Sailing!

Austin and I have a dream to sail around the world someday. Wouldn't that be the coolest way to travel the world? And, we're serious about doing it. This isn't just some "oh... maybe someday" kind of dream. This is one of those "we are GOING to do this no matter what" kind of dreams! 

So, since we moved to michigan and realized how popular sailing is around here we thought this would be the perfect time to start learning the sport! Austin found this sweet, little sailboat and we bought it for his Birthday (and every other holiday and birthday in the future... haha)! 

Austin, being the studious and thorough guy that he is, had already read several books and done extensive research on sailing. After we got the boat we only went out one time with an experienced sailor and since then we've been able to sail all by ourselves. We've had a few minor mishaps, but mostly it's been smooth sailing! haha. We are so addicted. We have gone out every chance we get. 

Getting the boat into the water

Taking down the sails after a long day of sailing

Ollie LOVES the boat! He even says "boat!" excitedly when we get ready to go out on the water.

Sailing with some friends (they took this picture)

Hanging out in the water 

Whitney Family Reunion

Visiting Lone Pine, California again was a dream come true! My Dad was raised in that tiny place and we visited every summer my whole childhood until my grandparents moved away in 2006... I think? Anyway, it had been a long time since I had been there and I was dying to show Austin this magical place that I talked so much about. 

We met up with tons of family members for the reunion. It was so great to see all my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins most of whom I hadn't seen in years. I wish I had taken more pictures of our group get togethers. We had several family dinners at the camping grounds we stayed at. We visited Whitney Portal, walked around the streets of Lone Pine, went out searching for Native American artifacts (Hannah, Dad, Chris and Austin found tons of arrow heads and even a few beads), hiked around the Alabama hills, etc. It was amazing!

But, the most incredible thing we did was hike Meysan Lake Trail for old times' sake. We used to hike Meysan when we were kids and we were all anxious to do it again. It is a 10 mile hike with an elevation gain of 3, 960 ft! The elevation at the lakes at the top is 11,660 ft.!!! We left early in the morning, got there in the afternoon, spent a few hours at the top fishing, cooking our fish and exploring and then we hiked back down to get back in time for a family dinner. It was so worth it!!! 

People thought we were nuts to bring Ollie with us (since he wasn't even a year old yet)...but he was a champ! He did so great and never complained. Oliver loves nature so much. It's amazing how much he would prefer to be on an all day hike then sitting at home. When we got to the top he even took a long nap! We were very impressed with our little mountain baby!

Austin, Chris and Dad fishing at Whitney Portal

Me and Dev!

My little Oliver

Hanging with Mimi

So proud to catch a fish!

Beautiful Hannah!

Whitney Portal- this place holds so many childhood memories!

The top of Mt. Meysan! It's a 10 mile trail with an elevation gain of 3,960 ft!

My handsome Dad!

Oliver snacking at the top- this kid is a trooper!

Fishing for dinner!

Our little family. Everyone thought we were crazy to hike this with Oliver but we were so happy we did it!

Hope watching Oliver take a nap at the top.

Beautiful lake full of delicious fish!

I have so many childhood memories here!

Chris fishing at the upper lake

Chris, Hope, Hannah and Dad at the upper lake

Austin fishing at the upper lake

I love my mountain man!

Dev and Chris!

Me, Oliver and Dev cooking up our fish!

Oliver and me

Climbing back down the steep slopes

I love these two!

Trip to Utah!

Being with the Boles family was SO MUCH FUN! We couldn't get enough of them. We packed the trip with hikes and swimming and BBQ's and water parks.... we seriously partied hard. It was a vacation we will never forget. We flew in on July 3rd and spent a week with them. Then we rented a car and drove to California for a Whitney Family Reunion for a few days. Then we drove back to Orem and spent a few more days (including Oliver's birthday) with the Boles again. It was a blast to say the least!

The entire family!!!! Our first successful family picture all together!

Grampy and Grammy with the grandkids

The Provo 4th of July Parade!

Shooting off our own fireworks in the Boles' neighborhood!

I can't get enough of this man. It's a good thing I married him! :)

Hiking Stewart Falls with the fam!

Our crazy family!

We have the best. kid. ever. He sleeps so well on our hikes!

BBQ with the gang! Carolyn and Ben Roden, Randy Hurd, Darrell Roundy and us! 

Grammy and Oliver

Auntie Jayli and Oliver

Karma Sue with Adelaide, Jayli with Joslynne, Mom, Me with Oliver, and Megz

Girls day out!

Oliver being silly at the mall

Family dinner

Ollie's 1st birthday party!!

Since Ollie loves Dr. Seuss books so much the party was a Dr. Seuss Theme.

Adelaide loved helping Oliver open (and play with) his presents! :)

The "special" cake for the kiddos!

Joslynne was hilarious! She loved digging in!

Yum!

Adelaide, Joslynne and Ollie needed a serious bath after being covered in cake and frosting!