A GREAT Salt Lake City Date!!!

Sam and I were able to meet up in Salt Lake City for a FANTASTIC time together. He had been gone for 7 weeks then came home for 10 days then had to leave again, this time for General Assembly in Atlanta, (our denominations gathering for PCA pastors and chaplains). He left the meeting a day or so early and flew back to Salt Lake City. I hopped a plane here in Boise and flew down to meet him at the airport. (It was WAY cheaper then driving).

After a quick , small lunch we decided to tour the city, starting at Temple Square and the Mormon Taberbacle. The architecture and the gardens were BEAUTIFUL! But the monuments and painting and literature presenting such insane stories as fact were rather sad.

Next, it was off to the Mayan Restaurant. A 40,000 square foot restaurant that seats 1,000 people! You eat up in the trees, overlooking a giant waterfall. Twice an hour divers come and perform. I liked it. The food was good and it was VERY creative. A lot better then cheap sombreros hanging on a wall. But Sam said that guys diving in speedos right in front of him were an appetite killer.
Next, it was off to our concert. Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bently, and Kenny Chesney at the new USANA Ampitheater. Now, the venue itself it GORGEOUS! Overlooking the city and the mounains, we watched the sun set and the city lights come on. AMAZING!!! BUT, the road to get there was so long and so bad, that we were SO LATE! No cops, no traffic control, that a 30 mile trip took us an hour and 45 minutes. So, we completely missed seeing Carrie. I was a little disappointed, I mean, she is there because I voted for her so many times last season after all!! :-) There were 30,000 people and we had bought "cheap seats", they called them lawn seats. We were in the VERY back, leaning on the fence. Could hardly see the stage at all!!!! But enjoyed it. The view, the music, the people watching ( OH MY!!!) , the cool breeze.... it was VERY relaxing!!!
Then it was off to our first (and hopefully not our last) night at the Anniversary Inn. Salt Lake has 2 and Boise has one. They are old, beautiful buildings that have been redone so each room is a different and creative theme. We chose the MYSTERIES OF EGYPT room. VERY CREATIVE!! Go to www.anniversaryinn.com and see all the rooms!

This particular Inn was built in 1884. The small turret room and the very top of the building was our pyramid breakfast nook!
The tub! Ever showered under a spitting cobra!! :-) The tub filled up through a waterfall built into the rocks.
An inside look at the breakfast nook. A DELICIOUS breakfast delivered at a pre-selected time.
Then we drove to Park City to look around and did a bit of Christmas shopping! They LOVE the moose up here!!! A CUTE downtown with lots of shops and places to eat.
Then I wanted Sam to drive into the Olympic Venue. Those of you that know me well know I am an Olympic NUT!! Just wanted to see the places the events took place up close. Thought there might be a museum. NEVER THOUGHT we were about to experience some of it firsthand!!!!!!!!!
Here is a picture of the mens and womens ski jumps. Looks a LOT different then it did 4 years ago covered in snow!!
Come to find out, you can GO DOWN THE MENS JUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have hooked up a zip line from the top of the starting gate ALL THE WAY DOWN!!!
You ride the ski lift up the mountian to the gate. Here is a picture from the chair lift of the start gate.
Here is a picture looking down from the start gate. A little windy, but so pretty!!!!
Since I couldn't take pictures of ourselves, here is the couple who was in front of us. They sit you down in the hanging harness, buckle you in, you bring your knees up to the gate, place your forehead on the gate, and wait for the gate to fly open!!!!!! Just pretend you are an Olympic skiier and are waiting for the starting buzzzer!!!!!!!! The gates fly open, and DOWN YOU FLY!!
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH FUN!!!!
We also rode the toboggan. That was fun. Took some pictures on my way down.
A lot of spirals and S-curves right on the side of the mountian.
Sam's parents are coming out for a visit in September. We will be taking them to Salt Lake!! That was one of the prettiest, cleanest most enjoyable cities!!! The Olympic Park also has a bobsled ride. A professional driver and 3 passengers fly 80 mph pulling 2 G's on the bobsled coarse. We saved that one to do in September!!!!
I was only gone 35 1/2 hours, but what a vacation!!!! It was fun spending time together, seeing new places and exploring more of the West. (Hill Air Force Base is in Salt Lake City. We checked it out. NICE! We might request that base, as we are LOVING this part of the country and want to stay!!!!!!!).

Lots of things to do and see not far from us! Hope this will encourage more of you to come and visit!!!!!!!!!!! We will even set you free for an evening and send you to the Anniversay Inn in Boise! :-)
Thank you to the 3 sets of rotating childcare we had! The kids did fine without us, they had a good time too.

I am ready for another adventure so lets keep the child swap going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Boise Zoo Day!

A group of us decided to head to Boise today and see the animals, have a picnic and enjoy the beautiful weather (highs in the 70's today). The kids had a LOT of fun!

This zoo has awesome play areas and lots of things to climb on!

Kaebrie LOVED the big curly slide. I think they all must have made 25 trips up those stairs so they could slide down. One of the favorite animals were the Meerkats. They could get so close to them! Kaebrie did not want to leave them!

Christopher rode his first Merry-Go-Round and LOVED it. The picnic lunch was great. There is a huge grassy area for the kids to run and play. Collin ended up falling in the pond and spent the rest of the time is wet clothes and shoes, but...... he still had a great time.





The butterfly exhibit was one of the favorites. They REALLY loved Collin. They were landing all over him.





A great day at the zoo makes for sleepy little ones!!

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK!

After a 2300 mile journey, Sam and Collin arrived home safely today at 4pm. Christopher and Kaebrie were THRILLED to see them (as was Mommy!).

Here are some of the best pictures of their camping trip in Yellowstone.

The favorite place was Prismatic Springs, the largest type of its' hot springs in the world. The wind blowing the steam hurt their faces.
There were buffalo crossing the road, elk, deer, ducks, squirrels, and prarie dogs. Collin wanted to see a bear, but secretly Mommy is kind of glad they didnt.

It did rain all night, but their $19.00 tent kept them dry!!

Old Faithful went off within 5 minutes of their arrival. The people who had been waiting for an hour and a half told them they had perfect timing!

Both Sam and Collin had a GREAT time together. I am thankful they had this opportunity to do this together.

Father - Son Cross Country Camp-out!

Sam and Collin started their drive back to Idaho on Friday when Sam was done with Chaplain School. They spent Friday night in Louisville and Saturday morning visiting a lot of old friends. After participating in a wedding Saturday night, the official drive home started.


Collin, who is a true "water-rat" is happy anywhere there is a swimming pool. So the first couple of days is was a LOT of driving, then stopping and a LOT of swimming!
Then the camping started. The new tent worked GREAT! This morning they were off to Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower (which was the FAVORITE). Other pictures are of the famous Corn Palace and Wall Drug Store, both in South Dakota.


They had to stop a little earlier today then planned, the SAAB needs new brake pads and they had to order them. So, they are in Gillette, Wyoming tonight and plan to get the car fixed in the morning and make it to Yellowstone by tomorrow night.

Already, a trip to remember and it isn't even over yet!

Check back for more stories and pictures!

I am off to the airport to pick up Kaitlynn!!!

Fun visit to Alabama to see the Grandparents! (and aunts, uncles and a cousin!!)

Some of our great neighbors here in Idaho have family where we have family! Right near Montgomery, Alabama. They were flying back to spend some time there and agreed to let Collin and Kaitlynn fly back with them so they could spend time with our families!

Sam was already there, having been at Chaplain School at Maxwell AFB for a month, so they also got to see their Daddy!! Collin and Kaitlynn had an adventure EVERY day!



My mom, my sister and her family picked them up at the Atlanta Airport and took them to the new aquarium where they had a lot of fun seeing the fish and watching the new 4D movie!


There were water gun fights at the Memorial Day Picnic with Daddy and his family. There was bowling, movies, golfing,Baskin Robbins, horseback riding, games, staying up late, climbing rock walls, kite flying, and so much more!!

They are having such a special time and I am so glad we decided to send them.

I am relying on all the family to send me pictures, but they have been doing a GREAT job!

Collin and Kaitlynn are old enough to remember this trip for always -- it has been a wonderful and special time with their extended families!! THANK YOU everybody for having them!!