What a show!

On Saturday July 24 I talked your dad into taking me to the Blue Angels Idaho Falls Airshow. WOW! I've posted some of my best pictures, but a photo just can't capture the amazing sights and sounds.




Sometimes the angels flew in formations of 4, 5 or 6, and sometime solo. Notice two pilots flying upside down in one of the pictures above. The announcer said that in the diamond 4 formation the plane wings are 18 inches apart!
Many others performed at the airshow too. At right are three restored Mustang fighters. We also got to watch a Mig/Fury dog fight and the Airforce had a air display of vintage to modern aircraft. We saw some fantastic aerial gymnastics and trick flying. My favorite was a flyer from Boise. Not only did he do barrel rolls, he also rolled his plane top over bottom. He did loops and figure eights and he totally stopped his plane in flight and just fell from the sky pulling up in a very dramatic loop and roll.
The plane at right was called the mystery plane and the pilot, Kyle, did some fantastic displays. But, look on top of the plane and you will see his wife, Amanda, who is a "wing walker". She climbed out of the cockpit along the bottom wing, onto the top wing and then strapped herself to a pole on top of the plane. She was there as he did all his tricks like at left. It looked like she was having a blast! I heard someone say "that must a be woman up there. A man would have more sense".

PARTY!!!!

Shanalee, Leslie, Mark and Elden joined us for our annual 4-H swim party and picnic. I think they had a good time. They played, they got wet, and they got very noisy. They both enjoy yelling! Be glad the pictures at left aren't videos. James spent the time in his carrier being absolutely adorable.

This photo of James was taken a few days earlier. It was the first time he actually giggled!

Memories from Leigh Lake

Leigh Lake is one of the most beautiful places on earth and we have some wonderful family memories from there, so it was great when MiKell inspired us to make a return visit to Leigh Lake the 2nd week of July. Thank you MiKell. Twelve of us went, just the number you can have in the group camp site, so it worked out perfectly. Some of us walked in and some of us canoed in. The campsite was as nice as we remembered though the mosquitoes were quite bad. We learned to stand by the fire to keep the mosquitoes away - by the end of the week we smelled quite strongly of smoke and mosquitoe repellent.

The kids (and adults) played in the water and sand, went exploring, made woodland creatures with googly eyes and did all the regular camping things. Everyone played hard and even the adults didn't mind a nap now and then.
Of course everyone enjoyed the canoes.


We had a wonderful time. I'm sure we will go back into Leigh Lake again.

Grandkids at Leigh Lake

I think the kids had a great time at Leigh Lake - climbing on rocks, playing in the sand and on the beach, playing in the COLD water, sleeping in tents, going on exploring adventures, and collecting everything from rocks to sticks to leaves. All great fun!





We had Katelyn, Addison, Zachary, Eric, Wendy and Elden with us and we had a wonderful time.

Bridal Shower for Bethany

We had a bridal shower for Bethany on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. The theme was "Hats off to Bethany" and we all wore hats. This is a fun group photo of all of our hats.
For one of the activities we designed two wedding dresses out of toilet paper, which Bethany and her sister, Taylor, modeled. Aren't they beautiful? We created such stunning designs! The ensembles were complete with trains, bouquets and even the "ring" that Bethany is displaying at left.

Visiting in Utah

Already this summer we have spent quite a bit of time visiting family in Utah and I got some fun pictures. Here are Wendy, Eric and Zachary. Below are some really great video clips I got of several of the grandkids doing cute things. I think they are adorable and I don't think I'm too prejudice. First is Elden and Abigail dancing. Second is Elden sitting on the back of the slippery slide performing Eensy Weensy Spider. However, he gets a little side tracked when Eric comes into the picture. Third is Josh teaching Zachary how to do push ups. Elden decides to try too. And thelast video is Wendy playing Peek-a-boo with me and my camera

the GRAND Canyon

While visiting Kanab we took one day to travel to the Grand Canyon. What a sight. I cannot take credit for the first photo, one of the others had the camera at that time. But isn't it a nice picture? The VanDykes and Simmons families both had a good time, and so did I.

Kanab - play ground of America! (well kind of)

Josh and Shanalee were kind enough to let me hitch a ride with them to Kanab to visit Tammie and Rob. What Fun! Kanab is hot! so we went swimming & played outside in the evenings. We celebrated the 4th of July with a parade and fireworks. Elden and Abbie were lots of fun. Elden liked the suckers at the parade and Abbie just wanted to walk into the road. Thanks Josh, for letting me ride with you and thank you Rob, for making room for all of us!