Cardston Parade

We took our kids to the Cardston parade this year and my entire family were able to be there as well.  All the cousins had a blast playing with chalk before the parade starts.  They draw big circles with their names in them and enjoy seeing if any horses will leave a deposit in their circle or not. 

It's not only for the little kids either!

 It was a pretty chilly morning, so we were all trying to keep warm -- Bryan looks like he found a great spot!

What a silly boy!

Ben was telling a great story to Grandpa.

Playtime with Spencer.

After the parade was done, we all headed back to Mary Lou and Lennard's home for lunch.  We had yummy corn on the cob, hot dogs and hamburgers, great salads and delicious desserts!

Ben thought the corn was pretty good! 

  I am so glad that all the cousins get along so well.  They enjoyed having their lunch together outside.

Who can resist this cute little baby! 

  Can't wait for next year!

Park Lake

We took the kids to Park Lake on a beautiful warm evening this summer.  There was practically nobody there and it was still quite warm, even that late in the day.  We always have a great time here and I love that the water is so shallow and warm.

Hatch Family Reunion Part 2

We left Sunday afternoon from the Hatch Reunion, and headed up to Edmonton to visit more family.  We stayed at my sister Rachel's house and on Monday we had a picnic with more of Matt's family that weren't able to come to the actual reunion.  My sil had just had a baby 2 weeks prior to the reunion, so we were excited to come and see her cute little baby she had!  We all met at a fun little spray park and the kids had so much fun playing in the water.  It was a really hot day!

My cute little nephew! 

 It was really nice to have a visit with my sister-in-laws!

We tried to get all the grandkids together, but some of them had other ideas!

Matt and his siblings and his mom.  It has been years since they have all been together. 



Hatch Family Reunion 2012

August long weekend is usually the weekend that the Hatch Family has their reunions, and this year was no exception.  We headed out to a location we had never been before, and even though it was way farther than we expected it to be, we really did have a lot of fun. 

 It was pretty cool before the sun came out over the mountains, so we spent some time snuggling in front of the fire.

 Sleeping in a tent is always an interesting experience with kids.  They all stay up way too late, and then get up with the rising sun.  Gideon woke up at about 5:30am, so this is what he was doing at 8:30am.  I wish I could have had a nap with him!

Uncle Kim spent a lot of time pulling load after load of kids around in this wagon.  They had a great time!

 We were so excited to see Matt's Grandpa there.  We weren't sure if he was coming or not, but he made it.  He is now 94 and living in a home in Cold Lake, so we don't see him as often as we used to, so it was nice to have a chance to visit with him here.  Matt's older brothers Victor and Dale were able to make it to the reunion too.  This was the first time that I was able to meet Dale, and I had only seen Victor a handful of times since we were married, so it was great to get to know them better too.

 Saturday afternoon, we headed to a waterfall just down the road.  The trail down was really steep, but we made it!

 Uncle Kelly set up some ropes and the kids had a great time going across the river.

A great time was had by all!!

Murray Family Campout

We had a great weekend with the Murray Family this weekend.  Matt and my brother-in-law Cub were the only ones that were missing.  We had a crazy rainstorm blow through on Friday night, but it didn't last long and we were back to blue skies.  The kids had a blast going on a treasure hunt, playing in the toy cars Grandpa has made, and just enjoying each others company.  We are excited that this is becoming such a fun famly tradition.

A Day in Waterton

 Matt and my brother Dave decided that they wanted to go for a hike up in Waterton, and I thought that I would tag along and take the kids up for the day.  We dropped Matt and Dave off at Cameron Falls at 11:00am as they were planning to do the Alderson/Carthew hike, and they figured they would be back by about 6pm.  The kids and I had a great day exploring and having fun up in Waterton. We of course had to go and see the falls.

Then we climbed up to the top of the falls.

The kids all had fun playing on the rocks, and posing for some fun pictures.

We found a new little friend too!

 We went to the park and played there for a while and had our lunch, and then decided to go up Red Rock Canyon and do a small hike there.  We met a nice couple from South Dakota that were on a cross-country bike trip.  They were nice enough to let the kids get on their bike for a picture.

 Blakeston Falls is a nice hike for little kids.  It's only about 1km and had a very nice wide trail.  It was a hot day though and Brendan and I ended up with Gideon and Sarah on our backs for most of the way back down. 

We went back down to the townsite for some much needed ice cream!

We had fun throwing rocks in the lake and then Sarah decided that she needed to go in the lake and she ended up soaking wet, but she was having such a good time it was hard to get to upset about it.  Once again, my camera's battery died at the worst time, and I didn't get any more pictures of our fun day.  The only hitch to the day was waiting for Matt and Dave to get back.  They thought they would be back by 6pm and it was after 8pm before we were able to meet up with them.  I was just a bit worried by then and maybe a little ticked that they were so late, but I think mostly I was just relieved that they were both ok.  Nothing like some fun summer memories!