Our Whirl-wind Summer....Spokane, WA...boating

A highlight and favorite memory of our trip was boating on Waitts Lake! It was gorgeous and Very Fun! What a treat for the Bates to have lake front property, and an even better treat that they would share it with us! : )

The kids, well all of us, could not wait for Steve to push off and go. Once he did it was all smiles.... :)

Meg, Abby, and Fiona were the first ones on the tube....at first Abby was not so sure about the idea (I was happy to see her just try it, since our last boating trip she would have nothing to do with tubing), but it did not take long and she was happy with her choice. Way to go Abby!!! Thanks Fiona and Meg, and to Steve for not driving really crazy.

Bry, Caleb and I were next...all smiles :)

As fun as boating was, the kids were just as happy playing on the shore.

Thanks Steve and Julie for ALL the FUN MEMORIES and even better hospitality! We love and appreciate you.

Our Whirl-wind Summer....Spokane, WA

Our first adventure of the summer took us to beautiful and serene Spokane, WA. Steve and Julie Bates (Bryan was the AP when President Bates came to serve as the Mission President for the Arizona Tempe Mission) opened their home and hearts to us for a whole week. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We had so much fun....

4-wheeling in the fields and through the "forest" as the kids called it.

Steve took the kids for a tractor ride.... or more of a dump!!!!

...Riding horses!

Abby (100% Horse LOVER) enjoyed the horses and horse riding best....anytime and she was there.

...making 'smores in their firepit with their children and grandchildren...

Abby wanted to see how many marshmellows she could get in her mouth...try 6 LARGE ones!

Visiting the Spokane Falls and Riverfront Park....

Abby is such a great sister, she held Caleb's hand so that he would not be scared. The water was rushing so fast that it sprayed inside our tram!!

Abby and her silly faces....

...Caleb "roaring" the birds away.

Mom, Abby, & Caleb ...enjoying all the shade along our walk.

...Playing on the larger than life Radio Flyer wagon, built for the World's Children Fair.

Our favorite part of the day was seeing Kango Fu Panda at the Imax. It was as large as life! :)

We spent one day visiting Coeur d'Alene, ID...hiking and playing in the chilly waters!

This ones for you Grandma Hendricks.....

Since this is getting long and I realized I need to create backwards, I am going to post this and see how it goes and finish on another post. Yes, there is more. :)

Our Whirl-wind Summer....

Ok, after much inspiration from many others who have done blogs...here we go!

At the start of our summer we knew we would be busy, but busy is an understatement! (Especially considering I have mounds of laundry to do and I spent all morning clearing out my forest of tomatoe plants and weeding the garden.)

Since we have been fortunate enough to a handful of vacation opportunities I am going to do this in parts....

Coming soon......!