Ashley Lake

 On July 2nd, we headed down to Ashley Lake for a family reunion! My parents decided to go on a mission and were called to serve in the San Diego Mormon Battalion Center starting on July.18th. I'm really sad they are leaving because I see them a lot and they are so helpful with my kids, but I know they are excited to do this so I'm excited for them. They thought it was a good idea to invite the whole family to the cabin for the 2 weeks before they left, so we called it a family reunion. It was only the immediate family, but with 10 adults and 16 grandkids (minus Mason on a mission), the number of people really add up. 
A schedule was made for the meals each day and 2 families would work together for a couple days each week. We also each had to bring a craft and an activity. We decided to bring stuff to tye dye socks and water balloons for games and a big fight. They both turned out to be hits! The kids had a lot of fun with all the crafts, especially making bracelets. We had a few tournaments happen- basketball, Mexican horseshoes, and Rook. 

We also had a talent show which was so much fun! Leo did a song he learned at school called "Sticky Sticky Waffles", and we were all impressed with how well he knew the actions and words and we all sang it along with him. He was in his glory! Deacon did a little Karate number that we put together last minute to the song "Eye of the Tiger" and it was so good! Bentley and Brooke put together a little dance that was really cute and they were also in a skit with some of the older girls. Boston tried to be a part of everything on stage, but especially played a role in Grandma and Grandpa's skit with a pretend lawn mower. It was a really fun time!

One day all the girls went into town to do some back to school shopping, as usual, and that concluded with a fashion show afterwards. Bentley had to pay for half her clothes this year and was very good at not overspending. I bought the boys some things while I was there as well. Going to Target and Ross are always one of my favorite things!

Boating, swimming, and hot tubbing were of course the main activities, and this year Jeff told Bentley that if she water skiied, then she could put makeup on him. This was very enticing to her so she tried, and got up first attempt! She went for a good while and looked like she was having a good time, but then decided afterwards that she didn't want to do it again. So that was the only time she went all year, but at least she did it! Deacon went most opportunities he had and did well, but still didn't master going over the wake. Leo even tried, with no success, but loved the EZ ski. They also all loved tubing and got really brave this year!

Deacon was absolutely obsessed with fishing and spent the whole first day on the dock with his fishing rod. He didn't catch one fish that day, so both Jeff's took him a couple of times to the end of the lake where there is more fish and he was able to catch one each time. He truly has a fishing obsession! He also loved all the other creatures, like crawdads and frogs. 

On Sunday, we decided to go to Libby for church and then drive an hour or so to a short hike to a really pretty waterfall. We packed up a lunch as well and wore our matching shirts that we got for the family reunion after church was over. Libby was a cute little town and the ward was great. They were very happy to have us because they were so small, and Boston was the only one in the nursery! Once we got to the start of the hike, we ate our delicious lunch, took some group photos, and then started the hike. We went to a suspension bridge, which was really neat, and then turned around to go to Kootenai Falls. It was absolutely beautiful!! Boston fell asleep on Jeff, but the other kids had fun playing in the water a little before we headed back. 

We were also there for the 4th of July and had a fun time with fireworks and the little snappers and glowsticks beforehand. It starting raining pretty hard, but eventually it passed and we still did fireworks quite late. Boston even stayed awake for them and it was a lot of fun!

Jeff had a work emergency at the beginning of the summer. One of his main guys, Andrew, ended up quitting and it was a big thing. Unfortunately, it kind of ruined our summer. Jeff came to the lake initially, but then left for a lot of it, and then came back again. I was able to stay and still have a good time with the kids, but it never is quite the same without him and knowing all the stress and hurt he was going through. It was a bit of a rough summer in that way, but I tried to stay positive for the kids. I did at least enjoy myself at my cabin quite a bit. It was a great 2 weeks!