Utah Trip Week 4: Part 2

The big Ashcraft Family Reunion-30 people in 2, 12 people cabins up at gorgeous and masquito infested Island Park, Idaho (about 30 min. from West Yellowstone entrance)
Stan enjoying the hottub with the kiddos one morning. Don't worry, we didn't have the temperature up very high.

Fishing on the the Buffulo? River. Grandma and Grandpa taught all the kids how to cast and let them play as long as they were interested.  Even with all the fishing that went on during the 4 days we were there, nobody caught anything-not even my expert bro-in-law. Good thing we hadn't planned on eating off the river!

Julia with cousings Jessica, Jacob on Emily's lap, and Hannah.

Israel learning from Grandpa.  He worked at it for a really long time and was sad when he still didn't catch anything. Fishing can be tough for kids.

Walking the slackline. Cousin Kienan pictured, is really good at it and all the Robbin's boy and Stan had a great time playing on it. Israel learned to take a few steps on his own. Not easy.

Eliza with cute cute 7 mo. old baby Asher.

Me with my nephew Sean soon to be missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

We did this beautiful little hike to the Upper Mesa Falls. Lovely little hike, plenty of shade, and breathtaking waterfalls. I kept on thinking of Super Man rescuing Lois Lane from Niagra Falls.

The happy Hall girls

Israel giving us the "oh, no, I don't want to fall in" pose.

Saying goodbye to family was hard. Here I am with my dad (and Israel of course)

What a great vacation we had. Thanks for all the people who gave us food and beds and let us invade their homes. We love our extended family and are looking forward to next July when we hope to go to Utah next.

Utah trip Week 4: Part 1

Playing with the Robbin's crew.
Here we are up at Christopher's Mom's cabin. The kids loved riding horses for the first time.

Israel with Joshua

Julia with Sarah

Eliza with Joshua

Milking goats at the neighbors

Stan got pretty proficiant and even went back for a 6 am milking. Not only that, but he loved drinking the fresh milk-he even drank half a gallon in one sitting!

Julia loved the baby goats

I'm not sure which of my kids took this picture, I was just really impressed by it. In picture-Michele, Christopher, and Elizabeth

playing dress-up. Don't they have an awesome swingset? The tall swings that are so hard to find these days. This is my dream swingset when we have a bigger yard (and extra money)

Julia

The only picture I got of the fireworks/sparklers. Huntsville has a really good show.

Utah Week 3

Playing in Laketown is always a highlight. This time we even got to go shooting AND ride tractors.
Here we are shooting grandma's .22

 Moving Pipe in the North field with my Uncle Eldon

 Enjoying tractor rides with Eldon. He taught the kids to answer "green" to the question, "What color should a tractor be?"

 Playing in Bear Lake. The water is up so high that we only had a tiny bit of beach. We still managed to have plenty of fun.

 Aunt Jan let us ride Squirt. Julia rode too, but I forgot to get a picture:(

 Grandma gave the girls this blanket she knit. They share it and have been taking turns sleeping with it since.

Utah Trip Week 2

We got together with Katie's kid's Aidan and Ivy and have a fun time visiting old haunts. We of course had to get donuts at Krispy Creme and then we went to Wymount to play at our old playground.

A new sign-up at Wymount-you have to love BYU and all their signs . . .

Julia and Ivy-so cute!

Israel with Aidan. Israel planned this shot:)

We sure love the Purdies. Katie and I have been super friends since moving into Wymount together 5 years ago. We wish we didn't live on opposite ends of the country. (they live in Florida)  My happy hope is Jason'll find the perfect teaching job in Utah and then when I visit my family I'll be able to see her too.

At the Lehi parade with my big brother Mike's family. The kiddos loved collecting all the candy.

Emily and Rachel marched in the parade with the American Fork marching band. Julia loves these girls (and their "cowboy" hats)

Utah Trip Week 1

 I went to my first Writer's Conference- Writers and Illustrators for Young Readers in Sandy, Utah. I took Louis Plummer's Novel Writing class. I just loved her!

 My good friend Katie took the class as well-isn't she beautiful!?!

 While I was at my conference 8-5 for a week my wonderful sister Jane (with my mom's help) took care of my kids. Julia with cousin's Hannah and Hailey at their lemonaid stand. Eliza holding a marshmellow shooters Jane made with the kids out of pvc pipe. So fun. Note: I don't know if this is the same site my sister used.