July

July was a very fun and very busy month for us. Even though Covid is still a thing, we managed to go on so many adventures!

We started the month off with a trip to Clear Creek. Even though we didn't go with Cousins and friends, we still had a blast!

We spent July 13th-17th in Silverton Co. with Richard and Calli and their kids, and with Calli's brother Buck and his family. We had a wonderful time and saw so much wildlife! In addition to the usual marmots and deer, we also saw lots of moose and a bear!

On our second day in Silverton we went on a buggy ride to kite lake. It was a beautiful drive, but we started having trouble with our buggy on the ride back to our motor home.

On day three, We ended up renting a Polaris Razor and took it on the loop to lake City. The ride was awesome and The views never get old.

On our last day, Adam and the kids hiked up to the Old 100 mine lodge. They absolutely loved the hike and the views. They said the last part of the hike was a bit of a scary scramble, so I'm glad I didn't attempt to go. 

We were only home from Colorado for a few days before we packed up again to go camping at Green's Peak. Four whole days of games, bike rides, hikes, fishing for crawdads, pranks, and lots of laughs. 

The last big adventure of the month, was an epic trip to lake Tahoe with the Carpenters.

It seemed like it took forever to get to Reno where the Carpenters live. We did manage to stop at the alien fun center near area 51. It was as lame as it looks! 😂

We arrived in Reno just in time to celebrate Elana's birthday. (Not hard to do since she celebrates her birthday for an entire month.)

The following day we drove the last little ways to our airbnb at lake Tahoe!  To quote Lincoln, "this place is legit!"

On our first full day the boys went bike riding, and we all rode the gondola up a mountain to the Heavenly ski resort. We enjoyed the ride up and exploring the area while admiring the views.

The next day was spent boating around lake Tahoe. I loved Emerald bay, and all the fun we had swimming and tubing on the lake. The water was crystal clear, but super chilly so we didn't stay in the water long.

We spent the morning of day three hiking with Cliff and Lincoln on Eagle falls trail. It led to a beautiful little lake.

Then, we took Elana parasailing that afternoon.

I just can't believe how much fun and adventure we were able to pack into one month. After months of being stuck at home, adventure was just what our family needed.

June

June was fairly uneventful for us, but at times like this, I guess that's a good thing. Covid-19 is still running rampant. We've let the kids do more with their peers, mainly because kids aren't very likely to have complications from the illness. But AZ has been hit pretty hard this past month, so we need to be careful. Most public places and businesses now require that patrons wear face masks, I'm not sure if they're helpful or not, but I don't mind wearing one for short periods of time. 

Earlier in the month we spent a day at Green's Peak with Russ and Ashley’s family. We played games and enjoyed the cool, rainy weather.

Sarah got her divers license! Adam bought another vehicle since we have more drivers in the family. Sarah doesn’t love driving, but driving this car isn’t so bad! 

Caleb and Sarah were FINALY able to have their piano recital. Caleb played Come thou fount of Evey Blessing and Minuet.

Sarah played Sweet hour of Prayer, and Rise.

Together, Sarah and Caleb played Hope of Israel.  They both played beautifully.

One sad thing that Happend in June, was Richard fell from the roof of a home they were building. He was in so much pain, they thought he may have broken his femur. Thankfully, he just dislocated his hip,  they were able to re-set it at the hospital without having to do surgery. It still took him a few weeks to recover, but it could have been much worse.

Caleb was able to spend some quality time camping with Grandma, Grandpa and the older boy cousins at Green's Peak. He spent most of his time mountain biking. It sounds like everyone had a great time.

There was a huge forest fire in Arizona this month. Four Peaks is one of our favorite places to buggy ride. Unfortunately, it was almost completely covered with flames. It will take a long time for much of the trees to recover and regrow.

Travis came up for a couple days to do electrical work on one of the houses being built in Shumway.  We were happy that He was able to bring his family with him for a visit. 

We had a few giant, fat caterpillars in our yard. Daisy is obsessed with them. She would watch over them and even try to snuggle them. 😂

We ended the month by hosting a BBQ for the girl's soccer team. They are a great group of girls and it was fun to have them over.

May

The month started with a visit from the Hulse family. They brought Daniel up 

To stay with us for a few weeks so he could work for Adam building houses with Caleb. Normally, the kids would all be in school, but since they had the time off, why not let them work and earn some money?

While the boys were framing, Eliza and Sarah went down to the Valley to work at Watson's flower shop. It was a very busy Mother's day season for Watson's this year, and the girls were a big help.

After working hard all week, it was fun to take a break and go for a buggy ride with Travis and a couple of his kids.

Even though school was cancelled, some of the High school student's parents decided the kids should still get to have a prom. Sarah was asked to go with a blind date just one day before the dance And Eliza decided to go with a group of friend at the very last minute. We had fun getting them ready to go! 

Both girls had a wonderful time. 

I've really been missing my preschoolers this month, so I called all of their parents and invited everyone to meet me at the park for one last hurrah with them. It was so great to see their smiling faces and watch them play together again.

This is the first home completed this season and they got it all built in less than a month! 

We ended the month by taking a drive over to Eager to visit Aunt Pam and Uncle David and play some games with them. We stopped at the cemetery to see the headstone that Grandpa had made for Grandma Burk. 

Things are starting to warm up and open up around here. Hopefully the worst of the Covid virus is behind us and life will return to normal very soon.

April

Thanks to Covid-19, April was filled with more social distancing. We had to accept the fact that schools would not be re-opening and that the track season was officially over. We made the best of it by enjoying our time together as a family. Adam was still busy with work, but the rest of us played games, watched movies, put together more puzzles, worked on the yard and garden together and enjoyed the outdoors.
I was able to finish re-staining and painting the table. I ended up just buying new chairs because I only had five of the old chairs left and one was breaking.

The kids Took Adam and I to the Four mile knoll. I had never been there before and thought it was pretty neat. 

We enjoyed lots of beautiful blooms in our yard this month.

One day, we decided social distance with the Hulse family and hike to Horton springs together (while maintaining a safe distance from one another of course). We could not have asked for a more beautiful day to hike. The weather was absolutely perfect and the creek was awesome. 

We ended the month with one last buggy ride at Greens peak before all the snow melted. We got stuck pretty good in this drift, but as usual, Adam was able to get us out of it. We couldn't believe how much snow was still around.

All things considered, April was a pretty great month!

We got to spend lots of time together, we all managed to stay healthy, and we didn't run out of toilet paper!