Lily Pad Lakes Trail

 What a great group of hikers! The Lily Pad Lakes trail was a favorite with our group while in Colorado. The kids all found plenty of of great hiking sticks and we managed to avoid most of the mosquitos. The adults also all enjoyed this hike, since the elevation didn't have as much of an impact as some of the other trails.

Schatzy coming across a bridge.

 Caleb and Finn heading out into the woods.

 Vatti and Wyatt were great hiking buddies. They held hands and managed to keep ahold of a walking stick almost the entire hike. Wyatt also shared some great antic-dotes with Vatti along the way. Things like, "Don't worry about butterflies. I will hit them with my stick." and "I'm not a lefty. I'm Wyatt."

 So many beautiful scenes to take in along this trail.

 Gavin is also great at leading cousins on a hike. He loves to be out exploring, and he was very excited about the Lily Pads when we reached the pond.

 Our smallest hiking buddy having a snack and enjoying a break.

 Heidi and Mark taking a break.

 Caleb and I at Upper Lily Pad Lake, and wearing our matching colors... nerds.

 Duane and Jaxson by the late.

 My cute little hikers.

 The super cool tree seesaw that Gavin and Morgan found on the way down the trail. They had such a great time riding it while everyone else caught up. 

Quandry Peak

While in Colorado for our Marshall reunion, Caleb and I decided to take advantage of the excess of babysitters and the excess of large mountain peaks, and go for a hike. We chose a peak that was close to our cabin with a trail just less than 7 miles. It was our first Fourteener, and felt like a great accomplishment.

About a mile up, just out of the tree line, you can see that our weather wasn't exactly clear and sunny.

 The view down to Blue Lake, the drop off was pretty steep for awhile.

 When the sun broke through the clouds for a few moments. The views were amazing.

 We reached a point at which the weather was getting wet and cloudy with the chance of turning to much worse. We couldn't tell how far we were from the top and the effects of the elevation were getting to both of us and we trudged up the steep and rocky climb. We finally made the decision to go on and push to the summit. It ended up being about another 20 minutes though only about a third of a mile... it was very steep. 

Even though there was really no view, it was a great feeling to reach the top and realize we had made it.

At the summit. Great view of the clouds.

 So glad we got a chance to do this. It was well worth the effort and time, and even the sore legs the next day, and a lot of fun to hike it with my mountain man.

The first SM Marshall Reunion

We had our first official Marshall reunion this summer! And it was a blast. These two being the oldest and the founders of this part of the family, they worked with all of us to choose a location and find a great cabin for us all to stay in. We went to Breckenridge, CO, and couldn't have asked for a more ideal location. Fabulous weather, lots to do. It was great.

 We stayed for 5 days and during that time were actually really bad about taking group photos. It is a little sad that we didn't plan ahead, since there were always some factors of people missing in a group this size. Here we are- just the girls before church... and the amazing view that we had to enjoy during the trip.

 And a lot of grandkids. The only one that didn't come on the trip was Cheyenne, but we are missing at least two others from this photo.

 Finn hanging out with his Vatti on the porch.

 Aside from all of our time just enjoying the great outdoors, we also had a talent show and a dance party night, complete with strobe like and glow sticks. It was awesome entertainment.

 We did plenty of squeezing into cars to head off on our adventures.

 Some of the kids and Vatti before our first hike, which started out dry and ended up very wet. A lot of the big kids got really far ahead with Uncle Duane and Tio, so I got in my first trail run trying to catch up to them to tell them everyone else had turned around in the pouring rain. We were all feeling the altitude difference for sure.

 Caleb's little hiking buddy, who took a couple of minutes to walk with me.

 My hiking buddy, this guy got passed around a lot to save our backs.

 Wyatt trying to keep dry... Not sure why someone was wearing a cardigan on a hike? He says he thought it was going to be more of a walk.

 The last of the Marshall stragglers. Kaylee leading the way.

When we all arrived at the cabin, Kaylee gave Caleb the nickname of "Harry" first for the reason of his insane beard and as an afterthought for his forehead scar. I think by the beginning of the second day all of the kids were calling him "Harry," and asking him to make up names for them.

 With cool and sometimes wet weather, we enjoyed the hot tub quite a bit. 

The under 12 crowd.

 Duane and I put together some reunion shirts and everyone loved them. We attracted a lot of attention wearing them the day we went out shopping on Main Street. And we got to explain to some of our kids what it means to be a "Loose Cannon." (the wording was all Duane's idea, I just worked on the design.)

 Wyatt tried to convince me to buy him these $20 shades. Even his cuteness didn't make it worth that price.

 He isn't easy to see with my great phone camera, but in the driveway is the little red fox that the Red Fox Lodge is named for. Not sure exactly where he lives, but we saw him hanging out and coming close several times throughout our stay.

I loved seeing all of the kids just running around having a great time and "exploring" the mountains.

 This was the view from my bedroom. And that happens to be the peak that Caleb and I climbed. It really was a picturesque place to stay.

Happy Birthday Dear Wyatt

What a crazy year for this wild man. Wyatt turned 3 last week. He has reached a moment of being the nicest and the meanest kid all in the same breath. He really keeps us on our toes, and keeps me laughing and crying all at the same time. He still really loves his blanket and milk. And he is becoming a pro at moving on from the world of diapers and onto bigger and better things. He was beyond excited for his birthday this year and went around singing "Happy Birthday Dear Wyatt" all day that day and almost every day since.

He loves telling people that he is three now, even if he hasn't quite mastered holding up the right number of fingers.

He really wanted a Star Wars birthday and told everyone who would listen that he was having one. Since he is easy to please when it comes to new and exciting things, this resulted in a blue frosting cake with a few new Star Wars characters on top of it. He used one of his favorite word to describe it- "Perfect!"

Blowing out the candles... it did take two tries.

And he also loved all of his presents and has been having fun playing with them.

Wyatt and Finn got one great big gift for their birthdays that has been fun for everyone... a climbing dome. It is one piece of playground equipment that we should get a lot of use out of and still fits in the fenced portion of our yard. The boys and all of their cousins have been greatly enjoying it.

SoftTennisBall

One night we had a dinner at a park in Utah county. It happened to have an empty softball field next to it, so Uncle Rich and the kids quickly created a game with the equipment they had on hand... a couple of tennis racquets and tennis ball. It quickly became a game of Soft-Tennis-Ball.

Finn just loved crawling around in the dirt trying to find garbage to eat.

 The teams were Kids vs. Adults, and the adults all had to bat lefty.

 Tatum just kept stealing the balls and running around.

 Jaren somehow got on base with a racquet still in hand.

I love how it looks like Rachel is pulling a Babe Ruth and calling out her hit, but really I think she is pointing instructions at someone.

 Plenty of action on base. They played until the rain started to come down.