Summer Update

There has been so much going on lately and yet we are seriously lacking in the picture department. I guess we have just been having so much fun we forget to get the camera out. The most recent thing going on was our trip to Burley this past weekend for the Spudman triathlon. Brad did the biking portion as a team with his cousin doing the run and his brother in law doing the swim. Their team placed fourth out of 17 teams in their division. Individually, Brad got 5th place overall and 2nd in his class. Brad did a really great job and I am so impressed with what an amazing biker he has become. I unfortunately forgot the camera and I have been feeling horrible about it ever since. I just stink at picture taking and maybe this will make me be better at it because I feel so bad. Oh well. We also had a celebration BBQ, went water skiing and had a great family breakfast as well. Ayden had a blast playing with her cousins and was very unhappy to leave. She will get to see some more next weekend so she won't have to wait too long.
Here are a few random pics from the trip. Ta ta for now!
p.s if it seems we have been spending the summer in our bathing suits it is because we have. :)

Jumping on the tramp at Dana and Lorries.

On our way home. I just love this picture!

It sure didn't take long for them to fall asleep after such a busy weekend.

A Day at Lucky Peak

It is nice to have such great friends but even nicer to have great friends with great connections. Haha. Our friends the Pillings had access to a boat and invited us to go with them to Lucky Peak. Brad and I had fun wake boarding and Ayden and Brad had fun surfing. I really love going out on the boat and enjoying great company doing an activity I really love. Thanks to the Pillings for such a fun day.
Elizabeth and I hanging out in the water... it was way too hot on the boat when we were not moving. (oh yeah, for those of you who don't know, I totally cut my hair off.)

Being the goof off's we enjoy being when we are together.

Brad surfing behind the boat.
It looks like a lot of fun. I want to try it next time we are out. I watched our friend Wade take his son Max out on the surf board and thought it was so cool that Max would do it. We tried to see if Ayden would do it but she kept refusing then Wade just asked her "do you want to go fast or slow?" and she said slow and headed to the back of the boat to get ready to go into the water with Brad. I was really shocked. She was scared once they got out in the water and was crying saying she wanted to get back in the boat but once they got up she loved it. She was all smiles and giggles from then on. Whoo Hoo AYDEN!!! (see video at the end)

Brad and Ayden getting all set...

Starting to get pulled up...

And they are up!

Here I am wake boarding for my second time (first last weekend). I had a lot of fun but I fell pretty hard a couple of times and I am sure feeling it today. I am still rocking and feel kind of dizzy at times. But is was all worth it, right?

After I fell hard the first time we thought it would be smart to put the helmet on.

Waiting for the rope.

We had to add this picture for my brother Kyle who loves chips, Doritos especially. Ayden is following in his foot steps and could eat a whole bag in one sitting if we let her.

Brad and Ayden driving the boat.

All the boys on the boat. Byron and his son Brox , Brad, Wade and his son Max.
The girls on the boat. Ayden, me, Elizabeth, Tiffany and Nikki.
(We left Whitney and Alex with a babysitter)

This is the video of Ayden and Brad surfing. I am so proud of my little girl for doing it.

Here is a picture of little Lulu. She looks just like Axel did in his first pictures. So sweet.

Congratulations Taylor, Kayce and Axel!!!

Louisa (Lulu) Eve Mammen

7.0 lbs. 20 inches long

A new baby has arrived in the Mammen home and I am an Aunt once again! My brother Taylor and his wife Kayce had a baby girl this morning. I can't wait to see some picture and meet my little niece. Mom and baby are both doing great.

Here are a few interesting facts and about the date 7-13:
July 13 is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 171 days remaining

• 1923 - The Hollywood sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949. (this is appropriate since she was born in Beverly Hills.
• 1908 - Women compete in modern Olympics for the first time.

Births- Julius Cesar, Harrison Ford, Cheech Marin, Spud Webb, Tristin Cram (my best friend growing up). I also noticed there were a lot of architects on the list. Maybe she will follow in Grandpa Mammen's steps and be an architect.

Water Skiing on the Snake

On Saturday after I rode with a friend from Burley to the Pomerelle Ski Resort (64 miles), we had a great time with family skiing on the Snake River. It's great for us that my brother Travis owns a boat and is nice enough to threaten me with my life if I don't enjoy it with him.

Ayden getting ready to get on the boat.

Jenni doing her pre-game stretches.


Alex enjoying her place on the boat.

Ayden is always ecstatic when on Uncle Travis' boat.

Ayden's laugh and smile is such a great thing.

The little boy next to Alex is my nephew Mason. He was really good watching out for his little cousins and making sure they were safe.

My niece Sydney and one of Ayden's favorite cousins. She gets pretty excited to see her which is really good because most of her cousins live so far away.

Jenni got a lot of playing time on the river this year and was the toughest person out there. She rode the tube the longest and never fell off. I rode with her for a while, got thrown 3 times, the last time I got throw I was just too tired. She continued for another 15 minutes with my niece Kaybrie who also got thrown a few times. Jenni never fell off the tube. It's amazing what you can do when you are afraid of the water.

After tubing, Jenni wasn't through. She decided to try wake boarding (last time she tried was 5 years ago) She got up on her very first try and did really well including catching some sick air (8 inches of air but air none the less). Before too long I'll have her throwing back flips with me. I love the above picture because you can actually see how excited the girls were to see their mom get up on the wake board. They were so proud of their tough mom.

I just re-watched this video and caught a few things. Watch closely at Ayden tormenting her little sister. I noticed that she was either pinching or biting Alex on the arm. I remember being confused as to why Alex was crying, now I know. That girl is too much of a tease. I keep reminding Ayden that Alex is only 4 pounds lighter and someday she is going to be able to retaliate so she better start being nice.

City of Rocks, July 05, 2007

We the People Parade in Boise, Idaho.

On Thursday, July 05, we headed to Burley and camped at the City of Rocks with the Pillings. Our camping buddies. We had a lot of my family committed to either visiting us up at the City of Rocks or camping with us. As it turned out none of my family showed up but we still had a good time. Thank goodness we invited the Pillings or we would have been up there solo, not that their is anything wrong with that but the FAMILY campground would have been excessive.

If you are a climber, this would be a great place. There are many climbs for all levels of climbers to keep you content. Most of the people at this park are from out of the state.

Our over-sized camp ground from above. We reserved the largest campground available and as it turned out we didn't even have the minimum number of people required to reserve it because of the no-shows.

Ayden taking a stroll to the popular Elephant rock to watch the cool rock climbers.

There are even climbing spots for kids like Ayden.

...and Alex. I love that her face is in the sage brush.

Then there is the problem I always face when I climb. How to get down?

Ayden and her friend Nikki.
When we camp we marvel at how dirty our kids get. By the end of the night Ayden was unrecognizable because of the amount of dirt on her face.

Max, Nikki and Ayden. Just look at Nikki's fingers around Max's neck.

Ayden loved riding around on the 4-wheeler and constantly yelled out, "FASTER!!! FASTER!!!"

Ayden and Nikki sitting in the Rhino (supercharged golf cart). Jenni and Elizabeth actually drove this thing to the neighboring metropolis of Almo, Idaho. While they were in Almo they ran into my dad in his favorite restaurant (best steaks around apparently).

After his dinner, my dad came by the campground to pay us a visit. Ayden was exited and Alex warmed right up to him. The following day we stopped by my dads to let the girls see his horses. Ayden loved petting and feeding the horses and Alex was just interested in the dogs.

Alex being silly at dinner.

Good morning Ayden. She woke up pretty wide eyed and with crazy hair. The girls are such troopers and sleep really well while we camp. We were so proud of them for doing so well camping. We had so much fun that Ayden and I slept in the two man tent in the backyard when we got back from Burley. It was actually the only way I could make her okay with leaving Grandma Marsha's house (it was more planning than bribing).

Jenni and Elizabeth all smiles because their hubbies are such awesome men.

Glacier National Park

Thought I would throw a few more pictures of my trip to Canada and Montana. After leaving Waterton, Canada we drove to West Glacier, jumped off a bridge (see video below), set up camp and did a 62 mile ride from the Apgar campground on the south end of Lake McDonald to the to of Logan's Pass. It turned out to be a long ride and I did the last few miles in the dark (two nice ladies escorted me for the last 3 miles by driving behind me with their brights on. I thought that was thoughtful)

Wade in the background.

Logan's Pass summit is to the right of this picture. You can see the road cutting across the mountains.

Just below where this picture was taken there was a huge grizzly bear making his way up the hillside. My point and shoot camera was unable to get a good picture of it but a guy on the road had a nice scope set up on it.
I had to have a picture at the top to prove that I made it.
It was hard work and as you can see, with 31 miles left there was little sunlight left. There were a few bikers making their way up who planned on staying until the full moon came out to do the monthly full moon ride at the Going to the Sun Road. Since the full moon didn't make itself useful until 2 am and I had no way of communicating with Wade at the camp, I thought I would head down and race the sun.

The ride started at about 3150 ft with most of the climbing in the last 12 miles. The views are so breathtaking that it is worth the pain. I can't wait to do it again.

After the climb the fun part is flying down the road at 42 mph with cliffs on both sides of the road.