Green Thumb

I kill every plant within 5 feet of me. Inside plants, outside plants. I just don't have a green thumb and I don't enjoy taking care of plants. It's kind of weird because having a green thumb runs in my family. My aunt had the most beautiful gardens I had ever seen. I remember as a little girl standing in her garden surrounded by the most fragrant smells and gorgeous flowers. She was so talented. My mom is also a very talented gardener. Every house she has ever lived in had beautiful flower beds.

When I moved into our home 3 years ago, I told myself that I was going to really try and have a flower bed. Two summers went by and I just couldn't find the time to work out in the yard. A once established flower bed turned very quickly into weeds.


This year I had more time. The kids and I play out in the yard and I water and pull weeds. I'm amazed because my flower bed doesn't look like a weed bed. I have really nice roses and daisies and other varieties that I can't name. I'm darn proud of myself. I have a flower bed. Here it is.

Time in the Big Horns

Here are some moments from our wonderful day in the Big Horns. We found a nice little spot next to a river, started a fire, and ate hot dogs and marshmallows all day. We were so lucky to have Grandma Cook and Grandma Brotherton with us. Boy did they love sitting by the fire and holding Eli and Adaline.


The Dahl boys did some fishing and everyone enjoyed taking short walks along the river. The day was perfect and we all spent some quality time together. My only complaint was little Adaline. She slept the day away snuggled in grandma's arms. Who can blame her? I just wanted to see those beautiful eyes.

Thank goodness for Ron, our fire starter and wood gatherer

Here are "the boys" hanging out. Look at that weinie roasting stick!

There was some serious fishing

to be done. Here is Owen. He is quite a little fisherman.

Gabe's face is priceless in this picture. Fishing is a serious job!

Babies in the mountains

Almost 6 years ago when I was pregnant with Gabriel, Bryan and I went camping. I told Bryan that I wasn't going to let being pregnant stop me from doing all the things I enjoy. I didn't think that it would be a big deal to be 7 months pregnant and go camping for 3 days....BOY was I wrong. About an hour after being at the campsite I quickly realized that there wasn't anywhere that I could get comfortable. Then, I had to go to the bathroom. I wasn't able to squat and balance with a 5 lb. baby inside my belly. My good friend Amy came to my rescue but after that I promised myself, no more camping for awhile! Things were going to change and I had to accept that.

Here we are 6 years later and Bryan and I still haven't gone camping. We have thought about it and came to our senses rather quickly. Things are certainly different then they used to be but we have adjusted and do our best to continue to enjoy the mountains.

The Dahls, Cooks, and Grandma B decided to go up to the mountian for the afternoon. This little trip was perfect for a newborn, 7 month old baby, and 3 other children. This is as far as we get to camping these days.

Here are some precious moments of the babies enjoying the beautiful mountain air.

Eli enjoying the fire with some graham crackers

Diaper change time in the wild!

Two buddies

Adaline slept most of the day but we all got to cuddle with her

6 kids and a pool

Hot summer day, six children, and a fun filled afternoon.

My dear friend Regan called and was helping Amy move into her new house. This is almost impossible to do with 3 kiddos "helping" so, she brought her three adorable children to my house for an afternoon filled with water, popsicles, and fun.

I filled the pool with water thinking that it would occupy the kids for a short time. Boy, was I mistaken. Those kids played in the water for hours. They sprayed each other, made up some very creative songs, and just had some wet summer fun.

I have to say that Regan's kids are the easiest kids in the world to watch. Gabe and Owen had so much fun playing that I didn't hear, "Mom, I'm bored". It was a wonderful afternoon for everyone.

Fountain

One of the coolest parts of this summer has been spending time with Megan, Amaya, and Adaline. It's been so fun to be able to take the kids places together. I cherish all the moments that we spend together. Even those moments that Gabe and Amaya are fighting about something. I love that they are so close to each other.

One morning we walked to Whitney Park and let the kids run in the fountains while Megan and I held the babies. Gabriel loved getting wet and running through the water. Amaya and Owen preferred to stay dry.

We had a wonderful morning!!

River Otters

The River Otters

If you asked me what the best part of trout lake was. I would tell you the river otters. On our way back we walked around the lake and were able to see them playing on a small island by the shore. They were the cutest little guys chasing each other and diving in and out of the water. It was an amazing thing to see! By the way, if you asked Gabe and Owen what their favorite part of the lake was they would tell you.....the fishing.

Heading Home after an amazing day

Big Trout

Finally, Gabe is fishing!

The trout were spawning at the lake. They had half of the lake closed so that you could watch the fish going up the river. I have never seen this before and it was really cool to see all those big trout in one place. The boys loved it. Here they are watching the trout.

Trout Lake

Trout Lake

Here are the boys arriving at the lake, ready to fish. The views were spectacular.

Eli did so well on his first hiking adventure. He had a love/hate relationship with his backpack. When you first put him in, he would scream and cry. But after you started moving around he loved to be way up high where he could see everything. He even took his afternoon nap in the backpack.

Can we fish already?

"Dad, when are we going to go fishing"? "Dad, when are we going to get to Trout Lake?" The lake we had been promising Gabe we would take him to for fishing. And the famous, "are we there yet"? Gabe was being very patient while we viewed Old Faithful, the boiling mud pots, and Mammoth Hot Springs but for pete's sake, when are we going to fish? His patience was getting thin.

Bryan had promised that we would take Gabriel fishing at Trout lake. This little lake is in the park and we heard it was good fishing. We finally made it and as we were getting ready for the hike up to the lake several people stopped us and told us that we would never make it with our 3 kiddos. It was just to hard of a hike for little people. So, we stopped getting ready and made a family decision. We decided, we are the Dahls and we will make it up to trout lake with all three kids. We promised Gabe and Owen that we would fish there and we would do it. The only hard part was that we decided we would wait until the next morning. It almost killed Gabe but we bribed him with the prospect of a campfire and more marshmallows.

Gabe and Owen were up bright and early the next morning ready for an adventure at Trout Lake. We had our pep talk and all our supplies. There would be absolutely no whining no matter how hard the trail was. The boys were ready.

To our surprise, it was a beautiful hike and when we arrived at the lake Bryan and I looked at each other and laughed! Hard? Wouldn't make it? Our boys ran up the trail and didn't even lose their breath. We were wondering what lake these people were referring to when they stopped us the day before.

Trout lake was amazing and I'm so glad we didn't let anyone scare us away. We had an amazing morning as you will see.

Marshmallows

The absolute best part of camping is the campfire. Every kid loves to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories by the fire. The boys had so much fun we could have stayed awake all night enjoying the night air. These pictures speak a thousand words.

Animals of Yellowstone

What a beautiful spot for a picnic lunch. A couple of miles into the park we spotted this beautiful little picnic spot. We got the little stove out and grilled some really yummy hot dogs by the river. Gabe just couldn't understand what we were doing next to a river and not fishing in it. He could hardly stand it. I don't think we ever really convinced him that this wasn't a good fishing spot. After lunch we headed back into the car to explore the park. And, look what we found!

We came across this Grizzly bear enjoying a summer afternoon with all the tourists. We were very excited to see him! I have never seen a Grizzly bear in the wild before. Here are a few snapshots.

The rest of the day we spent enjoying the park and looking at all the wildlife. Time was slipping away from us and we decided we better get to our little cabin. We rented a cabin in Silver City, Montana. Silver Gate is a couple of miles from the North West entrance of the park. It was a perfect place for our little family and the boys loved it.

We got back to the cabin about 7:00 p.m. As we checked into the cabin they told us to be careful of the "frisky" buffalo that likes to hang out close by. As we pulled up to our cabin sure enough there was the "frisky" buffalo waiting to greet us. I remember thinking....those hot dogs at lunch weren't enough for this nursing mama...I'm starving. I was excited to get dinner ready. Of course, just as we were ready to bring in all our supplies that "frisky" buffalo stood between our cabin and our car. Have you ever seen a starving, nursing mother who can't get to her food? I can tell you that Bryan has and it isn't pretty.

Anyway, we only had to wait a half an hour or so before our visitor left and we could retrieve our food. Thank goodness because I wouldn't have made it much longer. Here is a picture of that "frisky" buffalo.