2nd Annual Family Camp at Redfish lake

We enjoyed a fantastic weekend at Redfish lake with 7 other family's for our 2nd annual family camp! It was a cold rainy weekend but it did not slow the kids down, they spent the weekend biking, playing, gathering firewood, and just enjoying time together. The adults also had a great time. The guys went out skiing and surfing(despite the frigid temperatures) and the ladies pretty much got enough "chit chatting" in to last until next year :) On Saturday afternoon some of the guys went out dirt biking while 4 of us moms and 3 of the non-dirtbiking dad's went out on the boats. The 4 mom's took 16 kids on one boat so the guys could surf on the other. I can not believe that we were able to gather 16 life jackets to outfit all the little ones. The oldest kid on the boat was 8!!! We must be brave mommy's :)_




Here are some pictures of the kids riding bikes, gathering firewood in the rain (and enjoying every minute), Mike snuggling Will (the babies did not sleep well while camping so they would take anyone up on the opportunity to snuggle), Aubrey and Hannah playing on the giant teeter totter, and Will and Elle hanging out on the log imitating the big kids.






We had a dutch oven potluck on Friday night. There was WAY TOO much good food. We saved the Miller's yummy dutch oven potatoes for breakfast on Saturday!

Teaching 10 girls to make jam and bread!!

This summer my VERY creative and gung-ho friend Alison had a great idea for teaching our girls some "life skills". There were 5 moms all each with different skills to teach our 9 girls. The girls attended a jewelry making class, a music class, a sewing class, a craft class and a cooking class. I did the cooking class and taught 10 girls (we had one extra that day) to make strawberry freezer jam and homemade bread. I helped my friend Carrie with her jewelry making day so in turn she lent a set of helping hands on my day... which I needed! The girls had so much fun doing things "mommy's do". It was a lot of fun to see how proud they were of the different skills they aquired. I can't wait for them to do this again next year!

Unfortunately I only captured 8 girls in the pictures I think Amber and Bridges snuck out to play on the trampoline.

Hannah turns 7!!!

Hannah's one request for her birthday was that she get a Carrot Cake?! It was a strange request, but we enjoyed every bite! We love our little Hannah! She has such a giving spirit and a kind heart. She excels in all that she does. She has and amazing love for the Lord and sets an example to us everyday. We look forward to this next year as we prepare to keep her sweet spirit at home for home school!








Hannah turned 7 on July 18th! We were able to celebrate with the Anderson side of the family in Bozeman since we were their for Jack and Steph's wedding. A couple weeks after we got back we had a small little party for her. She had been begging for weeks to have a couple of her good friends from Kindergarten come over to play so we decided to pick them up and take them bowling with us for a little impromptu party. Hannah, Ava, Piper and Hallie had a great time bowling, as did Aaron and I.

A new found love.

Elle is into everything dress up... even if it is wrapping dirty underwear around her neck like a necklace (disgusting as it may be). Lately she has discovered a love for a pink bike helmet that is just her size. She brought it to Aaron so he would put it on her and then I guess she thought that William needed one too. She brought the helmet to him and yelled at us until we put it on him. Elle was content to wear hers all day, but as you can see Will was giving us the "please" sign to take the helmet off his head.

Camping on the Crooked River

We stayed around most of the day Sunday and spent the majority of the day floating around on the Simetkosky's blowup air matress. The kids loved it!
Hannah decided that she wanted to try and ride her bike across the river... WHAT? obviously she has no fear. She made it about 1/2 way across each time.


The guys kept themselves busy by moving rocks in the river to creat a "jet stream" and a swimming hole. I do have to admit that the "jet stream" was pretty cool and warm welcomed break from the heat. You would have to lay down and hold on to the rocks. The force of the water was really strong so you had to hang on tight.




The weather was really hot so we put the Kelty shade over a spot in the river and parked our chairs in the river... it definitely helped keep us cool.







Over the weekend of July 25, 2009 we went camping with our friends Tristin and Carolyn and their kids Ian and Noelle. We found a great campsite right along the crooked river. The river was shallow enough for the kids to play in (which was great because it was SO hot that weekend! Will and Noelle and Elle were pals all weekend.


For my birthday this year my friend Jill sent me an ice cream maker that you can take camping. The kids had so much fun rolling it around in the river, and especially enjoyed eating the fruits of their labor... it was so yummy!!