Homeward Bound

Oh, what a summer! Unfortunately, it is time to say goodbye. We will miss our families and friends that we have gotten to spend so much time with this summer. I also wanted to thank the Smart family for being willing to switch homes with us.
I have to say that our trip back was relatively calm. No-one threw up, we managed to avoid any tornados this time. After our experience coming out we checked the weather channel. Hum, not a bad idea you say. We were able to go through Wyoming (all 12 hrs of it), Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. We left on time this time and got home just in time for everyone to go back to school and work.
I hope you enjoy the pictures, I tried to add some music to the slide show so I hope it works.

Team Clean

I just wanted to post a thank you to our families for helping us clean and help us get ready for our Trek across the country. Honestly, we could never have done it without them. My family drove all the way from Idaho to be with us. I also wanted to thank Rich's parents and sisters for their help with the kids. It meant alot to us, and we miss everyone so much!

Team A- The gardeners

Heather is only pretending to be smiling : )

Yes, my sister can mow the lawn and walk the dog....very talented girl.

I think my brother Trevor is having way too much fun with this job.

Hum, did I say it was break time? Back to work!

Team B- The house cleaners

Not much cleaning going on here. I guess the cute little dog is too much of a distraction. Again, I'll say.....get back to work dangit!

Earrings are a girls best friend, right mom?

After

Before

When I was little I remember getting my ears pierced when I was six. I remember it hurting, a few Beforetears and then a Mcdonalds ice cream cone. So that is what I had envisioned for Rylee. She has been asking to get her ears pierced for awhile now, but I thought six years old might be a good time. We had a girls night out with my mom and sisters (which made it even more special) and got her some new holes for those ears. She was absolutely so brave, she held back her tears and didn't even cry. Unfortunately, one of the earrings fell out in her sleep and by the time I noticed it, which was only a day later, her ear had already closed. We had to back to Claire's and had do it all over again. This time major tears were involved, but she was still brave and wanted to go ahead and do it again. Boy it really is painful to be beautiful!

I' am so excited, I just can't hide it

Party Animals

I just had to post this picture of the boys and their cousins at their sleepover. They had pizza, rootbeer floats and played the Wii until the crack of dawn. The highlight of the evening were when the boys were recreating the swimming portion of the olympics : )

James Family Outing

Rylee with cousin Cora. Her "bestest" friend.

For our last whoo-ha with Rich's side of the family we went to Deer Valley Reservoir in Provo Canyon. On the way there we stopped at Bridal Veil falls, which is absolutely beautiful. We had a BBQ and some serious fishing. Sadly, the only thing that got hooked was uncle Rich.

This is MY place

I think everyone has a "place" that they like to go to. This is my place. This is where I run when I' am at home visiting. I can be there, run 4 miles and could go longer. I long to go everyday. I think that it is because I enjoy being there so much. There is a golf course on the side of the lake and a greenway that goes all the way around the lake. It is so peaceful to be there. Even a town as small as Blackfoot, Idaho has it's wonderful features. I guess that is what makes home, home.

Check out the scenery. Not Rich dang it, the lake.

Boys just wanna have fun

I couldn't help but dying of laughter when I saw these two boys playing "dress-up". They busted out the wig, slippers, and borrowed Rylee's umbrella all on there own. This is Nathan with his cousin Aidan, who he misses deeply.

The most beautiful place

Yellowstone

This summer our last little trip was to Yellowstone National Park, which is in Wyoming. In my mind it might be one of the most beautiful, interesting places to see. It has so much nature and the geology is more than amazing. The kids favorite thing to see of course was "Old Faithful" the geyser that sprays every hour. They also liked the colorful, smoldering, paint pots which were quite stinky. Carson couldn't handle it. He doesn't like anything to smell "off". It was quite humorous listening to him.

We were a little disappointed that we didn't see any bears, we really we hoping for some action! But we did see a bald eagle, moose, buffalo, and some deer. I wish we had more time to see the rest of the park. Next year we plan on staying for a week : ) This is cool Rylee
The paint pots....whoooeee....these things stink

Isn't this taking your breath away beauty?? Everyone needs to come here.

The big 10

"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life." -
(Dior Yamasaki)

Ten years later and still fabulous!
Hey guys, we are over here...

I don't know how many of you have been to your high school reunions, but this year I decided that we would go. The only expectations that I had were ideas I got from the movie Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. Hilarious movie! I am so glad that we went, it was fun to see old friends and even funner to see my friends that I have stayed in touch with over the years.

We attended the park picnic during the day, it was fun to see my kids playing with there kids. At night is when it got interesting. The kid we sat by ( I won't name names) he was a hoot! He told us all about how he got fired from his job, right after his wife filed for divorce, right after she found out that he had two other children with another women, that he didn't even know about until the State of Idaho came knocking on his door. Yep, that was a fun evening!

The Handymen

"We have too much crap, how are we going to get it all home?!"

This is the conversation that led Rich to his new hobby......welding.
When we were first married Rich had an old trailer, that he used to haul his motorcycle. When we moved to Boise it stayed at my parents house. So when we came for a visit this summer Rich decided to resurrect the old trailer so that we could carry all of our extra stuff home. With the help of my dad, brother, and brother-in-law they got it road ready.


Before the welding party.... yep might not make it home

Cabin trip to Island Park

Right before we headed back we had one last family outing to Island Park. It is a beautiful place about an hour away from Yellowstone.
It was like camping but better. You know hot showers, ice cream parlors, wildlife (without the bear attack). It was more than wonderful. We spent our time riding motorcycles, Richard and my brother have the road rash to prove it. Fishing...that was touch and go. Not much biting, but the bugs that were biting us.
We took lots of nature walks and spent some good old fashioned time together!

Gramps and the grans-my favorite picture

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Horsin' Around

Since we have been here in Utah the kids have ADORED... in every sense of the word, grandma's horses. We were able to go to one of her shows while we where there. How many grandmas do you know that competes in horse shows : ) We were so proud!