Feline Funeral

Today we mourn the passing of our dear cat, Sophie.  She was ill and uncomfortable and it wasn't something the vet could fix, so we laid her to rest at the farm.  Kirk took care of the dirty work and the girls and I showed up just in time to put her in the ground.  The girls decorated a box for her and we lowered her into a hole in the pasture.  Each girl said what they loved about her and then threw flowers followed by a few shovel fulls of dirt.
It was so interesting to see that each girl had a different reaction to her departure.  It really varied by personality and age...
Hannah - Tears, fond memories, sadness.
Paige - I will miss her, now let's move on.
Maren - Can I help put her to sleep?  How will you do that?  What happens when we put dirt over the box?  Let's fill up the hole.  Won't throwing dirt on her box be uncomfortable for her?  Let's plant a tree here. 
Izzy - Goodbye Sophie, I liked to hold you.  And I know you liked me too.

Cousins

My sister has beautiful kids.  Here are two of them.  We were able to spend a few days with them while in Utah.  It was so much fun!  Thanks for coming down to play with us Karie!

Beautiful

After Paige had her ears pierced, Hannah decided she was brave enough to get hers done as well.  When we were visiting Utah, we stopped by the mall and now Hannah is an official member of the earring club too. She purchased several cute pair of earrings and can't wait until her ears are healed enough to start wearing a different pair every day.

Horse Camp

Grandma Johnson's neighbor graciously puts on a horse camp for my girls and cousin Natalie every summer.  Mornings are for the horses - including grooming, saddling, riding.  And afternoons are for crafts and swimming.  Isn't that every girls dream for summer vacation?

 Hannah and Natalie in the arena.

 Paige and Rufus are quite well acquainted after three summers together.

On the last day of camp, Maren chose to drive the buggy instead of ride.

And for those of you wondering, NO we are not getting a horse.  One week of horse camp and horses on all sides of our new property is just going to have to be enough.

Fourth of July

We spent a rare 4th of July here at home.  Too much water (no rafting this year) and not enough wind (no kite boarding) kept us from our usual activities.  Instead Keith and Jenny (with their two adorable boys) visited us from Southern Idaho.  It was such a nice visit and we were able to enjoy all of the fun things about summer in Sandpoint.  Kirk and Keith spent some time figuring out the catamaran.

Izzy and Neil enjoyed ice cream and rope swings.

Although he little kids couldn't postpone bedtime till dark, we did get some fun fireworks going.  Neil gets the prize for being the most excited.

Sparklers were a hit.

In my opinion, the best part about the 4th in Sandpoint is the fireworks over the lake.  The second best part is our small town parade.  For some reason, they don't let the parade participants throw candy, so Kirk purchased a few bags of his own and had a great time throwing it out to the street for the kids to pick up.