Water fun!

 Dana and Russell brought up some kayaks and everyone had a great time with them. Even the little kids could control them and go out on the  lake. Here is Shane trying to show Hallie how to stand and balance.

 Beautiful Nat in one of the headbands she taught everyone to make.

 Nat, Hallie, and Aiden spent hours trying to drown each other. They were joined by Megan and Kenny for some good water fights!

 Russell showing off his skills!

 Dana trying to compete. Didn't happen!

She got it once Russ held the kayak steady. I am pretty impressed. We all spent hours out on and by the water.

Family Fun

 It was my parents 40th anniversary and Shane's 40th birthday on Aug. 18th, so we had to have a celebration! We all met at Island Park at the Westergard's cabin. It is the most beautiful place. Right on the water. With lots of room for everyone. We all love this piece of heaven and we love being able to go there.

 Auntie's Colette and Shanntel are always so nice to make everyone beautiful! Nail time!

My awesome brothers and sisters! All together on the porch! (with baby Cameron Curtis who is barely a month old!)

I realized it was a pretty rare moment for us all to be together relaxing and talking with no kids so we had to document it! The Jaussi kids. I am so glad we all get along so well and really love each other. What a blessing!

A little more relaxing. Two of the best guys in the world! I am one lucky girl to have this dad and this husband. 

And here is awesome uncle Russell. Always creating an adventure. These boys had a great time seeing where this remote control car could go!

 We always have a good time and up next fun on the water!

Jenny's Lake

We went from Jackson through Yellowstone to West Yellowstone the next day. Our first stop was the beautiful Jenny's lake. As we turned off to Jenny's Lake we saw this monster of a moose. Shane was happy. It was his goal to find a moose.

 Posing by the beautiful lake. We were bummed about one thing on this trip. Our kids didn't get to see as much of the beauty as we had hoped. There were some fires that had blown a ton of smoke into the area. Everything was really hazy and took away from some of the majesty of the area.

The fam and the Tetons.

 The posing is done. Now back to dry land!

The girls.

 This picture is after a lot of driving and once we got into Yellowstone Park. I am pretty sure is it Lewis Falls.  We stopped just after this at Lewis Lake for a picnic lunch.

 We sure love Yellowstone and the beauty in this part of the country!

Jackson Hole

After our picnic we went to see the sites and do some shopping in Jackson Hole. We had to get a picture by the antler arch. We look pretty good after having just floated the river!  Even though Shane and I both went to Jackson a lot growing up, our kids had never been there. 

 Just posing about town while we shopped. This store had several stuffed squirrels posed and dressed in clothes. They were creepy. We had a little ice cream at Haagen Daz to keep our energy up!

Abbie and her beautiful eyes!

 Jace with the fake smile!

 

 Our almost 12 year old Hallie! Growing like a weed. Not sure why Nat didn't get in a picture. . . .

 Just hangin' with Ben.

 Look at all those geniuses!

We bought the kids a Jackson Hole sweatshirt, then stayed in town for the shoot out. It was different than it was when I was a kid, but fun just the same. Jace loved that they were shooting guns in the middle of town. After the shootout we went to dinner and back to our little cabin.

Jackson Hole Adventure

 We headed to Jackson Hole! It was such a fun time. We stayed at a cute little cabin in Driggs, ID. We had a cozy little family room.

My darling kids.Sure love them.

 The next morning we went out for our big adventure! Floating the Snake River! You had to be 6 to do it and luckily we could all go! It was so fun. We had a whole boat to ourselves. A once in a lifetime experience I think-to be the only group in the boat. It was cold, but fun and beautiful.

 We wondered how the littles would do, but they were great. Abbie got pretty cold because she is so dang skinny. Jace rode at the front of the boat the whole way yelling and loving every second. The rest of us loved it just as much.

Then we had a little picnic lunch at the Jackson Hole city park. It was fun and we were pretty wiped out. I love this little family of mine.

 After lunch at the park we just played around for a bit.

 The kids loved climbing around. It was really warm and nice after the cold river!

Mini Temple Tour/ Bear Lake

 The day after Wicked, we started a family vacation. We were going to meet my family in Island Park for a family reunion/40th Anniversary/40th birthday get together. We decided to take a road trip first and spend some time with just our kids.

 We stopped at the newest temple in Brigham City. It had just been dedicated. Then we kept on going to Bear Lake.

 We realized it would be nice to stop by the Logan temple too. Our kids had never seen it either.

It was to just be together, not be in a hurry, and to be able to stop wherever we wanted.

 Then we stopped by our property at Bear Lake. We had only seen it once and wanted to see what we were paying for! Hopefully someday we will have a cabin here and a place to gather with our kids!

 You wouldn't know it now, but all the land here is sold. It will be fun to see how it changes over the years as people build on their lots. Our boys look good! Jace is standing on the power box and loves being taller than dad!

Just another shot to get a few angles and to remember how little the kids were when we started this crazy dream.

After checking out the land, we met our friends Jamie and Adam for lunch. Jamie made us some wonderful food. Then, we broke into the lock box of a cabin they had just put an offer on! It was fun to check out their cabin. It was such a treasure for them to find. Luckily we didn't get caught or arrested or anything!

It was a wonderful relaxing day. Then it was back to the car and on to our next destination.

Wicked

We took our girls to see Wicked at the Capitol theater. It was their first time seeing a real musical. They both loved it of course. It was Shane and my second time seeing it and we loved it just as much!

We went with about 13 people from my family and had a great time. Then we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner after. It was a really fun day and started off a really great week for our family!