Our summer officially started when we made our trip up to Coeur d Alene for my family's annual vacation at our condo on lake Pend Orielle. We have been going there since we were kids and we always have looked forward to it in anticipation... As I've gotten older it has started to seem like not so big a deal, but for some reason this year.... maybe because I had moved away, I was sooo excited for condo time to be here. Its the one time a year where my whole family is together and we can just relax and enjoy one anothers company without any other obligations... not to mention it is beautiful up there on the lake. Here are some random pictures I got from up there....
Every year my sisters and I go on a little hike and take "sister" pictures....
Lexi and Brookie in their matching PJ's from grandma...
Both of these girls LOVE the bath!
This girl is fearless... here she is jumping off the mantle to my dad
Kai (sadie's fiance) and Jackson in the canoe
Sadie and Abbey
I love this picture of Lexi and Abbey...
Lexi on the swing...
family picture time...
back in cda... carson got lexi to sleep around the campfire....
only the best uncle ever!!!
HOOPFEST
The weekend after condos we got to go to Hoopfest in Spokane where Will played on a team with my dad and brothers....
Sadie taking Lexi on the big red wagon slide for the first time!
Will, Sam and cousin Jeremy
THE DODD REUNION
Less than a week after returning to Logan from Cda we had the Dodd family reunion over 4th of July! It was so much fun! All of Will's cousins had fun playing with Lexi and we got to relax and visit a lot.
We all took family pictures for the reunion...
That weekend we also got to attend the sealing of Will's cousin Chris and Annie. It was really neat to be there! Annie made an adorable wedding cake and also made this little smash cake for Lexi... she loved it!
The water at bear lake was pretty cold!
Cousins playing in the sand!
Lexi spent most of the time at the beach chasing all of the seagulls around...
splashing in the water...
Sam and cooper...
MOTT FAMILY REUNION
At the end of July we had our Mott family reunion which is my mom's side of the family. It was good to see some of my cousins that I hadn't seen for years! Our last reunion was 3 years ago! We were at this beautiful place about an hour up Provo canyon. Sadly, I was feeling pretty sick most of the time, but I still got to enjoy myself a lot. I know everyone else had a great time too!
Lexi and Uncle Jackson in the hammock
Daddy and Lexi on the swing...
Lexi and Grandma
Lexi and Mommy.....
Lexi thought it was so much fun when grandma would gallop around with her on her shoulders...
Lexi and cousin Lily...
Emi... hanging out in the tree
Harrison... what a cutie
Max... if you can't tell there is a grasshopper on his head
Addy.... she found a dead dragonfly... it was so cool
Talent night.... my mom and all of my aunts doing an abba song i think
HEATH'S BAPTISM
The last weekend in July we got to go to Boise and attend Will's little brother Heath's baptism! Way to go Heath!
birthday cupcakes...
Here is one of my new favorite pictures of Lexi at the piano with Will...
Here are some cute pictures of Will's brothers...
Max
Heath
Connor...
While we were in Boise we got to go over and see great-grandma Jody and great-grandpa Jim!
ENGAGEMENTS
Right when we got back into Logan my cousin Mikelle and her fiance Nate came to town for me to take their engagement pictures. It was really fun. I'm so excited for them to get married!
PERKE'S REUNION
About midway through August we made another quick trip to Boise for one night, and then continued our drive up to
Walla Walla, WA for the Perke's family reunion. It was a lot of fun hanging out and visiting and playing games with friends! Sadly by this time I was a little tired of snapping pictures... I did take a few though...
We had a 50's night and here is one of Lexi and Will...
Coeur d Alene once more...
After being at the reunion in Walla Walla, we figured it was only a couple more hours to Cda, so we may as well drive up for one last visit. We had a good time with my family as always.... here are some of the highlights....
We couldn't pass up on the Kootenai county fair!
Lexi's favorite part of course was all of the animals! Here she is with the pigs!
We came across this little blow-up house with a little climbing wall/obstacle course... This was right up Lexi's ally... she loved it. We paid $2 and they let her go through it over and over! Totally worth it!
Here she is on the pony ride! They wouldn't let us walk by her, but she didn't seem to care! She just had this grin on her face the entire time!
Sam and Angie met up with us part-way through!
Lexi hugging a baby cow...
I also got to take some senior pictures for Abbey.... isn't she gorgeous?
Lexi wanted to get in on the photo shoot too!
Well, I think I should win an award or something for having the busiest summer ever! I'm pretty sure I was gone way more than I was home. I've been finding myself quite exhausted from all the travel... sort of wanting to go home and just do nothing... I have no reason to complain though. I feel so lucky to have so many people in my family that love me and that I can spend time with. I don't know how many people that have four let alone one family reunion to attend every year! I feel incredibly blessed to have be a part of such a family! I look forward to the next time I can get together with my family... but for now, I think I want to just relax for a little while....
Oh ya! By the way... did I forget to mention that I'm PREGNANT? It must have slipped my mind:) Yes, sometime during our busy summer, we managed to find the time to conceive our second child! I don't know an exact due date yet, but its sometime in the last week of March I think! Until next time! -Jess
