Glacier Photo Dump

We got to go camping at Glacier National Park!

I had never been and was excited to go.

We had the whole Swensen family there, except for Oliver, who is on a mission.

It was a bit of a chilly weekend for my comfort, but absolutely beautiful and so fun.

canoeing and fishing down the river

We were the ones who got sick...there's always someobdy!  

We hadn't been sick in so long, but Kason, Asher, and I ended up getting a 24 hr flu bug (so fun in a tent) and Isaac caught it on the way home.  Luckily, Emry and everybody else escaped.  I'm glad it was just 24 hours and that we still had time to have fun.

Hanging out around the campfire.

These little buddies!

They were blowing a tire pump on each others faces and cracking up about it.

I wondered how the kids - especially Emry- would do sleeping in a tent.  They really did great, despite moving around so much in their sleep they wouldn't stay in their sleeping bags.

So pretty!

The glacier water was so blue and so cold!

I don't have any pictures, but we all did jump into the river off a bridge.  

Even the kids braved the cold water.

It was so fun!

Forget actually riding in the wagon.

Good buddies

Cousins are the best!

The kids (and adults) worked so hard to finish their junior ranger pamphlets.

Here they are being sworn in as junior rangers.

We got the advanced pamphlet for the older kids and it had the adults even working on it!

Lake McDonald!

We were at Apgar and there were so many bike trails around.  We had all brought bikes and it was so fun to bike around.

Exhaustion from all the fun took over and Emry zonked out on one of those bike rides.

It was a great time and good to get out and camp and enjoy being outdoors!

Summer!

Dare I say that it is finally summer in Montana?! 

I finally feel warm!

Pool Party

4th of July!

Parade

Fishing up the canyon

Fireworks at home

And fireworks at the home of friends from the ward.

They live up the mountain and you could see the whole valley's fireworks in addition to theirs.

After every single firework that went off Emry said,

"Oh, that's my favorite color." 

I love summer!

Oh Asher

Asher is a character. 

The other day we wanted to go on a bike ride.

We had found a great craigslist deal on a trailer for Emry and Asher is a recent self sufficent bike rider so we really wanted to hit up a trail.

Off we went.

We went to a little trail and headed out.

There was some hesitation knowing he is a very recent bike rider, but we I didn't want to wait any longer.

He started off the night by screaming when he got stuck on a spinning apparatus on the playground and finally ended up getting flipped off.  It was quite hilarious and I wish I'd gotten a video.  I tried to get him to do it again later for entertainment's sake, when I had my camera ready, but he wasn't about to get back on it.

Then the bike ride started.

Not 30 seconds in we came to a small hill that lead down to the pond.  Isaac was in the front and I was in the back.  All I hear is Asher screaming and I see his red helmet bouncing all over the place with his feet sticking straight out.  Not even on the pedals, just straight out - headed for the water.

Isaac and I are yelling pedal backwards, brake, brake, over and over.

Isaac throws his bike down and catches Asher and bike about a foot before the water.

It was pretty funny as I kept replaying in my mind how his feet were sticking straight out as he bounced all over the place.

We continued on happily after practicing braking a bit more.

Though I do think I said pedal backwards about 50 times on the rest of the ride.

A few funny things he has said lately
 - I was scolding the boys about being upset at having to stop playing with friends to go on an errand.  I said, "life isn't just about friends".  Asher pipes in glumly, "Yeah, it's about Jesus and errands."
-He was scrutinizing Isaac's face carefully and said, "Why do you have seeds in your face and neck?"
We love our Asher boy

Mish Mash

This post is a little bit all over the place - kind of like life, right?! 

Some things that have been going on:

T-ball

The boys loved it, though it wasn't quite competitive enough for my overly competitive Kason.  Asher usually just chatted it up on the bases.  Isaac and I were so glad when we didn't have to go to "t-ball" 3 nights a week anymore!

Emry caused chaos by running away during the games and generally trying to do whatever she wanted.  

It's either super sweet or super ornery with her.

Asher learned to ride a bike without training wheels!

We had taken off the pedals of a little bike of his to mimic those balance bikes and we are fans now!

The first time he took right off.

Necessary light saber accessory

Father's Day!

These guys sure love their daddy

This was on my phone from a little while ago, but I had to stick it in.  

This is how you get home from church, Fairfield style

My birthday! Yay for not being 30 yet!  Isaac made it a great day