Lake Quinalt

We went to Lake Quinalt and the Great wolf lodge with my side of the family. Here is Maddie hugging the wolf at great wolf. I didn't get any pictures of the amazing water park, Bailey spent all of her time there and never wanted to leave.


Here is Maddie and Claire listening intently at story time.


Then we headed to Lake Quinalt, this is the breath taking view from our rooms.


The kids got to go for boat rides, and they went fishing. Both girls caught a tiny tiny fish.


We had a bonfire to make smores.


Pic with my gorgeous mom while walking to see a really big tree.


Hanging out on the deck.


Grandparents with almost all of the grand kids.


Cousin pic


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Banff

After the wedding we headed straight to Canada.  We stayed near Banff National Park for 5 days. It is in the Canadian Rockies and I think it might be the prettiest place I have ever been.  Here we are at Lake Louise, before our hike. We actually have a better picture without the stranger in it.

 The hike was a little over 2 miles each way.  It took the girls quite some time, but we made it with lots and lots of stops along the way.

 We hiked up to have high tea at the tea house at Lake Agnes.  Here is Daddy and Bailey showing you how to correctly drink tea.  It was kind of funny because someone actually walked by and said,"That is not how we really drink tea!" It makes me chuckle every time I look at these pictures.

 Family pic in front of the tea house.

 We also went on a canoe ride down on lake louse.  Maddie was terrified and screamed for quite some time.  She thought we were going to tip over.  Bailey did an amazing job of keeping her safe and calm.

 We made it back all in one piece.  The hotel in the background is where Prince Will and Princess Kate had just recently visited.

 Here are just a few of the breathtaking views on our drives.

 We spent a day shopping in the town of Banff and look what Maddie ended up with.

 Once again I think the favorite of the trip for the girls was swimming in the pool.  It was a great vacation to relax and hang out as a family.

Julie and Tyler Wedding

Once again, I am falling behind. I am actually back to school tomorrow with kids, so I better catch up quick. July 21st Julie and Tyler got married.  It was such a great weekend and fun was had by all.  It was a perfect day and we were so happy to be a part of their special day. The rehearsal dinner was Husky themed and it was a kick.

 The whole gang.

 The girls with their new uncle Tyler on the wedding day.

 Beautiful flower girls, they were so excited. Michele helped me out with their hair.  You can't see it from this picture, but Julie made them butterfly clips that are in the back of their hair.

 This is the Gilles clan.  All of RaeLyn's brothers came to the wedding.  The last time they were all together was 11 years ago at Jason and my wedding.

 Quick pic of Bailey dancing with great grandpa Ray, I love this one!

Mt. St. Helens

On Monday Jason and I hiked Mt. St. Helens.  We planned to go with a couple friends in May, and we decided we didn't have enough equipment to make the trip successful in all the snow and on the winter route.  Our church was organizing a trip in July, so we decided to try the hike with them instead. We started left the church at 3:30 in the morning, and started hiking at 6:00.

 After we hiked for about an hour in the woods(my favorite part), you reach the timberline. It then quickly goes to the huge rocks/boulders.

Then we hiked for about 2 hours up these boulders.  I was doing well, until it started to get windy.  Like 50 mile an hour wind.  So as you can see, we kept adding layers as the hike went on.

  Now we are 3 plus hours into it, getting knocked over by the wind, and we have reached the ash at the top.  People kept calling it the  "vertical beach". You are literally walking two steps forward one step back, getting pelted in the face by flying rocks/ash.  This is the point, where I wanted to turn back.  Jason kept going, so so did I.  I really could not have done this without him.

 We made it to the summit! YEAH It was an awesome feeling. I really wish it was a nicer day, so we could have seen more.

Then it took us quite some time to hike down.  It was even harder climbing down the boulders, because now my legs were tired. Once we reached the boulders, this huge cloud came in and we couldn't see the top anymore.  One of the people in our group was actually stuck up at the summit in this cloud.

It was a truly amazing experience, one that I am not ready to do tomorrow, but very glad that I did it.

Spokane and Yakima

After Wyoming we headed to my dear friend Rashell's cabin.  We had an amazing time and their cabin is wonderful.  We went down to the lake and had lots of fun.

We saw this rope swing and their dad couldn't help encouraging them to try it.

 After a short while and a trip back to get swimsuits, we couldn't get the girls out.  They were freezing but loving it.

 Then we stopped at Aunt Julie and Tyler's new house, soon to be uncle Tyler. It is an amazing house and we were so happy to see it.  So excited for the wedding we can hardly wait.

Devils Tower

We took a quick little detour to stop at the First National Monument, Devils Tower.

 We hiked all the way around, we saw a deer, and only had one girl fall down and cry.

 After the hike we filled out a little search and find form and the girls became official junior park rangers.

Rushmore Cave and Deadwood

After Mt. Rushmore we headed to Rushmore caves.  The girls had fun, about halfway through Maddie was ready for her nap and didn't want anything to do with the cave.

 Bailey and I went on this zip line. She giggled the whole way, I loved it.

 For the evening we headed to Deadwood for dinner.  We had fun in the town, there were a few too many people smoking on the sidewalk for my liking, otherwise a cute town.  Maddie didn't like the reenactments with all the shooting.  Scared her a little too much.

 Waiting in the Saloon for a reenactment of Wild Bill Hickocks' assassination.

 Standing in front of the Wild Bill Hickock wall for my dad.  Since we are related and all! :)

 This is the Saloon where it all went down, no more Wild Bill. :(