Wow, how time has flown

Yep, I have been royally bad. I have been a delinquent blogster. I have not kept up my part of the bargain. All I can say is, oh well. It has been very busy this summer and I have just been in a weird funk. I have not wanted to blog. At all. Not that I haven't been doing anything fun and blog worthy. I had family over at my house for 43 days straight. That's right, 43 days. Chad definitely deserves a medal or something. Thanks for being great house guests Mom and Kate and Paisley and Matt and Brittany and Marie and Tansy and Jheriko. (I think I fit them all in!) While everyone was there we fit in one wedding, road trips that went as far south as Provo, Utah, as far north as Spokane, Washington, as far east as Swan Valley, Idaho and as far west as La Grande, Oregon. (Plus add three trips to Boise in between all of that!) Can you say I am all roaded out.

Mom's welcoming party, we were only slightly late...or was her plane slightly early?


The newest wedded couple (Mr. and Mrs. Mike Kenyon)



How adorable is that?

Here's a sampling of what Kate and I fixed while she was here. That was just way too much fun.

Mile High Strawberry Pie, Yummo

Fruit Smoothies, mostly nutritious, well, not really

I also went to the rainiest town in the Lower 48, aka Forks, WA. Forks is better known for it's Timber Museum. In fact, you can spend hours in the museum learning all about the ins and outs of harvesting forests. Oh wait, it's also known for something else...that's right, TWILIGHT!!!!! My roommates from college took a little trip and had a fabulous weekend. We also stayed at a super cool ocean side cabin and found all about how driftwood can kill. There were a few vampire sightings. You just never know what you are going to see.

Edward's getting awfully close to the treaty line!!!


What Forks was known for before Twilight

Our ocean side cabin


'Nuf said


The Fabulous Four

Then, my beautiful, sweet little boy turned two. That's right, he is such a big boy. To celebrate, I walked a 10K, then made brownies and had a little barbecue. And Matthew had to show off how much he loves mom's makeup.

Crossing the finish line

The birthday Brownies

You gotta problem with this???

The boys have gotten to play with some cousins this summer. Here's a couple of pictures with them having fun with older and younger cousins.

We have just returned from a weekend in Yellowstone National Park. It was awesome. The temps were in the 60's and just perfect. The boys were real troopers. We took them all over the Grand Canyon, from the Brink of the Lower Falls, to the Brink of the Upper Falls, to Red Rock point. And they hiked it. (Well, Benjamin did, Matthew hiked most of it, but would spend some time on my hip or Chad's and mine shoulders.) I would say that we hiked over 7 miles in one day. That's a lot for a four and a two year old. Let's just say that both slept throughout the night.

Our adventure begins

Crystal Falls, North Rim Trail

Brink of the Upper Falls

Outcropping near the brink of the Upper Falls

Then, we started clear at the top, hiked down lots of trail and stairs and ended up...

here!!!

Wow, all that hiking made me tired. I guess I had better take a nap.

Benjamin and dad at the Northeast Entrance

One of the two cabins we stayed in. How rustic!!!

So, that's it in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed this summer in review.