Home sweet Idaho and Welcome Home Josh

We took a vacation last week to Idaho. My little brother had just returned from serving a mission in Florida for our church. Welcome home Joshua! It was a bit of a whirlwind- I feel like we hardly got to know how Josh's mission was- there was so much going on.





If you have never seen our bridge in Idaho here it is- quite legendary at present (I.B. Perrine Bridge)- it is the only bridge in the US that you can base jump off of legally. It is also a beautiful sight to see.




One of the reasons we went home was to take a tour of the new Twin Falls Temple for our church- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I wish I had taken pictures of it- it was beautiful- I was able to be there with almost all of my family- hopefully not the last time. My mom arranged the whole thing- we even had some of our aunts and uncles and cousins there- some I had never met before- too bad we didn't get to visit with them for very long.




Elliott on a little walk the first morning we were there- he was so stoked to be in Idaho. We talk about it so much- it was finally something real and actually happening.




We did a little boating on my brother Curtis' boat- strangely- I have no pictures of Curtis- hum.






The kids were so excited about my dads cows. It was so fun to see something-that to me growing up was an everyday thing- become something exciting and fun. They got to feed them some corn- Scott named two of the cows- Hamburger and Sirloin (or something like that)- it was funny hearing the kids call one of them Hamburger all week.










And of course- what would a trip to the country be without animals. Elliott was in heaven. He was constantly following one of my dad's animals around. This was the first time we have ever had a hard time getting him to come inside to eat dinner- he would have preferred to be outside the whole day.



Papa's tractor- Papa let him go in the field and steer it himself- he was so thrilled- it was hilarious. Poor cows- E almost ran them over a couple of times.







A fishing trip with Papa, Sally and the gang. Papa was looking in the water for something and Elliott was all over him.


Kenyon's first reeled in fish- she didn't want to handle it.



Shelly and Collin- there was so much going on and cute Collin just rolled with the punches- he is such a good baby.






Grandma Arlee (as Elliott calls her) took us on a little hike to a waterfall- it was beautiful and different for the kids.



Of course- what would vacation be without a few people getting sick? El and Craig got the flu while we were gone- it was a total BUMMER- it kept us in for a few of our vacation days.










Elliott has been so excited to see Papa's airplane. He built it himself. When E found out that he was going to get to sit in it and have the propeller on- he could hardly handle it- seriously- squeals were coming out. I wish the pictures were better- they hardly show how excited the kids were to be in Papa's plane- he even took them on the runway a bit. As soon as the plane started moving Elliott asked Craig if they were going to get to go up and fly.








We met up with some of Craig's family for a bit on our way back through Utah. Some live there and some were in town for his cousins wedding reception. We went to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum- again- E was totally stoked.



And---what is a vacation through Utah without going to Cabella's- (in my mind it is a fine vacation- but the boys think otherwise- I was happy to oblige.) They have a little target shooting thing- Elliott is a master marksman.





Funny- they only pictures I took at Brandon (Craig's cousins) reception. Elliott was breaking it down on the dance floor with Avery (Jennifer's boyfriend's neice). They were awesome!







Last- we went to see Spencer's new apartment- sans furniture- except the TOTAL GYM. Elliott was working on his muscles with the total gym.


It was a great trip- too short. I was really sad to be leaving Idaho. I don't get home enough- it isn't the easiest place to get to- especially with kids. I guess it will always be something to look forward to in the future. I know Elliott hasn't stopped talking about Idaho since we left......