July 2015

Here’s a look at our whirlwind and super fun month of July:

We celebrated Independence Day with a hike in American Fork Canyon. It was fun with gorgeous views, but we would have enjoyed it more if we hadn’t been assaulted by mosquitos most of the way, or if we had remembered to bring bug spray. We also had a fun BBQ with two of my sisters and their families that night.

On July 6, I dropped these two handsome young men off at BYU where they had an awesome week together at EFY. Seth LOVED the entire experience and really enjoyed getting to spend some one on one cousin time with Ian.



At the end of EFY week, we picked Seth and Ian up from BYU and started the long drive to Oregon with one super packed Suburban since we had our 4 kids, Ian and Megan’s best friend, Crystal. We were super happy to get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and to spend the next week enjoying time with them both in Tigard and at the coast. Here are some of our favorite things from our trip:

Experiencing the mythical warm, windless days at the Oregon coast - the weather couldn’t have been better!! The kids all played in the water in their swimming suits for the first time in years. Autumn did ask me if you could get frostbite from water after playing in the ocean, so it’s still Oregon. :)










(seriously one of the best parts of the Oregon coast for me was seeing Crystal's unrestrained joy at getting to experience the ocean for the first time in her life.  It was so fun!)

We also built sandcastles...









Built a bonfire and roasted s’mores...





Hiked Little Bear’s Hump...





Visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a couple of lighthouses...













Ran down to and explored the tide pools...







Played on the giant sand dune in Pacific City...











And visited Tillamook and enjoyed delicious ice cream...







In Portland, we did the 4T’s trail again, this time on a cool, cloudy and rainy day.







We also took a kayaking tour on the Willamette to Willamette Falls. We had tons of fun kayaking - thanks again, Tami, for setting this up.





We had a very cool experience when, nearly 23 years after Bryce and I were sealed in the Portland temple, we took all of our children with us to do temple work. An awesome day.





Less than 24 hours after getting home from Oregon, Devin and Seth got up at 4 am to join the other youth from our Stake on a 4 day, 34 mile pioneer trek. It was tough, but they both had awesome experiences and were glad they got to go. Here are before and after pictures as well as a shot of just one of the blisters Seth aquired on trek.








Bryce and I got up super early one morning and went for an 8 mile hike up one mountain and down another. It was gorgeous!







At the end of the month, we celebrated Devin’s entrance into adulthood with his 18th birthday. He had 12 friends join him for a murder mystery birthday party at our house, planned by Megan and me. Everyone had a ton of fun and enjoyed a 3 course meal while trying to figure out whodunit.









We had Megan’s final pre-op appointment with her surgeon before her jaw surgery, which will take place on Monday. We decided to help her enjoy her last few days of being able to chew for the next long while by taking her to a brazillian steak house and letting her eat all of the meat she could handle. :) Tune in next month to hear how the surgery went and how she is recovering. Til then...