Delicious Dinner with Friends

Lounging after an awesome dinner

The fairies fighting the super heros

OK we give up. It's much more fun to make faces.

Tutus are really cool, says Sinead O'Connor

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Gendler's on Sunday night. Julie cooked an awesome meal and Caulder and Kessler got to play with their good pals Keaton and Asher. Asher and Avery graciously let the boys wear their dress-up clothes. I guess ballerinas are a hit???? Vivian and Josie were sitting in the sidelines  chuckling.

Happy Boys

Backpacking trip to Jenny Lake for Father's DayC

Mat, Kessler, Caulder, Paul, Jackson, Rick, Ryan, Zach, Bridger, and myself heading up the trail

Kessler, Caulder, and Jackson ready to go!

Bridger in her backpack

Family photo at camp

Happy Father's Day

Caulder, Jackson, Kessler at Jenny Lake

The family at Jenny Lake

Jenny Lake mostly frozen over

Kessler and Bridger on the trail

Kessler and Caulder climbing a tree

Mat, the boys and I joined our friend Paul, his son Jackson, father, brother, and nephew on an overnight Father's Day weekend backpacking trip up to Jenny Lake near Idaho City. We started our hike in late afternoon, and hiked 3.5 miles to camp in a nice meadow along the river. The boys amazingly still had enough energy to play in the snow and on the rocks around our camp for hours. The next morning we hiked a mile up the trail in the snow to Jenny Lake and enjoyed the view for a while before making the 5.5 mile trek back to our car. Everyone had a great time. Caulder and Kessler were amazing hikers with the exception of the last 1/2 mile where we had a minor breakdown. We treated ourselves after the big hike with milkshakes from Dairy Queen.

Carp fishing tournament

Mat and a fish.....not the winning fish

The winning fish

Sean with the winning fish!

Mat and his co-worker Sean Vincent entered a carp fishing tournament, and won! They caught a 30" carp.

First camping trip this summer

Taking a dip in the hot spring under the waterfall

Hiking

Hiking

Mat taking a dip in a shallow hot pool

We took our first camping trip this year earlier in June to a campground called Pine Flats. The weather was nice, and the campground mostly empty. We took a dip in the nearby hot springs.

Memorial Day at Mount St. Helens

Kessler excited to see a volcano

Mt. St. Helens

The mountain

The paper airplanes at Grandma and Grandpa's house

We took a trip Memorial Day weekend over the mountain to visit Grandma Deedee and Grandpa Dick in Welches, OR. From there, we day tripped over to Mount St. Helens. It's been many years since I've been to St. Helens, and Mat has not seen the mountain since it erupted. The weather was a little chilly, but the spring scenery was beautiful. The boys were pretty excited to see a volcano, but I think were a little disappointed when they discovered there was no hot lava. We did see steam rising out of the crater, though. We drove to the Johnston Ridge Observatory and had a great view into the crater. We are looking forward to returning when the snow is gone so we can hike up to the ridge.
After out trip to mount St. Helens, Mat and I headed back to Boise for a quiet week without the boys. They stayed with Grandpa and Grandma in Oregon. The boys did a lot of fun activities with grandma and grandpa, and I think wore them out. Two four-year-olds have a LOT of energy.
Mat and I took the opportunity to see a couple of movies, and visit our favorite restaurants. Unfortunately, I had to work a lot that week, and couldn't take full advantage of the week off, but we still had fun. We sure appreciated grandpa and grandpa taking our little monsters off our hands for a week! :)

While the girls are away, the boys will play...in Montana

Bridger playing in the snow

Caulder and Kessler sporting 'war paint' with their very tall snowman

The R Bar is back!

While I was enjoying the hot Vegas weather, Mat and the boys took a trip to visit family in Bozeman. As it typically does in the spring, a snow storm dumped a few inches on them. Mat and the boys enjoyed hiking and sledding in the snow, and relaxing with family. Grandpa Richard even gave a mini-concert on the cello.

Girls trip to Vegas

Robyn, Becky, Sara, myself, and Amy getting ready to depart in our groovy minivan

The Strip

Relaxing by the pool

Our hotel

Heading out for a very late night out on the town

I took a fun road trip with four girlfriends down to Vegas. We rented a car and drove 10 hours to our awesome sweet on the 34th floor of the MGM Grand hotel. We spent three days relaxing by the pool, touring the Vegas sites, and checking out the nightlife. It was a nice, relaxing break.

Back country ski trip

Garrick, Mat, Dave, Ken

Hiking to the Cabin

The cabin. Snowed in. They had to shovel out the door just to get in.

The view

In April, Mat and three co-workers at the Department of Water Resources (Garrick, Dave, and Ken) went on a back country ski trip to Pioneer cabin in the Pioneer Mountains near Sun Valley, Idaho. It was a tough hike to a very rustic cabin, but well worth the scenery.

Greetings from the Tree Fort Music Festival

Caulder, Kessler, Owen

One last day of skiing

We took one last ski trip to Bogus Basin. It was a beautiful day, and we even got Grandpa Dick up there for the first time skiing in 15 years.

Day trip to Miracle Hot Springs

Swimming at Miracle Hot Springs. It had everything, including an alligator.

Skiing

Although Bogus Basin, our local ski hill, had its latest opening ever (January 19, 2012), we have managed to make it up skiing 10 times so far. The boys had lessons in February, which gave Mat and I some time to ski on our own. It is so fun to watch Caulder and Kessler progress. They started out on the magic carpet, and quickly progressed to green and blue runs. Caulder has no fear, and is a little speed demon. Kessler is more cautious and likes to focus on perfecting his turns. We’ll be sad to see the ski season end.