Mount Rainier's Spray Park

One of our favorite hikes is Spray Park in Mount Rainier National Park.  This hike really has it all from towering waterfalls, deep alpine forests, and high mountain meadows with hundreds of varieties of wildflowers.  In fact, the name Spray Park comes from the "spray" of flowers" in the high meadows.  This year's hiking group included Roger, Sam, Ryan, Matthew, Matthew, Aubrey, and Isaac.  We also saw Corey and Lisa on the trail.  Here are some pictures from our hike:

Isaac is 7!

We celebrated Isaac's 7th birthday at Lake Tapps in Washington near Matthew and Aubrey's home.  Isaac has been begging for a skateboard for months and Matthew and Aubrey delivered.  For the past week Isaac has been asking when he would turn 7 and for the past day he has been asking "am I really 7."  Joining in the celebration were Brian and Tiffany's and Corey and Lisa's family.  We had a fun day swimming, roasting hot dogs, and a late night ride around the lake.  We didn't give him 7 spankings, but we did dunk him a few times.

Happy birthday Isaac!

Isaac's Soccer Team

Here is the picture of Isaac's soccer team taken the last week of the season.  This team was fun to watch and Isaac had a great time.  And yes, he is the same age as the next boy to his left.

Grand Teton National Park

On Friday, we decided to take a quick trip over the mountains to enjoy Grand Teton National Park.  We hiked around Jenny's Lake to Hidden Falls and then took the boat ride back to the dock.  Emrie is proving to be quite the hiker and Isaac the rock scrambler.  We then drove north to String Lake and thanks to the generosity of some new friends we were able to kayak around the lake.  Isaac, Emrie, and Christopher all swam in the crystal clear water and fed the minnows.

After our day of hiking, kayaking, and swimming we enjoyed a barbecue dinner at Bubbas, with Christopher and Isaac downing large quantities of baby-back ribs.  We accidentally ordered an extra large helping of wings, but we were hungry enough that we had no problems finishing them off.

Intentional Recreation

On my morning bike rides I have decided to pass the time by listening to podcasts of BYU and BYU-Idaho devotionals.  The challenge of listening and learning while peddling between Rexburg and Moody and then up to the university is I can't take notes.  And, without taking notes or sharing some really great lessons, I likely will forget many valuable insights.  Therefore, I will take time periodically to record my thoughts and feelings as soon as possible on our family blog. 

The talk I listened to yesterday was by Patti Freeman a recreation professor at BYU.  She talked about the value if intentional recreation in building family unity and improving relationships.  Her central them is we should "go and do" and make recreation and fun a priority.  I have captured a slide from her talk (see below) which highlights her main points.  In essence, we can choose to veg and be distracted by all of today's media, or we can get out there and enjoy the beauties of this great earth, learn life's lessons, and create memories that can last forever.

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=2056&view=2

Isaac's Soccer Games

With summer upon us Isaac is enjoying his second soccer season. He is proving to be a good sport and even though he is much bigger than all the other kids, who are his age or just one younger, he makes sure to pass the ball and get all involved. He is having fun and making some new friends.

Fourth of July Pics

We had a fun Fourth of July with the parade that goes right by our house, some simple fireworks at Chrissy and Dales, and a full moon rising over the temple. The next night we went to the rodeo and the kids enjoyed elephant ear scones and some up-close-and-personal action.