Going Native

Aunt Amy and Uncle Ray are building a cabin nearby. It's going to be amazing...a few weeks ago we met up with my parents and brother at the cabin to plant some area native plants. Ryan, my brother, is a professional native plants planter...natural vegetation restoration.

We got up early and headed out to do our part. We unloaded all the plants Ryan had carefully packed in his pickup and brought from his nursery in WA.

Thankfully since Ryan is a professional we had a couple augers to drill the 150+ holes.

And lots of helping hands to plant the bushes, flowering plants, and trees.

The terrain was rugged and deer are a problem so we also spent much of the day constructing deer cages to protect the plants.

Ethan was the official (self appointed) deer proxy tester. These plants are safe!

We worked hard and loved every minute of the day with family!

A Birthday Outing

For my birthday some friends of ours took the kids and I to Farm Country. We had lots of fun feeding the animals. I think I like it as much as the kids do, maybe even more.

Both kids love to ride the ponies. Avery rode all by herself this time.

After our outing these same friends came over for pepper steak dinner and cherry almond cupcakes. Thanks for the fun!

After The Conference

After Bob's conference we hit the road again and headed to Bryce Canyon.

We hiked around through the Hoodoos.

Stopped at the Visitor's Center.

Became a Junior Ranger (badge #3 for the weekend).

We loved every minute of the weekend!

On The Road With Daddy

Bob had a work meeting in Cedar City earlier this month so the kids and I tagged along.

We left early for the conference so we could sight see a little. Our first stop was at Kolob Canyon. Lucky for us it was fee free weekend! Even more fun!

Ethan had become obsessed with the Jr. Ranger program and quickly became a pro! Badge #1.

I think the kids' favorite part of the trip was swimming.

While dad was at his meeting the kids and I went to a natural history museum...

a great wooden park (built by the community members)

flew our new kites

and visited the Iron Mission State Park

Badge #2, Junior Curator

What a fabulous work conference!

What We Really Went For...

My dad retired. Yep, officially unlaced his work boots and retired. My mom threw him a fabulous retirement party, with a little help from the family and Dad's Employer.

Bob and I worked many summers at the grain elevator. We had a great time seeing so many family friends, farmers and people we knew many moons ago.

With all 6 kids in town we of course took a family picture. So glad to spend time with all my siblings!

We had a great time in Washington and were sad to pack up and leave the next morning. If only it weren't such a long drive each time we went to play with our Washington Family. Although we make the most of each visit!

Just Fun

We think it's just fun at Gram and Papa's house. We love to do so many things...

Play with her bunnies...brand new babies just for our visit.

Shoot a little hoop...

Cheering for our cousin's game.

A little light reading...I don't know how she thought of this, but really it was all her!

and a Washington trip wouldn't be the same without a trip to Ry and Hannah's to....

Ride the 4 wheeler

take care of the horses

and just hang out...

Simply said, Washington is just plain fun!

A Washington Day Trip

For my dad's birthday we gave him a whale watching tour. It seemed like something a retired person would go do right? Plus the rest of us really wanted to go, so we loaded up early one morning and headed 3 1/2 hours north to Everett, WA. After a quick stop at Krispy Kreme we arrived at the docks.

Before we even got on the boat we were able to see ducks, Osprey on a nest and a bald eagle...always a good sign!

We finally boarded the ship and were off on our adventure. It was quite a good group of us...Gram, Papa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Ray, Aunt Nancy, Harvey, Samantha, Lane, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Emily, Uncle Mark and Daniel. We missed Auntie Hannah and Uncle P...maybe next time!

We kept our eyes on the water in search of whales...and found a lazy sea lion hauled out on a buoy.

About 30 minutes in to our trip we were thrilled to see "smoke on the water." The sign of a grey whale coming up for air.

We watched 2 whales surface and dive back down to eat. They were feeding in shallow water so we only saw their back, but it was still thrilling to catch a glimpse and watch them dive down in one spot only to surface again a little further on.

The kids loved spending time with cousins and relaxing on the boat.

After our voyage we headed back to Seattle to Pikes, a family tradition when in Seattle. Tulips were in bloom, of course we all had to bring a few home!

We took a quick walk down the pier then headed home for the day.

It was a memorable day! Thanks dad for having a birthday so we could make it on a whale watching tour!