We're Back!

The whole family

Kyle and me

Jessica and Kylee, Me and Chase, and Katy and Ava

Jessica, Chelsey, Whitney, me, and Katy

Whitney, Chase, McKenzie, and Samantha watching Sesame Street

Family picture (thanks Uncle Brent for finally getting Chase to smile!)

Whitney kicking back and relaxing on her Uncle Kyle

Whitney and Chase playing

Chase and Whitney at the splash park

"That was totally wicked!" (I really don't even know where this face came from)

We just returned from our vacation to Idaho. We're both so sad that it went so quickly, but the week was jam packed with fun, family, and awesome food! What more can you ask for? I thought I'd taken more pictures than I actually did but I will post the ones I did take. Here's a little recap of our wonderful week!

We arrived in Idaho on Saturday and we had dinner and visited at Kyle's parents home. It was so nice and beautiful outside. We both love Idaho summer nights, mosquitoes aside. The weather is almost always great, with soft cool breezes and the sun seems to never set! We'd forget what time it was because the sun would still be out well after eight at night. We stayed at Kyle's brother Scott and his wife Christina's home. They were wonderful hosts and they made us feel right at home in their home. Thank you so much for letting us crash at your home for a week. Your girls are so sweet, and you guys always make us feel so welcome when we're there.

On Sunday we went to church with Kyle's parents and Kyle got to see how much his home ward has changed. We enjoyed seeing old faces, Chase did not have the same idea though, because I've never seen him act as crazy as he did that day in church! He was bouncing off the walls! Needless to say we only made it to sacrament meeting and part of sunday school.

Almost everyone else came in on Sunday. So Nicole and Brent and Kyle's aunt and uncle Lynn and Jim and their daughter Jessica arrived. We all gathered at Scott and Christina's and had a delicious Italian cuisine prepared by Christina. We just talked that night and caught up on everyone's lives and enjoyed one another's company.

Monday we went to the Playmill at West Yellowstone. We saw "See How They Run" and it was so much fun. Afterward we went to ice cream at the yummiest little ice cream shop ever, in West Yellowstone. It used to be called Arrow Leaf's but the owner and name have changed since then to Moose Berry's. The ice cream is still scrumptious though, and we always LOVE our experience at the playmill. We all called it a night, well kind of. We were supposed to go to bed early because the boys were all going on a hike the next day but Kyle and Scott thought it was necessary to rock out with Guitar Hero until the wee hours of the night. Christina and I just talked and watched them play, and I tried the occasional song. "Barracuda" was the only song I didn't get boo'd off stage for, I put it on our music playlist so you can see why. It has all those repeater notes that make it easy for me to hit!

Tuesday almost all the guys set out on a long day of hiking. I was surprised that Kyle and Scott actually made it out of bed. They probably only had like 4 hours of sleep that night. The girls all took our little ones to the splash park. Chase has always been our little water baby and the splash park was no exception. He was enthralled by it!

Wednesday we were all on our own. We had some friends that we wanted to visit and some sights to see in Rexburg. It seems like every time we come up, it's grown and changed quite a bit. I went to my old stomping grounds at Bio Medics and visited some of my favorite co-workers. It was so great to see everyone. I love seeing my friend Katy every time come up. We met as co workers, and the first time I saw her stick a needle in a donor's arm and then pull off her gloves so I could shake her slimy hand, I knew we'd be great friends! I also got to see a couple of my trainees Chelsea and Whitney. I called up another friend and co-worker Jessica and she was so sweet to meet us there also. It was such a fun visit, I really miss working with those girls! Kyle's brother Kelly and his wife Carrie came in on Wednesday so we all went over to the parent's house and cooked out. We had delicious hamburgers, hot dogs, smore's, you get the idea, really good food! We sat by the fire pit and roasted our marshmallows and talked and told a progressive group ghost story. We'd go around and everyone took a turn adding something to the story. It was...interesting and lots of fun!

Thrusday we went to do a session in the Rexburg temple. It was so beautiful inside and out. Kyle's parents had the opportunity to be tour guides in the temple during the open house. So they knew a lot of really neat facts about the temple and the different rooms inside. We even got to see the brides room, and the baptistry while we were there and they were gorgeous. The wood accents within the temple are all made from wood imported from Africa, it was breathtaking.

Friday was the 5k and the 4th of July parade. Brent and Nick ran in the 5k and they both did an amazing job. They ran strong and got really great times. Kyle and I didn't run because we missed pre-registration so it would've been 50 dollars for us to run in it. That was way more than I could bear, so we are going to hold out for the Race for the Cure. I did go to the parade with Chase though and all the guys went golfing. I don't know how Chase felt about the parade, it was a pretty warm morning and I don't think he was feeling it, but I had fun. We had a huge babreque with extended family in the afternoon. We had dutch oven chicken and potatoes that were amazing, and yummy waterelon and delectable desserts. Kyle's mom Diann made her famous baked beans and there were yummy pasta and jello salads to top it all off! We spent the rest of the day eating relaxing and having a lot of fun. We watched fireworks from the front yard later that night and then went inside and played games.

All in all it was such a great vacation we loved visiting our family and friends and only wished that we could have stayed longer or that it wouldn't have gone by so fast. We can't wait until the next one, we love you guys and miss you all already!