Tally Lake Videos & proof that grandpa wore shorts

Tally Lake

We went to Tally Lake near Whitefish, Montana from August 11-17 this summer with Rob’s parents. Also, we took Michelle’s son Chad Hemsley along with us. Val and Michelle and their other kids Tylissa and Keston also joined us part of the time. It was the first time we had ever gone to Tally Lake, but it had been recommended to us by some friends. It turned out that we loved it and had a great time. We are even wondering if Tally Lake should replace Wasa for the annual Doig family reunion.....those of you who are Doigs and weren’t there yourselves, can look at the pictures and assess the pros and cons. Part of the magic of our trip to Tally Lake was that we had great weather--hot days (except one which is when we went into Kalispell to do our back-to-school shopping), quite a bit of calm water, and only a tiny bit of rain. Also, two of the best campsites happened to be available (you can’t book ahead). We also really enjoyed spending Sunday in Kalispell at Michelle's. We went to their church and she made us Sunday dinner. She and granny also surprised us with an ice cream cake for Alyssa and I for our birthdays.

We were also surprised by how warm the water was. We think it was nearly as warm as Wasa, and much warmer than the reservoirs around here, which in turn were much warmer than Holland Lake last year. We didn’t use any wetsuits at all, and on at least a couple of evenings, there was steam coming off the lake as the sun went down. The one most peculiar thing about Tally lake is that the lake has a dark colour to it. When you look at it from a distance and just see the reflection of the trees and the sky it looks blue/ green. However, when you are actually in the water, it is brown/black. It is almost like swimming in diluted coffee. Supposedly it is one of the purest lakes in Montana in terms of being drinkable water, but it has a mineral in it that gives it that colour. It is also extremely deep—apparently 445 feet. In most parts of the lake, the water is very deep right off the shore which makes it great for cliff jumping.

Cliff jumping was one of the extra fun things about Tally Lake. There are cliffs at several heights for all levels of daring. In this picture I am jumping off the shortest cliff. I was ridiculously apprehensive of jumping. It doesn't look that far down, unless you are up there looking down. I am told the key is to not look down. Anyway, the above picture is proof that I did actually jump.
Alyssa and Tylissa jumping while I ponder the possibility of jumping. The ledge Alyssa jumped from was a few feet higher than where Tylissa and I jumped.
Alyssa thinks she is about to burn out her candles on her birthday cake....
But it turns out they were relighting candles and posed quite a challenge to blow out. I had actually forgotten to bring candles, and was just going to use matches when granny decided to check in the motor home. Grandma Doig, the previous owner of the motor home had left lots of stuff in the motor home and we found this pack of candles....no one knew that they were relighting candles...so we all had a good laugh about it.
Tylissa kneeboarding
Chad skiing. Chad had learned how to kneeboard, wakeboard, ski without the bar in between. He even attempted slolam skiing and was very close to doing it.
Mark had a fun time at Tally Lake. It was nice that our campsite was close to the lake so we could walk him back and forth. In this picture, we are waiting by the dock for the boat to come around to us. Mark liked floating on the tube. Can you almost see the yellowish brown colour of the water.
See the glassy water. This was on the Saturday morning. I went on a hike with Val to Tally Lake lookout while Rob and granny and the kids went on the boat. That's when Austin attempted skiing, granny skiied, Michelle slolamed and Tylissa kneeboarded. The hike was about an hour and a bit up and down. There are also several other trails in the mountains along the lake. Val has hiked them all.
The boys in the dinghy in the swimming area.
This is Mark at the "beach." It is not a sandy beach. There is grass until close to the water then a few feet of very small rocks before the water. Out in the deeper part of the swimming area is a platform that kids can jump off--and push each other off. Tke kids liked swimming out to it and trying to stay on or jump off, etc.
Alyssa and Chad jumping together.

This is granny and grandpa's campsite. It is forest with gravel areas, a picnic table and a fire pit.

The bathrooms are outhouses and there are no showers, though there is running potable water every 2 or 3 campsites.
Alyssa skiing on glassy water
Alyssa skiing in the evening on water that was as Monte would say, "smooth like unto glass." We loved the morning and evening skiing when the water was calm. In the afternoons, with other boats on the water, it was sometimes a little choppy.

Raymond swim meet

Today Alyssa competed at the Raymond swim meet. We used Rob's iPad to get some videos of her swimming. She came in 2nd in almost all her races behind Payten Strong, our team's fastest swimmer. Alyssa's times were a little slower than those she posted at the Cardston swim meet, but she still did great. The Cardston team didn't come to this meet, so there was less competition that was close to Alyssa's level and maybe that affected her mentally on some level.

I was really happy to see how well our whole swim team did. Our little kids have improved amazingly, and we had a strong showing in most all events!

This is the 13/14 girls 50 m freestyle. Alyssa is in lane 5. She starts out neck and neck with her friend Payten who pulls ahead in the 2nd length. Alyssa comes in 2nd. Her time, 39 seconds.

This is the 50 m breaststroke. Alyssa is lane 5 again. She's the last one to come up from her underwater pull at the start of the race. She finishes again behind her friend, Payten. She ends up having a very close finish with another girl from our club, Jenna. From here it looks like Jenna touches first, but Alyssa touched lower than Jenna, so I think you would have had to be at the end to know for sure. We haven't gotten the ribbons yet to know what the official result was. If she finished 3rd, that would be her only 3rd place finish, with seconds in back, free, long free and individual medley.

This is the girls 13/14 50 m backstroke. Alyssa came in 2nd. She is in lane 3. Her time 47 seconds.

Utah Trip, July 2011

Sarah and Brian
Alyssa and Anna did a photo shoot of Allie. They probably took 100 pictures or so, in at least 3 different outfits. So cute! I think Allie enjoyed it.


Me and my sisters!
Alyssa and Anna having a photo shoot


Alyssa participated in the BYU basketball camp this summer. She drove down with her friend Tana and Tana's family. At the end I had to drive down and pick her up. I made the best of the trip by arriving a day early to spend some time with my sister Sarah, then going to Price afterwards to see Liz and her family.

I really enjoyed my time with Sarah and was glad to get to know her new husband Brian better. They have a cute little apartment, nicely furnished. It was neat to see how they live. Sarah and I hiked Ensign peak and did some shopping on Friday before I picked up Alyssa.

On Friday evening, Liz and I, with kids in tow, met up with our old friend Emily Asplund, from Kingston. We spent a couple of hours catching up and reminiscing at the Wilkinson Center. Emily got married 2 weeks later. I am super happy for her.

At Bryners we went for a hike, played games, went to church and did lots of visiting. On Monday, I got to see what their day to day summertime life is like as the kids had swimming and piano lessons, etc. On the way back through Salt Lake, we caught a quick dinner with Brian and Sarah before heading home.

Thank you Sarah & Brian, and Liz & Christian and family for being such great hosts! It was awesome to see you all!

Magrath Days, July 22-23, 2011

On the Friday of Magrath days, the Alberta Treasury Branch hosted a free pancake breakfast. We decided to go, but Austin and Preston very much didn't want to. They complained and fussed but ended up going. It's just so hard to go a block from home for your food. Then, at lunch time, Holland Insurance was hosting a free BBQ lunch. We again forced the kids to go--this time two blocks. Preston exclaimed in exasperation"What? First we have to go to breakfast, now lunch. What's next supper, too?" As it turned out Alyssa and I also got free supper as we helped at a friend's wedding...we didn't make the poor, overfed, over-walked boys go.The cousins looking for their chance to get candy at the parade


Preston, at the top of the Astrojump.

We had a great time at Magrath Days this year. Granny and Grandpa brought Nathan, Kaylene and Chad over for the parade, lunch and activities in the park. The parade was fun as usual, even if we chose a bad spot for loading up on candy. Austin marched in the parade as part of the school cadet band. He did really well, but was awfully tired after marching the parade route playing his trumpet. Of course, he finished before the parade was over where we were watching. By the time we got home, there were already 3 messages on our answering maching from him to pick him up at the school. Unfortunately, the roads were not accessible because of the parade, and grandpa picked him up on foot and walked home with him. At least grandpa carried the trumpet!

There were lots of fun activities in the afternoon and evening this year, including lawn mower races, a show and shine, quilt display, petting zoo, astrojump, 50 cent swimming, races, concessions, a silent auction, etc. Later, the town provided beef on a bun and there was a stage with lots of performers. In the evening our local country music celebrity, Trevor Panczak performed an outdoor concert, followed by fireworks. A great day in all!

What we make kids do for an ice cream cone!

When I was a kid, we used to garden a large garden plot at Inverary about 15 minutes outside of Kingston. Every week or two, we would go out to that garden to pull weeds or harvest vegetables. After an hour or two of work, as we drove home, we would beg for mom and dad to stop at the McDonalds drive thru for "8 soft serve cones, please." Sometimes, they would relent and we would be delighted with our ice cream treat.

Yesterday, I was reminded of the ice cream cone bribery that worked so well on us as kids. We took the kids to Waterton for the day and did a fair bit of hiking for my poor boys' little legs. Austin really wanted ice cream from the store at the town site, so Rob made them a deal. If they hiked all that we wanted them to and didn't complain, we'd get ice cream cones. First, we drove over to Cameron lake and hiked the lakeside trail 3.2 k which was beautiful as you can see. By the end of this hike, Preston and Austin were very tired. There was another very short trail (1 km) to Akamina Lake right next to Cameron lake and so I insisted we go there too, since we had driven all that way.

Finally Rob's deal with the boys included hiking up Bear's Hump, which for those of you who haven't hiked it, gains 200 m of elevation in 1.4 km--or in other words, is climbing a mountain. At the top there is a beautiful view of Waterton Lakes and the townsite. Preston and Austin started out and did their best, but bless their hearts could not do the whole thing. Alyssa and I went ahead, and got pictures from the top.

After Bear's Hump, we got dinner and ice cream. Austin couldn't stop talking about how good the food and ice cream were. I think it had something to do with working up an appetite!

At the end of the Cameron Lake trail. They don't let you go all the way to the end of the lake because Grizzly Bears are known to live in the meadow at the end of the lake.
Hiking the Cameron Lake trail. The snow covered mountain at the end of the trail is actually in Montana!
Alyssa at the top of Bear's Hump

Another day at the lake

I've been slacking on picture taking this summer. Today, we went boating at Jensen's reservoir. Alyssa and Preston brought friends with them. It was a beautiful hot day. We've been to both St. Mary's and Jensen's Reservoirs a few times this summer. Preston has actually learned to kneel up on the knee board and grab the rope. He wouldn't do it today though, and of course, last time I forgot the camera.

Preston's friend Jarod is in the middle of the tube. He was quite apprehensive about tubing, but warmed up to it after he got going. He did not want his turn to end.