I feel like summer has finally started and I actually have things to do. I'm swamped with photo-shoots (which is AWESOME!) and my little family gets to travel all over.

For the 4th of July, we went to Williston the night before and hung out with Devin's family. We had a good breakfast and then headed to Stanley for the parade. We caught the last half and then headed up to Bowbells for a family BBQ at our house. It was great food and good company. When everyone left, Devin and I snuggled in and watched the fireworks that go off in our town.

Next up we decided to go on a two night camping trip with our camper that we got last year. We didn't want to go anywhere too busy and I was just looking for some relaxing family time. We got up to White Earth Dam around 9 pm and set up camp. The mosquitoes were so bad, even after we sprayed tons of bug repellent, that we decided going to bed seemed nice. As we shut the camper door, we realized that it was also filled with mosquitoes. So Devin and I went to work with some newspaper and tried killing as many as we could. We turned out the lights and then I heard the rain start to fall. I remember looking at the weather report and it didn't say anything about rain. So I opened the door to find that it wasn't rain drops hitting our camper it was MOSQUITOES!!!! They started rushing in the door and I could only stand there screaming, swinging my arms at them. Devin finally got the door shut and then we went back to killing them. It was quite the workout.
In the morning I made pancakes, eggs, and bacon in on the camper stove because we forgot the propane for our stove outside. Devin had to run to a meeting for work that day, so it was just me and the girls for a few hours. I was thinking that the lake would be great for swimming and a good cool down. Kamille and I went to investigate and found that it was full of green algae, it also didn't smell so good. There went swimming :( This day was the hottest and we didn't have shade. We tried playing a board game inside, but everyone was just sweating and getting angry. So we jumped in the car and went for an air conditioned ride. It was fantastic! We ended up driving to Ray and getting a shaved ice at a friend's shack.
When we got back to camp we started on making dinner. We planned dutch oven potatoes, marinated chicken, and salad. Let just say we learned that we forgot a lot of things and strong wind and small bbq grills don't mix. I sat by a fire using a hot dog stick with a chicken breast stuck on it...I felt like a caveman. The blackberry peach cobbler did turn out amazing though and s'mores are always a great idea. We thought about packing up and going home that night, but stuck it out one more night. Overall it was a nice learning experience. I think next time we will find somewhere with hook-ups and use our AC for sure!


The last exciting adventure we went on was a road-trip to Omaha, NE to see my brother and his wife. Justin is there selling pest control for the summer between semesters of school. We looked ahead and saw that the rest of the summer is so busy, this was the only time we could go to Omaha. We packed our bags and drove to Jamestown, then drove the rest of the way in the morning. The next day we went to the Zoo and got to see a lot of exhibits. Omaha zoo is HUGE, but we got rained out. That evening Devin and I took the girls and went on a tour of the Winter Quarters pioneer visitor center and temple grounds. It was so fun teaching Kamille about the pioneers and it was nice to get out and see things with Devin.


Next month we have Jason's homecoming (I'm way excited to see him again)!!! Even if it is for a month and then he's off to college. He is such a great missionary :) Then later in the month, Devin's little sister Carlene is getting married in Idaho Falls and we are way excited for her. We are going to be decked out in cute dresses and I'm excited to see some friends from Southern Idaho. Lastly we have a family reunion in Oregon! It's going to be so much fun. BUSY BUSY BUSY!



Updates on us: Kamille is growing so fast! She is sassy, bossy, and so full of fun. She loves her sister and likes to carry her places. Now that she is strong enough to move her and lift her, I'm always having to be right there. She is picking up tons of phrases and likes to tell me to "check the mail" or to "Calm down". She likes to call Lillian "Lilly Bug" and it's so cute. Lillian is almost 7 months and she is so close to crawling. She is happy when you hold her or when she is watching Moana. She smiles at everyone and will go to them but when she can't see mom or dad she gets the saddest (but cutest) face. She watches her sister all the time and loves it when she plays with her. I think Lillian is looking forward to eating human food. She isn't always satisfied with baby food and just wants to chew on something. Hopefully her teeth cut through soon.


Devin is doing great! He is such a hard worker and is a great father. He is doing fantastic with his weight loss journey and today he hit 45 pounds down since last year! His clothes aren't fitting anymore and it's really not fair because he sneaks hamburgers and gas station food. I'm still so proud of him. I'm on my second week of my DUO thrive challenge and it's been so much fun. I'm down about 6 lbs and 6 inches.  I need to work on my exercise routines more but the eating healthier is going pretty good.

God be with you,
Kaylynn Jackson