Priest Lake 2013

Summers while being in the Duffy Family have been such a blast! We have made a tradition of going to Priest Lake these past two summers!  

So this is what we do...

First we pack up all of our gear, load it into the boat and take numerous trips to the Kalispell Island where we camped for the next few days! This was our view right on the beach from where our tents were pitched! 

Carmen immediately got her camera out! This was the first day! Can't you tell we still have makeup on and our hair looks nice!  

My favorite part of the night was sitting by the fire and roasting marshmallows and starburst!   

More of sitting by the fire. Bonding and telling stories!  

The next morning we were out on the boat! Due to being pregnant I just observed and thankfully I had quite a few boat buddies! 

Brexton and Annie loved helping out with the flag! 

Lots of wakeboarding....

and EXTREME tubing! 

My favorite boat buddy of the week was Shae! We had a special bond this trip!  One of the days I was just hanging out on the beach and Shae got up on the boat to go for a ride and she turned to her mom and said, "Where's Katelyn, I need Aunt Katelyn!" 

I could never let down that sweet offer! It seemed as though she couldn't ride on the boat unless she was on my lap! We had so much fun! 

If we weren't on the boat, then we were having fun on the beach! Brad was good at squirting us all! 

And he was always in the water! 

The boys enjoyed snorkeling!  

(Nathan, Brian, and Brad)

And it wouldn't be a trip to the lake if the boys didn't play "King of the Tube!"

More time with my cuddle buddy! Love that girl!  

Shae also loves her Uncle Brad! She had so much fun driving the boat! 

But probably the most exciting day of the trip was when Annie got up on the ski skimmer!

She was so brave! 

She is such a big girl! I love watching all of the nieces and nephews grow up! Can't wait to see them interact with our kids someday! 

The whole clan! We had such a blast and time flew by so quick! I could have definitely stayed out there for a few more days!  

A big thanks to Don and Heather for organizing this whole trip! Thanks to Nicole and Carmen for capturing all of these wonderful photos! I am so grateful for the time that was spent with family before we moved to California! We all had great bonding time and grew closer as a family! 

Love you all!

Summer Weddings

Brad's two best friends got married this summer! He had the honors of being groomsmen in both of them. 

The first wedding was his dear friend Alex Kling. They have known each other since they were very young and played football and lacrosse together in high school. Alex married his girlfriend of 9 years and they couldn't be happier!

We love Alex and Caitlin so much! 

July 26, 2013

The two best men walking Caitlin's mother down the isle. 

Caitlin's father and step father had the honors of walking this beautiful bride down! 

Their vows were so sweet! And isn't that scenery amazing? (Sorry these pictures were all taken with my iPhone so they aren't the best!)

Mr. and Mrs. Alex Kling!!!!!!!!

I love how casually they walked out! They are so fun! 

I had such a handsome date that night! Love you babe!  

It was so fun to dance to be apart of the whole ceremony. Brad gave an awesome toast to they newly weds and we enjoyed a delicious dinner, cake and a fun night of DANCING! We are so happy for you, Alex and Caitlin! Can't wait until we can get together again! We need to rendezvous in Boise soon! 

The next morning was an early morning and we drove to Seattle for Tom and Brenna's wedding. 

It was a lovely morning and we had a smooth drive across the state of Washington!

We arrived at the temple right on time! 

I was so excited to go for I had never been inside the Seattle Temple! 

The sealing was so special and the spirit was so sweet there! 

We then waited for the bride and groom to make their grand entrance! 

Mr. and Mrs. Perry!!! July 27, 2013! 

They were so happy, can't ya tell? 

Pictures turned out great!

The handsome groomsmen!  

So glad we could be apart of your big day! 

We were then off to their reception at this beautiful community center. 

I absolutely loved Brenna's decorations and style! It was so cute and fun!  

  

Brad and Tom served their missions together in Tijuana. We are excited because Tom's parents are moving to Spokane and our families will be close so we can hopefully see each other over the holidays! We will also see them back in Rexburg when we return in January!! 

We love weddings, one because we see couples so happy, and two because we have more married friends!! 

Brad also had a cousin get married on August 3rd. Matt and Courtney Duffy were married in the Boise temple. We were so sad to miss it, due to moving, but they are now living down in California so we are going to have to make a special trip down to see them! 

I had to steal this awesome photo from my sister in-law, Nicole! She captured their pure happiness at the wedding reception last weekend in Seattle! 

4th of July Weekend!

4th of July weekend was such a BLAST! 

My parents came out and the first night they got there we surprised them with this!! I knew I couldn't go the whole weekend without letting this secret out of the bag! 

That is right! Baby Duffy is coming in February!! 

We are beyond EXCITED!!!

The rest of the weekend was full of fun activities! 

On the 4th we went up to Yellowstone National Park! Brad and I had never been there, so it was a very fun adventure for the both of us! 

We first stopped at this pond where my Dad, "Mr. Photographer" got some shots of the baby ducklings!

Next Stop was at these beautiful falls where Brad got this awesome picture of us on the Go Pro! 

I think this is the only group shot we got the whole weekend! 

Next was West Thumb Geyser Basin

They had these awesome pools! The water was crystal clear! 

This was a small geyser and the yellow spots are bacteria beds. Being a health science major I thought it was interesting that those bacteria beds could live in such HOT environments! 

Off in the distance we could see a Buffalo coming. He looked as though he was trying to find a drink of water. All of these pools and geysers are above boiling temperatures so he was out of luck! I got so close to him as you can see me in the white shirt in the picture below! 

The buffalo crossed the path and found some shade!  

Next we headed to where Old Faithful was at! These pools just fascinated me with their blue color. I had never seen anything like it! 

And then it was time! Old Faithful Geyser! It erupts at heights of an average of 130 feet and pumps out about 3,700 gallons of water every time it erupts! Old Faithful erupts every 60-110 minutes.

 It was an awesome experience to witness! 

My Mom and I in front of the Old Faithful sign with Old Faithful steaming in the background!

One of our last stops was at this beautiful lake! It reminded me so much of home! 

There is Mr. Ken in his photographer stance!  

We had an awesome day at Yellowstone! We took the long way home and stopped through Jackson Hole. Because it was 4th of July, we didn't get to do as much adventuring as I hoped, but we did get to stop in Driggs, Idaho and have some awesome Thai Food on the way home! It was a great 4th of July and getting to see more of our beautiful country was so fun! 

I love the land in where we live! 

The next day was the 5K Color in Motion. We were so excited that it was actually being hosted in Rexburg! Brad and I had signed up for the race back in February! It was so worth the wait! 

This was our BEFORE the race picture! 

 This was right at the beginning of the race! They had 5 color stations along the way where volunteers would squirt you with color!

Brad finished about 10-15 minutes before me! My mom was there to greet him after he finished. 

This is me heading to the finish line!  

Our first race together! It was a blast! 

Then the Festival of Color began! Everyone was given a color packet, and at the end of the race all of the participants threw their color in the air!  

This was the end result! I was so glad I brought sunglasses or it would've been horrible!  

I am so glad my parents were there to capture these moments! It was so fun having a fan club when doing something I don't particularly like.... Running! 

That evening before my parents headed out of town we had the chance to go back up to West Yellowstone and go to dinner and the PlayMill! We ate some delicious Pizza and then we saw one of my favorites, Beauty and the Beast! 

On the way home we ran into a horrible rainstorm but as we were traveling back to Rexburg, we saw this awesome rainbow! With my Dad and his awesome photography skills, we got out and took some pictures!   

Overall it was such a memorable weekend! I love spending time with my parents and am so glad they were able to take time out of their busy schedules to come out and see us! Thanks MOM and DAD!