Summer Vacation in Arizona

Do you know someone that everyone loves to hang around because they are so fun?  Well, I was raised with one of those people…my brother, Wade.  He has a gift at entertaining people with his stories, humor, wisdom, talents, and with his home.  With our decision to move out West, my kids then figured we could go visit Uncle Wade and his family.  After the 3rd day in a row of them asking, I got the courage to email him and ask if we could drive down to pay them a visit sometime in July.  He was gracious enough for me to feel like we would not be imposing and said Mandi and the kids were already coming.  Well, if 3 of the 4 of us were going to be there, my parents wouldn't let that pass them by and then we just had to invite Becca and the kids (knowing Matt couldn't come).  So, it turned into a full Alleman reunion minus 3 dads (Steve, Ryan, and Matt).  The kids had a marvelous time!

Wade's house is basically a resort.

The kids would play outside in their pool/water park.

Life was easy-going and full of hand-holding

bathing beauties

flips

bubbles

dare-devil stunts (2 year old Drew is amazing!)

fun in the sun

lots of competitions even though Grandpa still holds the record for the highest splash!

Basketball shots mid-air

Wade's crazy antics in his white speedo

He is "The Stormin' Mormon".   I guess we can now call him "Bishop Stormin'".

 He is also now the proud shared owner of a beautiful boat, which gave us the opportunity to have fun tubing and swimming in 90+ degree water.  (lovin' it)

Check out the air they caught!

These 2 ladies were such good sports dealing with young kids.

 They mother with grace.

Even Wade got a turn with all the boys (including Drew)

This gave John strength to give it a try and look at that face of achievement!

Even Max tried it after being scared out of his wits by watching his brother and the big boys get thrown.

Carter volunteered to take care of Nora while her mom was comforting Max on the raft.

One of my favorite captured moments.

Jumping in to cool off was a must every 30-45 minutes.  The heat was unbelievable!

Yes, I got to be the leader of the girls on the hot dog!

We were fortunate to celebrate Max's birthday a day early!

Watching these kids bond and become close friends was so much fun!

Thank you for sharing your home, your pool,

Your boat

Your Joshua Tree National Forest (weird, but awesome)

And your terrific family!  We can't wait to do it again!

Elko

After many years, I was finally able to go back home.  It hit me that it had been a long time when my girls didn't even know what my parents' home looked like.  Ugh!  Well we had a great time. We were able to visit the museum and see the animals--a special exhibit of animals that 1 MAN had hunted and had preserved.  Truly amazing!

Evan's new school is Taylorview Junior High and has a wolverine for its mascot.

Carter will be my favorite Otter (summer swim team mascot)

Braxton is now cheering for the Idaho Falls High School Tigers.

But we all LOVE the Cougars!  

 My dad was patient and let us all go shooting his guns.  This was the highlight of my boys' last trip to Elko and they were dying to try it again.

 Even Emma got a turn.

Lizzie didn't want to be left out.

 The handgun was something new.

We also took turns on Grandpa's 4-wheeler.

Some of us had more fun than others…Evan was given the OK to ride on it by himself (since he was over 12); however, it turned disastrous as he tried to take a hill that was too steep and rolled it over on top of himself.  He broke the ATV and his collarbone.  This is a lesson he will never forget, I am sure!

 My 20th Class Reunion was this weekend and was much more fun than I had even expected.  I loved catching up with friends.  These 2 ladies are so fun!

Saturday in the park was so hot--100+ degrees!  But I had to brave it so that I could see these beautiful women!  I have to admit that I still adore some of the guys in my class.  I was raised with some classy, good people.

The cherry on top was being invited by my good friend, Jess Boucher, over to his house to see his mother.  Mrs. Boucher was my 5th grade teacher and will always hold a special place in my heart.  That year, I was bullied by a few girls who sent around a petition trying to get my teacher fired because I was the "teacher's Pet".  Everyone but 1 friend of mine signed it.  I hated going to school and developed an ulcer that year.  But this lady, who looks the same as she did 27 years ago, would always give me a smile and make me feel safe and cared for.

Then, my 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Sheehan, showed up for dinner.  What luck!  She and Mrs. Boucher have been friends forever and so we got to chat with her for a bit.  I had the chance to tell her all my memories of math races at the front of the board, her St. Patrick's Day attire, heads-up 7-up, making bird nests out of chinese noodles and chocolate chips, and the owl clock who helped me figure out how to tell time.  I was one lucky girl.  It confirmed to me that it really does take a community to raise a child.  I have been richly blessed by being raised in a tight-knit and small community like Elko.  

Summer in Idaho

We are trying to tap into all the beauty and fun that Idaho has to offer.  After talking to numerous people for ideas, we came up with some summer musts.

Here are a few…

Emma and I went to a camp where they host scout groups and activity day groups.  So fun!

She was thrilled that she could hit the target!  

And BMX biking is not your typical girlie activity.  Loved it!  I even got to ride the course a few times (with my knees by my ears on those teeny bikes) .

 Lizzie learned to ride a 2-wheeler.  Once she started she has ridden nearly every single day.

A huge benefit is being close to family.

Steve's cousin's family came up from Utah and the Shelleys invited us to go to Downatta Hot Springs.

What a great day!

They call it the redneck hot springs.  The 2 slides were a blast (when they weren't too hot).  For some, it was too warm, but for me…it was perfect!

 Another major benefit to living here is that we are only 10 minutes away from the temple.  I get to go every week with a group of ladies and my kids have had more opportunities to go as well.  

Bar J Wranglers was a blast!  The Pococks came to visit and had extra tickets so we met them at the ranch and spent a wonderful evening with the Neilsen family listening to some funny, talented men.

 The girls had a blast seeing their friend, Katelyn, again.

 After dropping Braxton off at EFY, the rest of us headed over to Rexburg Rapids for some fun in the water.  Our friends, the Klaiches, from Naperville joined us and even spent the night!

 A great way to beat the heat

 is to head over to Reed's Dairy 

for a yummy treat.

Not only does it have ice cream, but you can see the cows where the cream comes from and hang out with a few barn animals.

This cow got a little too close for Carter's liking as it kept giving him kisses. :)

 Hawaiian Ice seems to be the thing here.  We are now converts. Mmmmmm! I think my favorite is Almond Joy.

Rigby Lake and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love that my kids can have a "beach" experience in Idaho with sand and water; however, as we were digging in the sand together, my diamond fell out of my wedding ring and is now beautifying the environment.  

 The girls and I did have fun, though, turning them into princesses...

 and mermaids.

 Upper and Lower Mesa Falls was another bucket list item.  Beautiful!

 The dust on the trail was so fine, the kids kept dragging their feet and watching the dust cloud form around them.  They reminded me of "Pig Pen" from Snoopy.  They had a blast.  I could only concentrate on letting them have fun, while reminding myself it's just a laundry problem, and keeping my twitching eye under control.

It was was a beautiful site at the top.

Proof I was there!

After reaching the summit, the boys found a smaller trail that led us to the water's edge.  Can you say steep trail?  The girls had to slide on their bottoms as they went down and this picture is Emma crawling up the side of the mountain to return to the main trail and go home.  This also happens to be a birding trail.  Evan was able to spot a handful of different birds and hear their songs. 

As beautiful as the scenery was, my favorite part was having a picnic lunch with my kids and just hanging out with them.  I'd do anything for this smile (OK, almost anything).

Steve came through on one of his promises from before the move and got the kids another trampoline.  We actually had rain one day and they ran outside to jump.  The difference between jumping in the summer rain in Chicago verses Idaho is that when it rains in Idaho, it's cold--no matter what the season. It didn't stop them from a few minutes of fun!