Life On Otty Lake

Before you even read this.... grab yourself a cup of coffee (preferably Tim Horton's and you might as well grab a maple dip too since we are doing this Canadian style) make sure the play list is on a song you like, and sit back and relax....this is a long one!!
The fam and I just got back from an amazing time in Canada with my entire family. My older sister lives there with her family on Otty Lake and my parents bought a cottage on the same lake (just a side note - my parents just moved into a house literally seven miles away from my twin sister and they have a house on the lake that is less than a five minute boat ride from my older sister....and they have a house in Oak....oh wait no they don't - NEED I SAY MORE????)
We arrived in the morning and that afternoon we were able to witness my niece and nephew, Jakob and MacKenzie, be baptized in their lake! It was awesome!! Being so far away I feel like I have missed so many milestones in their lives and it was such a great feeling to be a part of such an important part of their life - their testimonies were moving and inspiring!!

Nate and I couldn't imagine a better place than Otty Lake to end a perfect summer together!

The boyz couldn't have been happier either....all the cousins were together again and it was non-stop fun! Of course they were spoiled each morning by Nana as she made them her infamous Mickey Mouse Waffles outlined with chocolate chips!!! (Papa was in charge of the coffee)

Nate is my nephew's biggest fan....and of course you can see one of the reasons why as Jake was giving Connor rides on his dirt bike!

This is my adorable niece Jordyn - she is quite the little "mom"! Coop absolutely loved her because she would let him play with her hair!

The trampoline was definitely the hit of the lake...At times I thought Coop would never come out of there! Actually it might have been a tie between Nate and Coop as to who was in there the most!

For Nate and I - it was just so much fun to see the boyz with their cousins and how well they got along!

Connor especially loved to go in the boat! Uncle Dave was our designated driver as he took us all over the lake....there was a lot of wake boarding and knee boarding during our trip!!!

I think I want to become a professional knee boarder!!!

Connor even ventured on to the tube a couple of times with his cousins!!

Thanks to Nana and Papa the boyz have their own fishing poles and loved going fishing off the dock! Papa kept us well stocked with worms!

This was Cooper's first time fishing, as Connor was taught last year, so Papa gave the initial instructions to the new fisherman!!

Kenzie was a huge help as he got started! Once he caught his first fish though there was nothing stopping him!

We were quite proud of Nate and the fish he caught with Connor's Mickey Mouse pole!!

So my niece Kenzers and nephew Jake - I think it would be pretty hard to find anyone as cool as these two kids! Simply put... they rock! Not only are they both amazing and incredibly gifted...they are great with the boyz!

Kenzie just turned 11 in August and if I were to ever have a girl I would want her to be like her! She has a smile that lights up a room and is just so much fun to be around! She is very bright and takes half her studies in French....tres bien Kenzie!!! She just started figure skating again this season... and I am sure she is going to be great!!

Jake just turned 13 in June and is an incredible athlete! While we were there we got to watch him play hockey (which I might add Connor wants to play) and that boy has got some mad skills on that ice! When he was little he used to walk around the house with his hockey helmet and gloves - he hasn't taken them off since - he lives and breathes the sport - he's that good!

It was so much fun to watch him wake board and knee board - I mean seriously is there anything that he can't do???

They both had us cracking up all week.....they are awesome!!

Coming home my heart wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be... I think it was because I felt incredibly blessed.... my husband was home for the entire summer and we had a great time together as a family and did a lot of fun things - we truly did the summer Northwest Style!! We were able to spend time with his mom and dad (Grandma and Grandpa) and then ended it with my entire family in Canada!

Mom, Dad, Jenn, Dave, Kenzie, Jake, Jess, Jason, Jordy, and Caden - thank you for all the memories, the many laughs, the endless games of washers, jumps on the trampolines, rides in the boat...everything....that made it the best possible way to end our summer as a family. I miss you all like crazy and can't wait to be together again :) Anyone up for a trip to Whidbey???