We made our way up to Hebgen Lake, Montana in early June.. Man alive, I love that place. It really is Heaven on Earth (or, Hebgen on Earth.. as they say). We new it would be a bit of a wild card with early summer weather, but I was soo happy it'd be too cold for many mosquitoes.
The drive up was relatively uneventful.. until we hit St. George, UT. Luke (who is usually in bed by 7:30pm) didn't fall asleep until almost 10:30pm. He was very happy and pleasant just not so sleepy. We weren't sure traffic-wise how far we'd make it that night so when we pulled into St George around midnight California time, we decided to stop for the night.
We found a hotel and parked. And Luke woke up.
We got up to the room, and he was literally bouncing off the walls--completely rested and in the middle of a full-force second wind. He was jumping (bumfing, as he says) up and down yelling, very pleased, "I UP!! I AWAKE!!" Yes, little sir. You ARE awake. He was also doing his best impression of a doorbell.. "DEEN DAWN". These have both become instant family quotes.
Around 2am we resorted to Benadryl. It had the opposite effect on him. At 2:15am, I took to the streets of St. George. He and I drove for an hour before he finally fell asleep. I drove around for an extra 20 minutes to make sure the job was done and headed back to the hotel.. He woke up during the transfer, and after lots of cuddling and threats we were all asleep by 4am.
And then Sadie woke up to eat around 6:30am.. We were feeling surprisingly rested and refreshed. We lounged around the hotel for a bit, enjoyed the deluxe (not) continental breakfast and were back on the road again. We had the chance to stop in Provo to see my sisters, Jordie and Kate.. we FINALLY ate at Sammy's. It was soooo yummy. Pie shakes? Yes. Please.
I'm sure some other stuff happened, but the rest of that day is a blur.
After attending Sacrament meeting with Ty's parents, we headed up to Hebgen. It was a glorious site to behold. I'm pretty sure we all crawled into bed early that night, knowing it would be a long night.. Or, a week of long nights is more like it.
The next morning, Luke was up with the sun (that Ann had cleverly hidden behind heavy blankets by covering the windows.. HOW did he know the sun was up??) Ty took him out on his first canoe ride.
Probably pointing out the eagles' nest..
Is there anything cuter than an already-darling baby bum with a
life jacket strap fastened for safety?
No. There is not.
The only thing that makes it cuter is when that bum is in
green striped "pammas" and walking around like he owns the place..
We always see a lot of wildlife, but a first for us was
WILD BISON!! These guys were about 200 yards from us.
I guess last summer there was a bison BIRTHED on the beach.
We like to think they were coming back for the babe's first birthday.
Don't let the sun fool you... The water is FRIGID.
Grace made a comment about Ty's figure she later regretted..
This was the most epic Volleyball match ever..
Followed by the jump off the pier.
What? Oh. I was taking pictures..
My husband is hot.
Sweet shades, Auntie Grace!
After two days of 85 degree weather, we woke up to SNOW!
We decided to keep warm by having a dance party in the kitchen.
Luke. Getting down with his bad self.
Manly twirling with Papa.
I don't remember which night it was, but one night I was up a few times with Luke. He wasn't used to sleeping on a queen bed, and he's a thrasher so he kept waking himself up. He also won't keep blankets on, so he was freezing. After lying with him for a while, I got up to go back over to my bed.. I misjudged where I was in relation to the bed and hit the post for the bunk bed HARD.
I was even more disoriented after that, and ran head first into the fridge that was against the wall. It was one of the awkward body nights that carried over into the next day. Let's just say, I tipped a canoe TWICE that afternoon. As in, I totally fell into the water. I blame the head injury.
Sadie just got to do what everyone WANTED to do..
The boys, catching the snowflakes.
The newlyweds (we looooooooove Nick) and the boys.
You've heard of a rain dance.. Here's their sun dance.
It worked.
I'm still not sure if Luke's a true lefty. He writes (colors) with his left,
eats with his left.. but usually throws with his right?
They love flying.
Ty could never get Luke to do this, but Sadie's a little pro!
Caution: Heart Melting Photo Ahead
Goooooooooooo COUGARS!!!
If you can get past the chapstick on those lucious lips,
you can see the one photo I'm kind of in.
I took 650+ pictures, and I'm not in ONE.
Shame on me..
Our little beach babe..
One thing I love about Hebgen is the fact that there is always
a project in the works.. Over the years, I've heard a lot of talk..
But haven't seen much action. This year was different.
Luke fits right in. He's usually working on a project too.
He's a worker.
And just like that, Luke's project seemed wimpy.
Uncle Dan meant business.
It was a good thing they needed a tester for the floating ramp.
Ty going off the homemade floating ramp..
Miss Sadie has been a bit of a mystery to us..
She'll eat rice cereal, but won't TOUCH baby food.
We tried a few solid solids, and she's sold.
She doesn't want to mess around with the baby food..
She's going STRAIGHT for the good stuff.
Too bad she doesn't have any teeth yet.
The worker.
This tripod deserves a post of its own..
WE RAISED THAT.
It was the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed.
I thought we were all goners.
Everyone was SO patient with Luke.
He wanted to be in the middle of it all,
and they made sure he always was.
"Hit it!!"
This boy WILL be skiing next summer.
I don't remember exactly what I said to get this shot..
I think it was something like:
Hey, Guys.
Remember that dog we're never going to buy you?
It's dead.
Sadie rocking her life jacket..
Sadie sat there like a slug. It was her only defense.
Ty was able to go skiing several times every day..
He is totally in his element.
It is sooo much fun to watch him.
I actually skiied this year-- I'm pretty sure
there is photographic proof out there..
Just not on our camera. Dang.
All the licensed fishermen, fishing in the dark..
The Catch of the Day..
These boys were up until the wee hours cooking up their
rainbow trout.. It was SOOOO, sooo good!
Believe it or not, I actually gutted one of these fish.
I should have been a surgeon.
If you ever need to gut a fish, call Nick.
He's so slick.
It was a wonderful week.. We miss Hebgen.
The End.
