Loving Summer

 Oh summer days - we love you!  Andrew fishing in the back yard.

 Mack and Andrew were semi forced into seeing Phantom of the Opera.  Maybe not the best pic for their first exposure to musicals, but in they end they both had good things to say.  And some of the comments didn't even involve the refreshments.

 The boys spend a week up at Camp Morrison in McCall for scout camp.  Andrew found a lovely moss wig and earned his swimming merit badge in spite of 40 degree water temperatures.  Over the course of the summer Mack earned 9 merit badges and Andrew 8 - impressive.

 The kids and Greg spent a weekend in Utah at an extended Rush reunion.  Natali got to model some of Grandma Rush's old clothes.  Here she is in her wedding dress.  The kids will never forget the massive slip 'n slide and the endless supply of creamsicles.

 The littles and I spent a day at the art museum in Boise.  They loved the gardens.

 One of the best parts of the summer was the return of Elder and Sister Dame!!  We were all so happy to have them back close to us.  Here they are at the airport they day they flew home.

 Summer wouldn't be complete without ballet performances of Beauty and the Beast.  Gaston and Belle were fabulous and the cat - random but cute.

A last hurrah at the zoo with Andrew, Lily and Emily before school began.

 The day before school started we took the whole crew over to Grandma house to have an eclipse party with Wilfords.  We were able to see totality for just less than 2 minutes.  It was such an amazing experience to feel the air get colder and see the strange lighting as the sun got darker and darker.  I loved seeing the 360 degree horizon but were less excited about the unwelcome mosquitoes coming out.  Then one tiny sliver of sun peeked out and the effect was gone.  It only took the smallest bit of light to end it - amazing! 

None of our photos of the actual eclipse were any good and I forgot to take any pics of the lighting or the kids - so we took these much later in the day.  It was such a cool experience.

A Week in Paradise

We spent a whole week enjoying the beauty of McCall.  Nani and Randy joined us and Greg actually took the whole week off.  It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the time together.  We drove the boat into town to enjoy ice cream alley.  The kids loved the boat ride and all the tubing on the way home.

 We did a nice hike up to a mountain lake.  It was uncharacteristically warm so Lily and Andrew took a little dip.  I just dunked my head.  The hike was hot but it was such a beautiful view.

Of course we picked a lot of berries, took lots of walks, looked for wild life, swam, and dug in the sand.  The three oldest, Randy, and Greg, rented side by sides and spent one day driving around the mountains.  I managed to do a fair share of reading.  We all love this place.  

Mesquite by way of Reno

We headed to Mesquite to spend the weekend with Don and Teresa and to be there for Baby Rush's blessing.  A weekend was not enough.  The girls loved hanging with all of Teresa's girls and Don kept the big kids entertained with yo-yos, snakes, and games.  It was amazing.

Don's friend brought over an albino Burmese Python.  That thing kept everyone occupied for a long time. 

Nani and Randy were there as well and Nani had some games planed.  Eat the gummy worms out of the whipped cream was a hit.  But the highlight of the evening was a game where you caught goldfish and carried them to a bucket.  You got 1 point to carry it in the net, 5 points to carry it in your hands, 10 points to carry it in your mouth, and Nani jokingly threw out 100 points if you swallowed it.  Well Andrew climbed in the pool.  Caught his fish.  Put it in his mouth and promptly swallowed it.  a few girls may have cried but the rest of us couldn't stop laughing.

 This toy Barbie jeep was a favorite with the girls - and Andrew too!

Then we were off to the heat of Mesquite.  My car read 120 degrees one afternoon.  It was so hot! But the kids still had a blast.  Nani had a crazy dinner one night where everyone had to eat with awkward utensils.  They loved it.

 The trip wouldn't be complete without trips to the splash pad (both the water one and the drinks one)!

 Boys will be boys.

 And Lily will keep us smiling.

On the way home we stopped in Utah to visit Grandma Lula.  She remembered Lily and I but for the first time ever didn't know everyone's names.  How amazing is that!  She has 41 grand children and more great-grandchildren than I want to count, is 94 years old, and up until now has know all of my kids names and faces.  She is incredible.

That's Right - He's 12!

Andrew celebrated with his traditional cinnamon roll.  No one ever complains about that (by the of May we are so done with cake)

 If you look past the fake smile and squenty eyes this kid is supper happy to be 12!  He got ordained to the preisthood at our house after the cousin party.  He is so excited to be able to pass the sacrament.  He will do a great job.

 We have a tradition that for your 12th birthday you get to go on a trip, somewhere in the US, with just mom or dad.  Andrew and Greg cooked up a trip to Monterey, California to look for whales.  Their trip didn't happen till June, but as you can tell from the smile on Andrew's face, he had a blast.

 One of the perks- getting to order BBQ Chicken Pizza without anyone complaining or having to share.

They went kayaking one day and out in the whale watching boat the next.

Here is Andrew's report:

We saw seals 2 feet from our kayak. We also saw sea otters just as close. We also saw a purple striped jellyfish and moon jellies.  For dinner we had pizza and I had Hazelnut Ice Cream. The next day we went on the boat. The first whale we saw I spotted and it was a Minke Whale. Then we saw a ton of humpbacks randomly. Towards the end we saw a group of Rissos Dolphins they had a ton of scars from the squid they eat. The next day we went out and found some humpbacks feeding - it was so cool they would come up with their mouths full and stretched out. While they were feeding you could see little fish everywhere.

A Bit of Spring Randomness

 As the snow cleared this spring Andrew discovered a foxes den in an undeveloped part of our neighborhood.  We watched it for weeks but decided the couple had abandoned it.  Then one night Greg and I drove by to see 5 kits playing all around then den.  Andrew and the other kids rode their bikes over and watched the babies play for quite awhile.  After than we drove by as often as possible. So amazing to see right in our neighborhood.

 Just as wild but less cool are the half a dozen snakes Perdita brings in each spring.  As long as the snake is dead or the boys are home to remove it, I don't mind, but when I'm the only one home and it is slithering around my kitchen it makes me cranky.  

After their production of Alice in Wonderland the girls started putting on their own performances here at home.  Here Kate is Alice and Lily is Dinah, the cat.

 Mack's soccer team went to a tournament in Rexburg and won 1st place.  Such a great season.