June (check out the three Vimeo videos in this post that Sarah made - she totally rocks Vimeo!!!)

June started out with the kids getting out of school and going in all different directions for beginning-of-summer parties. A lot of swimming was done and consuming of ice cream! We gathered back together in the evening to go out to dinner and to see a movie.



The first weekend of June had us driving to Oregon to see Alexa graduate. Our family helped decorate and prepare food for Alexa's graduation party that was held in Nonnie's backyard the evening before the graduation. It was a very fun and busy weekend! Way to go, Alexa!



















We went swimming a lot!





We went to the Idaho Aquarium as our annual pass was soon expiring.





Levi took a class at Williams-Sonoma with Nathan on how to make summer treats. They had a great time together!





Spencer had a swim meet and did great!!







Benjamin had Cub Scout Day Camp the same day as the swim meet. He loved every minute of his day doing archery, crafting, BB shooting, playing games, creating and passing off achievements.



Andrew was invited to play in a tournament on a traveling lacrosse team. It was a great learning experience and we were able to see some great playing. He even made a goal in the last game. He was #37.





Benjamin helped with dinner while passing off a requirement in scouts.



Levi took swimming lessons and learned to jump off the diving board and swim to the other side.



Nathan took the boys for a hike one evening.



We ate a LOT of shave ice!!



Sarah and Nathan had Daddy-Daughter evening at Young Women's. They had to answer questions and as you can tell from the picture, Sarah didn't know as many as Nathan did. They had a great evening together!!



The kids got Krispy Kreme donuts for their great report cards - not really sure why I didn't get pictures of the other kids - oops!



We went on a grand adventure with a final destination to Ashton, Idaho for the extended Smith family reunion. We made many stops along the way. The first stop was in Fairfield to stock up on firecrackers. Then, onto Craters of the Moon. We walked around on the lava and looked as far as we could see to see more lava. I love when we're able to see things that the kids learn about in 4th grade Idaho history. Next, we walked around the campus of BYU-I so we could show our kids where we both went to school. We also did a little shopping at my favorite store in Rexburg, Porter's. We stayed in a house in Ashton and walked around the town until we found a quant local ice cream shop where we enjoyed getting to know the owners and eating their delicious ice cream.





















The next morning we got up early to head into Yellowstone. The first thing we saw was a big herd of Bison. They are such amazing animals.







I went to Yellowstone with my family in 1988 on my way to Ricks College. The only pictures we have from that trip are my siblings butts with animals in the background. I made my kids take this picture so I could send it to all my siblings to remind them of great memories.



Then we walked around a area that had four different types of hydrothermal features - hot springs, geysers, mudpots and fumaroles. It was totally cool!! Andrew especially loved it!

















Our next stop was Old Faithful. We couldn't have planned it better as we got there and not 20 minutes later it erupted. At the same time, another geyser, Beehive which was close by erupted as well. It was AWESOME!! We looked through the visitors center and watched the movie in the theater. Next, we went looking for lunch and some souvenirs which included smashed pennies. We soon walked over to the lodge and loved walking around as it is something else!!!















Our next stop was, West Thumb. This was probably one of my favorite stops as the views with Yellowstone lake in the background and all of the different hydrothermal features right there - it was truly beautiful!!!























We made a few more stops and saw the Canyon. We also saw some really big Elk.





This is me explaining to everyone that we are going to complete the lower loop of Yellowstone. I know that by the afternoon everyone was pretty much done with all the driving and walking and looking but I absolutely LOVED our experience in Yellowstone. I hope we get to go again soon!







Friday evening and all day Saturday was our Smith family reunion at Aunt Leona and Uncle Bruce's cabin in Ashton. We love coming to their cabin and visiting with many of Nathan's extended family. Friday night we had a delicious dinner and desserts (we learned about our many Grandma's favorite desserts to make for their families) and did a lot of visiting. The next day, we ate more delicious food (ALL day long) and did different activities. The theme this year for the reunion was Fairy Tales and every family was asked to choose one fairy tale. We chose Peter Pan and our activity was a treasure chest pinata full of "treasure" (lots of candy) and our skit that evening was dressing up as "lost boys" (our boys and Karl's), Wendy (Sarah) and Tinkerbell (Khloe) and tell jokes. Everyone did a great job of having fun activities that we participated in all day and then it was fun to see the talent and silliness of the family in the skits. As always, we LOVED being with family!!





The day after we got back from the reunion, Sarah packed up and embarked on the famous 4th year hike. She went with 30 other girls and many leaders. She carried her pack 5 + miles all uphill with an elevation climb of 1900 feet to Jennie Lake. She was able to swim in the very cold lake. She later set up her tent and cooked all her own food.



At the same time that Sarah was setting up camp at Jennie Lake, I was decorating camp at Pinetop for when the 4th year girls would join the rest of the girls in the Stake. I loved being a 4th year cabin leader. We had amazing girls (I'm sure it helped that they were exhausted from their hike and they easily went to sleep especially that first night) and our schedule kept us very busy. In fact, we were woken up early enough to see the sun come up at a Sun Rise devotional and didn't go to bed that night until around midnight after the testimony meeting. I loved having that time with Sarah and meeting so many fabulous ladies in the Stake.

Sarah celebrated her birthday up at Girl's camp and the cooks were awesome at making her feel loved and celebrated as they made her a "quesadilla cake" for lunch, made her white sauce and pasta for dinner and gave her huge cupcakes to share with her friends in the freezer. (It was unusually hot up at camp all week 105+ degrees so we liked spending time in the freezer to cool us down.)



Here's just a small glimpse of our experiences of Girl's camp through Sarah's camera lens.



I'm so grateful that Nathan and Andrew helped at home so I could spend the week at Girl's camp. Nathan posted these pictures on Facebook the evening I left for camp. That's what he made the boys and himself for dinner the first night I was gone. The next day, our neighbor brought him soup and bread for dinner and my mom came into town to help with the boys.





What an AMAZING and MEMORABLE month!!!

May

During the month of May our Friday nights consisted of watching Andrew play lacrosse...





Spencer play flag football...





and Benjamin play flag football...





The boys had a great fan club that cheered them on while eating LOTS of yummy kettle corn.











On Saturdays we got to watch this one's soccer skills improve with these great coaches.





Andrew got "hooked" onto fishing, literally.



Spencer's patience payed off as he was finally able to paint his new bedroom.





This swarm of bees came to our neighbors house and had to have a bee keeper (our friend, Ryan Cole) come and save them. It was a great learning experience for our family.



We went to the Saturday Market one Saturday and I ran into these lovely friends from my past teaching years.



The boys planted flowers in the front yard for me for Mother's day.







Here is a video that Sarah made for me for Mother's Day. Isn't she amazing! We'd gone to the Farmers Market downtown to get the footage.



Nathan and the boys experimented with bread making - YUM!!







Going to the Merc after school on Friday for ice cream became the norm for dad, Spencer and Benjamin.



Andrew finally got to bring home the bag that he made at school in his Young Living class. He uses it to carry all of his lacrosse gear. Most excellent!



Benjamin read Roscoe Riley and did a body mask for his end-of-year project.




Levi graduated from preschool and enjoyed his end of year party with friends.







Spencer became Ansel Adams for his Living Museum project. He did a great job presenting his dialog and wowed everyone with his backdrop and decor.





Spencer received the Arrow of Light award at scouts with all of his scouting friends. Way to go, Spencer!!



It was a busy month but full of great memories!