Summer wrap up

 We had anther fun family and friends filled 4th of July! We love this day and go all out! We often have our cousins with us that weekend because it is also their parents anniversary and they usually get there just in time for the parade! This year we even tie dyed shirts. I had never done it before so some of them got A LOT more dye than others.... but they were fun. (Even with a dead dryer for weeks this summer! I had to hang dry everything for over a month while waiting on parts for the dryer. Thankfully it was hot and dry and we had clean clothes.)

 Not long after the 4th we went to one of our favorite places Prineville Reservoir for our family vacation. We were so lucky to have many of our family come up for part of the time and friends too! We swam a lot, loved the kiaks a lot, had lots of water fights and Ruth learned to water ski!

 Brock and Macquarie did their usual and build massive mud castles and lakes.

 Ruth was amazing! She totally water skiied on her very first try and had no fear. She can stear really well too. It's amazing what this kid can do! Some of the pictures look foggy but we had some smoke issues due to wild fires. It was also my 20th class reunion while we were there. I didn't take any pictures while I was there. It was a lot of fun to go see everyone who came. I am glad I went.

 Amelia and I got to go to girls camp together again this year. This was her 2nd year. She has such a great group of friends, and had a great time getting to hang out with her friends.

 We took a day trip to the beach late July with a few cousins. The weather was AMAZING!

 I even had Brock drive! He hadn't done much other then around town so this was a big deal. We weren't in a hurry so it was good practice. (AND SLOW!)

 We also attempted a new thing for our family. We not only went on a hike which we have done several times but we went on on over night backpacking trip. It was so much fun! Everyone carried their own pack, no one was packed, and it was awesome!

 The lake we camped by was beautiful! The kids loved the food and the experience of really being in nature not just in a camp site.

 The girls all shared a tent and snuggled in tight.  It was pretty cute.

 See look at that lake! AMAZING!

 Late summer we said good bye to both of the Spanish Elders that were serving here. They closed the Spanish area here. So Elder Elias (above) and Elder Kehl (below) Moved on to other areas. We miss them. We held Hayden's picture because she was in Sunriver with Uncle Sunny when they came to say goodbye.

 We made one last trip to the beach with Aunt Emily, Grandma, and Myka the end of August. It was NOT as nice of weather as we had in July. But they still had lots of fun

 Something super cool that happened August 21st was we had a total solar eclipse and we happen to be in the path of totallity. By camera didn't get great pictures and there aren't really good words to describe what it was like. But it was incredible. We watched at the park a few blocks from our house and it was amazing to see the light get dimmer and dimmer yet you could litterally still see the sun was there. Then all of a sudden it wasn't! It was gone and it felt like night. It got cold and everything. Then like a flash the sun was back but still dim as it slowly came back. God is amazing at the things he does.

This is Elder Pinkston. He was hurt doing service in our area and tried really hard to heal his broken wrist and serve the Lord but he ended up needing to go home to have surgery and physical therapy. We sure loved having him here.