Waterton International Peace Park - Alberta, Canada

This is my attempt to share some of our trip to Waterton in July. Quite literally this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the pictures. Between all five families there were over 2500 pictures taken. Anyway, here's a taste.

Cameron Falls

Red Rock Canyon
The Red Rock Crawl, as it's called at my families reunion, is a tried a true tradition. I love it! I must explain that the water in this part of the world is glacier fed and REALLY cold. But we Johansens love it anyway. Crawling up this canyon, and through and around the river that made it, is an adventure for even the bravest souls. The goal is to stay dry as long as possible. However, the canyon continues to deepen the further up you go. There are natural water slides that drop you into deep pools of freezing water - but it's great anyway.

At the starting point of the canyon. Adam is in the orange hat holding Andrew's hand and carrying Samuel.

This picture is from a bridge overhead. It was right about here that Joshua and Jacob decided they were done. They didn't get the memo about staying dry and were almost blue.

My nephew Spencer braving one of the water slides.

Bear's Hump
This is the view from one of the many hikes that are available. The town below is Waterton and you can see the whole thing from up there.

The view on a sunny day

Uncle Ben and Aunt Alicia took this crew up Bear's Hump. It was the first break in the rain for 2 days and everyone was itching for some activity.

Wagon is the preferred mode of transportation. My sister brought her wagon and PopPop bought a wagon which he assembled when we got there. One of the highlights for a few of the grandkids (Samuel and Camille) was helping Pop put it together.

My family (Jennie's) - We were a small portion of the 247 Johansen cousins present at the reunion.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House - July 3

We decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to attend a temple open house. Natalie and Megan joined our family and Catherine was very brave and brought Lucy and Jack along. I believe that's where the name "Andrucy" was born and we had to keep calling Andrew and Lucy back into line. Fortunatley, it was a very crowded day and we didn't have to worry about spoiling the reverence for anyone.

Joshua lost a tooth - hence the tissue.

We had a long wait.

Summer Fun

There is absolutely no way I can totally catch up on all the summer stuff. Instead of curling up somewhere and ignoring it completely I'll do what I can.

This at Salem Park (I have no idea what it's really called). Anyway, can't you just hear Andrew, Jack and Samuel saying, "Don't worry, I won't get wet."

Monkeys!

On Grandpa's swing after a fun water fight - I think this was base.

The brave and mighty Sir Jack has slayed the monstrous Jacob.

Andrew and Lucy

This was at one of the lakes up Payson Canyon. The children are running as fast as they can out of the water because it was REALLY cold. In reality, they all did submerge themselves in order to maintain Polar Plunge status.

Grandpa's hot tub

Playing Catch Up

So, the results of the Pinewood Derby - fun!! Joshua placed 2nd in Cub Scout division and everyone else had a great time. These people are serious about their derby.

Pinewood Derby

For a ward activity our ward is doing a pinewood derby. Everyone who wants to, can make a car and enter it. We made 4 vehicles this year and everyone has high hopes. We've had lots of fun and I'll post more pictures this Saturday after the derby.

Jacob and Samuel

Andrew and Joshua

A 1/2 Birthday Celebration

Happy 1/2 birthday to Andrew. Because Andrew's birthday is so close to Christmas we chose to celebrate with presents, etc. in June. He had a fabulous day. Complete with a party, presents and a treat from the ice cream truck.

Birthday breakfast of Lucky Charms.

So, we did what I call a Smart Mom's (or Lazy Mom's) birthday party. We invited everyone to the lake and let everyone play. I didn't plan a single game or have to worry about anyone being entertained. I brought some snacks to serve along with the cupcakes and the whole thing couldn't have been better. We had 9 children at the party with no mess at my house and everyone had a great time.
A cupcake birthday cake. We decided that since the party was at the beach cupcakes would be the easiest. It's not the best decorating job, but I invented a new frosting that tastes great and is easy to decorate with. It will make things a little easier in the future.

Jordan Taylor

Andrew and Trevor Jones

Logan Schulz

Adam and Samuel using teamwork to contribute to the massive construction project happening up on shore. It was a beautiful day for a party.

Paul Revere

Meet Paul Revere (aka, Joshua). He had a "biography" to do about Paul Revere and as the presentation he had to do a speech and pretend to be Paul. Costumes were required and we felt pretty good about this effort (not a stitch of sewing involved - thanks Jody and Grandma). Andrew and Samuel loved practicing with Joshua. Andrew has even memorized some of Joshua's speech. We have the speech of video, but it's too big to post. Joshua did a great job and felt great about his performance.