The last few weeks have been an emotional and somewhat physical blur. The happy kind that you wish you could pause, hang onto, and remember every detail. It all began with a great camping trip for Jer's birthday. We took the canoe and the kayak. Good thing we did because it was in the 100s everyday we were gone. We spent as much time as possible on the lake. It's the same lake we went to last year and even though we have made our own memories there, it reminds me of a farmers pond we used to go camping at when I was a kid. Falling asleep to the sound of frogs, crickets, and coyotes at night. Splashing in the water. We left on Wednesday and came home Friday afternoon. That evening I got a call from my mom that my Grandma Booth wasn't doing very well. Saturday morning she was gone. We had planned on me dropping Jer off at the river with the canoe and picking him up later in the day. Instead he spent his birthday with the car changing the air filter, checking tire pressure, and putting in a new battery. I felt bad that he spent his birthday doing it for me, but we checked plane prices and flying on such short notice was out of the question. He knew how important it was for me to go to the funeral so he gave up his birthday for me.
I spent most of Saturday doing laundry and packing. We still had camping stuff all over the garage. The lawn didn't get mowed before we left for camping so it was looking pretty shaggy. The beans had been picked, but not frozen yet. It was chaos. I spent the extra time I have on Sunday making a nice meal for Sunday dinner. If I was going to be gone at least I could make one last good meal. Between the phone calls to set up places to stay during our travels, planning my trip, and trying to pack it didn't feel much like a Sunday, even though we went to church.
I've said it before, but I have the best neighbors and friends. Monday morning I frantically finished packing. My good friend across the street took the kids for me for a awhile so I could clean the house before I left. Other than the camping stuff in the garage and the sleeping bags airing out upstairs the house was clean when I left. I grabbed the kids from the neighbor and after a quick stop at the library we were off. As I started to drive I kept thinking about all the things I didn't get done. As we passed out of city limits I smiled feeling free and excited. There was nothing I could do about that to do list now anyway. We made good time and right before dinner time we were in Boise at the Calls house. The Calls had been in our ward when we first moved to Washington. They moved to Boise awhile back and we still keep in contact. The kids loved playing with Nerf guns and I enjoyed catching up and talking about our husbands jobs. There aren't to many IHs around so when you meet another wife of an IH the subject naturally comes up. After a yummy breakfast Tuesday morning we said goodbye to our friends and headed up the road.
Our next stop was the Twin Falls temple. We've seen it from the highway before, but have never taken time to stop. I have a habit of taking a picture of my kids by whatever temple we go by. Our GPS has most of the wests temple addresses saved to favorites.
We walked around quickly since Daniel was insisting it was time to eat. After grabbing a bite to eat we went to Shoshone Falls. It was fun to hike around and see the waterfalls. The kids loved having the freedom from the car and being able to run. They loved the sounds of the waterfalls. There was a slight breeze and it didn't feel as hot as the weather we left behind in Washington. I could have laid for hours on the grass listing to the sound of water and feeling the breeze on my face.
I found a list of the biggest waterfalls in the US and was surprised at how many of them I had been to. Shoshone Falls was on the list so wanting to add another check to the list I made sure we stopped.
Brigham City was our next stop to see...you guessed it the new temple. The kids were getting restless and I was anxious to be done driving for the day so we made it quick and headed for Randall and Allison's in Orem.
After a healthy supper (which was sooo good after eating fast food and junk food all day), we went to a house in Provo to pick apricots. The view of the Provo temple was amazing. I wish I would have gotten my kids in the picture. I did make sure to point it out to them so they could add it to the list of temples they have seen. A small rain storm blew in while we were picking. It didn't rain to long and I wasn't struck by lightning. I love how thunder sounds different depending on the landscape around you. With the mountains so close it had the echoing effect. The best part was when the rain was ending it left behind a beautiful double rainbow for us to enjoy. As we drove back to Randall and Allisons the kids watched fireworks. It was July 24th afterall and in Utah that is almost as big as July 4th. Tim and Christine threw poppers in the driveway with their cousins while I put Daniel in bed. He asked to go to bed and did not want to see the fireworks (he has a slight fear of them). I love how excited the kids were about throwing poppers. The big fireworks were pretty, but poppers even though they are small were more fun. 
Here are some things I learned or was reminded of during my first few days of travel:
Daniel is a crazy sleeper. He is all over the place!
I don't really enjoy Ice Age enough to watch it over and over (we had Ice Age 1 and 2, but when you are driving it all sounds the same). In fact I wouldn't mind not seeing it for a very very long time.
I really like avocados. I forgot how much I like them. Sorry Jer but they will be on the shopping list sometimes now.
Quiet thinking time is great!
M&Ms keep me from feeling sleepy when I drive.
Sunglasses are a must on long trips in the summer!
My kids are amazing!
Small and simple things...
The next leg of our trip did not go as planned...
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