Fall family camping trip.

For us, the camping "season" has usually ended by October, but this year we decided to try a fall camping trip. We had heard of a forest service cabin that can be rented out for cheap, so we thought it might be fun to incorporate that into our trip.  The cabin, located in an area called Squirrel Meadows between Ashton and Island Park, Idaho, is rustic and remote, to say the least.  It does not have electricity or running water and is in a meadow surrounded by forest.  We took our camp trailer, more or less as a way of hauling all of our needs such as food, blankets, towels, clothes, camping "stuff", etc.  Inside the cabin were 3 sets of bunk beds, a kitchen table, a wood burning stove and an old wood burning cooking stove.  We were really hoping to capture the fall colors at their peak of change, but when we woke up to rain again on Thursday as we were getting ready to make the 2 hour drive, we realized there was a chance it could be snowing in the mountains.

As we were packing up the car and almost ready to leave, the kids had started to head outside to load up in the car.  Nicolas came running back in the house and yelled: "I just saw a moose running down the road!"  In my mind I was thinking maybe there was a stray cow from a nearby farm or something, but when I went out onto the porch, sure enough there was a bull moose heading down the road right towards our garden.  Chris was able to follow it shortly and take a couple of photos, though they turned out blurry:

After the moose excitement, we finished loading the car and started driving.  It was raining on and off all the way.  When we arrived in Ashton, we stopped at the US Forest Service building to pick up the keys to the cabin, then continued on for another 20 -30 minutes to get there.  By the time we started pulling down the dirt road towards the cabin, the rain had turned to snow.

Chris immediately got to work building a fire in the stove because it was freezing inside the cabin.  I set to work putting clean sheets and sleeping bags on all the beds and unloading the things we needed to have inside.  The kids started running around outside.  One of my worries going into this trip was that this area has a high known grizzly bear population and typically this would have been a time for high bear activity.  Luckily, the snow seemed to help keep the bears away because we didn't see any the entire 3-4 days we were there.  The rest of the day we spent mostly inside the cabin enjoying the ambiance of the snow falling outside, while we were kept warm by the crackling fire.  We went for a short drive and got a few pictures before too much more of the snow fell.

The next morning when we woke up, I went outside and took some photos and video of the crazy amount of snow we had received:

It continued to snow all day.  We had planned to go for a drive to look for wildlife and take photos of the trees and mountains.  We did venture out for one drive, but the roads were pretty messy - bumpy, gravel, backwoods roads, now covered with 6 or more inches of snow.  We ended up just coming back to the cabin where the kids played out in the snow and we had hot chocolate and played games.

The next day was a little better, as far as the weather was concerned.  It was foggy in the morning, but that burned off as the sun started to come up.  After breakfast and some more playing in the snow, we ventured out again, this time driving up towards Yellowstone.  We made the scenic drive to Cave Falls, then came back and enjoyed an evening campfire, complete with s'mores and stories.

It was kind of a bummer that we didn't get to see any wildlife, apart from a couple of red-headed woodpeckers and a rare siting of some kind of Fisher or Pine Martin (we're not sure what it was exactly, kind of looked like a weasel only much bigger).  But we all had a good time and were sad to come home and leave the tranquility of the wilderness behind.  Then again, we were all dirty and ready for warm showers and our own beds!

Another one hits the double digits!

Happy 10th birthday to our dear, sweet Samuel!

Grandpa's visit!

We just enjoyed a wonderful few days with my dad, who came to visit us from Michigan.  The kids love to have their grandpa come and play, and they were very sad when he left this afternoon.  We started out the weekend on Thursday with a camp-style cookout at one of our favorite local mountain campgrounds.  We spent the evening chowing down on hamburgers, chips, watermelon and s'mores while enjoying a nice campfire and the beautiful surroundings.  Grandpa ran around with the kids playing "bear" and skipping rocks in the creek.

On Friday morning we drove out to Rockland, Idaho to see a windmill farm.  My dad works for a company that supplies parts to build these gargantuan machines.  It really was an amazing sight to see all of those huge windmills against the backdrop of a brilliantly blue sky and the rolling fields that had been recently plowed.

After we took some pictures of the windmills, we headed over to the American Falls Reservoir for a few minutes and a photo op, then we drove down river about a mile to a fish hatchery where the kids were able to feed some rainbow trout in a pond.

After that, we headed back home for some lunch and because Chris needed to get ready for work.  Then my dad and I took the kids into Pocatello to go bowling, followed by dinner at the family favorite Pizza Pie Cafe and a mini-shopping spree at Wal-Mart where the kids were treated to gifts from grandpa.

In the evening we had movie night, watching Despicable Me while having root beer floats and popcorn.  My favorite part was watching Sophie and Nicolas cuddling with grandpa on the couch.  This morning the kids had more fun, playing with grandpa's IPad and enjoying their new "toys".  Grandpa got Sam a new (kids) guitar and showed him how to play a few chords.  Sam is excited to practice and start learning some songs on his own.  After breakfast, we went into town to run a few more errands, then back home for lunch after which my dad had to pack up and head back to Salt Lake to catch his flight.  It was a short trip, but we enjoyed every minute.  The kids were so exhausted that I had no trouble getting them to sleep tonight! :)

Once again I've let more than a month pass by...

It's been over a month since my last post, so I figured it was time for a recap of all that has happened in our family as the summer comes to an end.

In July we had a few family events.  Early in the month we had a little get-together with one of Chris' cousins and her family.  After a picnic lunch, we all went to a water park in Pocatello.  The kids really loved going there, of course.

We also did an overnight camping trip to Big Springs Campground, one of our favorite places to camp.  It was too short, but still a lot of fun.

During the third week in July, our oldest nephew got married in the Rexburg temple.  We were also blessed to have Chris' sister Brittania and her 3 little children and Chris' youngest sister, Sarah, come stay with us for the few days surrounding the wedding.  All of the kids had so much fun playing together and it was nice to have them here with us, even if it was just for a few days.  The wedding was lovely and we're glad we were able to attend.

On August 3rd, Chris and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.  That morning we woke up to some adorable and thoughtful "signs" and cards made by the kids, put out where we would find them when we came out of our bedroom. Chris did a 13 mile training run in the morning, then we enjoyed an evening together at one of our favorite restaurants (Texas Roadhouse), followed by a little shopping.  Not super exciting, but we enjoyed every moment.  We are so happy for any time we have together.

On another one of Chris' days off work, we packed up a little cooler and took the kids to a "beach" about 25 minutes drive away.  It's a little reservoir with a sandy swimming area, picnic tables, playground and frisbee golf course.  The kids had a blast enjoying one last little jaunt before the start of the new school year.

On August 22, the kids started back to school.  Noah is now in the 6th grade, followed by Samuel in the 4th grade, Sophia in the 3rd grade and Nicolas in Kindergarten.  Nick has school all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which means that for 8 hours a day on two days a week there are no kids at home - such a strange feeling!  I don't doubt that I'll find plenty of things to keep me busy and that time will go by in a flash!

The rest of August will continue to be busy...yesterday Chris and I gave talks in church, on Tuesday we have a Court of Honor to attend where Noah will be receiving an award for Scouts, on Wednesday Chris will be heading to Boise (3.5 hours away) for the day for work stuff, then this weekend we will be participating in the Pocatello Marathon.  Chris has trained hard for the Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) and he hopes to have a great time on his first official race ever!  I will be running the full marathon (26.2 miles) and this will be my third marathon in less than a year.  I am very excited and looking forward to running in my own backyard, so to speak.  The weather forecast looks good and it promises to be a great day on Saturday.

September will probably be equally busy, with several things going on.  I have been called to jury duty for the last two weeks of the month, whether or not I have to serve the whole time is yet to be seen.  In the meantime, we're looking forward to a fun visit from my dad, who will be coming from Michigan to spend a couple of days with us.  Also, with the school year back into full swing, the kids will have lots of things going on, and I will be getting back to regular weekly cub scout meetings after a nice (but short) summer break.

Independence Day!

I love celebrating the fourth of July.  Some of my favorite memories from when I was young are of the good times we had getting together with our extended family or going to the lake, having a barbecue, doing sparklers and going to see the fireworks.  For some reason, since I've been married with my own kids, it's become a less celebrated holiday in our household.  I can remember taking the kids when they were babies to see fireworks a couple of times, but Chris has never been a fan of staying out late, dealing with crowds, for 45 minutes of flashes in the sky.  And now, since we don't live conveniently close to many family members, and Chris works most of the time on the 4th, as he did today, we spend a quiet day at home, just us.  We do, however, have the luxury of living on the parade route, so at least we get to enjoy seeing the community honor this day.  I just love seeing all the flags and thinking about how lucky we are to live in this beautiful country.