Lava Hot Springs

Happy Birthday to Me! I got home from Girl's Camp on Thursday morning and Ryan had everything ready to go camping again at Lava Hot Springs for the weekend. We stayed through Sunday afternoon and had a great time. We celebrated my birthday - this is me opening my new bar-b-que things (Ryan admitted they were really for him!), but the rest of my presents were very fun - new shoes and an ipod!

Friday we went swimming at the pool in Lava and had a great time. We were there all day and still had to pry the girls away. Here is Ryan and the girls!
Morgan got very brave and jumped off the diving board all by herself, and then loved it. She jumped and jumped and jumped. You can see the "Red Rocket" waterslide in the background and Ryan, Morgan, and Ashlyn loved that as well (Maddie is not quite tall enough) The first time Ashlyn went down Ryan had to pry her hands off the sides and then push her, but then she loved it and that is all she talks about now!
Here is Maddie and I in the kiddie pool. Ryan got them some goggles and they were hilarious with them. They are all little fish in the water.
Here are the cute girls on Main Street in Lava. We were trying to find something to eat (there are not many choices)
Saturday, Morgan and Ryan floated down the river in Lava and had a blast. They went on a double tube and flipped it once, fell out another time, and finally Ryan's bum and the tube hit a rock and it popped! Morgan thought that was pretty funny. Ryan says he is more sore from floating that river than from floating the Snake River at record highs! Kind of funny. That night we went to a little hometown rodeo in Mccammon and had fun there as well. We came home Sunday afternoon, and today has been filled with cleaning my house and doing laundry to catch up from being gone for a week. I have to admit, I was looking forward to sleeping in my bed last night after camping for a week!!

Girl's Camp

I think I figured that this was my 15th or 16th year of girl's camp and I always have fun! The girls are great and the leaders are fun - what else can you ask for in a girl's camp! Here are just a few pictures of the girls and the camp fire!! Fun times!

4th of July

Every year for the Fourth of July, Ryan and his brothers put a softball team together and play in a tournament. Every year they complain about it, say they don't want to play, and then find some reason that they have to do it again! Last year it was because it was the last year before Dallin left on his mission, this year it was because Dale got married (I still haven't figured that one out yet), and next year I am sure they will play again! They didn't play very well this year, but I don't think they really care about that either. It just provides another year of stories to tell about who got hurt and who did something to laugh about! Here is Ryan on the bench (where he usually prefers to hang out)! Morgan and Ashlyn on the morning of the 4th watching Ryan play!
This is the look I usually get when I ask Maddie to smile!
After the softball game we headed over to Grandma Reeder's house to watch the Perry Parade. The kids get a ton of candy (3 grocery sacks about a 1/4 full each) and we also got 2 tshirts, a hat a couple of key chains, otter pops, and a few other souvenirs so the kids love it! Here are Hallie and Morgan waiting for the parade to start!
Here is Ryan and the little girls waiting. Notice Ryan gets his chair right up front. I think he collects more candy than the kids!!!
After the parade we took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda which was a cute show! Later that evening we went to Sandy's for a barbque and a game of kickball before we watched the fireworks and then watched a movie on the projector in the park. My camera batteries died before all that though so I don't have any pictures. Although the kickball game would of had some good ones. Sharon screaming while Ryan is throwing the ball at her, Mindy trying to carry Maddie around the bases, Sandy just about breaking her toe while kicking the ball, and Nate running nonstop in the outfield because everyone was trying to avoid him catching their ball. Good times!!!

Wacky Wednesday!!

My sister Mandy is a very fun aunt and had a Wacky Wednesday party this week for all the girls! She read the book and then had all kinds of fun games and activities for them and then a "wacky" treat! My kids had a great time. Here is Maddie (apparently a princess dress is wacky)! Ashlyn did a pretty good job with her pants and shirt on inside out and backwards! Her hair had a bunch of buns all over as well!
Morgan went all out with different flip flops a skirt over a dress and inside out and backwards shirt and crazy hair! The girls all had a great time!
Here is Manda readying the book to the girls!
Me and my girls!
Thanks for the fun Mandy!!!

My Baby is 3!!!

Maddie and her new baby doll!Mindy and Maddie swimming!
This was on Father's Day when we went to the cemetary to put some flags on Grandpa Reeder's grave. My little Maddie definetely has a personality and style all her own!

I'm having a hard time believing that our little Maddie is three! We had a great day eating treats, opening presents and having a swimming party in the back yard. She invited all of the little cousins (which is a lot between the two families) and then Mindy (her 21 year old cousin that she adores! Mindy was a great sport even showing up in her swimsuit ready to swim in the girls. Unfortunately Maddie wouldn't let her in the pool because she was "too big"!! So Mindy had to resort to the sprinklers and the tramp! Maddie loved her new baby doll and her snow white dress that has already had a great amount of use!!

Snake River Rafting!

We spent last weekend on the Snake River with the majority of Ryan's family, my sister Mandy and her husband's family, and my Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee came also!! We were so excited that they were able to come with us (thanks for coming!!!). We had a great time. The water was higher than it has been for 15 years and the rapids were incredible. We had two class 4 rapids and lots of smaller ones. Ryan looks forward to this trip every year so he was beyond excited that the water was so high. Ryan's nephew Shane took some great pictures of us going down, I posted a few here, but he has a website that has all of them (picasaweb.google.com/thompshane/RiverRafting2008) Here are a couple of my favorites....
If you notice off the left side... Kelsy was headed in, they weren't able to catch her for awhile and she was freezing by the time we got to the boat dock. (Kelsy ended up in the water several more times so don't worry about her getting scared!)
This is our first trip down the river. Mandy's leg is flying and our faces are looking good!!!!
This is my absolute favorite picture ... Look at Whitney's face right in the middle of the raft. That is how you feel headed into that first drop!! It was so much fun.

We had so much fun, we flipped a raft, popped two rafts, and lost a lot of paddles, but everyone came home safe and enjoyed themselves! Now Ryan is just worried about being disappointed for the next 15 years until the water is this high again. I on the other hand will be just fine with the calmer waters!!