filling my mason jar: Summa, Summa, Summa, Time!

SUMMER

JUNE: Swim lessons for the first time, Reid went to Germany for 2 weeks on business (jealous), played at the park with friends, Shauna & Cody came for a weekend, went Strawberry picking...and eating, and made Strawberry jam.

JULY 2-5: We drove out to Reid's Dad's house at the Tamarack ski resort (by McCall, ID) for our 1st family reunion of the summer. We rode quads, hiked, played at Cascade lake, jumped off a bridge and floated in tubes, played games, made crafts, enjoyed a 4th of July pancake breakfast & hay ride, and played with cousins.

We picked raspberries at a local berry farm before we left on our trip. One of my favorite things to do in the summer in Oregon! Mmm these were HUGE and so delicious! (Cascade Delight variety) We brought 10 lbs to the reunion with us.

We all had fun riding the Razor.

Reid took me for a ride on some ATV trails. We went up/down a super steep narrow trail - I thought I was going to die, but it was quite a rush. Check out the vid:

It was definitely awesome to be on top of the mountain with no one but my sweetheart.
This was a quick shot of the view. Definitely doesn't do it justice. The lake is down there...

Connor is definitely a child of the outdoors. He is happiest when he gets to roam free outside. We went on a nature hike at Tamarack where Brad & Phyllis live. He lasted longer than all of the other kids and was happy the entire time. He'd get so excited at every new plant or animal we found.

Reid w/ Connor & Aunt Shauna w/ Rhett.

A few of the grandkids eating rootbeer floats on the porch.

We made rockets out of cardstock and foam to launch off the sweet air compressor-powered PVC pipe launcher that Reid's dad made. This kept everyone busy for hours!

JULY 5-7 we drove from Idaho back over to the Tri-Cities, WA for the Wilson reunion (Reid's mom's side). We had a blast! We chatted, played games, ate great food, had a lu'au, swam at the pool, etc.

One night we did some Minute-to-Win-It games. After the events were over we were loading up the van to head back to our hotel and realized we didn't have Connor. I ran back into the church building to find him.
This is what I found:

July 13 - We camped at the Cape Lookout beach with our ward! Our big new tent made its debut. The boys had a blast exploring and playing on the beach with their friends. Wish we could have stayed longer.

July 26-August 6 was our trip to UTAH -- My Dad (a saint!) flew up to PDX to make the drive down with me, then Reid flew down Aug 3rd to spend the weekend and drive back home with us.

First up was the Clarke family reunion (my Dad's fam) at Beaver Creek Lodge, by Bear Lake. It was so great to see my cousins! The kids were in heaven with all the other little cousins too. They just played and played; we only heard from them when they were hungry.
Here's the whole clan:

I got together with my best buds from HS...and our kids! Talk about multiply and replenish. It was a blast. Thanks Alison for hosting us!

Ash, Kenz, Alison, {me}, Lindz, Newsome, Ang, and Saz

(we missed Jules, Beegs, Kristi, Camille, Kirsten, and Lisa!)

Reid and I grabbed some breakfast after I picked him up from the airport. It was just us and Rhett. It felt so weird to just have one little baby with us, rather than the whole 4-boy-crew. Rhett was the best traveler! He is just super smiley and sweet all the time.

We went to the bird show at the Hogle Zoo. We all loved it. Dad knows the bird man, so we got a pic with Steve and the bald eagle. It was so cool (and a little freaky!) to be so close and have it flap its giant wings.

In the pic: Alex on Jordon's shoulders, Reid, Me, Steve, Bald Eagle, Avery, Clark.

Siblings date night! I love hanging out with my sibs, and they have married such cool people. Thanks to Mom & Dad for watching the kiddos. :) We went to California Pizza Kitchen then miniature golfing. Captain Planet!

Connor fell asleep on Uncle Patrick. Patrick is the best uncle. He is so great with the kids.

He loves them, and they know it.

Clark was an awesome helper the whole trip. Grandpa would reward him with play time on the iPad.

Right before we left, Grandpa was headed out to his first day at his new job at BYU. He realized we never did motorcycle rides with the boys - so he took them each for a little last minute spin. They were in heaven. Connor watches a video of his ride on my phone over and over.

Thanks for taking the time Dad! (Hope you weren't late for your first day!)

My mom loved spending time with the grandkids. She tucked them in and read them stories. She took the whole week off of work to spend time with us. Thanks mom!!

Jack had so much fun with Avery on the trip. Surprisingly, they did more than play on the iPad, just don't have pics from Megan yet of the other stuff. :)