75

July 31 was my dad's 75th birthday.

We celebrated with a lot of good food, family and, of course,

 a waterslide.

Back to the Mountains

Also in July we spent a weekend at our friends' cabin with two other fun families.

Along with fabulous food and late night card games we enjoyed canoeing on the private lake,

playing on 4 wheelers and motorcycles (I learned how to ride a motorcycle.  So much easier than I imagined.),

hanging out by the campfire (the helmet is to keep smoke out of her eyes),
being goofy with friends,

fishing for part of our breakfast,

playing in and on the lake,

 hiking to Goose Creek Falls (the whole gang),

(if you click on this picture you can see Paige)

Us

Gavin, Sammy, Chloe, Audra, Jeff and Cooper

Brent, Daidree and Gigi

and, of course, breakfast at the Pancake House.

It was a wonderful weekend that we will always remember.

Little House on the Lake

In July we rented a cabin on Lake Cascade for a few days.

We enjoyed a lot of boating,

hanging out by the lake,

roasting/burning marshmallows,

beautiful sunsets,

breakfast at the Pancake House in McCall,

hiking at Tamarack (until we were chased away by mosquitoes),

ice cream with weirdos in McCall,

yummy dutch oven cooking by Susanna and Dad,

 and of course, more boating (notice snow on top of the mountains in July).

The cabin on the left behind Paige is the one we rented.  It was so much fun.  I am grateful for the fun family time we are able to enjoy on the lake every summer.

We Promise We Won't Get Wet

On a Sunday night in July we decided to go for a walk along the Greenbelt.  It was hot and everyone wanted to cool off in the river.  I didn't want them to get their clothes wet.  They promised they wouldn't.  They did.

The 4th Started Off With a Bang

We hosted the Dildine 4th of July festivities at our house this year.  We were expecting 50 plus guests for a late afternoon/evening party.  Brad decided to go for an early morning bike ride in the foothills above Eagle.  He called me after about an hour to come get him because he had wrecked.   A quick trip to the emergency room confirmed he had separated his shoulder.  I thought he was out for the day and I would be hosting the party.

The people with the water slide were supposed to show up at about 5.  They came and set it up about 10 in the morning.  My kids were in heaven.  The four younger ones played on it for almost 11 straight hours with short breaks for food.

Can you believe it?  A few pain killers and Brad was up and working throughout the party.  He manned the grill and here he is getting ready to put on a spectacular (although not entirely legal) firework display in the street in front of our house.

All the cousins (and some of the uncles) had a blast on the slide.

 The food was delicious.

We had a great time hanging out with family.

We love the 4th of July!

Rattlesnake!

On the same day that we went rappelling, a rattlesnake was killed in the camp by one of the other leaders.  Nobody wanted him finding a nice warm sleeping bag to curl up in.  One of the men who was up there asked if any of the girls wanted to skin the snake.  To my surprise, Kiley volunteered.

Hannah was so impressed with her sister's bravery.  After she skinned it, it was cooked and eaten by the girls.  They were feeling very tough that day.

Rappelling

In June I was lucky enough to go to Girls' Camp with Kiley and Hannah in Eastern Oregon.  We stayed in a camp on the Owyhee River.  It was an amazing week and we had some really cool experiences.  The picture above is from our hike.

The highlight of the week was day we went rappelling.  It was the one of the scariest, coolest things I have ever done.  I was so proud of the girls.  They were really scared (some were terrified, including me) but they did it anyway.  I think it was a very empowering experience.  They realized they could do things that were hard and that really challenged them.  In the above picture Kiley is about half way down and Hannah is just starting.

Hannah kind of froze at the top and thought she couldn't do it.  The awesome guide we had put on his gear and came down with her.  He did not want her to miss out on the experience.

Later that night the girls had a chance to share their thoughts. Hannah said it helped her realize that we need people in our lives to guide and help us.  She (and a lot of the other girls) expressed thoughts about Jesus and Heavenly Father helping us, comforting us and guiding us through hard times and challenges in our lives if we will listen and trust.  It is awesome what lessons kids can learn on their own through positive experiences like these.