bear lake

Going to Bear Lake is a fun tradition we have for Pioneer day every year. Ryan has a family reunion there and we love it. Of course, we spend most of our time on the boat.

Dennis wanted to go on the tube, but as soon as the motor would start he would get scared. His favorite thing to do was to go swimming and climb up the ladder. No convincing needed, he would just slip right in to the water.
Here is Ryan flipping the tube.
Dennis had so much fun playing in the sand this year with his second cousins. The made water holes with waterfalls and rivers.
Dennis' jobs on the boat: pulling in the rope, letting down the ladder and holding up the flag.
I even got out there on skis. I opted out of trying the slalom this year.
Kevin skied

Ryan skied.
Maree, Camille, Thomas & Kristen skied (not pictured). I was really bad at taking pictures this year.
Here is Kevin and Ryan on the tube.

Ryan and Kristen on the tube.
In Kaysville, Dennis LOVED jumping on the trampoline. One night it was around 10:00 when we were going to sleep and Dennis kept saying, "I want to go jump".
Night time stories from Papa
Thanks for such a wonderful trip. We had so much fun!

a few favorites

from Chrissy and Randy's blog.

Here is a picture of James trying to make a basket. He spotted this basketball hoop way out in the woods and insisted that he made some baskets. As you can see... he didn't make one. We had to make a hoop his height by cutting out the bottom of a fishing net and hooking it on the deck.
I totally LOVED this next one. At a glance it looks just like my brothers when they were little. Reed and Randy.
Dennis was such a "good" cousin. Every time James would wander too far away Dennis would go grab his hand and walk him back to us. This meant dragging him when he fell.
I also loved the fact that Dennis could cure any bump or bruise of James' by a single hug and kiss. It was an instant cure no matter how hard James was crying.

cabin trip

For the 4th of July, Dennis and I went up to Minnesota. We spent a couple of days with Randy and Chrissy before heading up to GG's and the cabin. Randy and Chrissy kept us busy with many fun activities (post to follow when I have pictures). Here we are all in the van going to the 4th of July parade in NashwaukDennis had some help collecting candy from his cousins Kyra and Caitlin. Kyra would pick two up: one for her and one for Dennis. Every time candy would come around he would just turn to her for a piece instead of trying to get one himself. I say that's resourceful.
Here's the loot.
Here is Grandma with two of her grandsons: James and Dennis. My dad likes to remind me of a funny news broadcaster when he was young whose name was Dennis James. Funny coincidence.
Dennis sure loved the sauna this year. He loved the fact that he could throw water wherever he wanted.

Dennis loves his grandpa Ron.
We (Chrissy) hung the hammock up and it was a hit. Everyone really enjoyed laying out by the water. The weather was perfect and there weren't any bugs! Ideal conditions for the cabin. We got lucky.


Dennis always loves the water. His first time in the water he took off (with a life jacket) out to the raft and back all by himself without seeing anyone else do it first.
He also caught his first fish. He was pretty proud.


It was sure fun to see Dennis and James get to know each other better. They became pretty good friends by the end of the stay.

10 pennies

cheap child labor has begun in our house....

...so has paying tithing. Dennis has 3 pennies that he is going to give to the bishop tomorrow. :)

le jardin

The garden is always unpredictable. What will grow this year? Not my flowers, only one of my many seeds grew and I transplanted another one that popped up from last year's seeds. I will have to buy flowers or something to fill it up.
This is my first year growing onions and they seem to be doing just fine. One of them is bigger than a golf ball. I see some broccoli flowers coming and my peppers haven't shown much progress. I think it is too rainy and cool for them.
My tomatoes and basil are coming along just nicely.
See those beauties! I can't wait until they ripen. This particular plant is the black heirloom tomato. So delicious!

father's day crafts

Dennis put this bird house together with Ryan a couple of weeks back and we decided to paint it. It was ALL Dennis's idea to give it to Ryan for father's day. cute kid.

He also painted a banner that said, "Happy Father's Day"

after design hop

Here are some pictures of our new arrangement. We had a hard time adjusting to all of the space. But, we love it now. It makes the whole house seem bigger. One of my favorite things is putting the TV on top of the buffet.

Our dining room is so spacious! Now, we just need to decorate.
Thank you ladies for a successful rearrangement!