Oh, what did you do in the summer time...

Well, we had fun. And lots of it. We started off by heading to my home and native land for 2 weeks.






Nate was with us for the first week, then flew home to work for a week. He just loves it up there. He always finds time to take Dylan fishing. And for those city folks out there that wonder what kinds of things us country folk do for fun, well, I'll tell ya. You see that spillway in the background of the picture below? Well, there are a few of those around where I grew up and whenever the water gets just low enough, you head to the spillway or "the bucket" (as we call the one below). And what do you do? You slide down on your butt (or feet, if you dare) and experience something that not too many people have ever experienced. Many pairs of shorts were ruined doing this, and many a moss can be found flying through the air and covering most of yourself, including in your teeth, as your flailing down the spillway twisting and turning every sort of direction there is. Oh, the memories...


Okay, anyway. Back to the present...

Nate didn't get very lucky with fishing on this trip. But Dylan on the other hand...


He is one great fisherman. And he caught it with his little Cars fishing rod. Okay, so Nate may have helped some, but Dylan did most of the reeling in.


The night before the big July 1st celebration, HillSpring had its very own triathlon. My sisters and I put a team in and our husbands did too. They won, we didn't. But it was really fun. I hope they do this again every year. Tanya swam (in FREEZING cold water), I biked, and Candace ran.





July 1st is always a big hit. I hadn't been for a few years and was skeptical of going, but it was so fun! We had a huge Folsom reunion over a few days and it was really nice to catch up with so many family members. Wish I had taken pictures of all that. We had a float in the parade and the kids loved all the races.

I think one of the best parts of the day was the rodeo. My nieces are trying to catch a greased pig...

Mutton busting was a hit. I remember doing this growing up and I'm glad my kids got to experience it too. These pictures are a little backwards, but here is Sam. He WOULD NOT let go! It was so funny. He just kept going like this until they finally had to pull him off...

Jackson had a good wipe out...

Here is Sam again. This is how he hung on the whole time...

Dylan's sheep wouldn't move...

(don't you love his boots? They are his "farm boots")

The kids got to chase and catch chickens...

Another of Sam. He was soooo dirty. Don't be fooled by that cute face...

We played softball the next day...

Looks like it must have gone far...
(of course)

That is all the pictures I have of Canada, but we did so many other things too. Cook outs, swimming, lots of ice cream at the pioneer parlour, and... I honestly can't remember what else. But it was just nice to be back home and see so many people. My kids LOVE going back to the farm. Dylan was out on the tractor one night with my dad until 10:30. He was one happy little boy. I love that he loves it there.

So then we went to Montana for a week and Nate flew back up to meet us there. But for some reason, this picture is out of order. It was taken on our way back from Island Park at Big Juds. Isn't that hamburger huge? Nate and I couldn't even finish it.

Montana was great as usual. It was so nice of my parents to let us all come to the cabin at the same time. It was pretty crazy, but pretty awesome. Lots of food, hanging out, boating, fishing, wake boarding, knee boarding, tubing, swimming, Canasta (our new favorite game), eating out, movies, and just being together. It was nice.

The man who made this all happen...

(my wonderful dad with his homemade flag)


Awesomeness...

There was a lot of fishing again. I think every kid caught at least one. Sadly, this was about as big as they got...

(a little smaller than his catch in Canada, but that didn't seem to matter)

And if you can't tell from this picture, I gained about 5lbs this summer. Really.

My kids enjoyed the tube but it took them a while to get warmed up to it. This kind of helped them, pulling each other on the tube with the paddle boat. It was pretty funny to watch.

And some randoms...

This is me, right before I did my back flip over the wake...

(just kidding)

Going out at sunset was the best.

We came home for a week, then went to Island Park with Nate's family for a week. It was nice to spend time with them and I wish I had taken at least once picture of us there. Golf is always the big thing the Whittakers do together at Island Park. Sadly, I only went once this time. But I did okay considering it had been a while. The kids enjoyed swimming and playing on the beach. We went boating again too. Oh, and we went into West Yellowstone one night to watch Beauty and the Beast at the Playmill theater. It was really cute. We all really enjoyed it.

So then we came home for another week and then went back up to the cabin again for a week. I know. We did a lot this summer. And yes, Nate did work this summer. Lots during our weeks home. We were just lucky.

But anyway. Summer is gone. Sad. And I have also been a little sad that the Top of Utah Half Marathon is tomorrow and I won't be running in it. I just really wanted to run another 1/2 this year since I feel like I am in pretty good shape, but my darn hip has been bugging my and I can't run that far. Oh well.

(and a special thanks to Candace for some of the pictures on here)