Climbing

My super cool aunt and uncle, Sherrie and Walt, took us out for some rock climbing while we were in UT.

Aaron got to lead a climb for the first time.
He did some climbing too.

Sherrie led this difficult climb for us in about 2 minutes...

I spent like 20 trying to just climb the same place. Here I am wondering "where do I go from here?!?"

The girls all tried out their skills. Sherrie and Walt are great coaches.

Alia waaaay up there
Madelyn climbing up
Ashlie seeing how far she's gone
After Matt took his power nap...
He tried a little climbing himself - who needs a harness and rope when Mom's around?
***Thanks again Sherrie, Walt, Anna and Emma for taking us out. We had a great time!***

Pioneers

Our Family at Martin's Cove

Martin's Cove was our destination at the first of this month along with my brother and his family.

***Thanks Tara and Christian for inviting us! It was such a great experience.***

The Handcarts we pulled
The dancing we did
Learning the Virginia Reel and Oh Johnny Oh. These missionaries were so awesome.
The hiking we did
On the dusty trail
Landmarks we saw - Devil's gate
The statue honoring those who carried people across the freezing Sweetwater river
Sweetwater crossing
Ashlie not so sure about crossing...
Wet legs afterwards. Good thing the Wyoming wind blew them dry in about 5 minutes.
We definitely gained increased admiration for the brave pioneers whose dedication and faith sustained them through the trials they endured. We also had a lot of fun learning what it was like to be a pioneer.

Alia - our pioneer girl at heart

Ahh...the memories

Being in Idaho brings back so many good memories. Aaron and I spent a lot of our "growing up" years here. We met each other, fell in love, got engaged, married and started our family here. It's a great place to visit and remember. Staying and spending time with Grandma Mary was so nice.

The falls with Great Grandma H.
(my favorite temple is in the background)
Right where we are standing in the picture below, almost 12 years to the day, Aaron asked me to marry him. I'm so glad he did and that I said YES!
I got to visit with some friends from my high school days. I had such a great group of friends in high school. During that time I didn't have just 1 best friend I had 5. Here I am with two of them. It was so fun to get to chat with them and meet their adorable kids.
Our Kids totally hit it off and had a great time climbing trees, racing and playing together.

The Zoo
I think we visit this zoo every time we visit ID. I love this zoo because it is big enough to have a good variety of animals, but small enough that you can see the whole thing and not have blisters on your feet by the end.

Us being Flamingos. These used to be Ashlie's favorite animal when she was one or two. She called them Flying Mingos at that time.
Alia and Madelyn remember this Lion drinking fountain from our ID resident days. And no it's not lion spit you drink...just good clean water.
This was all we got to see of a tiger at the zoo. The fake one. Which is really too bad because I remember the time when Alia was little we visited the zoo and the REAL tiger growled for her. Now that was cool.
And who could forget Reed's Dairy...We made a stop for ice cream and I got to savor this lovely Peach Cobbler ice cream cone. The delectable taste will forever be in my memory now.
mmmmmm....
And a new memory was made - riding the Rexburg carousel. My girls loved it and Matt thought it was fun too.
Matt enjoying his first ride.

Idaho - The Gem State

We gathered these useful "gems" of information while visiting the gem state...

A 3 person swing is a lot funner with 6 cousins

Being the oldest out of the newest additions does not necessarily mean you're the biggest.

Trail mix is an awesome find at the end of an orienteering activity.

Having such a wonderful family is better than any worldly riches.
Uncle Bob has some interesting fashion sense...