Noisy Games & Joyful Tears: Thank you, Lord, for sending me to one of your best families...

My sister, Rhonda, wrote a song called, "Down the Lane" when my Grandma Ruth died. The title to this post is one of the lines from that sweet song. I am so thankful for families, and I indeed thank the Lord for sending me to one of His best families. I pray every day that I will bring my own children up in the way of the Lord, and be one of His "best families."

We visited the Hatch Family in Colorado last week. We didn't get to see Brandon or Tiani this year, which was a bummer, but we enjoyed visiting everyone else. Some exciting news... Brandon is MARRIED! Whoa! They have quite a history together. Her name is Amber and her son is River and she sounds lovely and perfect for Brandon. I can't wait to meet her.

The kids had so much fun with their grandparents and cousins. My dad took Porter and Taysa to pick up some hay one morning and stopped at the store to let them pick out a treat. Taysa, like a normal little girl, picked out some candy, while Porter (my little old man), picked out an apple. After eating the apple, another tooth fell out! Luckily, the tooth fairy still found us at Papa's house.

Here are Noah and Jared goofin' off.

Dad, Brock, Jared, Jason & Liz took all the kids fishing who wanted to go. Porter and Logan loved it. Jessie... well... I don't really know because I wasn't there, but she looked a little disgusted in all the pictures that actually show her face.

They found a garter snake. After lunch, Jared and Brock took the big kids on a hike.

Meanwhile, my parents, Elizabeth, Larissa, and Aaron (her soon-to-be-missionary boyfriend) stayed down by the creek with the little kids. Noah just had to get in that creek and let me tell you it was COLD. I don't know why throwing rocks into a creek and walking barefoot in a creek is so much fun, but it just is. I love it! And it's good to do those simple things that don't make any sense yet somehow make your heart happy.

Summer isn't complete until we visit my Mom and Dad's house and the kids get to ride horses and chase chickens. We just love it there! I rode Savannah the next night, but we didn't take any pictures. And the best part is nobody broke any bones this year!

I love this picture. Savannah and Tyoga (the horses) are half brother and sister. I watched both of them as they were born. I trained Savannah and was the first person to ride her. My parents recently got Ty back from the Conger's and it warms my heart to see these two together again. I love the fact that my children are making memories with the same horses that I share fond childhood memories with.