Independence Day In Idaho

We spent Independence Day in Idaho this year.  We had so much fun!  Let me tell you all about it:

We left after David came home on Wednesday evening.  Considering how late it was, the drive went pretty smoothly.  We pulled in to Grandma and Grandpa Gee's driveway around 11:00 pm.  We pretty much said, "Hello...goodnight..." and went to bed.

On Thursday, July 3rd, we spent the morning with our grandparents.  Thursdays are their P-days, so they were home all day.   We ate french toast for breakfast.  Yummy!  Then, we went to Kershaw Intermediate school in Sugar City to go for a little walk.  They have a nice waling path around their athletic field.  While we were there, they were installing some neat equipment to make it a cross training path.  Every 20 yards or so, there is a fitness apparatus designed to do chin-ups or incline push-ups or box jumps, or the like.  It's going to be great when it's done!  We walked around the path once. Then, the kids played on the jungle gym equipment for a few minutes.  When we got home, we started up the four wheeler and took rides.  It was a beautiful, fun morning.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Josh

David and Alison

Bronson and Grandpa

Daivd and Josh

In the afternoon, all the local cousins came over for a visit.  It was so much fun!  That was one of the main reasons we came - to spend lots of time with our family.  I'm grateful to Kristi and Amy for letting us mess up their daily routines for a few days and spending as much time as they did with us.  We loved it!

L-R: Ellie, Caden, Amy holding Pace, Eli, Kami, Suzette, Grandma, and Kristi

Our girls LOVED spending time at the farm.  Of particular interest were Kristi's old camper trailer which is being stored there, and the little calves.  L-R:  Abby, Maddie, Nicole, Isabelle, Alison.

For dinner that evening, Grandma and Grandpa took us to our old favorite restaurant - New Fong's. It was such a delight to eat there again!  We miss that place.  The owner remembered us and asked us if we'd moved because she never saw us any more.  That was sweet (and a little disturbing - I didn't realize we'd eaten there so much!)  We ordered a TON of food - and ate every single bite!  Oh, how I love New Fongs!

The aftermath.  I forgot to take pictures sooner - you gotta be quick in this family if you want a picture of food!

Friday morning was the 4th of July!  We had a delicious pancake breakfast hosted by Shawn and Amy.  Their house is the most beautiful, magical place.  Sounds sappy, right - but you'd agree if you were there! The morning was crystal clear and coolish and perfect.  After breakfast, we headed to Rexburg to stake out our spots for the parade.  Many of our family members ran in the 1 mile fun run which took place before the parade, so we cheered them on.  Then, all the cousins stood together and chased down candy throughout the parade.  It was hot, but fun.  The best part about it for me was seeing Ellie and Caden in the parade!   Ellie was a flag twirler and Caden was with his student council.

I'm not going to do it, but I COULD list every person in this picture.  

Cute picture of Kristi.  She's expecting her 7th child.  We found a teeny little tree to eek some shade out of.  Bronson looks pretty bored next to her waiting for the parade to start.

Nciole.

Quin getting a diaper change in his stroller.

The diaper changer.  This is what happens when you ask Alison to take a few pictures.  She captures all the important moments like diaper changes.

Adorable Pace!

Love this picture of Abram and Amy.

We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa there - the 4th of July is the ONLY day in the whole year that the visitor's center is closed (due to the fireworks show in Idaho Falls).  

Grandma and Grandpa found a great spot right in the shade of Key Bank.

That first little girl isn't part of our group, but then it goes Bronson, Joshua, Alison, Nicole, Isabelle, and Ainsley.

Bron is NOT a fan of loud sirens.

Scrambling for candy.

Bronson decided to sit in the shade next to Uncle Terry and eat for a while.

There's Caden!!!  The picture I tried to get of Ellie is just a picture of a person holding a Jamba Juice sign up right in front of her.  Bummer!

Happy girls!

Not a great picture of me!  But I love the reflection of David in the window behind me. He photo-bombed his own photo.

Once the parade ended, we ate a quick lunch, then headed to Rexburg Rapids.  It was crowded and crazy, but a great place to spend a hot holiday with family.

Nicole, Alison and a couple of random citizens.

Joshua

Maddie, Abby, Alison and some lady.

Grandpa Gee cooked an amazing Dutch oven dinner for us that night.  Caden made home made ice cream.  We lit a couple of fountain fireworks at home, and many family members watched the Rexburg fireworks show.  What a perfect 4th of July from start to finish.  Does it get any more perfect?!?!?  I think not!

On Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa had to spend the morning at the visitor's center.  We spent that time visiting a couple of people.  First, we stopped at my best friend Heather Daybell's house.  She and her family just barely finished building a new home in Salem - they were still moving in.  They had actually been renting Grandma and Grandpa Shirley's old house for a few months while they were building.  Small world, eh?  Anyway.  Seeing Heather and her family again was so much fun!  She and Matt hadn't changed a bit, but their kids were totally transformed!  It must be what a missionary feels like when they come home after a couple of years and their siblings are so grown up!  I almost fell over when I saw a couple of her kids!  It was the same for Heather.  She said, "Alison!  I can't believe how grown up you are!"  Which made us all laugh because she said it to Nicole.  She REALLY couldn't believe how grown up the real Alison was.

Heather's new house is amazing!  Like, 12-acres-of-wooded-bliss-with-a-river-running-through-it-and-a-huge-majestic-rustic-hunting-lodge kind of amazing!  It's seriously magazine worthy!   Those Daybells know how to do things right - every little detail was stunning.  I am so happy for them!  They worked hard for it and I'm glad they can rest a little bit and enjoy it now.

After the Daybell's (and a quick pit stop at McDonald's to soothe the hungry beasts) we went to Suzette and Kory's house in Idaho Falls.  It's a great house in a great neighborhood!  We couldn't be happier for them!  Our kids tore into their toy closet the second they walked in, and we visited with them for a few minutes.  After that, we stopped at our old favorite ice cream store, G's Dairy, and ordered the most delicious, creamy ice cream of all time.  Uhhhhhggghhhgg!  I want more!!!

That evening, we had another family gathering.  This time, we ate Taco Trash (a huge, delicious taco salad  - it's in the second cook book).  Kristi and Terry were missing due to Kristi's 20 year high school reunion, but their kids were with us. Grandma Gee surprised me by making a birthday cake (complete with a fire-hazard blaze from 37 candles) and gathering the crowd to sing happy birthday to me.  My birthday was coming up in a few days.  So fun!  It was another great night.  Except, this time when we said goodbye, it was for the last time.  Bummer.

What I love about this picture:  Nicole is completely blocking the birthday cake.  Clockwise from me:  Me, Abby, Alison, Bronson, Isabelle, Nicole.

There it is!

On Sunday morning, David woke up EARLY!!! and drove up to the Teton Basin to get some sunrise pictures of the Grand Tetons.  Our plan is to blow one up really big and frame it for our home.  See, David loves the Tetons, but almost all commercial pictures of them are from the "wrong side."  Dave grew up looking at this side of them, and that's the side he loves.  So, he took some amazing pictures and had a beautiful, peaceful, restorative morning by himself.  I was just starting to wake up when he came home.

The really hard part will be choosing just one picture to frame.  I love so many of them.  Here are a few.  If you have a favorite, please vote for it!
#1

#2

Not really in the running because it's not of the Tetons, but gorgeous anyway!

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

We went to Sacrament meeting with Grandma and Grandpa Gee.  It's fun to go to their ward.  The chorister was David's cousin.  One of his aunts gave the opening prayer, and another cousin's son bore his testimony.  Grandpa Gee also bore his testimony - which was a very special thing for my kids to hear, I think.  We are very blessed that all four of our childrens' grandparents are such exceptional people!

Grandma Gee made us a heavenly roast beef Sunday lunch.  It brought back childhood memories for both David and me.  Then, we packed up and headed home.  Again, the drive was pretty successful.  Only a little crying and only a few pit stops.  No deaths - unless you count the million bugs on our windshield.  We were home by 7:00 pm.

But the Gee family fun didn't stop there!  The very next morning, Nathan and his family came over for breakfast!  They were on vacation for a couple of weeks - spending some time with both of their extended families.  We were feeling bad that we weren't going to be able to go back up to Rexburg, so its was super fun for us to see them here before they drove up to McCall.

Clockwise from Left:  Dawn, Andrew, David, Bronson, Hailey, Nicole, Nathan, Emily, Alison's chin, Joshua, Jonathan, Kahri.