FOOTBALL CAMP.

How appropriate that I finally get around to this post! Yesterday Garrett turned . . . sniff, sniff . . . NINE! I still remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday! And rocking him to sleep . . . But, sniff, I digress. Earlier this summer Garrett got to go to football camp at BSU! I was absolutely thrilled because it meant Laura and the rest of the kids got to stay with ME for a few days! Oh, what an amazing treat! It was SO great to see and love on my nieces and nephews but it was even better to get to see and VISIT with my sister! Being a mom of FOUR means my sister rarely gets an uninterrupted moment. However, we actually got to sit and talk -- one day for HOURS even! I miss my sister so much and really cannot express how much it meant to me to have those precious days with her! She is absolutely the most amazing woman and an unbelievable mom! I honestly don't know how she manages four babies -- and yet she does it with such grace! I got a glimpse of what her everyday life looks like and there is NO WAY I could do what she does! I am so proud of her and so thankful for the four little blessings she has given me. Being an aunt is truly one of my greatest joys! Can you believe I have somehow managed to completely neglect the true subject of this post? Alright then, on with the show!

Each day, upon arriving at camp, the boys were to warm up out on the BLUE!

Most of the boys warmed up with their dads but Garrett had . . .

MOM

AUNT TESS

AND EVEN MISS CLAIRE!

HE REALLY WAS SUCH A GOOD SPORT ABOUT HAVING THE LADIES IN HIS LIFE TOSS AROUND THE FOOTBALL WTH HIM!

GARRETT ON THE BLUE TURF

THE INDOOR PRACTICE CENTER

ON THE LAST DAY, COACH PETE GAVE A GREAT SPEECH AND SIGNED GARRETT'S FOOTBALL! :)

FUTURE BRONCO? I THINK SO! :)

DAM TOUR.

It was certainly a wet spring in my little hometown! I decided to spend a weekend in Cascade, taking in all the WATER! The drive up the canyon was IMPRESSIVE! The mighty North Fork was absolutely RAGING!!! I have never, in all my years of seeing that river, seen it roil like that! I have always thought the stretch of Class V was a fantastically beautiful stretch of water, but it was absolutely breathtaking that weekend! UNBELIEVABLE! Of course the high river flow was due, in large part, to the release of water from the dam in Cascade. Even after growing up in Cascade and visiting there frequently, I have never seen the spillway run like it was either! They said the flows out of the dam hadn't been that big since the 1950s! We almost always stop to see the water coming from the spillway at Deadwood Dam but seeing this much water jet from the CASCADE DAM was amazing! For me it was really a once in a lifetime experience! Clearly I was impressed! However, so was the rest of the world! There were SO MANY people at the spillway! It is so strange, for us "locals" to have to deal with that many people invading our tiny little town! Oh, well, I guess I can't blame them for wanting to see a sight so rare--especially on such a pretty day!

CASCADE DAM SPILLWAY

THIS IS WHY I LOVING COMING FROM A SMALL TOWN!

SO MANY PEOPLE PRAYING FOR MY SWEET FRIEND AND HER FAMILY!

WE ALSO STOPPED BY TO SEE THE NEW KELLY'S WHITEWATER PARK

THE ISLAND AND MOST OF THE RAPIDS WERE COMPLETELY UNDER WATER!

I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT KWP! I KNOW MY FAMILY HAS BEEN ENJOYING THE PARK THIS SUMMER. AND NEXT SUMMER? I'M GOING TO TRY TO TAKE KAYAK LESSONS THERE! MAKAYLA TOOK LESSONS THIS YEAR. I'M SO JEALOUS! HOWEVER, NEXT YEAR SHE AND I WILL BE TEARING IT UP TOGETHER!

:)

YOU KNOW I CAN'T RESIST WILDFLOWERS!

SANDHILL CRANE AND BABY.

MENTOS ROCKET PARTY.

I am having a difficult time remembering exactly how it was decided we should shoot off Mentos and Diet Coke rockets! Regardless, this story begins with Dad and I driving all over Cascade trying to come up the ingredients -- 1 liter bottles of Diet Coke are tricky! And then we did some research on the internet regarding the best ways to turn the infamous geyser experiment into ROCKETS! There were some pretty impressive videos on YouTube with some great tips! Since the whole Pierce family was out, we had ourselves a little ROCKET PARTY!

ALTHOUGH THE WHOLE FAMILY CAME OUT TO WATCH, FEW WANTED TO ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN THE MAKING OF THE ROCKETS!

DAD AND I HAD LEARNED THE BEST WAY TO GET THE SHOW ROLLING!

DROP IN THE MENTOS . . .

QUICKLY SCREW ON THE LID . . .

SHAKE AND . . .

THROW!

BUT IT DIDN'T WORK!!!

IT BOUNCED AND NEVER ROCKETED!

SO WE SET UP AND TRIED AGAIN!

BUT IT DIDN'T WORK THAT TIME EITHER!

:(

WE STOOD AROUND GIGGLING . . .

AND TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT WRONG!

MAKAYLA AND GARRETT SET OFF A GEYSER

(SINCE WE COULDN'T GET A STUPID ROCKET WORK)!

THEY ALL THOUGHT THE GEYSER WAS MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN OUR ROCKET DUDS!

ISN'T MY LITTLE GUY GETTING BIG?!

SPEAKING OF BIG, MISS CLAIRE IS WEARING MAKEUP . . .

THAT SHE PUT ON HERSELF!

THE PIERCES MOVING LOCATIONS TO GIVE THE ROCKET EXPERIMENT ONE MORE TRY! AREN'T THEY THE CUTEST FAMILY?!

MAKAYLA AND I DECIDED TO DO THIS ROCKET

BUT SHE WASN'T QUITE QUICK ENOUGH WITH THE MENTOS!

A GEYER WENT OFF BEFORE WE COULD GET THE LID ON!

RIGHT IN MY FACE!

THAT'S IT! I AM OFFICIALLY RETIRING FROM ROCKET MANUFACTURING!