OUR LIL' DAREDEVIL

Ellie was quite a daredevil on this Lake Powell trip. She would go down the house boat slide, which had a four foot drop at the end. Ellie would get out and instantly want to do it all over again. Then she would dive off the back of the house boat, this worked out better without the lifejacket. I wish we had video of Papa catching her, because he almost had a heart attack when she dove in. Ellie would pop up with a big smile everytime.

LAKE POWELL

Our little "lake girl" - Nice mug!

Trent, Joel, and I on the Jet Ski.

Yes, Joel shaved the top of his head and grew a mustache to make him look like an old man or Dr. Phil - Yikes!

El and I both love Lake Powell and boat rides for sure.

Ellie loved feeding the fish, so I decided to catch one for her. Ellie would only look at this fish from afar, she wouldn't dare get too close. Unfortunately shortly after this photo, the fish broke the line and swam off, with the hook still in its mouth - poor thing!

What a cute pair!!! Well, except the one on the left. Ha!

Ellie would fall asleep on the boat almost every ride. This was surprising, because there was a speaker next to her head blaring music. From time to time we would hit some big waves, she wouldn't even flinch. Too much fun can wipe a girl out.

Ellie is always game for swimming around. She constantly wanted to be in the water.

At first, Ellie was scared of the Jet Ski, but once we got going she was happy. I think she just likes the wind blowing in her face.

Levi, Trent, and Ellie climbing the red rock.

Pete and Officer Joel.

Walking on water. Joel and I are very grateful to have super-human powers.

A couple of good looking guys!

El splashing her feet off the back of the house boat.

Surprisingly this time around, Ellie enjoyed tubing much more. While tubing, she would laugh, sing, and bounce her head back and forth. It was too cute.

Relaxing in the sun!

splash, splash, splash!

More swimming...

Ellie helping papa drive the house boat.

KARAOKE!!!

For family game night we all got together and enjoyed each others company and had a little fun with the karaoke machine. Ellie would try singing the songs, but usually just ended up making out with the microphone. I think she just liked hearing the sound of her voice. Not to mention, she showed us a few of her moves too, it as adorable.

FOURTH OF JULY

For the 4th we decided to go to the Idaho Falls parade. Ellie had so much fun. This fiddle float was her favorite. She was dancing like crazy to the music, it was so cute. She also loved all the horses and dogs in the parade and would desperately try to get to them.

Enjoying a yummy sucker that she got at the parade. She was a sticky mess!

We watched the fireworks over the Idaho Falls Temple. It was beautiful. Wish our firework pictures turned out better. We thought Ellie would be terrified of the loud noises of the fireworks, but she had a blast. Im sure it had something to do that we were outside and she got to run free. :)

HENDRICKS REUNION

Hiking upper Palisades (Joel & Whit)

Justin and Valerie

We saw moose on the hike, which made the 8 hour 10 mile hike worth it. They swam across this whole lake. It was awesome!

Taking a break on the trail

Ellie chowing down on a hot-dog, Yum!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks

Carter

Justin, McKell, Sammie, Jared

Jared, Sammie Jack, Ryan (cooking on a stick)

Carter and Ellie

Ethan, Jay, Isaac

Ellie bowling all by herself.

Deedra, Joel, Jay and Ellie

Every year the "Hendricks" family gets together and spends a weekend doing all sorts of fun things for our reunion. Since its usually in Idaho, Ellie and I flew back to meet up with everyone. Plus we missed Joel way too much. Ellie has become quite a treat on planes and cant sit still for a second (well at least on my lap that is). For those of you who know Ellie know how extremely friendly she is a will usually go to just about anyone (a lil scary I know). Well the people around us were more than happy to take her up on her request to sit with them, I mean honestly how could you resist? It was so funny to see her go from one lap to another. Apparently whatever they were doing looked a lot more interesting than what I was doing. In return it made the flight very enjoyable for me. Thanks again to all those nice strangers. Anyways, the reunion was quite a hit. Its something we look forward to every year and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family to spend time with. We love you all so much! We went bowling, had BBQ's, did a service project for Great Grandma and Grandpa Hendricks (tuned up their yard and cut firewood), went hiking, shooting, went out to dinner and had our very own drive in move in Jared and Brandes backyard. Thanks for all the fun!