Going back in time.........

I forgot to post some things that we did this year and LAST year! How could I have forgotten! I'm so ashamed! So I'm going back in time.......

I'll start with our trip to Washington that we took the beginning of August this year. Our first day driving went pretty well, we drove through Flagstaff, stopped in Page for lunch at a park. We didn't stop very much because we just wanted to get to my sister's house in Orem Utah as fast as we could. We got to her house around 7 or 8 pm and it was still light out so we ate dinner and Jake showed off his flying skills with his plane. Everyone loved it, they thought it was the coolest thing ever! I just knew the planes would be a hit with my family! Then we visited some more with my sister Emily, Mark, my brother Cody and Jillian and all their kids. Woke up the next morning not having much time to visit because we had a long trip to Washington. Our trip to Kennewick Washington seemed really LONG! Its actually a shorter trip than the one from Phx to Orem, its just that there's nothing to see between Utah and Wash. mostly just fields and cows! So it feels longer. When we finally got to Kennewick we were relieved and happy to be there!  My sister Sharlee just got back from the Ukraine and brought home this furry hat, so everyone had to try it on along with the funny nose and glasses!

Samantha

Kayla

Ben

 Nathan

The next day we drove to Hermiston Oregon to go swimming. It was nice to cool off and we had lots of fun. I got to see my dad jump off the diving board! He's 68 years old and he did a dive off the diving board,  twice! Go dad!  Later that day we took a little trip to see the windmills near my dad's house. The windmills are on this hill that gives you a great view of the town and the Columbia river, it was pretty awesome!

Getting a closer look at the windmills

After looking at the windmills, my brother Nathan took Jake and I to see the Harry Potter movie that I was DYING to see! It was awesome, awesome, awesome just like I knew it would be! The next day was our all day trip to see Mt. Rainer. It was a long drive but it was worth it! It was so beautiful! We started seeing snow about 1/3 up the mountain! Crazy!

The top of Mt. Rainer

We stopped to look at a visitor center and then we hiked to the top of this hill in the snow! Samantha and I were the last ones to make it to the top. We were slipping and falling the whole time!

This is the view from the top of the hill, the visitor center is to the right.

We saw a fox roaming around looking for food. We got  really close to him!  He stayed a long time, he didn't seem afraid of the people at all!

 

 

 

 

We had a fun time being around the beauty of Mt. Rainer! It was a long tiring drive home! We slept like babies that night.

The next day we went hiking in the afternoon, it was me, Jake, the girls, dad and Randee. It was so hot! But we toughed it out! Jake, Kayla, dad and I made it to the top! Randee and Samantha only went half way and played at the park near the hill while waiting for us to come down. Later that evening we went to the Columbia river and went boating. A friend of the family took us out on his boat and let us use his tubes and water skis. We all got a chance to go tubing. I rode with my sister n law Nina, Jake went with the girls one at a time, Ben and Nathan went a couple of times, Nathan and Nina and their boys, Nina and Ben went water skiing, everyone else just watched. It was a lot of fun!

Daddy and Samantha, this was Samantha's first time riding on a tube and she loved it! She kept wanting to go again and again! She even wanted to try water skiing but we had to say no to that!

Kayla and her dad, this was Kayla's second time tubing in her life, she loved it too!

Sharlee and Kayla

 

 

This is Rooney, Sharlee's dog. The girls took her for walks, brushed her hair and played with her! They love Rooney!

Samantha loves her uncle Ben!

Samantha loves her aunt Sharlee!

On our way home from Washington, Kayla found interesting things to do to keep herself entertained! It was a fun trip and can't wait to do it again!