Think summer

Thought I would change the hot topic of this cold tundra in Minnesota and take you back to the warm days of summer.

One of our FAVORITE things to do is camp. When the kids were little (and all still at home) we camped every summer....first in a tent and then we graduated

to a pop-up camper. We loved our camper and during those trips many dear memories were made.

Camping forced us to just be...

Together

Below...pickin' wildflowers for mommy

Camping meant....Campfires & Smores
Sometimes we camped with family...

In the picture above,we went to Interstate Park with Rick Brother and family, Our kids grew up together and always got along so well. Just look at those 6...Now one is married and about to have a baby of her own, two are about to be married, two in college, and the two youngest are in highschool, WOW, where did those years go?

Gavin went through a stage where he LOVED beavers. On one of our hikes he found this tree that had been cut down by beavers so He bent down by it and tried looking like a beaver...i guess.

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sometimes we camped with friends....

The Dietzmans

Kirk and Rick....
I'm guessing they just set up the campers and are taking a break,
Or....maybe they're just taking a break

The Hemmer and Dietzman kids playing volleyball and
Brice serenading Cheri at the campfire.
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Camping with just Rick and the kids was fun but at times exasperating. I loved the closeness we had, especially around the campfire and at night right before we fell asleep....those kids were wild, lots of giggles and goofing around. Rick and I couldnt help but just lay there with BIG OLE grins on our faces, loving every minute of it.
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I also loved camping with other families, We had great talks, explored together, played together and learned from each other. (It was also nice that our kids had each other to hangout with) Cheri taught me how to be "organized" (no surpise there). She also taught me how to prepare ahead of time and make things to bring along. One of my favorite is Tortilla rollups (thanks Cheri).
Brad (Rick's brother) and Julie let us come into their air conditioned camper to eat supper one day when it was about 100 degrees outside, thanks guys!
Nights around the campfire were especially fun, we had lots of laughs and stories to tell.
The pictures above tell a thousand stories in my mind. I'm thankful for those "family & friend times" and look forward to more of the same in years to come. Maybe someday we'll pull off another camping trip....anyone want to plan it?