June 2013

Much of June was spent outdoors in the sunshine.

Hot temperatures often lured us in in the water, whether it be at our town's swimming pool or in our back yard.

Summer evenings are meant for family time,

relaxation, and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in the back yard.

Father's Day was spent at my parents' place where my brother, Steve, also joined us.

BD helped Grandpa trim the trees-- he's always a good little helper.

Brody drew this picture of his daddy by himself.  I don't know about you, but I was pretty impressed and thought it turned out pretty darn cute!  

I had a piece of paper and demonstrated while saying, "Draw a circle. . . etc" and he would draw what I was drawing on his own paper. 

Uncle Steve is awesome and is sporting the bearded Duck Dynasty look!

I am lucky to be surrounded by the two best dads:

My dad 

and my son's dad.

Happy Father's Day to you both, thank you for everything you do, and we love you mucho!

For a family date night, we went to the city of rocks and then to Almo to the Outpost Steakhouse.

We stopped so Brody could climb a few rocks.  He was laying down trying to squeeze into the crevice saying, "A cave!"

Despite the fact that the descent back down the rock was super steep, Brody did NOT want any help.  He's in the do it all by myself stage.  In the picture below, his independent little self was echoing through the entire park saying, "I can, I can, I CAN, I can."  He did not want Brent to hold his hand and assist him down the steep rock, but as parents we had visions of our little one tumbling end-over-end down the rock so we ignored his persistent declaration of independence and helped him anyway.

While eating dinner at the outpost we met one of the most interesting people I've ever met.

This man, whose name was Yetti, was on a 2500 mile walk which had begun a month previously in Washington.  Brent had seen him (while checking cattle) the day prior above the reservoir, and the next morning walking up Birch Creek.  Brent was surprised when he saw him again in Almo that evening and stopped him to talk. He was 75 years old and was walking "all through Idaho."  He averages 30-37 miles/day. He does a trek like this each year and has walked from Canada to Mexico twice, 1/3 of the way across the U.S, and across the continental divide several times.  He stays primarily on mountain roads/ trails and drops down into towns about every 5 days for food, a shower, and hotel.  He said he normally goes through 2-3 pair of shoes, and was walking on an artificial knee. We asked him if he ever had trouble with wildlife, and he said he'd been charged by black bears only 2x in all the treks he'd been on.  He told us he just charged them back an they left him alone.  

I was impressed with his drive and I wonder where he finds the motivation to continue these journeys.  Especially considering his age.

Last but not least, my 3-year-old sometimes likes to think he's a dog. . .

here ya go. . . one more picture.