July 2022

As soon as we got home from the Dinger Family Reunion we dove right into the 4th of July. Leo was happy to be back at my parents...he really likes it there. And we like that my parents will watch him for us when we go out of town. 

It was our smallest 4th of July gathering ever...kind of sad! But we tried to make it fun. We still had the traditional breakfast and swimming, my parents got some fun games for the pool, we made fancy snow cones, played games, and had a bbq that night. We made the mistake of being lazy and agreeing to go watch fireworks at the Markus's (my parents neighbors and family friends). It was super awkward, and luckily the only lame part of the day. Next year we will do better. 

The weekend after the 4th I took Owen and Emmie and Elsie up to the Flake's cabin. Brooke invited us along with some other friends, and it was great. The kids spent hours and hours out on the water, and I enjoyed being at the lake and hanging out with friends. Being at the lake is probably my favorite summer activity. And it didn't hurt that Brooke's cabin was gorgeous. 

Then, mid July, Heather flew to San Diego with me for a little adventure. Heather is a saint. I needed someone to fly down to San Diego with me to buy an old car from Syd and Cy (their old Toyota Scion that Kort and I drove across the country years ago and that Ains and I drove all around New England when I took her there.) and then drive it back to Idaho with me. We spent a few days in San Diego before heading home. We were able to take some walks on the cliffs at Point Loma, and go to the beach to hunt for Sand Dollars, and we even got to go to Sea World!   We also got to help Syd and Cy pack, since they were literally leaving for their move to Michigan days after we left their house. 

Heather was great company, I we talked for the entire time. It was nice, I don't even remember what we talked about, but somehow we managed to visit for 5 days straight!

Syd and Cy stopped in Boise on their drive to Michigan so we got to see then for a few days. We went to Quinn's pond for some swimming and Kayaking, hiked table rock, and spent lots of time at my parents pool. It was a quick visit but nice to see them in Boise for a bit. 

 

June 2022

 Summer jobs of Ainsley and Owen

June got off to a slow start...and if I'm being honest, was kind of a lame and boring month. 

Quinn's pond and a bike ride on eagle green belt at the end of the month to make it feel like summer when it finally started to get warm.

The week after graduation and at the beginning of June Ainsley got her wisdom teeth out. And I am the super lame mom who forgot to take a single picture! She got out of school a week before the other kids, so I figured she had plenty of time to kill and that would be a great time to get them out! While she wasn't thrilled about getting them out, she was super happy when I picked her up! She just kept saying that she was bummed that she wasn't "high" as she kept calling it. Although, seeing as she isn't usually that chipper, I'm certain that she was indeed a little "high". And I laughed our loud when she was trying to drink a smoothie and I turned to look at her and she had smoothie all down her face. When I started laughing she just said, "What?! I thought I was doing so good!" She looked like a toddler with food all down her face and couldn't feel a thing. It was hilarious.

This year brought a cold June. It felt like summer hadn't really started because it was often chilly. The weekend after school got out Emmie and I headed to Rexburg for another soccer tournament. I procrastinated booking somewhere to stay, so we ended up staying with Heather's cousin. I was super grateful! It was a quick trip and a lot of soccer (the girls played 3 games) but I think Emmie had a good time. 

While Emmie and I were in Rexburg, John and Owen were in Salt Lake. Owen and his friend Logan had bought tickets to and AJR concert months ago, so John drove them down for the bug event. Theirs was a quick trip as well. I got home with Emmie on Saturday and we had a girls night of Tin Roof Taco's and the old Top Gun, and the boys were home by Sunday afternoon. 

Ainsley finished her first major cross stitch, which I think turned out awesome.

And then promptly started on her next one.

I was thrilled with my raspberry and blackberry bushes this year. For being in a pot they are doing great and giving me just enough berries to keep me happy.

We spent some time this year putting together this book for my day. And I think my sisters and I spent hours laughing. We filled it with pictures of everyone in the family looking ridiculous. And then we thanked him and told him we owed all that we were to him. The pictures are all horrible and the opposite of flattering and will hopefully bring a smile to anyone's face who might be having a bad day.

Other than that, June was spent working. I continued working for Savvy, Owen took on more hours working at the Grove Hotel and began working on his on-line class, and Ainsley started teaching swim lessons during the week and then worked at the hotel with Owen on Saturdays. And poor Emmie was bored. 

And then finally, the last few days of June summer finally really started. Emmie left for Girls Camp and John, me, Ains, and Owen, headed off to Bear Lake for a Dinger family reunion. I was super sad Emmie wasn't with us, but the dates were exactly the same and so sadly she had to chose. I don't have any pictures to share from girls camp but Emmie came home super excited and had a great time. 

The reunion was a success as well. Melanie found us an awesome house that had private beach access. And she planned a lot of super fun activities. 

There was a Dutch Blitz tournament that took place over several days and got pretty intense since there were gift cards for the winners.

And then there were hours of games played at all hours of the day. The Hunsakers traveled with a full size suitcase full of games.

There were two visits to Le Beau's for milkshakes.

There was a family trivia night.

A trip to the Minnetonka Caves.

And even a power point presentation night where each family shared a power point presentation. Topics ranged from the Bear Lake Monster, to the grandkids as super heros, to insane assylums, and even animals of Australia. However, I have to admit that we might have won (even though it wasn't a competition) with our fictitious presentation about the secret lives of cereal mascots. Thanks to Ainlsley's photoshop skills and John's creative writing.

Somehow I had never been to Beak Lake before this, and now I want to go back! It was beautiful! The water was gorgeous and so fun to swim in (but cold) and the scenery was beautiful. And as an added bonus we got to drive through Lund and see the area where my Grandpa grew up...which was gorgeous as well.