Walker Road Trail

We went on a walk in the Jedediah Smith forest, A.K.A. Dixie's favorite redwood stand. Of all the redwood forests we saw, this was by far the very, very best!

All of the Jamison boys and their families except for Todd

Ava, Drew, Lander and Jayden

Dayna, Dixie, Shelly, Jenny

Our family

It was time for a new batch of family pictures. 

I have to say that this is my very favorite of all of them!

Willow Creek Camping & Preston, Idaho

The summer almost escaped before we were able to go on our annual campout with Jarrod and Shelly's family. We chose Willow Creek Campground near Preston, Idaho because it was a good central location.

We drove through the mountains forever to reach this tree. It is called the Pony Express Tree. Pony Express riders used the hole inside to stash mail. Later, after the Pony Express was disbanded, bandits used it to hide loot!

Yes, we looked inside.

And, no, there was no loot. 

Drat!

We climbed and played on a rocky ledge above the Pony Express Tree. 

You can see the dead tree below.

Lander, Jayden and Drew hug. 

Cousins are the best!  

 Jake, Lander, Jayden and Drew

 We went on several little hikes around our camp site. There were even several geocaches nearby!

 Ava, Drew, Jake, Jayden, Lander

 Jake and the Pony Express Tree

Island Park Family Reunion

We have a saying on our refrigerator:

What lasts?

Ice cream melts,

flowers wilt,

the leaves of autumn fall.

Summers fade,

seasons change,

and children don't stay small.

Balloons pop,

snowfalls stop--do summer's last?

Never!

Weekends fly,

today will die,

but...FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

the entire Farnsworth family poses for a picture in the meadow by our rented cabin

This was the theme for our family reunion that our family hosted in Island Park, Idaho. It was an amazing experience with lots of good memories. So many memories, in fact, that it required a separate scrapbook.

New Years at Badger Creek

The Anderson family invited us for a fun sledding adventure at Badger Creek near Tetonia. Badger Creek holds a special place in our hearts. It started what we endearingly call the "make it or break it" weekend while Josh and I were dating.

Dixie had invited Josh on an overnight trip to Ricks College's Badger Creek Outdoor Center sponsored by the ROTC class that she was taking. She invited Josh, who she had been dating for 2 or 3 weeks. (Crazy, I know). We went and on the second morning arranged to have Gramps pick up us so that we could visit Josh's grandparents, who Dixie had met once before.

While we were visiting the grandparents, a brutal blizzard struck up. We were stranded.

For FIVE days.

That's five days of no makeup,

no deodorant,

no clean underwear,

no glasses

During those five days, Dixie lost a contact lens, had to borrow Grams' deoderant, went commando so that she could have clean underwear and even slept in clothes provided by Grams. We ran out of eggs.

Good times.

Apparently, it was a "make it weekend".

So, it was with these memories that we headed back to Badger Creek with the kiddos (and their friend Keaton L) for some New Years fun.

Butchart Gardens

Lander, Dixie and Jake at entrance 

One of Dixie's "Must See" items was visiting Butchart Gardens. The epic storm took a gracious pause and we had sun, glorious sun!

Butchart Gardens were built between 1904 and 1929 by the Butchart family near their home. Parts of the garden fill in the old limestone quarry that they used for their concrete business.

("Smile Jake. I mean it. I want good pictures.")

Acres and acres - 55 to be precise - of gardening and gorgeous plants. Dixie was in heaven. The boys? Not so much. After all of our other adventures, this one was shall I say, "less appealing" to the youngsters. It took a bit of reminding that everything doesn't always revolve around them.

Lander, overlooking the "Sunken Garden" that fills in the old limestone quarry.

Shocking, I know.

It was a little hard to take. 

For the kids, too.

But, eventually we had smiles and everyone got into the gardening groove.

It helped when we stumbled upon this little gem. Jake is currently in a "Japanese" phase so he was excited to find out that they have a Japanese Garden and suddenly the adults couldn't keep up with the kids.

Jake, Lander and Josh at entrance to Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden was very beautiful, and lots of fun. The boys especially liked all of the paths, hidden nooks and colorful bridges.

The gardens border a beautiful little cove. Pictures can't even begin to do it justice.

Birthday Zipper in Sooke, BC

Jake crossing a suspension bridge

We celebrated Jake's birthday in Sooke, British Columbia with a ziplining adventure complete with a special helmet for the birthday boy. It was a fun experience that earned a two thumbs up from the boys.

Jake and Lander, getting ready to cross suspension bridge

The boys loved it and didn't need much encouragement to get silly with their rides.

  Our family survived! And the rain stopped while we played.

Not that we were worried. Well, we might have been a bit worried about the rain part.

Olympia, Washington

Dan and Emily were wonderful hosts. We took a Sunday drive/walk down by the old brewery despite continued rain.