Yellowstone

** Warning** Picture Overload! Brett and I were able to go thru Yellowstone this month. Luckily it was a beautiful day. We were able to see parts of the park that I have never seen before. The beauty of Gods creations are amazing. It was great to spend the day seeing the Park and spending time with Brett. Sorry for the excess of pictures!

Old Faithful

Mesa Falls

I' m going to attempt to catch up on whats been happening. We have been busy enjoying what's left of summer and it seems like I haven't had a spare second to update the old blog- so here goes. A couple of weeks ago I took a couple days off to go camping with my family. Not far from where we were camping is a place called Mesa Falls. I was there a couple times as a child- but it has been years so I was excited to see it again. It is beautiful. I loved seeing the falls. We had a great time and I got to goof off with my little brother and sister.

Here is a picture of the falls- Beautiful

Me and my little brother- Brock

Being attacked by a bear-- I guess?




Have you ever kissed a Moose before?




I was shocked at how big the hand print of a bear is.

I thought this picture of my grandma was just too cute!

From the top looking down! Eek!

My mom was dying because this little dude kept standing

on the edge. I wasn't quite that brave.

Group hug. I love these two. I can't believe

Brock is leaving on his mission and Amber
is going to college. Everyone is growing up!

Family Fun!

Last weekend we packed up and headed to a local lake to have a little vacay with my family. We had a great time together soaking up the sun and the water. It was a beautiful weekend and the weather was perfect. The only thing that would have made it better was if it could have lasted just a little longer. We can't wait for next year!

Goofing around at the cabin

The boys love to be wild with Uncle Brett!

Micklee's new Shaka Laka face!

Heath teaching Darrick how to boogie board

Diggin in the sand

Lovin those mud pots!

Lots of toys to blow up

Brock standing on top of what the kids named Splash Mountain

Can I please have my towel Mom! (Inside joke)

Working on Splash Mountain. We acquired Splash Mountain from some little girls who had been working on it for quite awhile. It was actually pretty neat. They had water running thru it and everything. The little girls said it would take 2-6 years to complete Splash Mountain--too funny!

The girls got a leisurely ride in the boat while Jacom did all the work!

The beach-the sun-and Diet Coke---Perfection!

Hey I have a great idea--lets bury Jacom in the sand.

We can even put sand in his hair and he won't be able to do anything about it!

Jacom trying out what a size DD might look on him. Whose idea was this anyway?

Trying out our new float chair. Very relaxing!

Micklee and Grandma had their afternoon snooze!

Love that face Kolton!

Getting ready for my turn on the Jet Ski!

If you can't tell-- Brett loves the Jet Ski's!

Heath and Mandi

Brock and Amber

We even got Grandma on one

Ridin off into the sunset!!

Adoption Classes

This month has also been busy with adoption classes. Let me just say that my love for adoption is growing and growing. We have been attending classes on Wed. nights with about 6 other couples who are also trying to adopt. The first time we went Brett said it kinda reminded him of an AA meeting. But the more we went the more we enjoyed going.

We were able to attend some various panels that I found very informative. One of the panels had three different sets of couples who have adopted and they talked about how the processed worked for them. One of my BFF's--SueAnn-- and her husband Trent were there. They talked about how they adopted their 2 little girls. It was AWESOME to hear everyone's story and a little scary. All of the couples experienced a few bumps along the way, but eventually things fell together.

My favorite panel by far was the birth mother panel. It was amazing. My love for birth mothers grew so much that night. There were 3 women who gave up their babies, and they came and shared their stories with us. They talked, and cried, and it was so special. I think this process is making me a more understanding person. The spirit was so strong that night and I will forever be thankful for the lessons I am learning and how this process is shaping me into the person I am :)

Better late than never...

Does anybody know where July went? I can't believe today is the last day of July. We had a crazy, fun month and I am now going to try to do a quick recap. I had an awesome birthday this year because I got to celebrate it on the 4th. My birthday is the 3rd, so I got to enjoy all of the festivities of the fourth on my b-day. I love having my birthday so close to my favorite holiday. We celebrated with most of our yearly traditions.

We headed to the parade with our parade buddies-- Scott and Shari and their kiddos, and the last couple of years with Starling and her two cuties. The parade was freezing this year! Usually we are roasting but this year was cold! We had a Dutch oven BBQ that night with Brett's family and it was DELISH! That night we headed to the fireworks to top off the day. They were amazing as usual. I am so thankful for my freedoms, for my family ,and for an awesome birthday!