Time with Matt and Ellen's Family

We had a great time with Matt, Ellen, James, Scott, Todd and Ben. They live in a beautiful valley with mountains all around them. When we arrived the valley was filled with smoke from wildfires in the mountains. The rains came through the week and helped the firefighters put the fires out. The smoke cleared out of the valley when we were leaving.

The red rental house is part of the property. Matt's family lives in the house on the left.

Always fun to share pictures of the family

Bennie loves apples

Mr Energy, Bennie is excited to see the fish at the hatchery

We had a fun time bowling with Matt, Ellen and the kids

Scott is 8 and a Cub Scout. We went to a Pack meeting and saw a falconer put his bird through its paces in the cultural hall. Pretty exciting!

Todd is giving Ben a ride on the Chopper

Having fun riding in the driveway, and going down the steep hill near the mouth of the driveway.

Matt and Ellen took care of their neighbors' animals while they were out of town. They had to track down Rudy, the pony, more than once.

Mom in the garden finding lots of great things to eat

Todd on the monkey bars

Scott received his Lego order and was quick to put the characters together

Lots of good things for dinner tonight

Matt enjoyed time with the boys and reviewed each of the Lego characters

I got my tractor instruction and got to work

It's a lot easier to use the tractor to move all this stuff than doing it by hand

Scott makes stop-action videos and is showing Todd how it is done

Helicopter into Scout Service Project

The scout troop in the ward was invited to help the water district do their annual clearing project. The fun part was when they got to fly in to the site in the helicopter. They hiked 11.5 miles out three days later, when the work was done. The flight up to the site was delayed because of low clouds and no visibility. Eventually the clouds lifted and the helicopter made 6 trips to get scouts, leaders and the equipment up the mountain.

A look down into the Icicle Valley after the clouds lifted. Matt and Ellens house is down there in the center of the picture.

Scouts, just hanging around talking while they were waiting for the clouds to lift

James and some of his friends

Hiking Icicle Gorge

A look at the Icicle River from the bridge where we started our hike of the Icicle Gorge

Matt pointed out some interesting things in the river

The hike also served as a test for James in carrying a fully loaded pack (30 lbs.) for 4.5 miles, prior to the service project and an 11 mile hike home.

A rest stop for a drink and a few pictures for grandpa

Matt and the boys have made this hike several times this summer and love to walk over this fallen tree. It's a 20 foot drop if you slip! Of course nobody fell.

James did great on the hike and is well prepared for his big adventure up the mountain with the scouts

Lots of tall trees and beauty at every turn. We saw a big brown bear along the path today.

In the Pool

Time to cool off in the pool on a hot day

Todd has to show grandma his tricks in the pool

James leaped from the deck onto the inner tube and made a perfect landing

Scott dives into the pool and swam underwater to the other side

A flying leap over grandma by Scott to make a big splash

Lots of fun and smiles