A Beautiful Summer

This summer has, thankfully, been filled with lots of fun times.  We got a chance to host my brother's oldest son for a week and we made the best of it.  We took him camping with us for the weekend.  What a great kid--we LOVE him!!

(Jacob)

Here's the infamous sand castle in the sand box in our backyard......the boys always do this when he comes to visit.  Can you believe THIS?  They amaze me just a little. ;0)  

Camping

Then last week we went to our favorite campground in the Black Hills and stayed for 5 days....thanks to our sweet friends.  It was a beautiful weekend with a day at a nearby lake....

some campfire fun with some of our best buddies.....

and a hike on a trail....always my favorite.....

This time we brought along my other brother's little boy, Jace.  Eat'n his PB&J...always eating.

And then my husband spotted something (big hunter guy) that we always wonder about but never think we'll see....... just a little bit freaky.  These big cats are soo numerous in our hills now that there is a hunting season for them.  They have been found in quiet little neighborhoods.  Made us surely think twice about letting our kids play out of sight.  A first time for all of us--viewing one in the wild--YES, it's a mountain lion!!!  And he was watching us.  Yikes!

After the shock wore off we did some wild-rasberry-pick'n.

 Our hills are such a great place to live...there are soo many beautiful places like this.....

Taking some time to kiss an owie......

Finding horses that were longing to be petted.......

Just a fantastic way to end the week.  
Our last camping trip of the summer. 
I can't wait to do it all again next year with another little one tagging along! 
Blessings are everywhere!