Rexburg

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July Roadtrip

Rexburg, Idaho

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I LOVED the books Huckleberrry Finn and Tom Sawyer, reading about the boys adventures makes me think boys were made to live that way more than they do.

It was super neat to experience small town life in the country... Chrissy lives out in farmland, and the country roads were so fun for the kids to bikeride. There was this pond like half a mile down the road from Chrissy that the kids road their bikes to and swam in a few different days.

They also road their bikes one day 10 miles to the Rexburg temple, and without adults. Chrissy and I also went and did a session in the temple one day.

And ofcourse had to visit: Sooo, I was way excited to be AT a BYU school. Truth be known, I was always jealous of my girlfriends who went to BYU!!! I always wanted to... but I had a scholarship to ASU, and well, then I got married when I was 18. Then who would want to go to BYU when you couldn't date all those mormon boys anyhow... ha ha. So, never went.

Wearing my new BYU IDAHO sweatshirt (and remember its summer, yah, don't even want to know how cold it gets here in the winter!!)

Yellowstone

While up at the cabin in Island Park, we went to Yellowstone National Park for the day. This is in Wyoming, but you have to drive a tiny bit in Montana to get there... sweet, 3 states in 1 day!

It was a beautiful day, though I would have to say the highlight for me was later in the day. On our drive back to Idaho/Chrissy and Rich's house... we went to a place called "Mesa Falls". It is a gigantic waterfall area in Idaho surrounded by thick lush trees. It smelled like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride... and when I walked up and saw the magnificence of the waterfall, it made me cry it was so beautiful. I will never forget that. Even the most beautiful man-made thing can not compare with God's creations. I wish instead of living in a city, we could just live out in nature, where you are closer to the world God made than the world man made.

The Cabin

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July Roadtrip

Next Stop: IDAHO
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Bruce flew home after grandkids camp, and the kids and I drove up to Idaho to see my sister Chrissy's new stomping grounds. None of us had ever been to Idaho before... and the drive was BeAuTiFuL!

My sister and the kids changed the words on the sign (on their land on the highway) to welcome us:

The day after we got there we left to go up to Rich's families cabin in Island Park. I can't believe after only 3 months of Chrissy being married how close my kids feel to Rich's kids. He has 4 (exactly my Dallin, Emma, Logan and Lily's age) and my kids couldn't WAIT to hang out with them again! We LOVE Rich's kids!!!

It was beautiful there, the kids loved being with their "new cousins" again. They played on that bouncy thing in the lake for a long time, even though the water was COLD, they roasted hot dogs outside around the fire pit, and that evening because I was in Idaho for the first time... we all had to watch "Napolean Dynamite" for the first time, it was so funny.

There was a big bedroom with a bunch of beds upstairs that all us girls shared... so Sophie slept in the portable crib right next to me... I didn't get much sleep because she kept waking up and I would hurry and get her before she woke up anyone else in the room. Often a sleep deprived adventure with a baby... but still fun.

Kaysville

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July ROADTRIP

Kaysville & Grandkids Camp
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Above are the kids with their Kaysville cousins, the "Spacklings" (referring to the offspring of the "Spackmans")

The Spackman family below, (Bruce's sister)

Sophie, Lily and I stayed at their house for 4 days while Bruce took all the kids up to grandkids camp. Bruce's mom and husband do a camp every other year for all the grandkids 8 and older. They LOVE it. And his parents do such a great job planning all kinds of activities: hiking, outside cooking, crafts, games, spiritual messages, family history, etc... Bruce loves to help so he can spend more time with his mom. (and he is so good with the kids)

New family picture taken at their house after church:

Lily and I got Jessica's room, and Sophie stayed in the portable crib in their food storage room next to us! Lily's uncle Brent and Aunt Rayeann took her to Cherry Hill water park, which she loved.

PVC Pipes

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July Roadtrip

Brigham City, Utah

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Shucking Corn:

Our first stop was a few days visiting Grandma Judy and Grandpa Val.

It was so refreshing to play outside in their backyard, WHAT, there's places you can do that in the summer?!

Grandpa Val has a storage shed filled with PVC pipes and joints for the kids to build with, and literally, they did this... for.... hours....

They made forts and we made a big obstacle course that was so fun.

Whenever my kids can find great enjoyment in creative play, outside play and doing things that are outside of the "typical" recreation list, for a moment in time I feel like I am a good mom. I really feel this type of play when they're younger will help them know from experience when they are in highschool that you DON'T have to do what everyone else is doing to have fun. Love that.


I am a jungle gym. I am not joking, if I just lay in the grass on my stomach, my baby and 4 year old will find entertainment jumping on me for a long time, and thats great... because for a while... I can just lay there and do nothing! :)




LOVED visiting Brigham City, WALKING to the miniature movie theatre on Main St, using the "flag" system to stop cars crossing the street on Main instead of a cross light, playing outside, visiting Grandma and Grandpa, and thinking every moment,
"why dont WE live in a small town?!!"