A Three Hour Tour. . .

Matt and I are slow learners. Every year on one of our trips to the cabin we feel the need to take the boys down the Snake River at Macks Inn in Island Park. Every year we think that it will take us about 3 hours. Every year we are wrong. This year is took us close to 5 all together. My mom was such a good sport and took Griff for us ( Thanks Mom, we love you) so we could go and enjoy ourselves. . . and for the first 3 hours, we did. No, it really is a blast, and all though it is incredibly slow and mildly boring, and you could practically walk the whole thing because the water is so shallow in spots, it is a lot of fun every year, and we always laugh about it afterward. This year the boys had little nets that they caught minnows with the whole way down. Very fun. Matt and I got a good work out paddling, and everyone got thrown in at least once. Matt only got mud on Coleman's face this year, not in his eye, and my camera stayed dry. Bonus! We have figured out that is is much harder to tip a flat bottom boat than a canoe, and so we opt for boat. We had such a great trip to Montana this year it was hard to come home, but we will always have next month right? I come home feeling like I can take on the world, and refocused on what is important, enjoying every moment with my family. I wish the boys could all stay the ages they are right now, they are so much fun to be with. They are all so different from each other, but they get along so well. I love how much they all appreciate nature and all it has to offer. They all live so big, making the very most of every minute, diving in to every adventure head first. I love my boys!!!

Bike Riding at the Cabin

The boys love riding their bikes at night at the Cabin. Here are a few shot we took while waiting for Grandma to pump up the tire on her bike.

Mr. Trickster

Best Friends

Summer of the Monkeys

Help, I have lost my dentures!

This is the funny face Griff has been pulling lately. He is such a funny man.

Back in the Saddle Again

We took the boys for a short trail ride again, with Cassidy and Aidan ( our cousins that live in China) up at Parade Rest Ranch just outside of West. Clay got better pictures and promises to send them to me, I will post them if he remembers. The boys loved it and Hyatt is now saving his money to buy a ranch and a bunch of horses. That would be good, because we need a place for the duck, two turtles, 3 frogs and 4 wild monkeys we have at our house right now.

Fourth of July, West Yellowstone Style

Every year Matt and I try to be in Montana for the 4th of July. It is the best place on earth to celebrate everything that is great about Small Town America. We went this year to our Cabin with all of my family except for Cam and Traci who couldn't make it ( We missed you guys) and it was a blast again this year. The kids have so much fun with all of the cousins, and there is always some crazy thing going on . . . the zip line in the back yard, shooting bb guns off the porch, catching fire ants and seeing who can go the longest with out being bitten, riding bikes until the sky is pitch dark and the mosquitoes are eating you alive, or carving sticks with the new pocket knife you just got at the dollar store. It is a little boys paradise. The parade is clearly the highlight for me. Every year we let the kids be in the parade, and they love it! This year we didn't do a very good job of planning so we didn't have decorations for the car or the four-wheelers, but they did have candy to throw, and B.J. came up with the idea of squirt guns. It is always crazy, and funny, and this year was no exception. B.J. and Matt thought that it would be a good idea to just send Hyatt and Parker on the four-wheeler (with Carson in tow in a wagon) all by themselves through town to the spot where they line up for the parade. Stop signs, crossing the freeway, what ever, no big deal! Men! That did not work out very well, so Kris was a good sport and drove the little tiny four wheeler through town for them. The parade was so funny, complete with royalty in a Mackenzie boat, I love it! No one was injured this year, and that is all I could hope for. My kids don't even know what a big parade is like, so they think this one is the best, and they get to be a part of it, so even better. The whole town comes out to support each other, and the "floats" are so low tech, it's hilarious. Every year I get about half way through and then I cry. I don't know why, but it just makes me feel so happy to be in a place where life is simple, and being surrounded by the people you love is the only thing that matters. West Yellowstone puts on an amazing fireworks display in the forest up over all the pine trees. It is so perfect, we just pull up the truck and everyone spills out at 5 minutes before 10 and then we get to watch the fireworks in a dark Montana sky. Summer is the best in Montana.

Griff loved all of it, except for his hat, that he hated!

This guy makes it all possible, and we all love him for it! Thanks Dad ! Not pictured, but also making it all possible is Mom. Thanks Mom! You guys are the best!

This is the cake I made for dessert. It looks pretty good huh? Looks can be deceiving. I forgot to put the baking soda in it, so it was more of a brownie than a cake. My family was so nice, they all ate it and pretended that is was good. Oh well, you can't win them all!

Here comes our crew!

Hyatt and Parker, with Carson in tow.

The Wild Bunch!

Brady, Luke, Coleman, and Chase in the truck with squirt guns. Kristalyn, Kristen and I watched in horror while these boys sprayed everyone along the parade route, including one sleeping baby, and one woman's digital camera. Luckily there were no decorations with our names on them!

It can't be a parade in West Yellowstone with out Smokey!

I love this, these kids were so cute!

I need a haircut!

My all star pitcher, and even with a bum toe!

I have not been very good about blog updates lately, but I will try to catch up here. Hyatt pitched his last game as a Ranger the last week of June. He was such a star this year! He had some good games and some not so good games, but he made such an improvement from last season, and he really had fun this year. It was both exciting and terrifying for me to watch him pitch. I really need to work on the whole sideline Mom thing, I have about 18 more years of it, and I am not too good at it yet. The week before the big tournament Hyatt hurt his toe skateboarding. I, like the compassionate and caring mother I am, told him he would be fine, and it would feel better in a few days. I let him walk around on in for 4 days before I realized that it did not seem to be getting better, and maybe I should have my dad look at it. We took him in, and the poor guy had a dislocated toe! We took him into Dr. MacArthur and he fixed it right up. Hyatt thought it was so cool, they gave him four shots in the toe and then dug right into the toe and clamped on the the bone and put it right back in place. Hyatt was a champ, he did not cry or complain, he just simply crushed my fingers while holding my hand. He had to play the next day, and it hurt quite a bit, but he got through it. He

This fake smile is after they lost the last game in the tournament. He was a good sport to put up with my camera in his face.