The Lake of Bears - Bear Lake

Each year, we try to get our high-school groupies back together to go on some kind of outing or spend some time catching up. As time goes on, and we keep spreading further apart from each other (ahem.... Justin moving to Alaska. Sheesh!)  it gets a little trickier to coordinate. This year several of us managed to meet up at Bear Lake the first weekend in August.Plus a couple of non-highschool friends!

 

 Here is Arianna Hostetter playing with the kiddos in the sand. Her bubba Skylar chose to swim in the sand rather than the water - covered from head to toe and completely adorable.

 Here's our little beach bum chillin' in the shade. He did experience his first swim by insistence of his Mother - details on his blog.

 Karrianne and I feel that it is an absolute necessity to build a sand castle when the opportunity presents itself. Due to shortage of time this is not our finest work, but we still like it.

 Ben Hostetter and Jake took our little inflatable boat out into the waves and tried to get Jake's kite to pull them. For the sake of their pride we will say it kinda worked.

 The Warrens were present, and our little man got to meet Karri for the first time. Love at first snuggle.

And then there is this. Jake was trying to get me to laugh, and thus put on my beach-wrap-skirt- thingy. (Yes, that is it's official name.) Karrianne tried to snap a picture while he was still hula dancing and frolicking about in it - close enough for me! What a hunk.

We of course stopped at "The Bear Cave" for raspberry shakes on the way home. A day well spent. Man, sometimes I just can't get enough of the water - hope we make it back before the summer ends!

Also in July...

July 7th
While Jake enjoyed a night out with the boys, me and my palsy Karrianne had a little R and R session at my place. (That's Rest and Relaxation, but it sounds cooler and much more like an event when abbreviated in such a manner.) Sadly, we took no pictures because we were obviously REAL busy. She mostly came up to snuggle my chubsy baby I am pretty sure, so we'll add a picture of him.... I might could dig one up. I don't know though... I hardly ever take any of him. ("Are you pickin' up my sarcasm? Cuz I'm layin' it on pretty thick.")

 July 13th
We went to visit Grandma Susan at the cabin. Jake had meetings on Friday so we high-tailed it up there on Thursday night and planned a glorious weekend getaway around his mandatory work shenanigans. It didn't quite start out glorious, as both of us fell ill with a nasty 24 hour bug on the way up. I thought I was just over-the-top carsick at first, and we made several several emergency stops along the drive, but it soon became apparent that it was more than motion sickness. We finally made it to the comfort of the cabin - although I was sure I would die before we reached the safe haven :)  Jake didn't get it too bad until the next morning, and we were both pretty much over it by the following afternoon. Strange little devil bug. So Jake made it to and through his meetings, then we commenced our enjoyment of the canyon trails.

Susan picked us out the perfect little hike that led to... I believe it was called "Lake Solitude" up by the ski resort. It was just right so I could carry baby boy, get a small workout, and still enjoy the surroundings. The weather turned a little drizzly, but the coolness was refreshing and who doesn't love the smell of rain?

 I am pretty sure Mr. Denym was born to be an outdoorsman. He was so happy the entire time - even in the rain; Looked at the trees in wonder, took a little snooze, ate a snack up at the lake, and watched the ducks with Dad.

 July 24th
Pioneer Day, and Hyde Reunion of sorts. Landry's family couldn't make it up this year because of their new baby, and Jake had to work - but everyone else made it. 

Our float wasn't very fancy this year, but hey, we got one put together! We are pretty much the only family who does one anymore so I guess you could say that we are the entire parade in and of ourselves. Yes, there are some four-wheelers, horses, an occasional buggy or truck, and then us. Ta Da! Don't worry, we go around the circle twice to make it longer. And stay tuned for next year, cuz we have a cute idea already cookin'.

All the other traditional activities commenced shortly after the parade; Chicken chases, tug-o-war, barrel races, dunk tank - although we did miss the egg toss this year. Someone forgot to bring eggs! Oh the horror! However, a new thrilling challenge emerged - The 5 person 6 legged race! Wowza. We were told it was hard to complete, let alone do it quickly... of course we couldn't resist such a dare. Many tried, most failed, and the Hyde sisters rose victorious! Go us!

July 28th
Time for the famous Preston night rodeo! We saw some mutton bustin' hilarity, some barrel-racing skills, some crazy bull-riding cowboys, all while enjoying the smells of caramel apples and cotton candy. We took some friends with us to share the experience of said ruckus - as well as the joys of the farm. When we all went out shooting I let Denym come along... He pretty much had HUGE eyes the whole time.

In other news
We have really enjoyed going to the Drive-In movies just outside of town. Summer nights under the stars while baby is sleeping make for awesome date nights. I just feed the little guy in the privacy of our very own pick-up, then bundle him in a snug bed of sleeping bags, and adjust the volume to promote uninterrupted snoozing --- (which I imagine are all very difficult things to do in a movie theater)  The first time we saw Ice Age 4 and Brave. Next the double feature was Bourne Legacy and Spiderman. We were hoping to see Batman in this setting, but it was playing with Borne Legacy... which we didn't care to see again. BUT, I still say Drive-In Movies for the WIN!

Camp KA-RA-RI

"Oh what do you do in the winter months, when preggy is feeling blah....Do you fish in the pond, or take time to bond, at a girls camp called Ka-Ra-Ri!? Is that what you do? So do we!"

Okay, so you probably don't don't do that, but just so you know - It comes highly recommended.

It has been quite some time since I spent some time with friends... I mean, besides my husband and without him there. I guess it is because his charm is all I really need in this world ;)  And really, I have never been known to take part in slumber parties, girls night, and the like. But guess who coordinated and hosted this event at her house!?

.... yup, it was me.

It took place on the last Saturday in January, and began when the three of us (Karri Warren, Karrianne Harris, and myself) met up at Olive Garden in Idaho Falls. Soup, Salad, Pasta, and Breadsticks - YUM.

Then on to my house where I had set up "camp" in our basement. Why indoor camping you ask? Well, I don't really know where that came from, but it sounded like a good "themed" get-away to us!

We settled right in and true to a "girls camp" experience, things got rather eventful rather quickly.

I had set up a pond (actually my blue snuggie spread out in a circular fashion) which contained a variety of paper fish. With staples in each fish, and a magnet on the end of a fishing pole, we proceeded to take turns catching these little fishies.Each one had an "Activity" on the back,  and so the pond decided our fate and the order in which we did things at camp. And oh the delights they had in store for us.

At this point, I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves - as I am found speechless and don't quite know how to explain:

Sticker Tattoos

Belly Dancing Lessons

Stand on your head while singing a camp song

Paint a mustache with yogurt and lick it off

Suck your thumb for the next 5 minutes

Hey! Macarena!

Switch pants and sing Karaoke!

 You can call us spastic, crazy, juvenile, and strange for that is how we felt --- but it's not all that strange to need a good laugh now and then, right?

So after we had completed each of our tasks (including making friendship bracelets, marshmallow target practice, decorating pillow cases, and kissing a poster???) it came down to two final fishies. It was Karrianne's turn and then mine. Since, I was the one who wrote on the fish, I knew one of the things that was left that no one had caught yet. I really did not want to be stuck with it at the end, so I hoped and hoped Karrianne would fish it out...... and she did! whew!

SMASH AN EGG WITH YOUR ARMPIT!

Who knew it would be
so painful and hard to do?

And finally, in agony, the deed was done!

Somehow Karrianne managed to get the large majority of super unfortunate tasks - must have been in honor of her Birthday! It wasn't really her birthday, but only a few weeks away and we figured it was close enough:

Mmmm.... Oreo pudding dirt cake with gummy worms!

There was some late night "girl talk", and a little clean up before we crawled into the tent for the night. Sleep Sweet my friends.....

Commemorative Pillow Case

 Morning came pretty fast, and of course we slept in, so when we finally got up and going we had Crepes for brunch! Oodles of fresh strawberries, some nutella and powdered sugar. Mmmmm, delish! I was a little preggy sick for a few hours after, but I can't tell you how good I felt in spite of it. It does a person good to be surrounded by those who we trust this much:

 Thank you THANK YOU friends for coming to camp.

"The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a life well spent is eternal."

Carving Memories and Pumpkins!

We had a SPOOK-tacular Halloween! I tried really hard not to get carried away this year, but all that did was prove that I cannot help myself!

Every holiday it's the same story: my mind is bombarded with crazy chaos and ideas for decorations, and traditions, and projects .... Never mind the fact that I have been thinking about Christmas the entire month of October. (yeah, whaaaat? That's just crazy talk)

Anyway, the week prior to "All Hallows Eve" Jake had business meetings here there and everywhere. He started in Boise, then went up and made stops in Portland and Seattle. While he was gone,  I had some time on my hands and no one to restrain my festive freak-outs. And so I became a pumpkin carving fool! (instead of just a regular one. haha)

OH the possibilities!!! I found a new pumpkin pattern website called Stoneykins.com and was overwhelmed with the options. Surprisingly, I settled on Rapunzel from "Tangled" -  The pattern was just way too awesome to pass up for some predictable scary face.

And so it began - with the hollowing, and the scraping, and the shaving.... 6 hours later.... TA DA!

It was basically the coolest pumpkin I ever carved, and it gave me an unhealthy dose of motivation to KEEP CARVING! I had more pumpkins at my disposal, so I continued with the "Tangled" theme and came up with three WANTED posters for Flynn Rider:

"They just can't get my nose right!"

Last but not least, there was one small pumpkin left on our porch, and I just could not leave it out. But what could I do on such a small space? A little chameleon named Pascal. 

I swear small pumpkins have more guts than big pumpkins! Also, the shell seemed to be extra thick. And the eyes were rather tricky. Basically, it turned out to be more time consuming than I had planned. I was still working on him when Jake arrived home. Uh, my intention was to have the house cleaned up and to destroy all evidence of my obsessive pumpkin carving week  --- but he found me surrounded by this on our kitchen floor:

"Umm... hello"  was all I had to say for myself. He just rolls his eyes and smirks, but that means he loves when I get carried away. And besides,  he was totally impressed when he saw the whole line up:

In a few days, I am sure we will take them out back and break them to pieces, put a few bullet holes in them, or blow them up - you know, the usual.

The next day, Saturday, I was running around trying to put the finishing touches on our costumes. We had a costume party to go to that night!  Jake had to work all day, poor guy, so we were a little late to the shindig, but I am just excited that we were able to go. I had such a good time just being with my good friends and staying up way too late. We played games, ate junk food and talked the night away.

I wished I had taken pictures of everyone's costumes while we were there - but all I can do is tell you about them. There was a biker/biker chic couple, Red riding hood with baby wolf, batman, a devil, and a zombie.

And here we are as Paul Bunyan and "Babe" the blue ox:

Yes, I gave Jake a list of possible couple costume ideas and he chose this one - so I would have to be an ox! hahaha. But I must say I make one foxy ox!

My favorite part of our outfits would have to be Jake's beard. I worked super hard on it, and after countless attempts, finally came up with this crocheted facial hair. It has two loops on the side that go around his ears and then the rest is just like a little blanket for his face! His axe was also quite cool, as it had a real handle on it and had some weight to it.

The cow-bell around my neck was funny, because I couldn't stop it from jingling all night. And then there is my wig --- I dig the wig! I just had to have it when I saw it online - shaggy and blue and totally ox appropriate. I was lucky it arrived in the mail in time, but it was way worth it and I have decided it was an awesome purchase. In fact, I loved it so much that I wore it to the grocery store the next day! It was the actual day of Halloween after all, and all of our celebrating was over - I just had to wear it one last time.  

 I got a few weird looks from people, and heard all the little kids giggle and point as I passed by. I saw my aunt there and she barely recognized me.

Then there was the funny old guy who came up to me and gave me a compliment on my "costume" --- then he said  "I love Halloween. It's the only time of year when my wrinkly old face is in style." It totally made my day.

While I was at the store I decided I needed to make a "Halloween Theme" dinner. Without much of a budget to work with and no time to think it through, I just came up with eyeball pasta and bone breadsticks:

 

Since it was pretty late when Jake got home (cuz he's a kick butt hard worker like that) we did not go out gallivanting in the darkness. No Tricks and barely any Treats. We had a total of three trick-or-treaters come to our door, but were pretty content to be uninterrupted while we we ate our spooky dinner and watched "The Dark Knight."

I hope you all had a Creep-tastic night. 

   BOO!

Yellowstone.... again!

After our yard sale hubbub (see previous post) we headed out to the boonies to clear our minds. We were in need of some wide open spaces, some wilderness, and apparently a few dozen buffalo... Yellowstone again!

This was my third visit to the park this year, but I never get sick of hanging out with those hot-pots: we have a lot in common you know. Unpredictable at times, bubbly personality, and sometimes down right stinky! haha 

Okay, we really went to spend the afternoon with some actual friends of ours: Joseph and Rebecca Jones.

We took them to our secret favorite spot that we discovered a few summers back (See post from that summer) It's called Virginia cascades and is a beautiful!

 Another of the usual beauties:

The view from Artist Point

And an awesome wildlife moment

But I must admit that I was more entertained by the UN-usual things we found this time around. Strange things seemed to surround us everywhere we went. Like this slimy green muck for example: 

I had never seen anything that quite matched this consistency. So we poked it with a stick for awhile.

And Joe used it for an 

impressive looking snot rocket.

 I stood up to find that I had been sitting on a huge owl pellet. After careful examination, we concluded that there was most definitely a mouse skull in it.

But that's nothing compared to what's coming up next --- I apologize for the next picture in advance:

 Here you will see what we refer to as the "birthing tree."  I am sorry, there is just no denying the resemblance. 

But don't worry... we finally escaped the weird, and were back to the beauty when we saw this awesome mist rainbow.

Before the sun went down,  we found a great sand bar where we skipped rocks and where I waded around in the ice water for a bit. There was a storm rolling in, so we headed for home and let our friends get back to their camp to set up some tarps.

Thanks for playing Joe and Becca!

The rest of July...

I know I know...my blogging performance this summer has been atrocious. Please refrain from throwing rotten tomatoes (or any tomatoes for that matter.)  

Here is the rest of July....

JULY 16th - It was a reunion of sorts. A work buddy reunion. Jake and the plasma center management decided they wanted to get-together outside of work, and planned a 4-wheeling trip. Tess (a former work buddy) offered to let us all come and visit her new place up in the mountainous majesty that is the outskirts of Pinedale, Wyoming.  It was absolutely beautiful! Our adventure took us a few miles up the road to Green River Lakes --- Like heaven! 

 Here they are, all happy go lucky. 
Jake, Nate, Tess, and Mike. 

After a lunch break at the house we went back out. There was just too much great outdoors to be enjoyed. We found a remote area where we could do some shooting and the guys set up some great targets. Jake of course brought his .50 cal and let everyone try it out. I wandered off with the shotgun when it wasn't my turn.

Needless to say, Jake and I seriously enjoyed the weekend. All the fresh air felt so good and we felt really spoiled thanks to Tess and Tim! I am sure we will take them up on their offer to visit again soon.

JULY 18th - I had the chance to make another b-day cake. YES! My friend has a little boy who turned 4 years old. She is doing about a bajillion amazing things right now, so she was short on time and asked if I could step in and help in the cake department. HAPPY to :) She requested a Cars2 theme because his main present was something to do with that. Here is what I came up with:

A city-scape complete with buildings, roads, and a "spy worthy" explosion surrounding Lightning Mcqueen on the top. I put foreign flags around the back along with the grand prix checkered flags to represent the other characters in the movie. I had planned to make a few more figures, but it turned out good with just Mater. Happy Birthday Zackery!!!

JULY 18th - Also on this day, I started a new job...

...And then promptly quit that very afternoon. hahaha. It was not at all what it was advertised to be, and the commute/salary were less than enticing. Let's just say I am so very grateful that I have the option to choose. I know many of the people there had no real choice in the matter, or were taking this as a second job. It made me feel like the biggest brat in the world when I turned in my I.D. badge and walked out. Thank you husband for working so hard and giving me the opportunity to be choosy about my working endeavors!


JULY 21st - Time for Pack Meeting once again. And it was actually our last Pack Meeting as scout leaders. Because of the new job schedule I was supposed to have we were no longer going to have a week day where scouts would be feasible. They had already replaced us when the job fell through, so our scouting streak ends just before we hit the 4 year mark. wowza. It was a good note to end on though - a nice bonfire with hot dogs and a discussion on fire safety. I even learned a cool new trick about using rock sparks and char cloth to start a fire. I got pretty into it, and finally succeeded in starting a fire this way.

We were in charge of refreshments for the occasion, so I made these lovely patriotic cupcakes with the leftover fondant from Zackery's birthday cake.

JULY 24th - The infamous Pioneer Day in Fairview, Wyoming is nothing to scoff at. My family and I take this celebration pretty seriously. It's the one time every year that all the siblings come home (even more regularly than we do for Christmas!)

Jake and I arrived Friday night just in time for me to join the night softball game. Man I LOVE softball! I thought we were going to be too late, but to my delight they had not even started yet. I was ready to get my game on.

I couldn't talk Jake into playing, but he was good about sitting through it all and cheerin' me on! The teams were decided by age because the young guys challenged the old guys to beat them. I fell into the old category - can you believe it!? My family makes up almost half a team, so that was pretty fun. The young'ns did quite well and were actually ahead for a while, but we ended up winning. And let me just say that one inning I caught two fly balls in a row. That's a boo yeah.  

That night we set up our bed in the back of our truck!  Sweeeet. We chatted with the fam in the house for a while, but then we headed out to sleep under the stars. I am sure we could have found a place on a couch or the floor, but the house was pretty full and this turned out awesome. It was the closest we came to camping all year - sheesh!  


Now let me tell you all about the hickish good time we have on Pioneer Day:

 We make a float for the parade. (And when I say parade I mean a few local kids riding their 4-wheelers and a couple of cowboys riding their horses which lasts a total of 2 minutes from start to finish.)

This year our float said "Our Family is our Treasure." We constructed a giant treasure chest for the center piece so that the majority of the grandkids could stand inside and pop out periodically. Then we had some other chests sitting around it for the rest of us to sit on. I made some giant jewels and coins to stick everywhere. We also printed out a picture of every member of the family and put it on a coin.  And that was about it. Credit to my older sister Kendra for the cool bleached matchy shirts. Jake probably would have preferred if we didn't get purple, (hahaha) but we love 'em!

We spend all our quarters on burgers and baked goods. 

The good ol' boys of the community grill some mean burgers and the women folk bring goodies. You can keep going back for more all day long.

 And this year there was free watermelon! Mmmmm.

We get overly competitive during all the games - and push our children/nieces and nephews toward the same fate:

 TUG-O-WAR!

 ANKLE-BALLOON-BATTLE!

EGG-TOSS!

EGG-TOSS SPLATTER!

SAW-DUST-DIGGING!

 CHICKEN-CHASING!

 

 But we also participate when there is no competition involved. The barrel train is a huge hit and is always zig-zagging through all the other activities. There was also a happenin' fish pond off in the corner

This year we even brought a few of our own activities!

Dad constructed and brought this ingenious dunk tank. If you hit the bullseye with the softball, there was a board with nails on it that would spring up and pop the balloon above your head!

 

We all experienced this cold rush more than a few times. 

 We even got Dad to sit in his own invention. Each of the kids got a shot, and Kendra was victorious! 

This contraption was definitely the biggest hit of the day! Everyone loved to dare each other to sit in the chamber. Much more involvement than any normal dunk tank. Everyone loved to stand around and watch - 

A great time filler between the other big events.

And MarLeice appeased the crowds of children by making balloon animals by request! 

 

I guess that gives you an idea of our AWESOME celebration. Come on, you know you are jealous of this local yokel who had herself some backwoodsy fun! Jake is always a good sport to come along for the culture shock, and helps out a ton while I am busy being immature.

When all the official festivities were done, we had just begun! Back at the house, there was a slip and slide just waiting to be set up on our front lawn. Wahoooooooo!

At the beginning we set up a sprinkler tunnel made by putting holes in PVC pipe and running water through it.  We called it the "kid wash"

The huge tarps covered in plastic made for an excellently slippery ride!

And at the end... a huge pool for a nice splash finale, and a spectators splash zone!

 There was also some strawberry pickin' in there somewhere. Dad (Grandpa) has an awesome garden!

All the kiddos were tuckered out and the grown ups beaten to a pulp, but there were still lots of plans to be carried out! Jake took the guys out shooting, and the girls made Mom a  birthday cake!

Another reason that all the siblings manage to come home this weekend is that Mom's birthday is the 25th! We used a gem from the float as a cake board and got to work. Just a simple design, but still fun, and she loved it.  

Taya was a big help on the cake, and then she wanted to make fancy cupcakes with the remaining batter. 

The boys came back with big grins on their faces from shooting, and you know what that means.... no, not rest and relaxation for the weary. Time for hay hauling! Can you believe it!?

Finally something up Jake's alley. He whipped my family into shape and they got all the hay hauled and stacked into the barn. No thanks to me and my hay fever. phooey. The kids got to ride some bails up the hay elevator, which they thought was pretty cool.

 Kendra brought some glow sticks for everyone to wear while out in the dark. 

What a day, huh!? Non-stop country bumpkin adventures from morning til night. And to think we would all be up and ready for church the next morning!  It didn't quite happen flawlessly and many of us were quite late, but Jake and I made it in time to hear ShaNae play the piano in sacrament meeting. I got to be her page turner - look at me and my accomplishments :) hahaha.

 She played beautifully and made all the old ladies cry.

We had a really great weekend, and I am so glad my family is able to get together once a year to be quirky.  There are so many of us now, and the kids are so darn cute!     

FOR MORE PHOTOS  

ALBUM #1

ALBUM #2

ALBUM#3

JULY 30th- We found ourselves in Mink Creek once again. We are kind of regulars at the Free Farm if you hadn't noticed.

 We like to help the tough ol' pappy with whatever we can and give him trouble to keep him young. It was also the weekend of the Preston night rodeo! (Are you kind of getting the feeling that we are rednecks?)

It was good times helping to get a few horses ready for the parade. I had never brushed and shampooed a horse before and Jake showed me the ropes. There are usually lots of kids wanting to ride, so Jake normally doesn't worry about it, but this year he got thrown into the mix! I watched with all of his cousins and made fun of them as they passed by ;) 

Once that hurrah was over, and our bag of candy collected,  we were free to wander about the fair grounds. We bought rodeo tickets and saved some seats in the grandstands. I escaped for a minute to grab us a caramel apple, and then dusk was upon us and the show began! 

  The clown was pretty entertaining. He blew up this outhouse with himself inside! Although he sure made a lot of negative wise cracks about wives.... grrrr! I gave Jake a nice glare after each one. hahaha. 

This was the night for all the best riders who had scored highest on previous nights. There were some good times for calf roping, and barrel racing. And some extra great bull rides! I admit that my favorite event is the mutton bustin' --- where the kids try to ride the sheep. Cracks me up! 

I think Jake gets a kick out of watching the broncs and the bulls.... and the crazy people around us :)

 The weather was just perfect and we didn't even have to use our blanket.

One of Jake's friends, Mikey,  met up with us to carnival the night away. Him and Jake had some nasty corndogs (which they found to be disgustingly delicious) and some other heart-stopping fair food. Then we picked out one carni game to play. We saw a few people find success with breaking these beer bottles with a throw of a baseball, so we each gave it a try. Sorry to say, but we were mostly way off. No prize, but it felt kinda good to chuck a ball as hard as you could. :)

And that about does it. Aren't you glad I left out the mundane details? (No seriously, I did.)We have some more little tidbits up our sleeves for the coming weeks.... but for now, you are Free to go.