June

 They call it the "Super Slide." I'm not even sure how those little kids are able to drag that toddler slide up the ladder, like that. Apparently my children have super powers...

 JUNE 2016 brought about the beginning of the #10years celebration! 10 years ago, in June, Brian and I went on our "first date": Backpacking to Horsetail Falls, in AF Canyon, with some friends of his. So, of course, for our #10years celebration, we HAD to go again!

It was SO beautiful! But both of us kept commenting that we didn't remember it being quite so hard. Obviously, we must have floated up on cloud 9, back then. It was rough. And now I feel super old and out of shape. And I was in a lot of pain when we got back to the bottom. As illustrated by the picture Brian took of me: "To sleep or to stretch? That is the question."

 Katie was really diligent and had a really good attitude about seeing preschool through until the end. Such a good girl! "Then end" being the end of June. We were all very excited for her when she finished!

 After backpacking Fri-Sat, June 3-4, I had a few days of rest, before I was back up the mountain for GIRLS CAMP! The theme was A Light To All Nations, and our ward was China! One of the Beehive leaders brought this sweet wig! It was a major hit!

 I got to stay the whole time, this year (June 7-10), and LOVED it! I really, really love the girls in our ward and am loving every minute of my YW calling!

Mmm, that syrup is plate-lickin-good! ...I think you got a little in your hair, tho, bud...

Brian is an excellent client at the girls' hair salon...

 We will pretend that those earrings are NOT heart shaped, and we will say they were dressing up like matching pirates...Yeah...

We had a little excursion to Thanksgiving Point! I loved watching all four of my kiddos playing well together!

Rachel got to go to a swim party at Ellie's house! So fun!!! 

 The field is white, all ready to harvest...This is my winter wheat.

 Father's Day! The girls had a whole dance, books about how much they love Dad, and helped me make some coffee cake. What a way to start the day!

 We went for a family "walk" after church. Somehow the kids always interpret the word "walk" as "bike ride"...After making it about one house length, we realized that it was about a million degrees, outside and the whole "walk" thing was a terrible idea, in the first place. But Brian, being the awesome dad that he is, made it fun, anyway. He gave Maliya her first ride on handle bars. She LOVED it!

 Rachel wanted in on that action, and dad gave her a turn, too. She was a little more...nervous.

 Hayden was doing great on his balance bike, but he definitely didn't want to be left out!

 Brian obediently followed direction from Hayden to use his own bike for Hayden's handle bar ride. That was fun. Then Hayden offered to let dad have a turn riding on the handle bars...

 ...That didn't work quite as well...

 Back at home, Brian got out the house, to cool off all of our melting children.

 "You can't get me here, Dad!"

 "Aaaahhhh! Foiled again!"

Hayden found a great hiding spot, behind the pineapple plant. Haha.

Katie got sprayed slightly. She was highly offended.

 All in all, Father's Day was a very fun family day!

Hayden recently noticed that Brian always carries a pocket knife, and he feels like he should be able to do the same. He started calling it "Mine!" And will often tell Brian to "Give it back!"

 Orem Summerfest with the Burkes is always fun! We were lucky enough to have two Spiderman's there!

 The weather was a little stormy, but the parade was fun, and just look at that view!

Jaani Paev! Known in the US as the highly un-celebrated Summer Soltice, Jaani Paev is a big deal, in Estonia. When Brian and I were first dating, #10years ago, I took him with me to celebrate Jaani Paev with a couple of my old companions. He has been so good about making sure we celebrate it every year. We didn't make it up the canyon, this time, but, luckily, we have a fake fire to jump over, instead.

 Katie's always good about making sure I make it in a couple pictures, too...even if I am still in my jammies.

 We went camping with Grandpa Scott and Grandma Lisa.

We tried making bread using 3 different "camping" methods: in a dutch oven, in a propane camping oven, and in a can in the fire. The can method was definitely the fastest. But getting it out past that lip, once it was done, proved difficult.

Grandma and Rachel got all the kids these super cute camping pack packs, filled with all sorts of cute camp themed toys (flashlight, compass, bandannas, etc).

SO excited!

Went on a hike with Grandma...

Found a caterpillar!

And, at the end of the hike, both Rachel and Katie took some pretty hard spills and got super scraped up. After getting bandaged up , Rachel wanted to relax in the tent for a bit. She and Hayden both fell asleep.

Helping Dad with a lego project...

It was a really fun camping trip! We love being up in the canyon!

 Brian ran the AF Canyon Half Marathon with his and did a great job!

About 2 days later I made him lay sod around the firepit. Look how beautiful it is!!! I have the best husband ever!

"Auntie" Rachel and I had a chance to meet up with a good friend of ours from Highschool. Here are our collective children! (Minus Katie, who has decided that she does not believe in pictures with people outside of her immediate family)

We invited our Trek Kids to go hike up to Battle Creek Falls with us. Two showed up. It was a lot of fun, though!

Maliya and Rachel got DRENCHED in that waterfall!

A new splash pad opened right by our house!