Mark's 16th Birthday

Sixteen is a huge birthday, and Mark finally made it. We had our usual big barbecue to celebrate, and it was fun to have some family in town. Grandma, Grandpa, and the Ferlans even made the trek down from Idaho. Laurie, Glen, Nate, and Jason came, of course. And Ty and Savannah and Bentley were in town from California, so we were glad they could come, too. Mark had a great time playing with cousins, and afterward we went to see the fireworks. 

Mark is a great oldest child.

Stephanie gave Mark 16 gifts for his 16th birthday!

We love the fourth of July!

Playing wiffle ball with cousins is serious.

It was windy, so we had to blow the candles in the garage.

Fireworks at our favorite spot!

Mark had a friend birthday gathering at Jack and Jill's. They golfed, played arcade games, and did laser tag. Everyone got to eat pizza and cake, too. It was a lot of fun and Mark has such good friends. They are always kind to Seth and Dax.

Mark is really becoming a good driver. Though he hasn't received his license yet, he has gained a lot of confidence and driven really well. We are excited for Mark to get his license and have a little more independence. 

These boys hang out together all the time!

They have a lot of fun together.

We are so grateful for good friends for Mark.

They are great kids!

Mark earned a lot of tickets on this game.

Here are all of the prizes they won.

June Fun

We had a lot of fun with our huge trip in June, and it took most of the month. Luckily, there was still a lot that happened in the final week of June when we were back in Utah.

We enjoyed the Lehi Round-up. We often miss this event because we are traveling, so we were excited to be back and enjoy the rodeo and some of the other events beforehand. 

These horses almost trampled Mom and Seth!

We are ready for the rodeo to start.

We had such a fun time and ate a lot of treats!

Dax's team won the championship game in their Orem league. They love playing together, and it's fun to see them win. There was also a pretty epic sunset after their game. You can decide who's picture you like better. They are both really good!

Dax's baseball team, the Barons!

Dax had some great hits in this championship game.

Mom's picture

Dad's picture.

Mom and Dad were invited back to the Blue Iguana. We love this restaurant! So, we enjoyed a nice date night without the kids, and some yummy food.

Dad was super excited to eat here again.

Mom tried something new.

Here are a few other photos that deserve a place in our family book. We have fun together!

Seth always wants to eat outside. So we made sure that happened this summer!

Mom and Seth waiting for the parade.

I love watching these boys laugh together.
They had a lot of fun on this swing while we waited for Mark's game.

Some of our youth were able to go to the temple together!

Seth is Double Digits

Seth turned 10 this year! He was really excited to be double digits. We are so lucky to have such a great boy in our family. He has grown up so much this year and we are proud of the fun young man he is becoming. 

Here are 10 things we love about Seth:

1. He has a great smile!

2. He likes to make others laugh and have fun.

3. He loves to read.

4. He loves baseball!

5. He has a strong knowledge of the gospel, and asks deep questions.

6. He loves to snuggle with Mom and play with her hair.

7. He is a great helper.

8. He is smart and loves to learn.

9. He is having a great time in Dad's class, even with the dad jokes.

10. He loves music and is doing so well on the piano.

We barely made it home for Seth's birthday! Since we had been traveling so much, Seth really didn't want to do a big party. We made him his favorite foods, played video games, watched a movie, and had a huge water fight with the new water guns Seth received for his birthday. It was a calm, but fun day. 

We did have a small birthday party with Seth's friends a little later. He just wanted to have everyone over and play some games. It was fun to spend time with these crazy 10 year-olds.

Seth is a happy kid!

Dax really wanted to serve Seth his lunch.

These water guns were a big hit!

We had a family water fight!

Seth requested homemade oreos.

We love Seth so much!

Seth loves to create photos on the phone.

We had pizza and lots of snacks.

Seth and his friends, with Dax, too!

Montana Day 24 & 25

We had a great trip, but there truly is no place like home.

Along with the Webbs and the Ferlans, we decided to drive around and do some hikes in Glacier. The problem is, the road over the pass isn't open in June because there is too much snow. This meant that we had to drive two and half hours around to do Virginia Falls. 

It was a pretty nice drive, and we spotted a moose along the way. He had just sprouted antlers. He was only about 25 yards from the car, which was really exciting. We watched him for a while, and then finished our drive.

We got a good look at this moose.

He was shedding his winter coat and growing antlers.

All three families hiked as far as St. Mary's Falls, but the because Steph is pregnant with little Merlin Ferlan, as Dad named the baby, only the Webbs and Ockeys went all the way to Virginia Falls. The waterfall was in the middle of heavy Spring runoff, so it was raging even more than last time we visited. We had a great time getting soaked, even though it is still pretty cool in Glacier. 

Mom was excited to hike in Glacier again.

We caught a rainbow at St. Mary's.

Such a beautiful place.

The trail was a little muddy, but not bad.

This was our favorite trail last time.

Seth squeezed that snow.

Shorts with jackets and hats. We are crazy!

Hiking with the cousins.

The waterfall was huge!!!

We got soaked and frozen from the spray.

It was hard to get a picture with all of the water coming down!

We wanted to do some hikes in Many Glacier but they had it closed. This early, so much of the park is closed that the open areas are packed with people. Instead, we watched a grizzly bear alongside the road for a little while. He wasn't too far away either, so we watched him for nearly a half hour. 

Mom wore her Glacier shirt that she got on the last trip.

We got a good look at this grizzly bear. 

He walked around and ate for quite awhile.

The ride home was really long, so we broke it up by stopping for huckleberry treats. Dax got huckleberry ice cream. Mom, Dad, and Mark got huckleberry shakes. Seth got rainbow ice cream. We also ordered a piece of huckleberry pie to share.

Huckleberry treats are the best!

Dax was freezing, of course!!

We got home just in time to make tacos for dinner. Then we let the kids play, but not too late. We had to get everyone up early to make our ten hour drive home. That drive was pretty uneventful, but we made it home by 8 o'clock.

Ben loves playing with Mark.

Grandpa is a good sport to play with the kids.

Dance Party!!!

One last mafia game before our trip ends.

This is how Seth entertains himself in the car.