4th Of July Weekend

We had a hard time deciding what to do to celebrate the 4th this year. I'm not a big fan of the parade, and sleeping in sounded much better to me on Saturday. Later in the day we decided to head to Lava Hot Springs like we did last year for the 4th. We had our own little tailgate party with hot dogs and homemade salsa, before heading for a swim. Drake makes the best salsa! After

our delicious food we headed to the hot pools. If you haven't been to Lava Hot Springs, you need to go! The water is so relaxing! We were hoping they would have a firework show like last year, but they must have saved it for Sunday so we missed out. It was still fun to get out of town and enjoy the warm weather.

On Sunday we celebrated my father in law's belated birthday. He was up at bear camp for the big day, so we decided to make him a cake for the 4th. Drake's brother Jason and his kids, Chase and Hannah, were over and helped me with the cake. They are so much fun. The three of us couldn't get enough sugar or baking so we whipped up some sugar cookies after dinner. I wish I would have taken more pictures of my little baking partners. There was flour everywhere.

Three Year Anniversary

This weekend was our 3 year anniversary. I know everyone says this, but it really is crazy how fast time goes. To celebrate we started a few days early and went out to dinner and bought ben n jerry's ice cream tubs for dessert. Yes we got our own and they were delicious! Our anniversary was on Saturday and we decided that we wanted to get out of town for a few days.
We left on Friday for a camping/hunting trip. I know this may sound unromantic to most, but it was actually my idea. I love being in the great outdoors with just the two of us. Our camper is already hauled out to our spot, and it was so nice to be away for a few days with no cell phone service. I love Drake! It's been an eventful three years, and I'm excited for the next one. There aren't a lot of dull moments with Drake as my best friend and I feel really lucky.

This was the romantic dinner night...

And this was on our actual anniversary...

On by the way, we both saw several bears this night while hunting. I had a bear cub 35 yards in front of me playing around. He was so cute!

MAY SNOW FALL

This weekend we spent more time in the mountains getting ready for Bear season. Drake's parents and his brother Brock went with us. We go about an hour and a half away from home to get to our spot. We knew it would be colder this weekend, but had no clue we were about to enter a blizzard. It was freezing! Nothing like an end of May snowstorm. We were layered up and in our cute rain gear for these pictures. My mother in law, Nancy and I bailed out for the last two hours and sat in the truck waiting. An outdoor fourwheeling adventure is usually one of my favorite things, but I couldn't feel my fingers after too long and had to call it quits. On the bright side, it was a beautiful view.

BEAR BAITING

Bear Baiting might sound strange to most people... Yes we use bait to lure in big bears while we sit in the tree hoping to see them. Ha it still sounds odd to me too. May and June are bear season for the Atwoods and we spend a lot of time in the mountains. These pictures are from this last weekend when we were getting things started for the year. The barrel the boys are putting in the tree is full of the worst smelling thing you could imagine. We put them in a tree and stock all kinds of food near by, in order to get bears coming into our hunting spots. Last year was the first time I'd seen a bear that close and it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. I know how redneck and crazy this must sound to some people. HA! I really do love this whole new life of hunting though. It's more than just killing animals. I get to spend so much time outdoors with Drake and get to see the coolest animals so close. Seeing them and observing them like that is the best part for me. Not to mention the sexy camo I get to wear always!

I usually don't post very much because most our pictures are in the woods and of hunting, but I decided I might as well share my fun with my friends and family. The next few months of posting will probably be hunting and all the adventures we will have. I'll try to get some good pictures of the animals I get to see so you all can see why its so much fun!

Griffeth Girl Day

Me, Katie, Grandma G, Avery, Tash

Diane, Tash, Mom, Katie

Avery, Laura, Me, Grandma G


On April 24th we had a girls day for all the Griffeth girls. My grandma is amazing and it's so fun to get together with her. My mom, sister and aunties are probably the most hyper group of girls I've ever been around! I'm talking more than even highschoolers or my sports teams. I can't even describe how fun they all are. (All of you Griffeths reading this, I LOVE YOU!) My mom found these beautiful temple pictures and signed us all up to make them as a craft. I made a Salt Lake one, and I love it!! She gave them to my sister and I as very early birthday presents. After our craft, we had lunch at Bajio, manicures, shopping and we went to the movie, "The Backup Plan." FYI, not a movie to watch next to your grandma. Hehe. It was definitely a cutesy chick flick, but labor scenes, sex scenes, and an old lady saying the "F" word are more than enough to blush next to granny..... her face was probably better than the movie! All in all it was such a fun day to be silly with the girls.

SOUTH FORK FISHIN TRIP

Bright and early Friday, April 30th, I dropped Drake and Bridger off at the Spring Creek Boat landing near Swan Valley for a two day float trip. As anyone from around here knows, this weekend we didn't have the best weather. A little rain and snow wasn't going to stop them, they were determined to go on their fishing trip. After fishing all day Friday they camped out that night and fished all day Saturday, ending up near Ririe. All in all it was about a 35 mile float down. I didn't hear from him until around 8 PM that night and was getting a little worried because of the weather. They caught some nice fish on Saturday and are already wanting to go again.

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY

In 2006 my crazy roommates and I decided that St Patty's Day was a little under appreciated and decided to go a little crazy. I can't find the pictures of that fun outing, but thought I'd share the last two years with you to inspire some of you to step up your festivities for the magical St Patrick’s Day. Kaeli and I have carried on the tradition the last few years, and luckily talked our husbands into dressing up for the occasions. Who doesn't need an extra excuse to celebrate?