Trip to Idaho

 We absolutely loved our trip to Idaho! It started off with a two day car ride. It was long but the girls did great. Our first leg was to Missoula, MT and the two pictures on top were at a rest stop and it was funny how crazy Baylor was. You could tell she had been cooped up in the car and was running around everywhere and jumping off everything. Then once we got into Missoula and had some dinner I went in the hotel pool with the girls. They both loved the water and were happy to be out of the car for the day.

Then in the morning we went to this fun bridge in Missoula that had locks all over it and then we walked along the water before getting back in the car for our second leg to Firth.

 It was great to be home and the girls were happy to play outside as soon as we got there.

 We had some gorgeous sunsets that we got to enjoy almost every night. The wheat field across the street from my parents made it even more picturesque. 

 We celebrated 4th of July (see previous post) and then Sunday was a nice relaxing but hot day. My parents were gone most of the day in Rexburg (my dad is a bishop to a married student ward up there) so we had our own little church and then after lunch we went and walked along the river by the high school track. It was pretty but by the end of our walk we were all super hot and ready to get back in the air conditioned car.

 It was fun sharing some of my memories with my family as we walked around and I loved showing Paige and Baylor where I grew up.

That evening Derek and Amy and their family came over for dinner and once it cooled off we had fun playing outside. The girls gathered the eggs, Amy and I did an obstacle course for the girls, and we played a little low key baseball.

 We ended the evening with some Popsicles! These girls have so much fun and are inseparable when they are together.

 Monday we spent the day doing some shopping and getting ready for our family reunion in Island Park. We ended the day with family home evening and then went to a little snow cone shack in Firth for our treat.

 Then we went and walked down in the river bottoms. It was a beautiful walk to the river and the view was gorgeous once we got down to the water. We were throwing rocks in the water and then the mosquitoes started coming out and it turned into something out of a horror movie. We started quickly walking back and then ended up running because the mosquitoes were swarming us. I have never experienced mosquitoes to that extreme ever in my life.

 We were in Island Park from Tuesday to Saturday and I will blog about that next post. Sunday we had our own church and then went over to Derek and Amy's for dinner. The girls had fun doing lots of art and created an art gallery for us to walk through.

 That night once we got the girls to bed, Nate and I went on a little evening walk. It was so beautiful and it is nice to walk at that time when it isn't as hot and you can see the sun starting to set. We went on a walk in the evening quite a few nights that last week there.

 Monday was our zoo day. We met up with everyone and had a fun day looking at all the animals. I loved the monkeys and the river otters. They are so fun to watch!

 These cousins sure have lots of fun together!

 Then we went to a nearby park for a picnic.

 It was another warm day and there was a sprinkler going by one of the parks the kids played on and these three got soaked!

 That evening we had a relaxing evening of some playing outside and Maggie even joined us for a little bit since Sharolyn and her kids were staying at my parents house for a couple of nights.

 Tuesday we took Juliette with us so that Paige could spend more time with her and we went to a place that I have never been before. It is called Fall Creek Falls and is gorgeous. The hike to it was not what I expected. You park and then walk a short ways and you are at the top of the falls. You can see the falls pretty good but the drop off the edge was sketchy and had Nate on high alert.

 We found this path that went down to the bottom. It was very steep but someone at some point had put a rope there to help you on your way. I went down with the two older girls nice and slow and then Nate came down holding Baylor. The view from there was so pretty. It was pretty hot and made me want to jump in but the water there was a bit murky. Then we made the steep climb back up and Juliette was like a little monkey was was up in no time. Paige and I were a bit slower and then Nate one armed it again while holding Baylor- he's pretty amazing and I'm glad he was willing to go down since that view at the bottom was much better.

 ~Gorgeous~

We headed back to my parents house so that Baylor could take a nap and Paige and Juliette could spend more time together. They stayed busy crafting away! Then we met up with Derek and Amy to go to a baseball game. It was fun though hot so we stayed near the top of the stadium most of the time where there was some shade. A foul ball went out in the parking lot and I could see it from the top of the bleachers and saw that no one got it so I took Paige out there to go get it. She was pretty excited about it!

 On the way home we stopped at Arctic Circle in Shelley to get some ice cream to end our fun day.

 Nate and I went on another evening walk. It is so pretty in the evening times here!

 Wednesday was our Rexburg day. We went up in the morning and walked around the temple, around some of campus though most of the buildings were closed, and also we went through the gardens on campus. They were so beautiful and the girls loved all the stairs and water features especially Baylor.

 We have an engagement picture in the same place in the picture on the left so Paige was our photographer to recreate the moment. It was really fun to drive through town and as we were walking through campus to reminisce and talk about all the fun times we had when going to school.

 We met up with some friends that moved from our ward recently and had a picnic and played at Smith park. We had to get a picture of the "party wagon" where Nate and I got engaged and spent lots of time talking and eating Oreos.

 We then drove to see my friend's new house that is almost done. It was so fun to visit with her and see her again. Baylor and her youngest are only about a week apart and were so cute in nursery together. Then after that we went to the nature park and walked around a little and fed some ducks there. More memories there that we talked about and it was so fun to show the girls all these places that hold a special place in our hearts.

 Then we we to Rigby so that Baylor could take a nap at my Grandma's house and also so we could visit with her and I made some dinner. On our way to my Grandma's house we stopped by and saw my Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's grave site. 

 It was so nice to sit and visit with my Grandma. I can tell she doesn't feel the greatest and she doesn't enjoy old age. I loved just sitting and listening to her life stories. It makes me wish I could see her way more often. It was fun to walk around her yard with the girls and talk about the memories I have there. 

The ditch- many, many memories were made in this spot!

 Then we drove with my Grandma to see my Grandpa Walker's grave site. There is a lot of my family that is buried all in this one area. It was fun to have my Grandma point all of them out.

 It was so good to see her a couple of times during this visit and I always miss her so much!

 Thursday was our Blackfoot day. First we went to the Potato Museum with Erika, Grace, and Parker and my parents.

 We then met up with Derek and his girls for lunch and then went over to Jensen's Grove to let the kids play in the water.

 Then that evening everyone stayed at my parent's house for dinner and we found a batch of baby kittens! They were so adorable! I want a baby kitten so much and I want it to stay a baby forever, kind of like how I want my kids to stay little forever too.

 These three stayed very busy crafting in between dinner and holding baby kittens. Here Grandma found some walking sticks for them to decorate.

 Baylor woke up from her nap and got to meet one of the kittens for the first time. She was pretty hesitant and didn't want the kitten to be too close to her. She would pet it from a distance and thought it was pretty funny for it to crawl under her.

 Then we had a fun water balloon fight! It was awesome and it was filled with lots of laughter and everyone getting wet.

 Look at that hair!

 Charlotte and Juliette spent the night and had so much fun crafting and stayed up late star gazing. Nate and Paige were in awe with how many stars you could see and Nate was super excited that he got to see the Milky Way for the first time. Nate put an app on his phone so they could see different star constellations and even pointed out where Jupiter and Saturn were.

Then Friday morning we went up to Idaho Falls and met someone Derek works with to ride some horses. The girls loved it and these horses were so calm.

 I rode with Baylor for a couple of laps and she liked it but was done pretty quick.

 Then our family went with my mom to Freeman Park for a picnic. Nate then took the girls home and I stayed with my mom and I went and saw my dad's new office and we also did some shopping for our trip home.

 That evening Derek and Amy and their family, Erika and her 2 youngest and Karlton and his two kids came down for dinner and to have one last hurrah before us leaving the next morning. It was a fun evening filled with visiting and laughter, more baby kitten time (Baylor loved the baby kittens today and was very possessive and wanted one to stay on her lap the entire time we had them out and didn't want anyone to take it from her), Paige and Juliette flying some kites, and just enjoying time together during the beautiful evening.

 Paige flying her kite WAY up in the air!

 Bria was just too cute in this little outfit and her and Baylor had fun playing together and following each other around.

 That night Nate and I stayed up late to see the Neowise Comet. It was so worth staying up late enough that we were able to see it. I love this picture that Nate got- you can see the Big Dipper on the upper left hand side of the picture and the comet is the middle closer to the bottom. 

 Saturday and Sunday were our traveling days. Paige cried when we left my parents house. She had so much fun with my parents and all her cousins and miss them every time we have to leave them. It was such a good trip and we loved every minute of it and we are grateful that we got to stay as long as we did. We drove through Oregon on the way home and stayed in Hermiston and had fun in the pool in the evening. Because of Covid-19 we got to schedule a time and had the pool to ourselves. The entire way through Oregon there was this sign (on the right) and it felt like a reminder that we were going back to where things are way more strict regarding the virus. The second part of our trip ended up being much longer than planned. We were so close to getting off the exit to go home and there was a motor home that caught on fire and also caught the hillside on fire which created about an hour delay. By the time we got home we were ready to be out of the car!  

It was such an amazing vacation and I already miss my family so much but am grateful for the time and memories that we got to create during this trip!