Hunger for Righteousness

I was finally able to go with the Young Women to Girls Camp this year. I've served in YW for four years now and haven't been able to go due to being pregnant, or the girls being too young for my comfort to leave. The theme was hunger for righteousness. The stake did a great job preparing for it. There were great games, super cute crafts, yummy food, great spiritual moments, and lots of extra goofy fun. They ended up needing somebody to help in the kitchen so I was in there quite a bit. But I was also able to do a lot of fun stuff with the girls such as this great hike to a beautiful waterfall where we all ate lunch. I'm in the back row with the side pony (in honor of Teagan because I was missing her!). I was very impressed by the girls from our ward. They were all great examples, and good sports. Super exhausting, but super fun week, so  glad I was able to go with them this year.

Teagan's 7th Birthday Family Celebration

We had the family over Sunday before Teagan's Birthday to celebrate. We had cake and icecream and just spent the evening getting caught up as we hadn't all gotten together before that since Easter.  Teagan loves showing off her "animal skills" to Aunt Dana when she comes over. Showing how good she is at catching the chickens, etc. She got a horse purse and bracelet from Aunt Dana, and a compass/whistle/thermometer/flashlight (exactly what she wanted) from Grandpa and Grandma Moss.

Teagan's Cowgirl Party

Teagan had her heart set on a horse party this year. And lucky for us we have some good friends that were willing to let us invade them for it, also luckily a few girls weren't able to come so the already thinned down list was even smaller. Teagan just couldn't understand why she could only have a dozen kids come ride horses.
The party was super fun. We had a welcome sign naming it Teagan's Ranch. We played a barrel racing game were you had a pretend horse and had to go around the barrels keeping a ball on the spoon. We ate our grub, and guzzled our lemonade. Grandma Marcia did a spectacular job on the cakes as she always does. The girls decorated brown paper bags to use at "Teagans Country Store". A couple girls didn't want to ride, but the ones that did absolutely loved it. Teagan fell off a horse awhile back, so although she was dying to ride them, she was a bit anxious about it at first. But after a bit was all smiles.
Taylee waited patiently for a long time because she specifically wanted to ride the black horse, she is so funny about her black animals, she loves them. Adalynn of course had to be big to and go on a ride. It made ME a bit anxious! But she held on to Beckah for her dear life, it really was cute.
I can't believe my baby is 7, she is growing into such a beautiful young girl. I love her with all my heart!

Independence Day

Home again for the holiday this year! What a hot, busy, fun day! We started out at a pancake breakfast our Young Men were having to raise additional needed funds for their camp. Then headed over to Laurel for the parade. Some swimming at home to cool down. Teagan went over to her BFF friends Zoey's house for dinner and had her official first sleep over. It was Zoey's Birthday week and she really wanted Teagan to stay the night. Larry and Marcia came over for a BBQ dinner. Then we headed over to Castle Rock to listen to the music and watch the fire works. Our area of the country is having a super dry time. There are fires raging many places. Due to this there was a ban on personal fireworks this year. There was even a ban on the time you can mow your lawn during the day! People were very responsible about it surprisingly, when we went to bed around 12:00 it was silent, usually there are fireworks booming well past 1:30 or 2:00. 

I am so thankful for my freedoms in this beautiful country we live in. Its one of those things we all take for granted every day. In church today the talks were on our counties liberty. I do have a testimony that Heavenly Fathers hand was in the process of our country obtaining the rights we have here, which allowed his full gospel be brought to us, and for that I am truly thankful! 

Vegas Trip

Tessa has saved my sanity once again! She treated me to a weekend trip to Vegas. It was so fun, and so exhausting. We ate lots of super yummy food, my favorite was PF Changs and The Cheescake Factory. We window shopped, and shopped at a lot of fun stores. We also went to Legends in Concert and Mystere, Mystere was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We walked and walked sightseeing all the crazy things to see, water shows, beautiful inside gardens, crazy people, the pirate show at our hotel Treasure Island. Tessa visited Vegas a lot growing up with her Mom so she was a great tour guide and knew all the fun hot spots. It was hot, but it was almost as hot home in Billings so it wasn't to much of a shock. We hit the pool for a little more than an hour, and somehow I got the first sunburn I've had in years and years and years, turned into a tan though so that's ok! Tessa also brought her/our friend Deidre. It was great to spend time with each other and to get away to a different "world" for the weekend. I'm so thankful to have such a dear friend in my life, thank you Tessa!

Our Little Lake Elmo

I'm discovering how spoiled I was growing up in Sandpoint with the endless lakes and beaches. I caught myself complaining on the way to the lake that I wish we had some other options for lakes. Then I realized how lucky we are to have at least the one so close by. We can load up the girls for a quick trip to the lake a few minutes away. And I'm glad we have it so readily available to us.

Bucket List

When my mom passed away Kate found a piece of paper that had moms list of things to do with us girls one summer. We were both impressed with the things she did by herself with us while dad was busy working. So I've made sure that at the beginning of every summer we make our own bucket list with my girls. One of the things the girls had on their list this year was to go to the drive in movies. The only bummer about the movies is how late they start. Other than that there's lots of fun to be had there! We watched Madagascar 3, we all loved it!

Symphony in the Park

I absolutely love Symphony in the Park. It was stinkin hot this year though, over 100 degrees outside!

Lemonade Stand / Garage Sale

We teamed up with Tessa again this year for a garage sale. It was the weekend before our Vegas trip so it was a great way to raise some spending money. The girls had loads of fun swimming out front in her pool and selling lemonade. Teagan was quiet the sales lady making sure she asked everyone who came if they would like some. Taylee on the other hand was too busy having fun!

Swim Classes

I have fond memories of swim classes mom took us too in the lake, at pools, and the ones I took at campfire camp. It makes me happy to be creating those same memories, and building swimming skills for these ladies. Adalynn was stomping mad the first day when she figured out she wasn't getting into the water too. Luckily Grandma Moss watched her for me during lessons for the remainder of their two week class period. Teagan is learning her butterfly, front, and back strokes along with rhythmic breathing and doing a great job, just has a lot of practice ahead of her. Taylee is working on her strength in the water, her little legs kick and she stays still in the water! They both did a great job and had lots of fun.

Taylee's Owie

Taylee's first game of kick the can ended quickly. She was going for the can running as quick as her legs could and turned too quickly in the gravel, landing smack on her head on a sharp rock. This was after it was cleaned up a bit too! Luckily it was a short cut, pretty deep though. And she was wanting to play again the next night.