september/october

We enjoyed a pretty luau at the Blacker's

Simple gifts did a lip sync

Our costumes were fabulous disney sheets

raingutter regatta

the grumpafuss had a birthday

Balloon Fiesta!  The tiny dots in the distance are balloons

Albuquerque Aloft

My 7th grader

August 2016

Noah had a cub scout bike rally

Emma went to the temple now that she's 12

Noah learned about Gail Halvorsen, the Berlin Candy Bomber

and did some candy bombing from the balcony

D worked on her mission paperwork

Senior

Freshman

4th grade

7th grade

at the base summer bash

our backyard after a rainstorm

Homeward bound summer travel

Bonneville dam

One of the kids is obsessed with lamprey eels.  Guess which one?

Tumbleweeds all along the fences in Mountain Home, Idaho

Multnomah Falls

First aid after running down the multnomah falls trail

Aztec national ruins
(not actually Aztec, but ancestral Puebloans)

Junior Ranger

Summer travelin'--Oregon coast

We could see the ocean (kind of) from our rental

Cook family reunion 2016

Talia, editing cousin Christian's stories

went hiking

driftwood creek falls bridge

driftwood creek falls

Zak was obsessed with the moss filled forest--he says it's melting

hunted in tidepools

slept in weird positions

played with cousins

time with siblings

Summer travels--Utah and Eastern Oregon

Hill Air Force Base museum used to be a favorite rainy day stop when we lived in Utah.  Turns out even older kids still enjoy the planes!  

Outside of Baker City, Oregon, is the Oregon Trail museum, which is highly rated on tripadvisor, but we thought it was really boring.  Maybe it would have been better had we hiked out to see the wagon ruts still in the dirt, but we weren't about to hike for 3 hours in the heat.  Yes, we would have been the first pioneers to bite the dust back in the day.  

I love traveling through Salt Lake City so we can visit with my favorite sisters and eat some of my favorite food.  

I was worried that the Treehouse museum in Ogden, Ut would be too 'young' for my kids, but they all had a really great time.  

 Zak be bopping to the music in the Red Iguana.  Cracked me up.