Summer Fun in Bear Lake

The anticipated short trip to Bear Lake is already over! Every year Kurt and I try and go up to get in some good boating time with my aunt Becky and her family. This year however we smartened up and got us our own little one room condo for two nights. We camped the first year we were married, which I vow to never do again, driven up for just the day the next year, bummed in a room with my mom and grandma last year, and finally got our own this year. It was well worth the money, especially with a two year old.

We left early early Friday morning and got a full day on the lake both Friday and Saturday! There is something that I love about Bear Lake or more like the raspberry shakes. The lake is so blue and so huge. Maybe it's the memories from fun trips down with the Terry's in high school, and the new memories we create with family.

Here is my hubby doing what he does best on the water. He is such a water bug and makes everything look so easy.

So with a hubby that can do what's pictures above this year I was determined to do three things....
1. Get up on one ski, I've never been able to actually get up on one. I have dropped in the past but that's all.
2. Get up on the dang air chair.
3. Get up on our wake skate.
I can now say CHECK to all three! I have to say I was most proud to get up on one! And I stayed up until I was done. The air chair was quite the experience. I screamed the entire time because it takes you where ever it wants. No pictures to prove anything but this one of me screaming on the air chair that my aunt Becky was able to snap. We were also able to get my Grandma out on the boat, which was a first in a long time!

Here are lots of pictures of fun times! We had some beach volleyball games going, a lost wedding ring of a friend (and yes by some miracle Conner found it in the water), botchi (?) ball games, and good conversation on the beach.

Pictures with family...

and some fun on the boat...

Ethan spent lots of time on the beach with Becky playing, while Kurt and I took all my cousins out on the boat! My little guy has some major OCD problems with the sand. He does not like to be dirty and would take about thirty minutes to actually get off his chair and want to touch the sand. Even then it was back to the chair super fast. He definitely got mom's "not wanting to be dirty" gene in him. I don't think I could pass that one off on Kurt.

And here is what happens to a two year old when he is completely exhausted. This was a short walk back from the beach...he was out cold!

We had tons of fun, yummy shakes, great pizza, and most of all fun times with my extended family! Thank you Snyder's and Grandma and Sharon for the fun times.

Family Pictures Continued....

Here are the rest of the pics.... I love how they all turned out! This is my favorite family picture! Not all of them are edited yet, but I couldn't wait! Sorry so many posts about the pictures, but I always get excited that they are done!

4th of July Celebrations

As usual our 4th of July always seems a bit out of control...ok not really, but it requires some major packing since we take the boat, and switch half way through between families. It's always a ton fun to be with both of our families and just to hang out for a good weekend. This year was a bit different since mom and dad weren't with us, but us kids still headed up to Midway on Thursday night to celebrate. Midway consisted of some boating, decorating cookies, making silly glasses, a kick ball game (which our team dominated), and some nice thick shakes at Dairy Keen.

Saturday we were off early to East Canyon to spend the rest of the weekend with Kurt's family. We of course hit the lake as soon as we got there, only to enjoy lots of wind and no sun! It didn't stop us from getting in the water and doing what we love. Too bad I didn't snap any pictures. The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, playing in the water, yummy dinners, four wheel rides for Kurt, and fireworks in Hennifer.

and this is how much Ethan liked the fireworks....after awhile he warmed up and would watch.

It was a great weekend and always a good get away. I always look forward to getting away, even when it's only 45 minutes away. We also were able to talk to my mom and dad on Friday night as I mentioned in an earlier post!

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures done about a month ago before my parents left. The big group shots aren't edited yet, but our individuals are all done. I love how they turned out. We went up to the mink farm that my dad grew up on and got pictures taken in front of the small, tiny, run down shack he lived in for just a little bit growing up. I think they turned out so cute, and love all the backgrounds she was able to capture. My sister's friend Heidi did our pictures and she did such a great job. Her website if any are interested is www.heidilynnphotography.blogspot.com . So here are a few, I will post our big family one once we get it edited how we want it!!

The Missionaries

It's official!! Mom and dad are now in Japan and full time missionaries. They were able to head into the MTC on June 24th. Luckily we were able to meet up and have some pizza with them that night and then it was back to the MTC until Sunday afternoon when they were able to come home, sleep, and then head to the airport early Monday morning. We went over Sunday night and had a BBQ and then were able to have some family time where my dad read us some really neat things. We each got a letter that my parents had written to us with the talk that my dad had read to us. I won't lie, it was so hard saying goodbye. I'm really going to miss them, but I think we all know it's where they need to be. It's such a bittersweet emotion. I'm just glad that we are now on the count down! Here we are after all the hugs and tears. One last family photo.

To update those who were wondering....we got a phone call this past Friday night for the first time from mom and dad. The best part is that all of us were together up in Midway so my sister put her phone on speaker and we were able to talk to them for about 30 minutes. They said it's been a whirlwind and they haven't slowed down one bit. Mom said she already has a love for the people and can't believe their dedication! And of course dad already had a love for the people from serving his mission there. All is well in the land on Japan and they are busy trying to get organized and let things TRY and slow down a bit!