THE BOYS ARE BACK!!!

Well the men of the house, and I do mean MEN, completed their 50 mile hike on Saturday and the report is that it was awesome. Dad and Mac said it was the hardest 50 mile hike they have been on. The 8-10 hour day hikes were excruciating and tested the body's (especially the old one's) physical strength to the absolute max. They were covering 9 to 12 miles with 1500 to 2500 feet of elevation climb or decent each day for 5 days. The amazing thing is that except for sore feet and a few blisters from the pounding of a 60 pound backpack and a 230 pound body, they are in pretty good condition. Dad, after having lost 10 lbs getting ready for the hike, even lost another 10 lbs on the hike. What a guy. The mountains are unbelievably beautiful. At one point they were at a fire lookout station where they could see all the mountain peaks from Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer in Washington to Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson in Oregon. Seven major mountain peaks across Washington and Oregon. The old growth forests with 1000 year old trees, wild Ferns and Rhododendrons everywhere along with the opal and emerald colored creeks and lakes kept the mind off the fact that you were just about to die from exhaustion. The long hikes each day made the fact that you were going to be sleeping on ground that wasn't necessarily flat or soft bearable because you were so exhausted. But with one step at a time and approximately 105,600 steps later up and down 5000 ft. mountains, they're back and mighty glad they went. No wonder their feet are tired!!!

Fun in the Sun

Our heat wave was to hit on Tuesday and so Monday afternoon Abby, Paige, and McKay decided to go to the Vials (a ranch just over the hill from us owned by some friends from the ward) and do a little swimming, laying out for the girls and dirt biking for McKay. Abby was also fascinated with the 4-wheeler. That seems to be the closest to driving that she will come for a while. These shots were taken as they "roughed" it at the Vial property. McKay would ride his bike 24/7 if he could. They all love it out there probably because it is so lazy and relaxed. We are busy, busy getting Paige and Matt's wedding organized. Russ and McKay are getting ready for their 50 mile hike in southcentral Oregon, Cascades Mountain Range in 2 weeks. Russ and the girls have been jogging every night trying to get into shape. Hopefully these 50 miles won't do Russ in!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA ALLEN!!

Happy Birthday to our favorite Grandpa Allen. If we calculate it right, you are a ripe 82 today! We love you and are happy to make you a part of our blog. Looking at these pictures, you really haven't changed much! Have a wonderful day!

Fun at the Rodeo

Our Fourth of July was memorable to say the least. Abby was off at EFY and so Mom, Dad, Paige and McKay had to go it alone! We had a normal, boring morning but that afternoon we barbequed up some hamburgers with chips and a fruit salad and then headed off to the St. Paul rodeo. After parking and walking a mile to the stadium, we fought the crowds just to get to the ticket booth. After picking up our tickets we were quite bothered because we had purchased beforehand drinks in glass bottles which they confiscated until we could get the appropriate glassware to hold the drinks. They must have known of our plans to make weapons out of those bottles! Dad and Paige went on a cup hunt and soon returned with our drinks. The rodeo was fun and we were excited because the star of the rodeo clowns was from Utah, and yes he was LDS. He was really funny and we had a great time. There weren't any injuries which we were happy for, however, that made for quite an uneventful show. After the rodeo we watched fireworks. There weren't many but enough to be able to call them fireworks. We hope everyone else's 4th of July celebration was as good as ours.