Visiting Idaho!!

Rather than pay for flying, we decided to try out the new van and take a road trip to go visit my parents in Idaho (who recently returned to the country). I grew up in Burley, Idaho and my parents still live there, but have been out-of-the-country for 2 years serving a mission in the Federated States of Micronesia, specifically Chuuk and Kosrae. We are grateful for their service, but SO happy to have them back in the United States. They returned in September, so we went to see them. We left Friday afternoon(Sept 27) and arrived Sunday afternoon(Sept 29). We spent the week and left the following Friday.

We had a wonderful time. We did some good old-fashioned yard work and helped them get their yard fixed up a bit. The kids enjoyed helping (I guess it is more fun at Grandma & Grandpa's). Grandpa let Alex try out his new machete on some of the big weeds in the garden. He loved that, although I was a bit nervous. Tessa helped Grandma prune, and they hoed and raked. The kids had fun feeding the sheep too, especially Jarem. Alex learned how to drive my parents riding lawn mower and even did a good job mowing Great Grandma Dayley's lawn. He had so much fun that he was shocked when she insisted on paying him. They picked tomatoes that we canned as well, and I even got to bring them home! Jesikah spent as much time as possible rocking, talking to, and playing with her 2 month old cousin, Abby. The kids were all excited to see their other cousins as well.

We also lucked out while we there and got to pick up some fresh Idaho potatoes. One of the trucks was over-weight and had to drop a lot of potatoes back into the field. The farmer offered them to whoever wanted them, so the kids and everyone all piled in grandpa's truck and he drove them out into the field to pick up potatoes. We had a good time. We found potatoes of all shapes and sizes, but the best part is, we ended up with a big box of fresh Idaho potatoes to take home with us and they just don't have those anywhere else!!

Grandpa and Grandma treated us to dinner and a movie while we were there. They made us some yummy food from Kosrae. We loved the lime turnovers and banana pancakes. The kids helped mash the bananas with a pestle-type kitchen tool that they picked up in Kosrae. We enjoyed all their stories about their mission, recipes, and gifts. It was SO great to get out of the apartment for a week and get reacquainted with family.

The kids did great on the trip and we enjoyed some beauty along the way. In one of the pictures in the slideshow below, Jarem is feeding his baby dolphin a piece of licorice. Occasionally Twizzlers were offered for good behavior on the trip. At one point when Jarem's luck ran out, he petitioned for baby dolphin to get a twizzler because baby dolphin had been good. And, what do you know, he did have a point...baby dolphin HAD been good, so baby dolphin got his twizzler. A few minutes after feeding the licorice to baby dolphin he asked, "Can I share with baby dolphin?" It was funny, so we took a picture. He also lined his gummy bears up on the window sill so they could watch him.