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PETER AND MADELINE JULY 1, 2019   The weeds grow way too fast in the summer and so we encourage the kids to help out by pulling weeds. Peter helped do some of the weeds in the front yard. Madeline liked sitting next to him on the grass. When he needed a break, he would swing her around and around. She just loved that. BIKING WITH DIONNE JULY 1, 2019    Even though our XTERRA race is over, Dionne and I still love riding our mountain bikes together. We live in such a great place for some awesome mountain biking. PETER COACHING JULY 2, 2019   After summer swim practice one day Peter stayed after to help Ramon coach a private lesson. Peter loves to be helpful and it was fun to watch him in a leader role. ABBY SWIMMING JULY 2, 2019  Abby spent most of the summer swimming with the Rapids. She loved being able to swim outside and to spend time working out. EMMA PASSES HER MATH EXAM JULY 3, 2019  Emma spent most of her summer studying math while she worked hard to complete both semesters of 8th grade math so that she could advance to Algebra 1. She did the first semester in 3 weeks and passed her exam. She was so excited. STRANGER THINGS JULY 4, 2019  We all spent many nights watching the Stranger Things Season 3 episodes. It was so fun to watch them together and predict the possible season finale ideas. MIKE’S BIRTHDAY JULY 5, 2019  We took Mike to Flying Horse to eat dinner on his birthday. I found the most perfect Stranger Things birthday card. He thought that was hilarious. He got President Nelson’s book from my parents and I made a card for him with a fun hiking and biking adventure that I booked for us for the fall. He was so surprised and excited. It is hard to keep things secret from him but I think I actually surprised him this year.
PETER DRIVES TO UTAH JULY 7, 2019  Since Peter still needed to get in his hours for driving, he spent some of our drive to Utah getting some driving in. It was hugely helpful for me to have another driver for some of the 9-hour drive. MIKE AND ANDREW SHOOTING JULY 8, 2019    While the kids and I were in Utah, Mike and Andrew went out one beautiful evening to go shooting. They had such a blast. BIKING WITH WED GROUP JULY 17, 2019  Dionne and I decided to join the Wednesday bike group. Some of our running friends from Striders bike on Wednesdays. They were really skilled and fast. It was all I could do to keep up with the tail end of the pack. Tim stayed behind and I ended up joining him and Dionne at the top of the chutes. On our way up high drive we saw Katie hiking with her dog. It was a fun reunion. PETER’S NEW RUNNING SHORTS JULY 17, 2019  I finally convinced Peter to wear real running shorts. He was actually excited by his pair of American flag and his Colorado flag shorts. Now that he is heading into the varsity level he definitely needs to look the part. GIFT BASKET FROM MY PARENTS JULY 20, 2019  My parents were really sweet to send a fruit basket to me after my surgery. It totally brightened my day. ANDREW’S NEW COMPUTER SET UP JULY 20, 2019  Andrew’s new monitor finally came to complete his college computer set-up. He was so incredibly excited by his new laptop, monitor and fun keyboard. He is one lucky kid. What a fun birthday present that was. ABBY GETTING A SHOT JULY 29, 2019  Abby was so nervous to get her 11-year-old shots. She almost didn’t go through with it, but we somehow were able to calm her down and she put on a brave face and did it.
Every day we count our lucky stars that we have Madeline in our family. She is the cutest, silliest, happiest, and most fun little 2-year-old. She is always happy and so much fun to be around. This month she continued to shine with her radiant smile and curiosity. She constantly asks for bubble baths and at the end of a long summer day she is ready to play in the bath. She loves playing with her toys and rocking on her rocking horse. She loves to eat all kinds of foods but really took an interested in watermelon on those warm summer days. On one occasion she was eating a lollipop and then grabbed some bell peppers that I was cutting up. It was so funny to see the sweet in one hand and the healthy in the other. This month she got to visit both the doctor and eye doctor for checkups. She was insistent on bringing her doctor kit with her. While we were waiting in the room, she took the time to give Abby a checkup. It was the cutest thing ever. Her playful imagination never gets old. We just love our little Madeline.            
 
Trek was a good experience with a lot of spiritual as well as fun experiences. The Clawson’s were our MA and PA. They were extremely nice and Sister Clawson acted like a mother to all of us giving her the nickname mama bear. Trek wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but I later learned that Dallin and I did most of the work. After a long day of trekking we had fun at camp where my friends and I would either play frisbee or go jump into the river and lakes. There were a lot of spiritual experiences that truly tore at my soul. I thought that when the girls did the women’s pull it would be a nice time to sit back and relax, but when they were pulling, I felt a great injustice that needed to be corrected within me, and this gave me a greater understanding of the Plan of Salvation and the Family a Proclamation to the World.                           My mom and I planned a surprise baby shower for Ruby. We bought cute plates and table décor ahead of time and even had cute cupcakes and other treats that we brought with us. Ruby was so excited and surprised. She got some really cute things for baby Cali. It was so fun to be able to do this for her as her family.  
             After getting back from the lake we spent some time relaxing at the house before heading out again but this time to go horseback riding. Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz watched Madeline so Mike and I could take the big kids to go on a horseback riding adventure. John, Amy and Kyle came with us too. Abby was really nervous, so they spent a few minutes with her on her horse before everyone else got on their horse. Everyone aged 16 and under had to wear helmets. Peter wasn't that thrilled with wearing a helmet, but he did it anyways. The ride was through the most beautiful scenery. We rode through grassy meadows and then up through aspen trees and other dense tree areas. We even got to do a water crossing. It seemed like we were heading up for quite a while before reaching a plateau. We loved riding at the top of the plateau and some of us got excited with our horses and tried to pass each other. Some of the horses got really snippy with the horses in front of them. We all had to try and keep a decent distance between our horses. All in all, everyone had a great time riding horses through the wilderness and no one fell off or got hurt. We all rewarded ourselves with shakes afterwards. Some of us got the famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes and others opted for some sort of candy bar shake. You really couldn’t go wrong because they all tasted delicious!                        
       Bear Lake is a lot bigger than I had expected. We were so excited to spend the morning playing at the lake. We headed over first with our kids and got the sunshade set up, so we had a cool place to sit while the kids played in the water. We brought the three kayaks that were sitting in the garage of the big house and the kids all took turns going out exploring in them. Mike headed over with Peter and rented a jet ski and each of the kids took turns going for a ride. It was hilarious watching the girls bob up and down as Mike did donuts in the water. I wasn’t sure if they would love it or freak out. They love it and asked to go again and again. I must admit that I was a little freaked out when we got going above 40 miles/hour but boy was it a rush. Eventually everyone else from the house showed up at the lake for some fun. Everyone took turns on the kayaks but only our kids ended up wanting to go on the jet ski.                       It has been almost 6 years since the entire Kelsch/Wilhelm clan has gotten together. We spent a glorious 4 days together in Bear Lake at the coolest and most interesting house for my parent's 50th Anniversary. We called it the Big House. With three levels, 9 bedrooms, a theatre room, an indoor gym equipped with a trampoline, play set and half basketball court, an area on level 2 devoted solely to video gaming, and slides connecting each level inside the house and outside the house, it was a kids dream house. We spent most of our time in the house just chilling and letting the kids roam and do whatever they wanted. Each one of adult couples took turns fixing dinner. We played games, watched movies, took naps, and explore the sites in and around Bear Lake. It was great catching up with everyone's families and bonding like old times. I sure hope it's not another 6 years before we do this again.                    
  
  
 
   We had family photos taken during our Kelsch/Wilhelm Family Reunion. I found and hired a photographer to do a big family photo shoot with the entire clan. We first went to a grassy meadow backdrop but that didn’t last long because Brandon kind of freaked out. We got a few big group shots and then some smaller family shots before heading over to the lake. The little kids seemed to do much better by the lake. Madeline did have a small melt down moment but in the end, we were able to get some good family photos of the big group and some with our smaller family. It was really great to not have the pressure to pose everyone for a big group shot. In hindsight, I think I could have done just as good of a job if not better than the photographer. Sometimes it is just nice giving the reigns to someone else.
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kelsch & wilhelm families
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I drove with all the kids, except for Andrew who had to stay in Colorado for work, to Utah so that Peter and Emma could participate in BYU cross country camp. Peter spent some of our 9-hour drive in the driver’s seat getting in some of his hours. It was so nice to have someone else drive for part of the trip. We picked up Josh in Grand Junction and drove him out to Utah with us. We made it to my parent’s condo in the early evening and got everyone settled. The next morning, I dropped off Peter, Emma, and Josh at cross country camp. They ran into Hayden while picking up their packets. It turns out that Emma was staying in David John Hall which is where I lived as a freshman at BYU. Abby, Madeline and I spent the next few days enjoying time with Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz. We spent some time at one of my college roommate’s house swimming in her pool and letting the kids play together. I got to do a few bike rides with my dad and I even enjoyed going to the temple with my mom. On Thursday I picked up the kids from camp and we all drove up to Salt Lake City to pick up Mike and Andrew who flew in from Colorado so that they could join us in Bear Lake for the Kelsch 50th Anniversary Reunion. They both spent some time at Temple Square visiting the old tabernacle, the visitors center and the family history center.
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