Day One with the Mobley's

So we made it to Drummond, MT early Friday afternoon and spent the afternoon hanging out with the wonderful Mobley family. It was so great to get to see all of them, give Ellen her birthday and baptism presents and meet Spencer. Joseph had a blast playing with his cousins in the irrigation ditch and climbing "the mountain" which was really just a big hill. We sure do miss living close to these guys but are grateful that we were able to spend time with them, catch up and love on all our wonderful nieces and nephews. Once we had said our goodbyes to the Mobley's we met up with Grandpa in Missoula to enjoy a yummy dinner, watch a DVD that I had made for Ben for our anniversary and eat yummy snacks. It was a great way to start our vacation.

Ellen, the sweet birthday girl!

Spencer!!

Uncle Ben and Spencer

Aunt Lynsey, Anne and Spencer

Naomi!

Playing in the irrigation ditch.

Run Joseph Run!!

Aunt Lynsey and Uncle Ben loving on Spencer!

Stephen!!

Cousins!!

Such good looking boys!

Sweet beautiful girls!

Noah taking a licorice break.

Love this face!!

Spencer, Aimee and Ben

King of the chair.

Just relaxing

Joseph enjoying a movie and snacks from Grandpa.

On the road....

So I am finally getting to blog about our trip, yeah!! We left town on Thursday June 28th and headed for our first stop in Montana. Once we had loaded up our rental car and hit the road, we had been driving for about 30 minutes on the highway when we realized that our car had no cruise control. Ben immediately called the rental place which of course was closing and asked if there was anyway we could get a different car since there was no way we were driving over 4,000 miles without it. We just figured that every car had it and didn't realize that we had to specifically ask for it. They were helpful and told us their DIA hub had another car, so we took a little detour and went to DIA. We were hoping to make it a quick exchange but the first two replacement cars they tried to give us were either dirty or missing things that we had specifically requested, so finally we found a Nissan Sentra that was clean and had everything we wanted. Once we had moved everything over we were back on the road and we drove until we were somewhere in Montana. Since we had gotten such a late start Ben really wanted to get across Wyoming Thursday night and he did, much to his wife's dismay who really wanted him to stop so she could take some pictures. I did manage to get some pretty cool shots from the car while driving by though.

Our first rental car.

Ready for our adventure.

Sunset near Ft. Collins

The sun behind the clouds.

Water Fight!!

I found this cute idea on Pinterest for a welcome to summer water fight and thought what a fun idea. Since the Father/Son camp out was the weekend they got out of school we planned it for the following week. The kids all had a great time playing with the sprinkler, squirt guns, water balloons and chasing one another. They went through the water balloons faster then we could fill them up, so after filling a hundred of them we just had them play with other things. We had lunch of PB&J sandwiches, watermelon, orange slice and of course Popsicles. :) It was a great day and a fun way to start the summer.

Levi and Joseph

Tori, Haley and Kayla

Lexi getting every one with the hose.

Water balloons!!

Playing in the mud puddle.

The gang.

Jell-O Orange Slices

Father's Day

I really did mean to do this before we left town but as is life I got busy and just ran out of time. We had a nice quiet Father's Day with just us this year. Way back in May when Ben was out of town  Joseph and I went to a pottery place and painted Ben's Father's Day gift's. I was a little nervous that he would give away the surprise but he was really good to keep it a secret. We started the day by making Ben his favorite French Toast, Bacon and fruit and serving him in bed. It was a big hit and Joseph enjoyed getting to eat in bed. Once we had cleared away breakfast Joseph couldn't wait to give Ben his gift's. We then had a very nice time at church and then came home to enjoy Ben's favorite dinner of Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, veggies, garlic bread and for dessert Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake. It was a great day and I am so grateful that Joseph has such a wonderful dad! We Love You Ben/Dad!!

Ben's Card

The feast Joseph and I prepared

All ready to deliver breakfast.

Loving on Dad!

Dad is always good to share.

Wow! That is a ton of candy!

Showing off his gifts that Joseph made for him. It is a pencil holder and mug.

Backyard Camping

So a few weeks ago our ward had their annual Father & Son Camp out and Joseph was very excited to go. Unfortunately Ben had to work much later then expected on Friday night so instead Ben and Joseph camped out in the backyard on the trampoline. Ben and Joseph had a wonderful time roasting marshmallows over the grill, looking up at the few stars in the sky, enjoying father & son time and getting to sleep outside.

All ready to camp!

My sweet boy!

Mmmmmm S'mores!!

Professional sleepers. I wish I could fall asleep that fast!

So excited to sleep on the tramp.

Goodnight Mom! Please turn off the camera.

Last Day of School

On Friday it was Joseph's last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe how fast this school year has blown by and how much Joseph has grown, learned and changed. He had a great time at his end of year party with all of his friends. We had all the kids sign their names on each other's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Shirts, then they had lots of yummy snacks and then they went out to the playground to blow bubbles, draw with chalk and play on the playground equipment. I am so glad that Joseph had such a great year with Ms. Klee.

Hooray for summer!!

Joseph and Aidan

Cora and Joseph

Kindergarten dog pile.

Kindergarten Program

On Thursday all eight of the Kindergarten classes performed their little program. The kids worked so hard on learning all the songs and movements and they did a wonderful job performing. They are definately ready for the first grade. Joseph was so excited that Dad, Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and Nana all came to watch him. I was a little disappointed that Joseph's class was standing on the gym floor and you couldn't really see him at all. After the performance Joseph showed Grandpa and Nana around his classroom and then Ms. Klee handed out certificates to all the kids. It is so hard to believe that Joseph is finished with Kindergarten, but he has grown so much this year and learned so many new things that I know he is ready to continue on and see what first grade has to offer him. Once the celebration at school had ended we all headed over to Red Robin for our own graduation celebration which included fries and milkshakes of course.

Waving to Grandpa, Nana, Daddy and Grandma

So proud!

Showing Grandpa and Nana his classroom.

Our graduate

Three wonderful generations.

Joseph with Ms. Klee

So proud of Joseph!!

Mom, Dad, Joseph, Grandpa and Nana

Dad, Mom, Joseph and Grandma