The girls sure have come far from when they first started playing together in 5th grade. Madison has come so far too. She is really starting to dominate the court. It is fun to watch her play and get better.

Ashley was a little worn out so she brought her pillow so she could get comfortable.

She almost fell asleep under the bleachers. Summer sure has been hard on her. We need to rest before she starts school next week.

Coach Tim promised them ice cream if they won. He has helped so much with their confindence and coming together as a team.

Next weeks game is going to be exciting. I can't wait to see who wins.

Eagle Island

A bunch of people from our ward got together and went to Eagle Island for the day. I wasn't going to go originally but the girls talked me into it. I had never been there so I wasn't sure what to expect. The girls ended up having so much fun with their friends.

While the kids played the moms talked. It was a nice relaxing day. We have some great people in our ward. We have been blessed with some great friends.

Roaring Springs

Allison and Ashley earned Roaring Springs tickets for reading a certain amount of minutes. We have had a pretty busy summer so we haven't had a chance to use them until now. We were all still tired from our camping trip but I thought theses expired at the end of July so we used them today. The girls were excited to go.

We had a great day riding rides,

and went around the lazy river a few times.

The girls went strong all day long. I however was worn out so about half way through the day I sat down next to the pool and read while the girls swam and rode rides. We ended up staying till right before it closed and the girls were so exhausted. I am glad that we had this one day at Roaring Spring.

Camping

My dad really enjoys camping and thought it might be fun to go camping with as many has his grand kids as possible. We really liked the pool at Nat Soo Pah when we were there earlier this summer so I suggested it. I was really happy with where we went. This is the first time that we have gone camping. I camped as a kid and Madison has gone to girls camp but this is the first time for us to go together. Also the first time for Allison and Ashley at all. Kevin wasn't able to make since he is the the last class of his Masters right now. We were all bummed but know that he will have more time on August 26th when his Masters is over.

Uncle Chris was also not able to get off work so Papa picked his kids up so they could be there. We arrived on Thursday and got camp set up. As dinner was winding down the sky changed color and it looked like rain was threatening. Thankfully it only sprinkled very little but unfortunately there was wind. Not just a breeze but strong wind. One of my dads tents blew over and broke. It was miserable.

We kept an eye on the tents and sat around and waited for the wind to die down under our lowered canapy. When the wind died down we prepared for bedtime. With one tent broke, Anna and Devany moved into our tent. We had plenty of room. Our tent was deemed the girls tent. Once we were settled into bed the wind started again. Ashley did not like it one bit. At one point she informed me that I could go drop her off at Nana's house. She had already had enough of camping and was done. I convinced her we would be ok and she settled in to a restless sleep. I was so nervous the whole night that one of our tent poles were going to break that I was saying a prayer in my heart all night and didn't sleep much. All the girls in my tent slept very restless.

Early in the morning the wind died down and we were able to get a couple hours of sleep. When we awoke the clouds were all gone and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. We checked to make sure that everything was ok and then started breakfast. It was fun to cook over a fire with my dad.

When we were done with breakfast and it was all cleaned up we got ready to head to the pool. We had 8 very excited kids to jump right in. We spent most of our day at the pool. The youngest 3 Ashley, Aiden and Devany were going nonstop for most of the day.

The older kids also had their fair share of fun.

The slide was another big hit.

Ashley rode the slide again over and over again.

She kept on trying to convince Aiden to ride it with her but finally gave up. I guess Aiden has always been nervous in water and it was a big step for him to being playing as comfortably as he was. He didn't like to go past the rope where he couldn't touch the whole time. One time we were all hanging out in the deeper part adn was scanning the pool to make sure Aiden was ok. I didn't see him anywhere and was starting to get concerned until he caught my eye coming off the slide.

We were all pleasantly surprised especially Ashley. For the rest of the day Ashley and Aiden went up and down the slide. It is amazing where they get their energy. It was a great day coming and going from the pool. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and made some lasting memories. Once we were thoroughly pooped we called it a day at the pool and went back to camp for dinner and some smores.

It was a great evening. Uncle Chris and Aunt Rachel showed up before we headed to bed to help get everyone home the next day.

The night went much smoother then the previous and everyone slept like a baby.

I couldn't get these two out of bed. They must have really worn themselves out swimming. When we finally got them up so we coultake the tent down it took them awhile to wake up.

It was weird not to have Ashley wake up her normal bubbly self.

We got everyone packed up and took one last picture before we all headed our separate ways.

My parents had all of their grand kids camping with them except one. We had a great time and talked about doing this on an annual basis so our kids can hang out with their cousins more. I can't wait till we get together next year.

Our final leg before home

We arrived very late so we all slept in. We took our time getting ready and getting on the road. The morning was over cast and didn't seem like it would be a sunny day. We started our drive up the mountain on our way home and moved out of the cloud cover. The scene was beautiful.

There is a great lesson in this. If the day doesn't look good just change your point of view.

Our drive home went smoothly and Ashley's ankle was looking much better.

Yellowstone

Today we woke up to Ashley complaining that her ankle hurt. She apparently had been bitten by a bug that she was either allergic to or the bite was infected. My dad and I were concerned so we sent Kevin a picture of it to see what he thought. He was also concerned by the size of it and agreed that we needed to get her to the doctor. He also added that we needed to get her a blessing and gave me the number to a local bishop.

The doctor prescribed Ashley an antibiotic and Benedryl. I am so nervous every time I give Ashley an antibiotic because she has had such bad reactions to some in the past. Once we were done with that we got a hold of the bishop for a blessing. Once we left the bishops office I was feeling a lot better about Ashley. The bishop just happened to be a doctor. He looked at her ankle and felt comfortable with the other doctors diagnosis. I felt comfortable heading to Yellowstone as we started our quest home.

We left Cody and headed west to Yellowstone to see some sights. We had Papa as our tour guide. He spent some time in Yellowstone when he was younger. We stopped on the Fishing Bridge for a picture but was not aware of how cold it had become outside.

Everyone was freezing so it was a quick stop. Next we moved on the a visitors center that was along the Yellowstone Lake. Madison really wanted to put her feet in the water. I am not sure why but headed to the lake so the girls could put their feet in.

Ashley hung back so she didn't get her infected ankle wet. She was being such a good sport especially for not feeling well. As we drove we stopped at the sites that most appealed to us. The girls and I really wanted to see some wild life since we didn't see any our first time through but we were not having any luck. Well except for Grammy and Madison in there car. A deer jumped out in front of them. I do not know how we did not see it. We were leading the pack. I guess my dad was having to much fun visiting. I really enjoyed the time that we had in the car together. I was glad when Madison wanted to ride with my mom.

After driving around and seeing different sites for quite some time we finally ran across some buffalo along the side of the road.

The girls were not impressed they wanted a closer look. I was just happy that we finally saw something. Our next stop was the falls. As we rounded a corner we noticed a motor home stopped in the middle of the road. Well the girls got their wish. As soon as we noticed the motor home we next noticed a buffalo coming out of the trees.

The girls were so excited to see one so close. Then it kept walking toward our car and we were not sure that it wasn't going to walk right over the car.

It did finally turn and go around the car but Ashley was still not impressed. It was so close to the car on her side that she could have reached out and touched it.

Ashley was done. She was ready to get out of Yellowstone and to our hotel. Once we got to the falls she did not want to get out of the car. We finally convinced her to get out but we had to carry her. We ask Madison what she thought about the buffalo and she told us that Grammy was nervous and locked the car as it walked by.

We all got a good laugh. We didn't stay long at the falls since Ashley was so nervous.

It was starting to get late and Ashley was exhausted so we decided to head to Old Faithful and make that our last stop before we headed to Jackson. We could not have arrived at any better time. We found out seats and waited maybe 5 minutes before Old Faithful started to go off.

One would think that the seats would have been better on the other side since we had to look into the sun but it wouldn't have been because all the steam was on that side and they didn't as clear a view. It was beautiful. I am so glad that we were able to see it and especially at sunset. After some dinner we were on our way to Jackson. Today was great day.

Pioneer Celebration

Today we headed to Burlington, Wyoming for their 24th of July Celebration. I remember going to this when I was younger. My kids have never been to a big 24th celebration so I was excited for them to see what it was all about. The day started out with a parade.

The kids were ready because they heard that a lot of candy would be thrown.

We soon found out that much more then candy would be thrown. What kid would not like otter pops and ice cream sandwiches at 10 in the morning. The kids really enjoyed the floats especially when some McIntosh cousins came by on their horses.

After the parade there was a program about the heritage of Burlington and then there was some lunch. Once lunch was over the pioneer booths opened up and the girls mingled through them.

A pioneer cake walk

churning butter

and then making rag dolls. Once we were done at the celebration we headed out the farm to ride horses.

I was on a horse at the same time my kids were on so I didn't get any pictures of the girls. I was sad. We still have some great memories of riding the horses.

After a long day we stopped by the farm house that my grandma and dad grew up in before we headed to the hotel for some sleep.