all kinds of mountains

The first mountain:
So, I finally made it up to Shadow Mountain this year... I've been doing all kinds of projects, and with Tim taking the kids for at least one session a week....well, you can see how I would be enjoying my "me" time. They finally caught one of the bears that has been coming into camp every night (pictures next time I post). The forest service came and moved her last Thursday. They're hoping the papa bear stays away now that mama bear is gone. There is a funny story about Tim and that bear in the middle of the day, while all the campers were gone on a hike. I'll save that for when I have actual pictures. I spent most the day at camp, and was treated to deep fried turkey for dinner- YUM!

mom love!

This is the view from the porch of the main cabin

Tim's outside sleeping quarters....this way they can hear the bear at 3 a.m. and then scare it off with duct-taped-tip arrows and bear mace. I think it's Tim and Dave's favorite part of camp!

my cute Kenzie

Carter, Maddy, and Reagan (Dave's boy).....the Reagan Maddy has decided she would possible go on a date with when she's 16 because "he's really nice mom".

bringin' speed on the slip and slide (the garbage bags increase your speed!)

Lady found this fuzzy guy...she played him almost to death

MOM! Come look at my caterpillar again!

Kenzie & Tim making spaghetti...the campers dinner.

The Second Mountain:
Kenzie spent all of last week at the Heber Valley Camp. She came home with stories of skits, cabins, challenge course swings, canoes, hiking, staying up all night, and testimonies. It was a great week for her. Her favorite part of the whole week was the final testimony meeting on the last night. I remember that always being my favorite too! It's fun to see her growing into herself and becoming her own person. I'm a lucky mom to have such a sweet 13 year old girl!

Kenzie and her BFF, Miranda

Long bus rides make you do strange things!

They saw this eagle's nest on their hike. Very, very cool.

I can't believe June is coming to an end. It seems like it just got started. Summer already feels like it is slipping away much too quickly. Good thing we're enjoying it while we can!

changes

Summer always puts me in the mood for change....I've been playing with photos and making changes (you can see below), painting the kitchen (red! just one wall), refinishing furniture (changing old stuff into new stuff), adding new plants/flowers to the yard....so the changing was bound to spill over into my blog..... I would have just done a fun post with a new picture, but the kids have pretty much been living on the mountain with Tim, going to swimming lessons/scouts/activity days, or running the neighborhood with their friends. I will have to get some pics off Tim's computer of the bear sneaking into his camp every night...that thing is huge! And thankfully, easily scared off!

photographic opportunities

We all went to the gardens today....one of our summer traditions. We had all the cousins but the two oldest...Morgan was at driver's ed (I KNOW! How did she get so old!!)...and Kenzie was camping. We did all the usual stuff- looked for frogs, fed the fish, put our feet in the fountain in the secret garden, rolled down grassy hills, and found awesome little spots for summer photos...perfect day!

Look at that sweet gramma and papa
spending time with their grandkiddos...awwww.

Human size game of croquet...no idea why it was there,
but it was pretty funny!

brothers

feeding the frenzy of fish

Brit and Hunter found a BIG dead spider...they dissected it with a stick and squished out all the insides...lovely. Lady was sure it was poisoning the water...only boys!

The kids raced and rolled down the hill...and Brit celebrated his victory run with a little gun show. Isn't summer just the best time?!
I love it!

around the yard

For the past few weeks, we have noticed a couple of robins spending a lot of time in our yard. We looked all over for a nest, and never found one....until last week. This nest showed up overnight, just as our weeping cherry tree finally leafed out. We peeked into the nest when the mama bird was gone and discovered a single blue egg. The kids are having so much fun watching her. What we assume is the daddy bird hops around the yard most the day and tries to scare us away from the tree. The kids are counting the days until the egg hatches.

As for the rest of the pictures, I'm just giving you some proof that warm weather finally arrived here....well...sort of. I'm taking anything I can get at this point, and trying to ignore the end of the week highs-in-the-60's that are coming. These pics all came from our yard...so many of my favorite flowers are blooming,
and I just had to share!

Miss Kim miniature lilacs...they smell soooo good!

the columbines are the biggest they've ever been...
thanks to the cold weather

no idea what this is, but it's pretty!

honeysuckle vines are blooming away....beautiful!
It's a good thing I enjoy digging in the dirt. I spend hours
out there in the flowerbeds, it's kind of a therapy for me.
The kids don't want to help weed often,
which works out well for me...
it gives me quiet time to myself which is so very rare!

camo teeth

The countdown ended today for Miss Maddy....braces...finally! We were patiently waiting for the last couple of teeth to come in so Maddy could get into the braces game. As you can see, there are some space issues in her tiny mouth. The next few weeks should come with big changes in those front teeth, if the poor girl survives the pain. We stocked up on popsicles, ice cream, and creamies to get her through the worst of it.

The orthodontist let her pick colors for the top braces. She picked green and black bands...I didn't get that at all until I heard her explaining her color choice to Dr. Watson.
"I picked green and black because I need camouflage colors when I'm at Shadow Mountain. We play forest ninjas and my teeth would totally give me away!"
I had to turn my head and concentrate really hard so I wouldn't burst out laughing.

Still can't believe two of my kids are old enough to be wearing braces...crazy!