The End

This trip has been so much fun. No electronics. No outside worries. It was just our family and friends. It was relaxing and rejuvenating. I would do this again in a heart beat.
He makes me laugh!
One last picture before we go. Now to go clean up!

Last day of adventures

We saw another dam with the spill gates open. It is just absolutely beautiful.

We went looking for this hike up to waterfalls that the Wrights knew about. The first road we went up, was definitely the wrong road, but had a beautiful view.

We eventually found the road. Apparently this time of the year there is quite a run-off that we had to cross right off the bat. It was a team-building experience!

So then we started the hike up the mountain. We thought it was only a couple of miles, but I'm pretty sure it was much longer than that. Especially with a one year-old. It was pretty, and I am always up for a hike. But this was kind of tough because we were so tired from going for so many days.

When we got back, the adults were busy making dinner. But do not fret...we had Piper to entertain all of the kids. She had them entertained for a good 45 minutes just telling them stories. All the kids were sitting listening to her. It was hilarious. She was hilarious. 

We were all ready for bed. 

Saturday

A lot of fishing was done:

We went to this little mountain lake called Antelope Lake and did some more fishing. The sights from around the lake were beautiful.
We went back to the Big Sky Pantry for lunch because their food is just plain good.
The boys got to go over to this other big island and explore. Apparently they found an eagles nest. It was just a fun relaxing day of being with family and enjoying each other's company.

Later that night...

It got up to about 62 degrees outside, so the kids wanted to go swimming!


And the boys wanted to take the boat over to the island after dinner. They loaded up and got over there. They started exploring and Gina and DeWayne were getting ready to leave to go over to the dam where DeWayne works at times. Then all of the sudden we hear over these apparently enourmous loud speakers something to the effect of "WARNING. The spill gates will be opening in two minutes." And then it repeated itself. Grant and I looked at each other and wondered if we should be worried about the 4 boys being over at the island. But we didn't have to say anything...DeWayne answered it for us. He came running down the hill and started yelling for the boys to come back. That answered that question. This was kind of serious.
Luckily, the boys were prompt (and a bit scared) so they got back over to us safely very quickly.
DeWayne then drove us down to the other side of the dam so we could see the spill gates open. It was beautiful. We were all safe, and we got a pretty informative lesson on dams and how they work and some of the intricacies of a a water utility. It was pretty fascinating.

Friday Shennanigans

Today, DeWayne took the boys fishing:
 
And a few other things that I was thankful they lived through:

 This was crazy--they would have died if they would have slipped off.

Then they came back and we headed out for lunch. We went to this little country store that was so cute! They sold huge delicious sandwiches for really cheap.
After that we headed up to Ross Creek Cedar Groves. These trees were beautiful. It reminded me of a fairy land. There were streams meandering everywhere going in and out of trees and every which way. So much fun for kids to explore.


This place was beautiful. Afterwards, DeWayne wanted to go over to the famous swinging bridge because he had never gotten to do that before. And we willingly followed. Oh man, this turned out to be the scariest thing I have ever done. (Remember back to our Utah trip and I did that ropes course, and felt like I could do anything? And that was the scariest thing ever?--This paled in comparison.)

This thing was insane. It started off by going on a nice little walk and then you had to climb a bridge that went up and over railroad tracks. However, it was made out of this see-through material, so it was just scary. But after going over the next bridge, that was easy-peasy. Then we continued on this nice little hike down to the river rapids.
Only 5 people could be on the bridge at one time.  The bridge would shake and sway back and forth the more you got to the middle. The rapids were intense. It was a long ways down. It was a long bridge. When I was in elementary school, if I ever had a situation that made me nervous, I would do math problems in my head to try to distract myself. Today, I was adding like crazy. I literally was telling myself that I could not pass out because that would make everything worse. Blah, even as I am writing this, my blood pressure is rising.
Once you got to the other side, guess what? There was only one way back to your car....the way you came.
My kids did it. My husband did it. My family passed with flying colors. I probably took 5 years off my life.

We're Going Camping!

I can't believe we are actually doing this, but we are going camping. Like legitimately camping for more than 24 hours. And not within a short drive to our home. So if we forget something...we are out of luck.
So prepare for picture overload because this is big stuff...
This is one of my favorite views in the world and it just happened to be on our way:

It was a little windy, but it didn't stop anyone from fishing:

We went to a place in Montana where DeWayne has access to because of his job. It is essentially a private campground. It was beautiful there. We had water access, but just enough so that Lucy wasn't down there every two seconds--there were enough other things (read: dirt) for her to play with that kept her occupied and away from the water.

So far we love it here!

Preschool Graduation

Piper graduated from preschool! The mom who was in charge for this last week put together a little graduation ceremony. It was cute. Piper enjoyed her last day and the last time she would see some of these kids because they are in the new ward and some are moving.

Ready, Set, Go!

Ben has been getting to participate in these Wednesday night cross country races. I am so proud every time I get to watch him! I love it! I'm so proud of him for working hard and being brave enough to do them. I love to see him put his mind to something and accomplish it. 

Dad's Birthday

Our favorite guy had a Birthday today.
We celebrated by having some of his favorite things: lasagna, rolls, lemonade, and banana cream pie for dessert. His parents brought him crazy cake too. 
I love Grant. I am so thankful for everything he does for our family. It's been quite the year, and I am so thankful that he is healthy. I love every minute I get to spend with him!

Final Day

So today we found out exactly how our wards were splitting. It is a hard change. We've been in a few ward splits before. But this one was different. This one we feel like we are losing family. We are one of 15 families staying in our ward. Everybody else in our ward is making a new ward. We kind of felt like we were the family being ousted!
When the people in our new ward stood up, we didn't know anybody. It is crazy how much it just changed. And we feel out of the loop.
Grant is no longer in the Bishopric. Which was hard on both of us. He loved that calling, and therefore, I loved it too. It brought him a lot of joy. Also when he would go out and serve, it felt like we were doing service as well by letting him go. So I felt like the people in our ward were family--we had served them like crazy. There are some really dear friends that I feel lost without.
I'm sure it will get better, but for now it is hard.
Trevor's teacher's posted this picture from their last day teaching them:

Piano Guys

Grant loves the Piano Guys. So what's a girl to do when they come to town two days before his Birthday? Buy tickets of course!
With all the changes going on in our lives right now, Grant desperately wanted the night to just be the two of us. He didn't want to worry about running into other people or having to talk to other people. All of this change is hard. So he dressed as inconspicuously as he could. He got his German hat on, wore his glasses, and wore a hoodie--when usually he dresses up.
We got to the arena and found our seats. We hadn't been sitting for more than 2 minutes, when from right behind us we hear, "Brother Ely?"
It was a family from our ward, and they brought along another kid from our ward. Oh I had to laugh!! They are a great family--so of anybody that we would be social with, they were a great choice.
The concert was amazing. It was funny, light-hearted, serious at times, and just fun. It was a great evening!

Recital Time

Trevor and Karmin had their recitals tonight. First was their piano concert. They both did great and were good looking kids up there. They played their songs really well.
Then they had the choir concert. Karmin was in the jr choir class this year. This morning, her teacher decided that since Karmin knew how to play "Do Re Mi" on the piano, that it would be really great if she could accompany a girl who would sing the song. They never practiced together.
Karmin got up there, helped the girl along when she didn't know when to come in. Then as the girl would go faster or slower, Karmin would speed up or slow down her piano playing. She did amazingly well. We were all floored by what she was able to do! She has some awesome talents! NOt many pictures, but lots of videos at home!

Star of the Show

Trevor was one of the lead's in his school's play tonight. He lights up when he is on the stage! He played Prince John in the play Robin Hood. He played his part so well. Trevor wanted the part as Prince John because he felt that the character had the same sense of humor as he did. And it was true! As he would say things, people would laugh and I couldn't help but think that that is exactly who he is at home. It was so much fun for me to have other people see it too. What a character! He cracks me up. In my mind he stole the show!