June 2025

 In June, the Patricks took a trip to Mexico with their Bridge 4 friends. They flew from Boise to Phoenix, which required 2 two hour flights and then rented a car and drove a little over 3 hours to get to their destination in Mexico. They had a great week with friends despite a tummy bug that affected many of them and made some fun memories.

Devin and Levi had a fun month with kickball games and taking a trip to Craters of the Moon park in Idaho and the Grand Tetons with friends.

They also took a trip to Virginia at the end of the month to spend time with Levi's brother and his family. They went blueberry picking, had a photo scavenger hunt and went to a safari park where they got up close with zebras and llamas and such.

Nora and Kassie spent time at our house for a few weeks while Nora was recovering from surgery. We loved getting to spend more time with them. Kassie took this picture of Nora and I with our beautiful rose arch.

Autumn and Teddy adopted a dog from a local shelter and named him Beckham. He is a 1 1/2 year old flat hair retriever and he is super sweet and fun. Frankie hates him, so when they bring Beckham over, we have to put one outside while the other is inside. Beckham got inside a couple of times when Frankie was inside and Frankie would freak out - one time even somehow climbing up Beckham's back and getting on top of the flat screen TV in our bedroom - you have to admire the agility of our super old cat. :)

Bryce and I took a trip to Seattle, Washington for a week. We spent time with my Dad, who lives in Kent, outside of Seattle, and also took 2 overnight trips to visit Mt. Rainier National Park and North Cascades National park. Mt. Rainier came first and was just stunning! We experienced every kind of weather our first day in the park, from warm and sunny to cold and rainy and even hiked through some snow in areas of the park where it hasn't melted yet. We took hikes to waterfalls that were just huge and so beautiful! We also got to experience just how massive Mt. Rainier is - I don't think you can really appreciate it unless you see it in person.  Here are some pics of our hikes.

After stopping at my dad's house for another overnight stay, we drove north to North Cascades National Park. This day was rainy and cool, but we still hiked to rivers, waterfalls and an overlook of Diablo Lake. We got pretty wet this day, but didn't mind because the Pacific Northwest is just stunning!! And we got to spend the night at a treehouse Airbnb, so that was super fun!

The next day, we drove back to my Dad's via Whitbey Island, which was a gorgeous drive! We stopped in little towns and walked along Puget Sound. We also went to the Price Sculpture Garden just outside of Coupeville, which was a fun experience hiking through the woods and seeing lots of different sculptures.  We then boarded a ferry to cross the sound to Seattle and drove back to my dad's house. We went to church with him on Sunday before flying back home on Monday morning.

Also, the Patricks got family pictures done and they are so adorable. How we love these people!!

That's it for June! See you next month.

May 2025

In May, Logan turned 6 months old, started eating solid foods and became mobile! He is so cute and fun!

Devin and Levi went for hikes with their friends and Nora, Kassie, Devin and Levi went to the zoo together. 

The Patricks came for a weeklong visit. We visited the gardens at Thanksgiving Point and the Jurassic Jungle at the dino museum and had great times at both. Evan loved feeding the fish and ducks at the gardens. Megan also took Evan to farm country one afternoon with Evan's Patrick cousins and aunts while I watched Logan at home. Evan and I also had a great time playing at our neighbor's playset. 

Bryce bought this giant crocodile slide at Costco months ago and Evan was so excited to use it when it was warm enough. We had one day that was warm enough, so we set it up and everyone had a great time playing on the slide and the little pool. Bryce proved himself to be the best Baba ever when he got a special connector that allowed him to add water from the water heater and the outside hose so the water wasn't too cold for his grandkids. :) He also gave us all a good laugh when he fell off the back of the top of the slide trying to go down. Luckily, he got caught by the net and made it safely down the slide. 

Bryce and I took a weeklong trip to Maui and got to stay at the Ritz-Carlton thanks to Autumn's amazing employee rate that she can share with us. We loved the resort, playing at the beach and in the waves. We did a lot of relaxing on the beach this trip and it was perfect! Here are a few pics of the resort property as well as this cool meditative walk maze art installation that was on the property. We wanted to move the banyan tree to our house it was so gorgeous!

We also took a few hikes to Twin Falls, to 'Iao State park and through the Enchanted Forest to a cool rock beach that had amazing snorkeling a ways off shore that we swam to. It was gorgeous!!

We went to a luau on property that was so delicious!! And enjoyed some amazing shave ice. Such a great way to spend a week in May!!

We ended the month of May nursing Nora as she recovered from surgery. After a few days in the hospital, she and Kassie came to stay with us for a few weeks as she heals so I can help with her care. Bryce and I also went to see "Finding Neverland" at HCT and it is easily one of the best musical productions I have ever seen. I loved it so much!!

That's it for May!