Fun with Friends

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4th of July

Can you imagine a mountain as surreal as this? This is the Teton Mountain range from the north looking south. This picture was taken in the middle of Leigh Lake in the middle of Teton National Park. As always we spent the 4th of July at Terry's grandpa's cabin in Jackson Hole, WY. It is such a wonderful place with beautiful scenery and fun things to do. We left on Wed and traveled up to Jackson. It was a long day as Terry had to make sales calls on the way up. But, we got there Wed night and ate at my favorite place called "The New York Sub Shop." They make the most wonderful hot sandwiches.

Thursday morning was spent preparing for the week by buying food in town and then relaxing at the cabin. In the afternoon we took the kids to the Rec center for swimming. They really have a good time there.

Friday was the 4th and we got up and went into town for the parade. This year it was the biggest parade the town had ever had. There were lots of cars and fire engines and people throwing candy. After the parade Nikita and I went shopping while the boys went fishing. We learned that Nikita and I have a lot more in common than we thought. We have the same taste in cloths and can talk each other out of things we should not buy anyways. The boys went to Slide Lake up the Gros Ventre canyon. They did not catch anything, but said they had a great time in the canoe using some flooded trees as an obstacle course. The evening was spent at the "Music in the Hole" music festival where the orchestra plays patriotic music and everyone is waving flags and honoring our service men. The night was topped off with the best fireworks show they have done in years. They had three levels of fireworks that they would shoot off at different times and then combine. For 20 minutes we were in aw at colors, sounds, and excitement.

Saturday was my birthday and once again I did not get to sleep in. We got up and had breakfast in Moose where they have a chuck wagon breakfast and we eat in a huge tepee. It has been a tradition of ours for the last few years. We then went into the park and canoed String Lake and Leigh Lake and had lunch. Terry made me get in the water and as my mom says "Lake water adds 7 years to your life".......or is it takes it away?????? Leigh Lake is a glacier fed lake and it must have unfroze yesterday because it was the coldest water I have ever been in. But the kids swam with Terry and we all had a great time. We even got Robyn in a canoe out in the water.

We had a wonderful time, but of course did miss Scott and Jess and Trish and Scott with their families. This is the first year in awhile we have not had everyone around.

Moab and Arches National Park

We just had a wonderful trip to Moab, UT and Arches National Park. This place is amazing and truly one of the amazing places in Utah. We left on Wed and traveled 4 hours to Moab. Terry had to do some work so we just stayed in the hotel. It was not so bad because it was raining anyways. Thursday afternoon and Friday we were able to go into Arches to view all the wonderful sites. We took the kids on the famous Delicate Arch hike. This is a three mile round trip hike over sand, rocks, mountains, and ledges. The kids did great! Even though Austins favorite phrase coming down was "my legs won't work." But of course as soon as he saw the car he ran to it. One of the things we wanted to show the kids were lizards and so on the way down from Delicate Arch we started to look for them and we saw 6. Terry says they were some of the biggest he has seen. Austin loved them, but of course kept his distance. The kids loved climbing on the rocks and playing in the sand. When ever we asked them what the favorite part of their trip was it was always what ever the last thing we had done or saw. So Terry and I thought we did a good job and they loved everything about the trip.

Golf

Terry and Austin went golfing for the first time together today. They went to Jordan River Golf Course which is just a par three course. It was perfect for what they wanted to do because they were not rushed and Austin was able to hit the ball around a lot. Although he enjoyed using he new clubs his favorite part was running to the flag and taking it out of the hole. Terry says he did really well and even made a 6 foot put.

Two days ago was also the annual MS "Day at the Park" with the Salt Lake Bee's Triple A baseball team. Each year they offer tickets to the game with dinner before. It is such a fun event. The kids love playing at the park and riding the train they have around the outfield. We enjoyed spending time with family. We sat out in right field on the hill. They also have a lady doing balloons and the kids got a helmet and sword. Austin found another kid who had the same thing and they would play fight each other. Oh how nice it is to be young and not be afraid to approach someone you don't know and ask them to play. How simple life really is.