Lake Powell Scuba Trip

Austin and David took a trip down to Lake Powell to do some scuba diving and some camping.  "Take pictures" I said as I handed them the small camera for their adventure.  This is what I got:

So, from what they shared, they had a good trip.  The visibility was not so great at the lake, but they enjoyed some time together and brushing up on scuba as it had been a while.  They are ready for our December trip to Cabo where they will be able to have some fantastic dives!  Fun father and son trip!

Ashlee and Brenden's wedding day!

Congratulations Ashlee and Brenden!!

It was such a perfectly wonderful day to see Ashlee and Brenden get sealed in the temple and then celebrate with them all day and into the night.  They were so happy and beaming with love for each other!

The kids cleaned up pretty well and enjoyed celebrating with Ashlee and Brenden!

Good reason to have a family picture...it turned out great!  I love my family!

 A picture of all the cousins, minus two on missions!  What a fun group of amazing kids!

Andrew's home!

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera at the airport when Andrew came home, but I did get this picture of Austin and Andrew at his homecoming that Sunday.  It's been so neat to have Andrew back from New Zealand and to be with the family for the summer before he heads back to college.  Well done Elder Smith, welcome home!

Annual swimming day at Sandee's

 Each summer we are lucky enough to be able to go to Dave's cousin Sandee's house to have a swim day.  We have such a fun time at their amazing pool and this year was extra special with Andrew home and Ashlee about to be married.  We enjoyed the afternoon in the warm pool water and watched/played an intense game of water basketball!  Always a fun summer tradition!

Hike at Albion Basin

After being reunited from our girls camping trip we decided Saturday would be a good day for a hike.  It was a cooler day than we've had in the past and so it would be nice hiking weather.  We ended up going up Little Cottenwood Canyon and exploring the ski area of the Albion basin.  It was so beautiful.  It was about 65 degrees and the wildflowers were all out and the sky was blue and it was just picture perfect the whole afternoon!

We hiked along the trails and up some rocks and explored all around.  We even spotted a moose in the distance while we were taking this "couples" photo.  It was amazing!

We were surrounded by many many rodents and they were super quick, but we were able to snap a picture of one who was nice enough to pose for us!

I'm so grateful we live in such a beautiful part of the country.  The mountains really are so pretty and the scenery that surrounds me every day looks like a post card.  Sometimes it's great to get out and enjoy nature a little closer.  I'm glad we were able to share this with our two younger kids and spend the day together!

Stoddard Creek Camping!

This year we decided to meet in the middle between grandma and us at Stoddard Creek campground in Idaho.  It was a place that we had driven past many times and never stopped.  Vicky had always wanted to see what was there and so this year we made it our destination for camping.

The campground there was beautiful.  There were lots of wildflowers and trees all around.  There was a lot of space between each campsite and only 8 sites in the upper loop where we stayed, so it was very quiet!  Such a peaceful, beautiful part of the country.

Like any vacation there was a lot of good food involved!  We relaxed, played, ate and ate again!  We did some of the cooking over the open fire and some of the cooking inside the campers, but it was all yummy!

We played games and chatted and took walks and bikerides.  It was a good time for all of us and hope we do it again!

Fathers Day 2015

Happy Father's day to my dad, Dave, and Dave's dad!

McKinley wrote Dave a cute note and sealed it with a hug and kiss!  She sure loves her dad!

After a nice family day of church, dinner, and playing games, we headed over next door to visit with Grandad and a few of the siblings that came over as well.  Overall it was a nice Sunday and Father's Day.