Things We Do: Part I

*This post marks the first in a series of five to document the good times had by all while Lindsay, Kate, and Henry were here visiting from Chicago. When Linds comes, she tends to stay for several weeks, which is great since Brandt and I still have to make a living and can only come visit for the weekends. This time, bless her heart, she was here for SIX weeks! 

July 14-17: Utah

Brandt and I had the opportunity to go to Utah this past weekend for some festivities with my family. It was a super busy weekend and we were glad that we were able to make it and join in with all the fun.

On Thursday night, I went to Olive Garden for a Girls' Night Out Baby Shower that my two sisters put together for me. I had so much fun hanging out with the girls. I was definitely spoiled. We played a couple of games while waiting for our food; one game was to guess the prices on popular baby items. I didn't do too shabby except I was WAY off on the price of rice cereal (I guessed Six bucks - good to know it's only $1.99!) Everyone got a good laugh at my expense :) Brandt had a fun night as well - he hung out with his high school buddies.  They grabbed some dinner, went miniature golfing, and flirted (unsuccessfully) with girls in passing cars.

Friday was our family reunion. We spent the day at my Uncle Parley's house. They rented a huge water slide so we spent the majority of the day outside in the sun playing in the water, playing volleyball, and eating popsicles.  Brandt was good about taking a lot of the kids down that were too small to go by themselves. He said little Sara's heart was just pounding like crazy right before he would take her down, but she loved it!

I love those last two photos in the above collage. For some reason Syd and then Linds both fell out of the slide one right after the other. It was funny. Anywho, we had a ton of fun. My grandma and grandpa had 13 children, so needless to say our family is quite large and a good majority of the family was able to make it. My grandma wrote in her journal nearly every day of her life so after dinner my aunts and uncles took turns highlighting events from the 1950's that my grandma had written about.

Saturday was a random day. My cousin Lizzy got married so she came over bright and early that morning so Linds and Katie could do her hair and makeup. As I mentioned before, my family is quite large so obviously we couldn't all go to the sealing. So we went to the mall instead and got pedicures (Brandt opted out of that one - instead he "volunteered" to watch Henry for us). I think the highlight of the day for me was seeing the last Harry Potter movie. It was so good! I cried just a tad. That night we had the wedding reception and more hanging out and chatting with the family.

Sunday we were pretty low-key. They had another family dinner that night, but Brandt and I had to head back home before that (darn jobs get in the way of all the fun). We had such a good time. I feel so blessed to have such a fun, close-knit family. And Brandt fits right in. Our extended family is a lot closer than most, but I can't imagine it any other way. I love them all dearly and am so grateful to have them in my life.

Independence Day

This last weekend we enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday with my family (Brandt's family). We went to Coeur d'Alene and stayed in a nice little cabin near the lake. Here are the exploits of our adventures:

 Here Dani and I are pictured on "The World's Longest Floating Boardwalk" (so they claim) Tubb's Hill can be seen in the background. We enjoyed beautiful weather and the area is a beautiful place. Highly recommended!

Day 1 and 2. Fishin' and Boatin':

Here are various pictures from our first couple of days.

1. Dani and I left late Thursday night so we could have extra time Friday for, what else...fishing! This is me bringing in one of many quarries. That is if you count 3 as many :)

2. Here are a few of the hundreds of boats found in the harbor at the resort. Mucho pretty. Mucho dollars.

3. A good lookin couple enjoying a scenic boat ride.

4. One of many amazing homes found along the lake shore.

5. One of only a few smaller and quite interesting homes found along the lake shore.

6.The world famous floating green. I believe they said it weighs in at 5 million pounds!

7. Arr! Pirates of the Coeur d'Alene! This is the boat I wanted to go on. Dani said it was only for little kids. Hence why we are having one soon :) So I will have a friend...and an excuse.

8. Dani's dream home. She's into the colonial classic styles. In both homes and men. What?! You didn't know that?

9. The Coeur d'Alene Resort. Voted world's most romantic spa! (They sure have a lot of World's most types of things) Clearly, they have never been to Spa de' Hines.

Day 3. Hiawatha!:

We also highly recommend the Route of The Hiawatha Rail Trail to anyone who may be traveling to the area. This is an old railroad track through the mountains that has been removed and remade into an awesome bike trail. This picture is Dani and I at the trailhead.

I thought this picture was funny! So, here we are learning all about safety and what we should know and do on the trail when my mom, who is quite the shutterbug, sees something that needs to have its picture taken. Immediately. Thus, she bypasses the trail ranger and her important speech in order to take said picture. We warned her if anything bad happened to her it was her own fault. Luckily she made it.

Here are pictures from the bike trail:

1.Entering Taft Tunnel! This is a 1.70 mile, yes mile, long tunnel completely unlit and in the cold. It was 85 degrees outside and 35 degrees inside. However, it was awesome! Also, highly recommended, just make sure you have a good headlamp!

2.Here is the other end of the tunnel we emerged from 10-15 minutes later. We much welcomed the sunshine and warmth after riding through the giant refrigerator.

3. Here I am teaching the youth (that is Sheena and Kyle's daughter, Jaeda) about plants and invasive species. The plant in the picture is called Mullen and makes a nice natural toilet paper. Apparently, it is also good for smoking. But, be careful in which order you utilize these benefits.

4. Here is one of seven trestles you get to cross.

5. Here is a view looking down from one of those trestles, 230 feet in the air!

6. Something shiny! Mom is off to take another picture. To her credit she is quite good and produces many nice photos.

7. The Gunter family enjoying the ride!

8. Gene the machine!

9. Here is the line we waited in at the end of the trail. You could, of course, ride your bike back up the 15 mile trail. But, who wants to do that when you can wait in line for an hour and fifteen minutes to catch a re-vamped school bus that has to navigate one lane roads up a winding dirt road with 100 foot plus drop-offs. Yeah, who wants to do that?

The Mrs. and I posing along the trail.

Day 4. Hiking, the beach, and fireworks:

 1. Here dad and I are resting after a vigorous hike up Mineral Ridge Trail. Apparently, it is the first recreation site developed by the BLM in Idaho back in 1963. Gotta love the BLM!

2. Here is one of multiple views enjoyed at the top of the trail.

3. Here mom is getting "pampered" by the grand kids. Yes, those are pickles on her eyes and that is body butter being smeared into her forehead, hair, and ears. What a loving Grandma.

4. The beach! Although, the water was cold and the beach crowded, it was a lot of fun to play in the sun and enjoy the sand between our toes.

 Here is the same crowded beach that evening. Everyone staked out their place to enjoy the fireworks show and celebrate Independence day. Dani and I were the only ones of my family who braved the crowds and it actually wasn't too bad. We were able to make a fairly quick getaway at the end.

 Happy Fourth of July! Well, that is it. The trip was a lot of fun, and if you couldn't tell, we highly recommend it to anyone. Thanks to our family for the good times and memories!