Target Lagoon day was Monday. We got in for a great price (and thanks to our Stake for the two free tickets we got (we missed Stake Lagoon Day, but yeah for Jeremy's calling and connections)) and had a tasty hamburger and hot dog lunch compliments of Target.
David and Hollie and their girls met us there (this is Anna and Rissy on the white roller coaster) as well as Suzy and LeiLani. We spent a few hours at Lagoon-a-Beach and then rode rides well into the night. It was great fun!
Cousin Jack was blessed on August 17. He has a sweet disposition and seems to always be happy. I love baby blessings because it brings the extended family together (Jack is pictured with Aunt Barbara). Welcome, Jack. :)
My new calling is Camp Director. This is a picture of me with my awesome girls and leaders at girls camp. We spent four great days together at our cabin. The theme was Steadfast in the Stars. We went on an evening hike to Lookout Point and stargazed, hiked the Little South Fork trail, learned about compasses and went on an orienteering course (thanks Suzy & Brannon), learned to tie knots, built different kinds of fires, prepared and ate good food, and worked on some projects. Jeremy and the kids came up for the Bishopric and Family Night (it was nice to have them!). It was a productive week and I think the girls learned a lot and had good experiences. It's amazing how much you can love a group of people after spending four days with them.
We got to have a fun sleepover with cousins Naya, Fisher, and Cori. We ate hot dogs and then watched The Waterhorse on the trampoline outside (and projected the movie onto a sheet) when it got dark enough. It's great to have cousins!
The Wright camping trip was at Red Fish Lake this year near the breathtaking Sawtooth Mountains in Stanley, Idaho. This is a picture of the leaving-at-5-a.m. group at Stanley Lake. We had a fantastic group camp site where we had the entire site to ourselves (we even had our own dumpster and our own outhouse) complete with a stream just past the fence and down the hill. Great spot.
We spent a day at Red Fish Lake playing in the water and building sand castles. The next day most of the group rafted (we had two large rafts) and kayaked down Swirly Canyon. Griffin bravely and without hesitation jumped into the very cold river to Aunt Molly, the river guide, Jane was happy as long as she didn't get splashed, Anna was glad to ride in the same raft as her cousins, Zachary had his first experience kayaking down a river (and loved it!), and Jeremy floated down in the ducky. Fun!
We went on a long hike in search of a waterfall (this is the group having a snack and water break) and we were able to see it at a distance.
We missed the cousins who weren't there, but so enjoyed spending time with those who were able to come.
So we got home from Atlanta late Tuesday and spent Wednesday unpacking, doing laundry, sorting the mail, returning phone calls, working on JWD, grocery shopping, and repacking for our Techmeyer camping trip at Stateline Lake. The turn around time wasn't quite enough. I had packed the tent in the trailer and the tent poles in the van, but forgot where I had put the tent poles, thought I must've left them home, so we put up our screen tent to sleep in (thanks to David for having some extra blankets to make walls), unpacked the van with the sleeping stuff, and found the tent poles. Needless to say, we had spent enough time putting up the screen tent that we opted to just sleep in that rather than putting up our real tent.
We celebrated Pioneer Day with our good friends: Sam, Rachelle & Seven Smith, Cash the dog, and Santiago, their foreign exchange student. We hiked to Dog Lake at the top of Millcreek Canyon. It was a gorgeous afternoon and a pretty steep hike. We love that our kids enjoy hiking and look forward to next season when Jane will be packing herself.
A few days later we saw cousins at the Duane & Effie Wright family reunion. We did lots of fun things including making and launching rockets. This is a super cool picture of Anna launching hers.
Jeremy and I went to Atlanta for five days to the International Giftware and Home Furnishings Market where we met with manufacturers who produce product with licensed artwork. We made some great contacts and look forward to good things happening with the company. This is a picture of Jeremy standing in one of the walkways between the buildings that house the Market. It was an immense show and a good experience. To understand more about licensing artwork, check out our website at www.jwdlicensing.com.
We had a first this year: nobody to spend the 4th of July with. Our extended family was busy (or out of town) and our friends all had plans. So, we went on a bike ride and then back to our house where we lit off our own fireworks, then watched some fireworks that the neighbors were setting off.
While Jeremy and I were at a wedding for Jeremy's cousin, the kids were playing hide and seek in the house. Somehow Griffin knocked over a table, breaking everything on the table, and cutting his finger quite badly. When it was all said and done, Griffin got 5 stitches in his left middle finger (thanks to his uncles for teaching him how to "show" people his finger). We even made it to the wedding reception that night!
Cousin Andrew was baptized in Orem with his cousin, Lexi, on Sunday evening. After the festivities, we caravaned to the cabin for a few days of camping. We went 4-wheeling, shot guns, including Jeremy and Zachary's potato cannon (thanks Becky & Glade for making a special stop to buy the right size of potatoes), hiked, and enjoyed good company.
Jason and Michelle found the perfect car in Bountiful so they drove down from Boise to pick it up. It took up most of the day so we got to enjoy a chunk of time with our cousins. Lauren and Morgan (whose baby brother was born the week before) had a sleepover the night before so it was a big group of fun. We ate lunch at McDonalds and then played at a park. It was a fun Friday.
Becky and her family came to town in June. We enjoyed a chilly picnic on the lawn before spending time at the I Am A Child of God exhibit at the Church History Museum. This picture is the group in front of a pioneer home just outside the Museum.
Later that evening the Techmeyers and Wrights supported Zachary and Anna in a performance of "Disco Musical, the Musical," a play performed at Wheeler Farm in conjunction with Copperview Community. It was a fun experience for Zachary and Anna (with slightly more enthusiasm from Anna).
