The 'Hoof

The last week of July we spent in Vanderhoof, Jared's home town. Because Jared's parents have been in Germany until last summer, we haven't had much of a reason to go back there....it had been 3 1/2 years for us! Here's some pictures of our awesome trip:

Our sweet nephew Tayson turned One!

The Pool was a huge hit, of course. The kids swam in it every day, and starting at 9 am most days!

Here's a picture of our niece Airlyn blowing a fluffy dandelion. Those eyes, hey? Beautiful!

There was some stiff Bocce and Ladderball competitions....

Carter with some of his cousins; Dryden, Deegan, and Ryker.

Silly faces! Dryden, Avery, Deegan, Riley, Carter and Ryker.

The girls (minus Airlyn and Alivia) holding their baby dolls. Riley, Avery, Kaysa, and Hayley (I love that there wasn't quite enough so Avery is pretending to hold one haha).

Warming up in a towel after some intense swimming.

Jared's cousin Meghan came for a visit with her 3 boys and we made some of them line up for a picture by the fence (and the rainbow in the background). Easton, Carter, Ryker, Deegan, Milo, Ryan, and Dryden

*On a side note, writing out all these cute kiddos names is making me realize: us Whiddens really know how to pick cool names for our children!!*

It was a really fun week with (almost) all the people we love. Can't wait to do it again!

On our (13 hour) drive home we stopped in at the Columbia Icefields, our kids have never been. Some great views, that's for sure.

And we also stopped at Kootenay River at a rest stop to stretch our legs. Another great view!

Cow Town

After our trip to Sherwood Park, we headed back down to Calgary to meet up with Jared and spend the weekend with friends. First we met up with Allison- a friend I grew up with in the Park - and her 2 kids. We met at a park for a picnic with all the kids.

We set up the self-timer on the camera so we could take a picture of all of us together. First picture was great....

While taking the second picture, a random guy jumped in the back and photo-bombed us haha. See an extra face in the back of the picture. He had down syndrome and just had to join in on "picture time!" so he plopped himself down with all of us. Then he thanked us afterwards, it was very sweet, and very funny!

Next we met up with the Jarmans and spent a fun weekend with them. We went to the beach:

Scarlett...the sweetest little girl ever!

The next day we went to Calaway Park with the Jarmans. It was sooooo hot!

Bumper boats were probably the highlights...

All the little girls on monster trucks

Carter and I are way up there somewhere:

And Jared's favorite part??? Him and Lance went to UFC 149 at the Saddledome with his brother and a bunch of other guys!

Trip to Visit the 'Rents

In July, the kids and I went up to Sherwood Park to visit my parents for the week while Jared had to stay home and work :(

We had a great visit and did lots of fun things! We went to the Zoo...yes people Edmonton has a Zoo! It's old and outdated and doesn't have very many animals, but it is a Zoo nonetheless!!

picture by the zebras

Can you see the Tiger sleeping back behind?

My brother Joel came with us on our little trip and was such a sweet Uncle to carry Hayley on his shoulders almost the whole time.
We went to this cool Spray Park in Sherwood Park. The kids had fun, and my mom and I got to visit with some old (and new) friends!



My Dad took Hayley for a scooter ride and she loved it!! A little nervous at first, but soon wanted to go over and over again.


We also did a few more things that I didn't get pictures of: Farmer's Market, went to the movie theatre and saw Pirates: Band of Misfits, did some shopping, and visited with our cousins!