Reese Soccer Camp & First Soccer Club

 Reese and her friend Kenzie Waite got to go to a BYU soccer camp together. They had a blast! Maybe next year they can do it again and sleep over on campus. I'm grateful for such a good friend for her. 

Reese is part of a soccer club team for the first time! They have been practicing together since the beginning of June and participated in their first tournament the end of July and won it in their age group/division! We were told by coach Kyle that she may not get much playing time to begin with but as she works hard and learns the skills necessary then she can get more playing time. But we were pleasantly surprised that she played at least half or more of the games. 

This club team is such a great team to be a part of. The coach (from what I've been told and observed) is a really, really excellent coach and she is getting great help from him. The girls on the team have been very nice and welcoming and encouraging so far. It's been almost a little too much but she's also enjoying it a lot. On her Rec team they would have one practice a week and then one game each Saturday for 6-7 weeks. But with club it's 3 practices a week and one game. So 4 times a week has been more to get used to with school and music and such but she's doing great. And it's so fun to cheer her and her team on at the games! Cade is absolutely loving it. 

The Young's in Town & All the Adventures!

 After driving back from our Ririe, Idaho trip we got back to the Young cousins! It was the 4th of July when we got back and so we got to do a BBQ and games and fireworks with them. I took the older 7 kiddos to the big firework show down the road while all the other adults and kids watched from the treehouse. 

Friday we went to Tibble Fork to paddle board along with the other hordes of people in Utah county. But it was still fun even though it is always packed. When Reese and Taft got on a paddle board, they didn't come back for a very long time :). 

In the evening we took the older 4 cousins to the temple to do baptisms for the dead while Grandma was working her evening shift. 

Monday we celebrated Cade's birthday in the evening by going to a pool and eating pizza. The morning though, he showed up at work with a Star Wars surprise and in the afternoon we brought treats for his team. 

Wednesday we celebrated Tess's birthday during the day and Grandpa's birthday in the evening. For Tess, we went to the Thanksgiving Point Farm. They had a train ride and horse rides and a really neat new park. The pigs were extremely smelly but the turkeys were huge and funny. The kiddos loved it. 

Just some cute pics of Benson and cousin Heath. They don't interact too much but kind of just play next to each other :). 

We rented tubes from Mort's Rentals and we up the canyon to float the Provo river. Grandma and Grandpa even floated it with us! It was SO much fun! 

The last morning we went on a hike up to the Timpanogos Caves. Grandpa and I did took the 7 oldest grandkids while Tara and Gma kept the younger 4 back at home. The hike was hard and long and fairly steep the whole time but the kids were troopers. The caves were longer and much cooler than I remembered. So much fun. But after the hike and eating at Pizza Pie Cafe it was time for them to pack up and leave. It's always hard to say goodbye. We had so much fun with them!

Ririe Ranch/Grand Teton Trip

 A slow-down, relaxing, let's get out of the country family trip...thats what this was and it was so great for our family! I randomly found this Airbnb when I was looking at where to stay for visiting Grand Teton National Park. It looked very old and run down--so why were there SO many 5 star reviews?? I read about how peaceful and serene and beautiful this place was and thought it would be a great change for our family. I was right. And I want to go back again. 

We stayed in this little cabin pictured below. We were in the door on the left and my parents were on the right. There are 2 other cabins that are on the property and are over 100 years old. This ranch has been a working ranch for over 100 years. We spent the first evening kayaking on the private pond, exploring the area and enjoying seeing the horses. 

The second day we left early in the morning to go to Grand Teton National Park. It was an almost 2 hour drive with the traffic but the drive was absolutely GORGEOUS. Totally worth the drive. We first went to Jenny Lake and walked around some. Grandma Bleak can't hike or walk for super long (neither can our littles) so we didn't hike around to the other side (7 miles) but the walk was so pretty walking along the lake. 

Then we drove to the other parking lot near String Lake and first had a picnic. I had to capture this first picture of Benson and Grandpa because it was the first time Benson would hold Grandpa's hand...I hope there will be more bonding to come!

That evening we went back for more canoeing, playing games and roasting marshmallows and singing around the campfire. Just so peaceful and fun. 

The last full day we started out with a guided horseback ride through their property. My mom and I went first with Lucy and Reese. Then when we got back Jane and Benson got to do a little ride around and finally Cade and Grandpa and Emma and Nora. It was so beautiful and worth the money. The kids loved it so much. 

The last evening we watched as Grace would release all 28 of the horses into the pastures to graze all night. It was magical and so neat. The last horse was a new one to the ranch and got behind and didn't know where to go. It finally saw the others across the lake and started swimming. We watched it swim and swim and struggle to get to the other side but finally made it. What a neat moment. Oh, and the sunsets there were incredible!! Okay, I can't say enough about how gorgeous everything was. It was like heaven. 

It was so much fun to have my parents come with us. Our kids don't get to be around Grandma Bleak too often when she is not stressed about planning or cleaning so this was a real treat. There was nothing to plan and nothing to stress about for both she and I. That is very rare for any types of trips. I would like to go back but since we love to see new places I'm not sure it will happen or not. Great memories though!!