Owen Bear Turn 2!!!!!

 Yesterday we went and celebrated the end of summer by playing at the kid's favorite park for hours then getting some pizza and having lunch with Daddy.



 I have been planning a little kayaking trip with my friends for weeks, and a few days before it, I dislocated my shoulder. I was soo very sad. Fortunately, with a lot of rest, heat, ice, and Deep Blue. I was still able to go. It didn't even hurt at all!
I went out in the yard the day of and was just seeing if I could paddle without hurting my shoulder and James snapped this funny picture of me paddling among the weeds. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures on my little adventure because I was afraid of getting my phone wet. Had a blast though and got some tasty food afterwords. Good friends! good times!

Owen loves this collection of dinosaurs at the library. He always heads right over to them when we get there. Unfortunately, they are not the most quiet of animals. :D He plays and plays with them, and is so very very noisy. He has them growl and fight and eat each other and he is just delighted by it. The librarian hasn't told him to be quiet a single time. I personally think, she loves to watch him just as much as I do. 

 We spotted Lauren's future license plate.

 Our Owen Bear turned 2 this month!
A few things we love about Owen:

Owen is CUTE, and I mean super cute adorable.
Owen is loving, he loves to get kisses and hugs and will say sorry if he hurts you during his wildness.
Owen is soo very smart and has an incredible vocabulary. There is almost nothing he can't say.
Owen loves animals and makes the cutest animal noises. His horse noise is my favorite.
Owen has a huge imagination and loves to pretend and play games.
Owen loves to be outdoor and explore. It is his very favorite thing to do.
Owen loves his Daddy and loves to spend time with him.

I really love EVERYTHING about Owen. There is nothing I could or would change. He is the perfect little boy and we are soo very HAPPY to have him in our family.

 Trip to the local grocery store for breakfast. Owen loves doughnuts!


For Owen's birthday this year. We went up to Pinedell Scout Camp and stayed in a cabin there. It was a lot of fun.

 Owen used his birthday money from Great Grandpa Griffin to buy a giant ice cream cone. He ate the whole thing himself. (Other than a few helpful licks from myself to prevent drips ;) )

 Barry popped some popcorn just for Owen because he loves it so much.

 There was a ping pong table at the lodge. Owen and his friend liked chasing the balls around the room.

 We brought Tin Foil dinners. They were quite scrumptious.

 Th
 Then Owen got to open his Giant duck Grandpa and the kid's made for him. Owen loves Ducks and was very excited to see it. It was a challenge to bring it up the mountain without him seeing it, but he was very surprised.

 He was happy to get the airplane car that he enjoys riding at Grandmas. He rode it around and around the lodge. It was the perfect present! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

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James is raising chickens and Owen loves to chase them around and around the yard in hopes of catching one. He never has caught one yet, but for his birthday, James caught one of the chickens and let Owen pet it. It made Owen so happy. 

This is the book Owen reads to me everynight before we go to bed. His is such a sweet little boy.
We love you Owen Bear Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dierke's Hike

 This year we took Ellie's friend  Hannah along on our favorite hike around the lake. It was fun times. They love the challenge of trying to climb this giant boulder.

 Along the hike, Barry, James, Owen and I, hide behind a rock and jumped out and scared the beejeebers out of Hannah. It was AWESOME! She jumped at least a foot in the air!! Barry growled like a bear. I truly believe ....for just a second that SHE truly believed there was a bear there. :D

 Tiny Lizard. Too Tiny for phone focusing.

 Dang! my husband is handsome.

Everyone(except me of course) jumped in the lake and swam when we were done. Barry even did a little cliff jumping. I was sad I didn't get a picture. We brought sandwiches, chips and drinks and had a delightful day to remember.

The Spudman and Other Summer Stuff

 We got up Super early ... like 4am! To get Barry to his race. When we were there, Lauren met up with her birthday Twin from Filer. They were even wearing Twinner shirts.




 Barry worked really hard all year long to train for the race. He got 35th out of more than 1700 people. He also got 6th in his age group. He did an incredible job and we were SUPER proud of him!

 Owen re-fueled himself with Barry's chocolate milk.

I think this picture is so funny. One of Barry's student came over to talk to him after the race. I love their clothing contrast.

 Sprint to the FINISH!

 yeah the pictures are not in order. Swim first.
1.5K swim in the Snake River and a 40K bike ride and 10K run in the beautiful countryside

 He's somewhere out there? Can you almost hear us cheering. :D

 Ah there he IS

 

Pate Family Reunion********************************************************

 Grandma Pate rented one of those HUGE blowup water slides for the kids to play on. They played and played and played. We ate dutch oven lasagna, salad and garlic bread. Then there was an outdoor huge blowup movie screen out on the lawn for the kid's to enjoy a midnight movie. Lots of people pitched tents on the lawn and slept out under the stars. We took a quick trip to Brigham with the younger kids and visited Grandpa Stuart for his Birthday. :D Much better than feeding the mosquitoes all night. :P

 Aspen took a tumble off the slide head first into the mud. Don't worry Grandma hosed her off with ice cold hose water. I bet she'll never forget THAT!

 Grandpa named his cinnamon turtle Cimeon. Then he ate him.

 Love this picture. Love my kid's and Barry.

 Much needed yard work towards a much needed fence.

 We spent many many fun happy hours at the Filer Pool this summer. My kid's all made tons of progress in swimming. James passed the deep-end swim test and Lauren will pass for sure next year.

 First Hair cute. He did awesome! IT didn't turn out the best.... but he didn't really hold still for more than a second.

 Tried to stub my toes into oblivion again. ...

 Barry's last day as Department Chair. His office is so empty. We will miss visiting him in the Evergreen Building. He has worked in the same building for the last 10 years. He did an incredible job and we know he'll do a great job as DEAN,

 Our annual hike up the mountain. Sorry I don't have a clue if i already posted these pictures. It was a beautiful Day.  Later we went to the Bird Refuge and the Griffin Family Reunion.