In August we were able to go to Refugio Beach with the
Thompson's. This was my seventh year, and not being a camper, I must say I am pretty proud of myself for happily
enduring! Our girls
absolutely love it and and of
course Johnny! John was kind enough to buy us a top of the line air mattress that truly made all the difference for me. We even brought our nice warm comforter. At times it even felt like we were home. Just kidding. Ya right!! :) It was really windy during the night, but the kids slept really well and were always up early eager to see what the day would bring. Janet and Sherry
Risser always made sure there was plenty of delicious food around, and as always Bill cooked up his
famous stakes on the last night. Our good friends
Quinten and Shelly and their darling baby
Boyd came down from San Jose to spend the day with us. It was so great to see them as always. And what would our trip have been like without Jason and Kate. They were able to come up on our last day. We talked Kate into going
kayaking and assured her that even though she did not have a swim suit she would not get that wet. Well, John and I looked over just in time to see their
kayak turn over into the freezing water. We can laugh now, but
I'm not sure if Kate will ever. It was
awful but
memorable. Thanks Kate!!! Here are some pictures from our adventure.
Uncle Jeff dug a huge hole for the kids. They called it
their fort and played in it everyday.
The three
Amiga's. Ellie and Paige love their cousin Liv!! They were
inseparable all week and were sad to say goodbye. This is Ellie's sixth year going to Refugio and such a fun tradition that they look forward to.
All the
grand kids love their Grandpa. He always takes them on a hike to "the cliff."
Emma was good little camper. Taking a baby camping in the crawling phase is always interesting. We had a lot of fun though and survived yet another year at Refugio!!
We had so much fun at my moms this summer. I was able to stay a month and it really went by fast. The girls love going to see their Nana and Papa. There is something magical about going to stay at your grandparents house. 
One of the days we went 4 wheeling. This was the clan, and it was awesome. My brother in law Aaron, Judson and Michelle, my older brother Brandon, John and I and Alain. It was a little sketchy for me at times. I'm not a fan of going up a cliff at a 90 degree angle. I wanted to live to see my children again! :) It was incredibly beautiful!! John of course loved the adrenalin rush, but said the best part was having me hold onto him so tight! Ohhhhhh, doesn't he just know all the right things to say!
Michelle and I were so dirty!
We rode up to some beautiful waterfalls and hiked down to get these pictures. There were so many cows on the trails. It looked like we were about to go bowling, but just in the nick of time they would all go scattering in every direction as we drove by. Oh, the little baby ones were so cute. Cows really are a massive animal to see up that close.
I love this picture of Brandon, Michelle and I. We missed our Jamie though! It has been really fun for our family to go up to Idaho every summer. We love living by the beach, but this gives our kids an entirely different experience. Sometimes when I was jogging in the mornings I would look at fields and fields of wheat blowing in the wind as far as I could see and it was breathtaking. Just as got over this certain ridge I could begin to see the steeple of the Rexburg temple coming into view. Sometimes I would just stop and look around me. It was a sobering moment to be reminded of how blessed I really am in my life.
