You know it's been a good summer so far when...

These were all taken on different days. Bennett still denies that he ever fell asleep in the car, but I'll let you be the judge.

Montpelier, Idaho!

Jason had the chance to ride the Bear Lake Monster Ride starting in Montpelier, Idaho a few weeks ago. The start time was really early, so we all drove up the night before and camped out with him.  It was lots of fun, all except that hour when Harper was screaming bloody murder in the night.  Not cool.  We had to go hang out in the bathrooms, which was okay because they are newly remodeled and even have cable tv playing in there.  (Weird, but nice when you're up at 2 a.m. with a sad baby.)

We could not get a pic of Jake with his eyes open!

Miss Blue Eyes trying to settle in with her brothers.

Gameboys.

Killing time before we had to meet Jason at the finish line.

At the finish line in Montpelier.  I like this pic of Harper with all her guardian brothers.

Woo hooooooooo!  Still smiling after 85 miles or so.

We went to Minnetonka Cave afterward Jason's ride.  It was so much fun relaxing with the boys before our tour started.  We sure do like these guys.

Harper was just along for the ride.  She fell asleep about 15 minutes into the cave.  (The tour is about 1 1/2 hours long!)

At the entrance.

Oh, how the boys loved this adventure!

Family photo except you can barely see Harper peeking out from behind Jason.  What a fun day!

Bear Lake with Brothers.

     We had such an amazing time when Jon and Weston came to town for a visit!  We did all kinds of things, but here are some photos of our trip to Bear Lake.  The water is so high this year it was hard to find a decent beach.  But the kids don't care, and it was beautiful as always, even if the shallow water was mucky muck.

Probably my favorite photo ever. Harper could not get enough of this boat! 

Weston and Bennett.

Jon and Jason.

Beautiful day!

Team Taylor

I was so happy I was home when our dear friends, Brad and Ie Mei Taylor stopped in for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  We met the Taylors soon after we moved into the 9th ward.  Ie Mei and I had the opportunity to work in YW together when our oldest kids were just babies!  Jackson, their oldest son is 2 years older than Bennett.  They have since moved to Indiana, and are currently living in Mexico for Brad's work, and plan to stay for a couple of years.  What an adventure!  They were here in Logan for a few days and paid us a visit.  Sadly, Jason missed them, but I felt honored that they made the trip to see us.  Such an awesome family!

What a beautiful family!  

I treasure my friendship with Ie Mei.   I admire her so much and feel so lucky that they stopped for a visit. I could have talked to her all day long!

Boating at Benson Marina.

Our awesome friends, Amy and Adam Anderson, invited us to go boating with them on the 4th of July.  Here is Amy with her darling daughter, Harper Ann, who was born just a couple of months before Harper Katherine.

And here's Harper Kate grubbing on grapes.

Owen and Bennett both tried wake-boarding accompanied by an adult.  They loved it of course.  Thanks Amy and Adam for a wonderful day!  

Baby, you're a firework.

At our Canadian friends, the Olsons', annual Canada Day fireworks show on Brookside. Yes, we celebrated both countries that night! 

The crowd is growing every year! 

Jason Yerka, pyromaniac!

We couldn't make it to our usual viewing spot in time after running from the Olsons' party.  The kids were extremely disappointed, but Jason made it fun by letting them watch the fireworks from the roof of our garage.  You could actually see them really well.  Owen watched them from his treehouse.

And Harper and I watched them from the hammock!

What pretty blue eyes she has!

Here's Harper heading for the ladder, not wanting to be left out of any fun or dangerous adventure.

Coming home from the Cruise In parade.

I LOVE this picture of Andy and his kids.  Andy is a great dad.

Ingrid came by to check in while we were getting ready to do fireworks.  Love that girl.

Camped out, ready for the show!

Glow stick mania!

Ruby.

Yes, the fireworks were plentiful this year, but the kids only cared about the glow sticks.  Seriously, I don't think they even watched the pyrotechnics the dads were putting on.  Not at all.

Harper.

Massive glow stick jump rope!

Natalie and Lee, living in the Raider Nation.

Andy and Lincoln.

Spectators.

The kids decided to watch for a minute. 

Happy 4th of July!  I tried hard to get a cute picture of Harper and Finn in their patriotic duds, but they wanted no part in it.  Oh well.

Baby Cooper!

Our awesome next-door neighbors had a new baby boy this week!  Hooray!  His name is Jason Cooper Mohr, and he is so stinking cute.  We are so lucky to have such great neighbors.  Natalie is like a second mom to my kids, and I would definitely claim her kids as mine.  I'm so happy for this new addition to their family!

Ruby will be such an awesome babysitter!

Cute new mama!