Blake&Court

Flume Remains and County Fair

Another part of the Basin Blake didn't know about...the remains of an old flume built by the first settlers. They wanted to divert water from a creek and build a wooden flume to do it. It took a lot of work and unfortunately didn't work. You can hike the remains and still see the tall wood platforms that were supports for the flume.

It was a mile to the remains and a mile back to the car. Grant walked almost the whole way! He tripped and fell near the end, so Blake carried him.

You would think, year after year of seeing my county fair pictures, that the Little Red Barn was the only thing offered. That's not true, but it's definitely my favorite activity we do! We've been going to this since Brooke was about 18 months old. The whole set up is so cute and the kids love pretending to be farmers, the animals, and the treat at the end!

The bike was just a little too big for Grant to pedal. This teenage volunteer was super nice and helped him out.

We went with some friends and all of them loved their frozen treats at the end!

We stopped by the craft/lego area. Brooke was in heaven making crafts to her heart's content and my boys made some lego creations that they turned in for a prize.

URAT Jamboree

The first weekend in June was Blake and I's 14th anniversary. And how did we celebrate? By attending the URAT Jamboree with some friends! Brent J. was Blake's teacher's quorum advisor many years ago and they've recently reconnected over their love of off road vehicles. And I am so grateful to Brent for showing Blake the ropes on off-roading and how to have fun and be safe (because I'm kind of a wuss and sometimes we do some scary things).

The Jamboree is a 3 day event with people from all over bringing their ATVs to go on guided rides around the basin. The ride we went on on Friday was a 5 hour ride, so Blake's mom offered to watch Grant for us.

The scenery was stunning and even Blake, who's lived in the Basin all his life, hadn't seen some of the trails we went on.

We stopped for a break and saw some awesome petroglyphs.

See the men high above our heads etched onto the wall?

So Blake was trying to take this fancy picture of the razor with the cool backdrop and I totally did a photobomb and he didn't even realize it until after we'd gotten home and he was looking through the pictures. His reaction was priceless! (It's hard to see, but I'm making a really dorky face)

When we do the scary stuff, I get out and just watch. Again, so happy we have Brent to guide Blake and keep us from getting in over our heads. I'm the type of person who would just freak out and start crying.

Blake went on another all day ride Saturday and then Saturday night was the ATV rodeo. Blake did all the events. My kids had a blast watching him and all the other ATVs showing off their skills.

Blake doing the "blindman's challenge" Blake was blindfolded while Brent was in the announcer's box giving him directions through a course. The idea was to not hit any cones and complete the course in 5 minutes or less. Blake only hit 1 cone and did the course in about 2 minutes.

Brooke was the luckiest girl at the rodeo! She kept winning prizes like this free lemonade from one of the food booths.

Blake doing the teeter-totter. The idea is to get your machine to balance. Blake never could do it.

Blake also did the barrel racing...like they do with horses at the rodeo, but with their machines (which about gave me a heart attack because I thought Blake was going to roll going around those barrels and making sharp turns) and he did the drag racing. I got videos of those events and not any pictures.

It was a fun night for us to support Blake and his new hobby!

A Day at the Beach

We ended May with a day at the beach by the lake with some ward friends. Blake was home and Grant needed a nap, so I was able to go with just the two older kids. Can I tell you how nice it was just to sit on the beach and watch my kids play without having to be RIGHT THERE by them? I actually got to talk to the friends we came with.

It's funny to watch my kids and their different personalities. Brooke jumped right in and swam out to the dock.

Porter waded in the water, but was pretty content to stay on the beach and find a "project" to work on. He and some other built a ditch down to the water and had fun dumping water into the trail they'd dug and watching it travel down.

Brooke being a social-bug and so big out by herself on the swimming dock.

Porter hard at work on the beach

We all came home sandy, wet, and tired! Just the way we like it!

Soccer Season

Brooke played another season of soccer (her third year) this spring. She's really improved and is more aggressive with the ball and playing offense (she isn't so good at goal keeping or defense...like at all!) She even scored her first goal! I wasn't the best picture taker this year because I forgot my camera many times and had Grant sitting on my lap during most games.

School's Out!!

We made it to the last day of school for Brooke! She has really changed this year and is accomplishing so much! She loves to read and I am struggling to find chapter books that will last her more than a day. She is a social butterfly and sometimes we have to remind her that she goes to school to learn and not just to socialize with her friends.

The last day of school was the weekend of Memorial Day. We spent a lot of time with Blake's mom at her house. The kids loved jumping on the tramp.

My boys get a lot of hand me down clothes from their cousins. Blake's sister has boys that are also 3 years apart so we get items that match for my boys and they are thrilled when that happens! Also these pictures are proof that they do, in fact, sometimes, get along!