Hidden Falls

Johnson Family Reunion

This year I took the kids up to Idaho Falls for the Johnson Family Reunion! I love going and seeing aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents! However the 8 hour car ride to get there makes it so we don't go ever year. I would like to know what parents did before portable DVD players! Quinn has always loved going to Great Grandparent's house. His favorite thing to do is get up before anyone else and go into the flower garden with Great-Grandma. I love the fact that I get to sleep in late.

My grandparents hot tub (or big bath tub as Carter kept calling) is always a favorite with the kids. With over 25 grandkids there is almost always someone in there!Of course if the hot tub is too full there is always the trampoline. I love laying on it at night and looking up at the stars.

With that many cousins it means there is always someone to play with. Including older cousins that give awesome shoulder rides!

We also played a game based off the game show "Minute to Win It." Here Tyson is trying to get a bunch of large pasta noodles on a spaghetti noodle, without using his hand.

We also wrapped people up in a roll of toilet paper.
And one of the funnest games was "bobble head" where you move your head as fast as you can to make a pace counter read over 100. There were so many games and I loved watching them.
We also did a photo scavenger hunt. The family was divided into several different groups. (Quinn, Carter and I were all on different teams) Each team was given the list of things to find and take a picture of, such as a yellow car, street sign with biblical name, ice cream store, playing favorite sport, etc. Bonus points for the most creativity, and if you could get everyone in the group in the photo. It was so much fun, and everyone came back with awesome stories.

The races are always fun. Especially because you get a piece of candy every time you cross the finish line!



At the rewards ceremony Carter got the biggest prize because his team won "minute to win it." He was so excited! Until he found out it was candy and he'd already eaten too much from the races.


Can't wait until next year when the drive will only be 4 1/2 hours!

Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July in Evanston this year. This is the first time the boys have been able to watch a fire work show and were old enough to enjoy it. (Usually we are camping, so the last time I remember actually going to a show Quinn was only 4 months old.) And enjoy it they did! We went with Mom and Dad Stokes, & Uncle Casey and Aunt Ashley to a church to watch the show.


It was a little colder than we had anticipated, luckily blankets were still in the car from the camp trip so we all wrapped up!


The city of Evanston allows people to set off their own fireworks on the fourth, so it made for a very impressive show. I don't think I've seen that many fireworks in one place before. I'm not sure who bought more fireworks, the city or the people in town. It was hard to know where to look. It also made driving home interesting as people were using the middle of the street to launch their fireworks. Quinn and Carter can't wait until next year when they get to set off their own.

Flaming Gorge

Our annual Stokes Family Trip to Family Gorge was a huge success this year. Everyone had lots of fun and came back with a story or two.

As the boys get bigger they help with camp set up, which is awesome. They love being big and helping Dad! Unfortunately, this year strong winds collapsed our tent on us. Broke or bent all the poles. Luckily, Mom and Dad Stokes invited us into their camper.

The boys loved sleeping in the bunk beds. So were not upset at all that their tent fell down.

The biggest changed this year, from years past, was that the boys enjoyed the water! Anytime we were out on the boat Quinn would ask us to stop so he could get out and go swimming.


However, we could not convince either of them to try cliff jumping. But I think they liked watching everyone else jump.

Brady jumping. I think he was the only one to jump from that high.

Brian (B.J.) knee-boarding. I missed out on knee-boarding this year, but enjoyed watching everyone else. Especially the wipe outs. Brady landed his front flip! It was awesome to watch. I can't wait to see what new tricks he'll want to learn next year.


I did take one turn being pulled behind the boat with the kids. Which I hope they'll enjoy more as they get older.

Quinn and Carter loved playing with their cousin Cael. Quinn was awesome at making Cael laugh. It was great entertainment to watch them play together.

This year a lot of time was spent fishing. The boys loved it! Even though they didn't like touching the fish. And only Carter would actually eat the fish. It was definitely a highlight for them. And I enjoyed lots of free time reading while they went, so it was a win-win situation for all of us.

Carter even tried out the role of the fish. Decided he'd stick to catching them instead of being caught! He was awesome and held still so the hook could be removed and didn't even cry! Much braver than I would have been. A couple piece of candy later and he was as good as new.

Grandma and Granddaddy will always be the best part of a family vacation.

What camping trip would be complete without S'mores!

What a way to spend the last day of the trip!

Father's Day

This weekend was awesome. Brian surprised us by coming into town Thursday night. We didn't think we'd see him until Friday or possibly even Saturday morning. So it was awesome to have him for an extra day. Plus he was able to go to my appointment with me! We've scheduled an ultra sound for July 23rd. I do have to say that the weekends go by way to fast. For anyone who doesn't know Brian is working for his parents in Evanston, while the boys and I are still in Laramie. We only see him about every other weekend, but we seems to stay busy enough that the summer is flying by.

The boys loved having their Dad home! They had a special movie night, where they stayed up late. Brian made the boys popcorn and let them eat junk food. Saturday they were attached to him, doing everything he did.


Of course this Father's day was a little different. Brian got up with the boys so Mom could sleep in and he made french toast for everyone, instead of us making him breakfast. I totally take advantage of him being home to get in as much sleep as possible.

Brain also brought one of his new suits to wear for church. So the before promised picture is included. Wow! He looks good! No wonder I married him so quickly.

Now the countdown begins to our next big event, a week camping at Flaming Gorge!!! (5 days)

Visit from Terry and Kaysi

Saturday night late, Terry, Kaysi and their boys stopped at Kody and Tiffany's house. It's been forever since we've seen our old friends and so took advantage of the opportunity. Everyone was way exhausted, so we only stayed for an hour but it was fun to catch up with each other. We really do miss them! As you can see the boys all enjoyed playing the PS3.

Tiego, Quinn and Kanyon
I thought that an appropriate picture to take, but didn't get, would be one of the dads (Kody, Brian, and Terry) playing!

To the Park AGAIN!

With the nice weather we're finally enjoying we've made it to the park not once but twice this week. Which is blessings as downstairs is not a option right now and living quarters upstairs have been reduced for extra stuff.

Our friend Jamie has helped Quinn practice the monkey bars. He's still not ready to do them by himself but with a little bit of help he can make it all the way across.
Jamie even convinced Carter to give the monkey bars a try (or the monkey crawl as he calls them). He kept telling her that he couldn't do them until he turns 4, which unfortunately has been his response lately to trying new things. But he finally gave it a try and was pretty pleased with himself!
Because of flooding the Green Belt and the two parks next to it are closed indefinitely. This means that we haven't been able to do our 5 and 10 mile bike rides yet at Day Care, but the kids are still enjoying biking the short distance to Kiwanis Park.