We had a great time camping at Lake Palisades with our friends at the beginning of the month.
It was my first time going there and I thought it was gorgeous.
Denae brought lots of craft projects for the kids
Of course Taylor just eats the cereal
Brad whittling a walking stick
Windy Day
After camping one night we wanted to go swimming and we thought there'd be lots of spots all around the lake but we were wrong.
Most of the perimeter was not beach area, it was either cliffs or the water was packed full of driftwood.
So we drove almost to the opposite end of the lake before we finally found a random little spot right off the highway. It had a big tree with a rope swing and ended up being really fun. I'm glad we found it.
The Love family, all in one picture
The many ways for men to rope swing into a lake:
Camping this summer has been great except that our kids do not sleep well in tents.
Taylor always ends up in bed with Brad and me at some point but she still has trouble sleeping and wakes up crying, even if I'm holding her.
Jayda gets night terrors and is hard to calm down at night too. Brad and I get very anxious because we don't want to wake up everyone camping nearby. So basically camping is hard with our kids because Brad and I are up all day AND all night.
The AWESOME glow-in-the-dark hat kit we brought for the kids...
or David....
And Justin's adorable unicorn horn
Everyone hold hands
Painting rocks
Taylor and Kallie were so proud they painted their own toenails with acrylic paint lol
The girls took swim lessons this month at Rexburg Rapids
Disney dance party with friend Sailor
Kinda hard to see but they're sitting in their camping chairs under the trampoline
These are the kids I teach at church (age 7/8). Chantelle was my teaching companion and this was her last day with us before she moved away.
I love these goobers.
Went to the Rodeo at the county fair
Jayda's wearing the purple shirt and black skirt
getting ready to chase the cash cow
Ward back to school picnic and games
Brad made this table for a customer in town
"Mommy take a picture of me"
This was Jayda right before dinnertime when she hadn't taken a nap that day. This girl is almost 5 years old but she still needs them. She threw a huge tantrum until I cuddled her to sleep.
We're pregnant with baby #4!
Jayda
Jayda and Kallie at their friend Hallie's birthday party
Giant camping chair
We went to the Vendor Village that came to town for the eclipse
The girls were in heaven
Trying to test out a bubble gun and eat cotton candy at the same time
Kallie and her cousin Saryn in their matching shirts
Saryn's family lives in Boise and came to Rexburg for the eclipse
We went to Brad's parents' house to watch the eclipse. I heard so much hype about it that I had become skeptical. The closer it got I wondered if it was actually gonna be that cool. I wondered if it was over-hyped. We happen to live right in the path of 100% totality but if we hadn't lived that close, we would not have traveled to see it.
It really did turn out to be THAT cool. It was amazing. I wish I had known how awe-inspiring it would be because I would have forced everyone I know in the surrounding area to come visit. 100% totality was a COMPLETELY different experience than right up until and right after. The before and after was cool to watch for a minute but totality was like nothing I've ever seen before. It was like being in a dream. And everyone that didn't travel to that part in the path missed it.
The whole environment around us changed. It was so eery.
The shadows of the trees looked like crescent moons.
It got dark until there was a sunset all the way around.
Animals started acting weird: we saw a bat and heard crickets!
It got really cold and quiet
As soon as totality hit we were able to take off our eclipse glasses and everyone around was cheering in awe.
You can't just see pictures, you have to experience it in person.
I am seriously thinking about traveling to the next eclipse.
And take it from me, if you've never seen 100% totality and you get another chance you should too!
A bunch of the fam climbed onto the roof to watch
Shadows of the trees
360 degree sunset! Almost there!
The pictures above and below are not mine. The above picture in my opinion comes closest to what we actually saw.
The one below I just think is neat.
This was Kallie's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Sutton
I love this girl!
And she loves first grade
Last year when she was in kindergarten I had to get used to waking up 7am every morning (we have never been early risers. Since Kallie was born the kids and I have never woken up before 8am).
This year I've had to get used to packing lunches.
The only way I survive is by having a lunch list so I don't have to think about what to make every day. She eats one lunch every Monday, another Tuesday, etc...and it's going well so far.
Got lots of squash and zucchini from family and friends.
I learned that grating is not the best route because it retains SO much liquid. I'm sure after I put it in the freezer it will turn into one giant block.
Half way through I switched to bigger shredding and I think it'll work much better.
Our oldest nephew Porter returned home from his mission in Brazil so we went to Boise to see him and his homecoming talk.
It was so good to see him, I wish we had taken more pictures with him.
Especially since Jayda joined him at the hip as soon as she saw him.
