For the Labor day we went for a hike at Harriman State Park. This is the last fun thing we got to do before school started the next day. It was beautiful. My friend told me that I was pretty much guaranteed a moose sighting. Well she was wrong we didn’t see any moose. We did however see a lot of moose scat but no moose. We did enjoy the water fowl that we saw. There were a lot of geese, a few swans, a pelican and a couple of cranes. We did the golden lake loop which was a very easy hike. We hiked in total 4.5 miles. The only person who seemed tired of walking was the littlest. It’s the longest she has hiked without having to ride on daddy’s shoulders. It drizzled on us off and on throughout the day. It was never enough to soak us through but enough to keep us cool. This area is also one of our favorite spots to cross country ski. They groom the trails in the winter and it is so beautiful covered in snow.
We have gone on a couple of hikes this season. We did Hell’s half acre again but this time we hiked a little further along the red line. Sophia walked about 2 miles but Corey had to carry her for a mile in between. It was a fun first hike.
What a cute group of people
Eating lunch
Family Photo
Corey Hiking with Sophia
Preston Shooting his new BB gun
Another hike that we went on was Palisades creek trail. It is actually a pretty easy hike just really long. In total we hiked about 5 miles (Sophia 4 miles). If you went about 1.5 miles more then we would have made it to the lake. The kids kept complaining all the way hiking in but on the way out they were just fine. On the way back we sang songs to take their minds off of hiking. I wish I had thought of that on the way in. Corey and I are hoping that we can make it to the lake next time. It was a very pretty hike.
The creek that goes along the trail.
Pretty wild flowers
Hiking the trail
More traill
More wild flowers
Corey’s sneeky bouquet. He put flowers in my backpack while I was hiking.
Our family likes to go on a small hike to kick off the camping/hiking season. In May we decided to hike the North Menan Butte. It’s about a mile up the butte. Over all we hiked about 3 miles. Sophia made it to the top and then Corey had to pack her around the rest of the way. She did pretty well for her first hike on foot. I have to say it was a little challenging, although it doesn’t look it, most times it felt like we were hiking straight up. It was a beautiful day to hike and once we reached the top we loved the view. At the top there are many different rock formations that the kids (and Corey) loved to climb around in and on.
The boys starting out up the butte
A nice little critter we saw along the trail
taking a rest
Beautiful spring flowers
Taking another rest
One of the many caves up the butte
Cute little hiker with her cute little backpack
Lunch time
The view from the rim
Corey climbing around on the rock formations. "I'm king of the Mountain"
Hiking back out of the caldera and then on down the butte
Corey and I recently celebrated our 13th anniversary. Corey told me he had a plan and it turns out it was a good one. We dropped Sophia off at a friends and during the middle of the day, while the boys were at school, we went on a bike ride. We biked from our home the short distance to the green belt. Then we took our time riding along the green belt. After about an hour we went to out to lunch to Pachangas a little Mexican restaurant in downtown Idaho Falls. After lunch we took our time making our way back around the green belt and then home again. I forgot that we had a hill to climb to get back to our neighbourhood. I’m sure I was a sight fighting with all my might to make it up the hill without stopping. We did it though and we have the sore bums to prove it. I can’t believe it’s been 13 years but it is also hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since our first date. Corey said something sweet the other day. He said “You were my girlfriend way before you ever knew it.” I sure do love that man of mine.
Okay, I kind of have a feet thing. I hate feet they are gross and disgusting and I normally would never post pictures of my foot. Today I make an exception. So if you also don’t like to look at feet feel free to skip.
For a couple of months I’ve been meeting with some friends to play volleyball/basketball on Wednesday nights. We started playing volleyball and never got quite enough people to play so then we started playing basketball. I don’t play either sport very well but liked doing it for the exercise and also for the company. Well last night things turned sour for me. After I went up for a shot I landed on a friends foot. That was the end of that. My foot quickly rolled off and, yep, it’s sprained. This isn’t the first time I have sprained this particular foot. Actually it’s the fourth. It never feels good and takes a long time to get back to normalcy but I have to say that with each sprain it gets a little easier. Not the pain that still sucks but at least I know what to do about it now.
I remember the first time I sprained my ankle. I was probably around nine. We were getting ready to head out for Disneyland. My grandpa was watching us while my parents were getting some last minute things for our trip. We were racing back and forth in the front lawn and at some point I rolled my ankle while turning to run the other way. I went in the house and my siblings convinced me not to tell grandpa, mom, or dad. I don’t blame them. We were afraid my parents would cancel the trip. It wasn’t until about 4 hours into the trip when we stopped at a rest stop and we all got out to “get the wiggles out.” My siblings again started to race, not wanting to be left out, I also tried and immediately realized I couldn’t walk on it let alone run. My mom noticed and the story unfolded. We did end up going to Disneyland where I spent a lot of that time in a baby stroller. Very embarrassing for a nine year old but I suppose I deserved it. I did ask my mom if we had told her about it before we left if we would have gone and she said probably not. So my siblings and I were justified in not telling her …right?!.
I’m really thankful that when I sprained it this time that I had great friends who helped me out. One had a compression bandage in hercar. We were at the church so another went and got ice from the kitchen. We got it all wrapped up and they helped me out to a car and drove me home. Another friend followed in my car. They were so great and I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish playing. I’m also grateful for a wonderful husband who was there for me when I got home to carry me into the house. He also stayed up with me until the pain subsided a little and I could relax. Well I guess this is one way for me to get a day off. Not able to do much around here so I just need to learn how to relax and enjoy it.
Where'd the ankle go?
These pictures don't do it justice it really looks gross
This past weekend Corey and I had the privilege of visiting Austin Texas for his sister’s wedding. My mom flew over so she could watch our kids for us. This was such a blessing for us. This is the first time we have left our kids for more than one night at a time. It’s been over 2 years since we have had an over night trip together.
Austin is a very active city. We were on the go all the time. There were people everywhere. We had such a good time seeing the different things and eating at different places. I can’t believe how many places there are to eat at. We had so many options I could’ve spent another month there and still not have eaten at each place. When we first arrived in Austin his sister, aunt and uncle picked us up at the airport and then we went to a restaurant called 24. Apparently the owner of the restaurant is going to be on the show top chef this season. Here we met Lisa’s fiancé, Neal, and ate lunch. Neal is so nice and perfect for Lisa. We had a great lunch. Corey ate chicken and waffles. I had a burger with some whipped potatoes. Those potatoes were the best I’ve ever had. This is much of how the weekend went. We just hung out with family and tried new places to eat.
On Lisa’s wedding day I woke her up, much to her disapproval, and we went for a walk with her mom. Afterwards we picked up her bouquet and other flowers. Then Lisa and I had our hair done. Her hair was so perfect and pretty it brought tears to my eyes. It was so fun to spend time with Lisa. It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to do so. She lived with us for two weeks while at BYU. She was actually living with us when I had Preston. Then again she was there for me when my mom had her accident and I pretty much lived at her aunt and uncle’s house (where she lived at the time). She would take me to the hospital navigating the streets of Portland. This was such a blessing at the time. After she put her wedding dress on and did her make-up she looked like something out of a magazine. So beautiful. Her reception was at a place called Parkside. It was fun and different. She had some dancing there which was great because Corey and I haven’t danced together for quite some time. I loved that his cousin’s wife Jennifer knew the steps to thriller. Austin is so busy all the time it was funny to see that it gets even busier after 11 pm. We kept asking ourselves all weekend does anyone work here?
When we arrived in Austin Lisa gave everyone a gift bag. We had vouchers for bike rentals. So on Saturday morning Corey and I rented our bikes and rode around their bike trails. It was really fun and a great way to see the people and places of Austin.
After biking, on Saturday afternoon, Lisa had a trapeze class set up for us. Yes that’s what I said TRAPEZE. It was a little different but ended up being really fun. Corey did get sick his second time around and had to sit out the rest of the time. I went four times before I said that was enough. The toughest thing about the whole experience was getting over how tight the harness was. When they put it on they tighten it then they have you raise your arms and when you don’t think it’ll go any farther they tighten it some more. It reminded me of saddling a horse. I really had a hard time breathing. It was a really big relief when I finally got to take it off.
All in all we had a really wonderful weekend. We love hanging out with Corey’s family. They always make me laugh. I wish we could’ve stayed there longer but alas we have children and work. My mom did such a wonderful job with the kids. Sophia cried when she left. I wish she lived closer so they would have more opportunities to see her. Thanks Lisa for getting married so we could have this great vacation!
Okay so about 6 months ago I found out that Idaho Falls has an adult tennis league. I had a friend call me up and ask if I wanted to join her team. I was totally psyched about joining their team. However found out that I couldn’t join because I’m ranked a 1/2 a point higher than their team. The reason I’m ranked that way is because I played in high school. That was 14 years ago and I really haven’t played since. So I’m really rusty and it doesn’t seem fair. I ended up joining another team. It was a real hassle. Game play started at the beginning of June. We have played about 6 or 7 games and I’ve only won a couple of those. That’s okay because I remember the real reason I like to play. It’s fun. It really doesn’t matter if I win as long as I’m having fun with the people we play. We only have a couple more games left in the season. I’m a little relieved that it will be over soon because we have had issues with rescheduling rained out games. Also having problems with scheduling issues within my own family. It is also a little tough on the budget. We have a membership fee, a league fee, you have to buy your own balls (new can for every home game), gas (my team is in Rexburg 30 min drive), and recently I’ve had to pay a babysitter. I’ve easily spent over 100 dollars for playing for only 1 and 1/2 months. So I’m hopeful that my husband will be willing to take me to the courts on Saturday mornings or afternoons. That way I can still keep up a level of skill and also still have fun doing something I love.
