Duck Creek/Andersen Reunion 2015

The week after we got back from Bear Lake we were home for two days and then packed up again and headed to southern Utah for the Andersen (Nate's mom side) Reunion.  We decided to make a trip of it and head to Fish Lake the first day.  Nate has always wanted to try fishing on Fish lake so we rented a boat and spent the afternoon on the lake.  Fish lake is in the middle of the state and was only a few hours drive from home.  It was fun, BUT we didn't catch any fish and it was really cold most of the afternoon.  We weren't prepared for the cooler weather so some of the afternoon we were miserable because of the cold wind and no sun.  Even though our fishing trip was unsuccessful we still had a great and it was a fun adventure!

Seriously strange this child of mine...

After staying in Richfield for the night we head down to Duck Creek Village for the rest of our trip.  Once there we went a our favorite hike to Cascade Falls.  It isn't a long hike, but it is beautiful!

The trees smell like strawberries. (honestly)

Can't beat the views!

After the hike we went to Aspen Mirror Lake to hike to Horny Toad Valley.  Nate and his siblings went there every time they were there for reunion.  One time they even caught Horny Toads (Horned lizards) and brought them home in their pockets on the airplane!! Sadly the toads didn't survive. 

Beautiful wild flowers everywhere!

The valley used to be full of these horned lizards, but all the ATV's have scared them away.  We were only able to find one. :(

The next day we decided to explore the mammoth caves.  They were interesting, but a little too claustrophobic for me.  The kids thought they were pretty cool though!!

Our last day was spent at the family reunion.  It mostly consists of a lot of sitting around with some eating and then an auction.  It was fun to be with Nate's family.  We were especially glad to see Nate's grandpa whose health is failing quickly.  We had a nice long visit with him and feel very blessed to have spent time with him. 

Newest nephew Kai!

Decent Family Picture!!!

It was a crazy 2 weeks of vacation, but we had loads of fun!!

Bear Lake 2015

We enjoyed another successful Hess family reunion up at Bear Lake in July.  The weather was a little weird for the middle of July with some rain storms coming through during the week, but we still managed to get plenty of beach days in with breaks to play games on the rainy days. It was a fun week and we're always sad when it's over.  Ashlyn was still dealing with tonsil recovery so we didn't get great sleep.  Nate had to travel to Hawaii (I know, really tough, right?) for work during the middle of the week and ended up getting sick with a cold.  We know our time is short with our Bear Lake cabin so we are grateful for every chance we have to be there. (Thanks to my sister Melanie for all the pictures) :)

View from the beach up to the cabin.

Me and my cowboy. Love.

Sick Nate, trying not to be a party pooper!

We managed to get a family picture.  We certainly look like Bear Lake beach bums, but at least we're all there!! 

Liam with his best buddy Richard.  We were sad to see them go after their 3 week visit.

We caught a little frog!

Boating!

Goodbye Tonsils

After a great 4th of July weekend we woke up Monday morning and went to the hospital for Ashlyn to get her tonsils (and adenoids) removed.  This was not part of our summer plans but it became that after a few trips to the doctor.  Ashlyn had strep back in May.  When I looked at her throat before we knew she had strep her tonsils were HUGE!  After the antibiotics they were still very large so we set up the appointment to see her pediatrician and then went to the ENT.  Both of them were surprised and how large they were. Back up to about January when she started snoring really loud and was having really restless sleep, when I should have looked at her tonsils and realized they were huge then.  :) But, instead we got to add tonsil removal to our summer to do list.  

Because Ashlyn is young we were hoping it would be a quick recovery, but ended up being almost 3 weeks before she was back to normal.  Luckily some of that time was spent at Bear Lake and down in Southern Utah, so she had some good distractions.  It was a necessary thing that had to be done and now that we are past it, I'm so glad it's over!  Ashlyn has stopped snoring and is getting much more restful sleep.  We are also hopeful that it will also be the end of bed wetting. (for some reason large tonsils and bed wetting are related, weird).   I have a few pictures for family history sake of Ashlyn's tonsil adventure.  

Before Surgery!

After Surgery, Tonsils are gone!

4th of July...or I guess the 3rd of July too...

Because the 4th of July fell on a Saturday this year, we decided to do a family BBQ on Friday the 3rd instead.  We had all of my family in Utah come over for some yummy BBQ courtesy of Nate.  We also play some fun basketball and then had a great fireworks show.  It was a party!  For the actual 4th of July we had a nice relaxing day, got to eat leftovers, and then went to watch the big fireworks in Kaysville.  It was a great weekend!!

The basketball game!

The crowd cheering!

Sparklers!

Waiting for the big fireworks!