Swan Valley, Idaho

We spent a fun 24th of July weekend in Swan Valley Idaho with this fun group of people here. It's my mom's family. Her brother and sisters, their kids and now the kids' kids.

We went on a hike to a little stream. I wish the girls enjoyed those hikes a little more. One of these days they will be able to go on one and not complain that their feet hurt.

They had their first horse ride and LOVED it!
Ash didn't want to get off.

It's not a vacation unless we play in the water.

While Erik, Ashlyn and Brylee enjoyed playing in a little reservoir...Dacia and I got to float the Snake River. There were no rapids, just a smooth ride. But I don't think the other 2 girls could have done it.. #1 it was a 2 hour float, Ash couldn't have made it that long and #2 we took two rafts down and had a huge water fight between rafts, Brylee wouldn't have like that. It was lots of fun and I am so glad we did it. Cool part, we seen a moose on the river bank while we floated down.

We also drove into Jackson one night for dinner and seen the Bar J Wranglers. They are a very talented group of men and we really enjoyed the show and their music.

I love Family Reunions!

Days of '47 Float Preview

I love taking the girls on little outings, and I especially love it when those outings are FREE. Every year at the South Town Expo Center they display the floats for the Days of 47 parade. During the preview you get to vote on your favorite float and they are the winners during the parade.

I love the big seagulls on this one!
I voted for this one.

and those seagulls were eating hundred of crickets.

Ashlyn thinks she found her prince!

This is the Boy Scouts of America float. They are celebrating 100 yrs this year.

We didn't get to see the parade on tv this year...we were having fun in Idaho!

Goodbye Roosters

I posted an ad on KSL for the roosters. I decided we needed to get rid of them before they started to crow. The girls were sad to say good bye.

July 4th

I was a little bummed this year. The 4th of July was my Holiday off, but where the day fell and it was my weekend to work, I got hosed on my schedule and missed out on all the Parade Family Fun. We didn't even do fireworks.
I do however have to mention that this year was the 10yr anniversary of our first date. That's why we love to celebrate this holiday with our family, that's why it sucks so much when we don't get to spend it together.

Bear Lake

This is the 3rd year that we have gotten together for a little Sherwood Family Reunion. It's just my Mom & Dad, us siblings and our families (not everyone makes it every year). The first two years we went to Moon Lake, this year we decided on a different location. Bear Lake.

This is Erik and the girls checking out the water when we arrived.

The next day was just spent playing in the water

The Lake was super cold, but there was a little shallow part before the lake that was really warm. That's where the kids played the most.

My cute Brylee!

We were in a condo with a loft. The girls like playing up there.

The girls got so burnt on Saturday in the sun that the next day we decided on a shade activity. We drove around the other side of Bear Lake into Idaho and went to the Minnetonka Caves.
It was pretty cool!

When we got all the way back into the cave they turned the lights out. It was so dark!

The girls got thrown behind bars as we were leaving Bear Lake.
And we did enjoy a Raspberry Shake before we left!

Really? I have a hard time with Dacia turning 7, but it's even harder to believe how old I am getting. This year I shared my day with father's day. It's a big one next year!

Happy Father's Day

I think I did pretty good on the Father's Day surprises this year!

Erik is an amazing Dad and husband. He deserved a great day!

It's kind of a rare occurrence around here to have Brylee in clothes. She loves to run around in undies and sometimes without undies. She is a crazy little girl that keeps up laughing.

The Fort

I will let Brylee sleep in her fort as long as she thinks it's cool!

The BIG 7 (birthday & par-tay)

On June 10th our little Dacia turned 7. Where has the time gone...really? She is an amazing little girl, so full of joy and energy all the time. She is our social butterfly and talks non stop, she always has so much to say.
Dacia is an amazing reader. I was reading Sam & Ann books in 1st Grade, this girl is reading chapter books. She is also my little night owl, so she asked for a reading light so she could read when she goes to bed.

We celebrated her birthday with family the Sunday after her real birthday. She decided that morning that it was going to be a dress up party for the kids. So this is her and her cousin Hunter. Dacia is a pioneer, just in case you couldn't tell.

She got lots of books!

The Cake!
Happy Birthday Dacia!
I can't believe next year will be #8.

Dacia loves the Rainbow Magic Fairy books, so this is her rainbow cake. It was super yummy!

This Is The Place!

In between the birthday and the party we took a family date to This Is the Place Monument. We haven't taken the girls there before and I haven't been there since I was in YW. It was fun to teach the girls about Pioneers and them coming into the Salt Lake Valley. And we scored going on the day we did, it was Jon Huntsman day and we got in free.

We went on a little train ride.

Brylee panning for gold. After you find gold you take it to the bank and you get a treat.

We also got a free ice cream. Too bad we got rained out and had to leave early. It's no fun walking around in the rain and mud.

Tooth Fairy Visits

I guess Ashlyn felt bad she was missing out on the Tooth fairy action, so she made me pull her tooth too. Crazy! Dacia just barely started loosing teeth this year at 6 1/2 and now Ash is...and she is only 5. Her other bottom tooth is loose too!

Hi Ho Hi Ho, Off to Kindergarten I go!

Ashlyn has graduated Pre-school. Next fall I will have 2 kids in school. Crazy!

And look who sat through all of graduation enjoying a refreshing snow cone!