Idaho

We planned a grand trip this summer! We first headed to Idaho to visit with Grammy Avenius, Aunt Catherine, and Uncle Christian. Auntie Laura was visiting too for the first week we were there. The boys were great on the flight. They both really like flying...thank goodness!



Grammy came and got us in SLC and took us to a great place called Maddox for dinner. We had some wicked Bison burgers!



Our first big event was watching Catherine and Christian perform in the play Oliver. Catherine was one of the street kids and Christian played in the orchestra. We took Jack and Henry and they both loved it. Henry only stayed for the first half. He kept singing "consider yourself at home" over and over again. Jack really liked the music and was really into all the characters. Catherine and Christian did a great job!
(Catherine is the one in the black cap, yellowish shirt, and plaid vest)




We also got to do some golfing. Christian is a great golf pro and we had the privilege of sharing the green with him. It was a ton of fun. I am terrible, but had a blast. I think Jack had a better score than I did! Christian gave us all some good pointers. My favorite phrase was "if you think you'll hit the ball, you will!" It's just that easy!




We finally got to meet Baby Isaac! He is such a cutie! Henry loved holding Isaac and asked all the time to hold the baby. I think he liked not being the youngest!



Our next big event was a trip to Yellowstone for an overnight camp out! Justin, Beth, Owen, baby Isaac, Auntie Laura and our family all drove up to Yellowstone on Friday afternoon. Just getting ready for it was quite a workout! We had to gather warm clothes, food, camping gear, etc. Thank goodness my mom is always prepared and has everything you would possibly need, including this lovely jacket that will keep you warm on any cold night in Yellowstone!



On our way up, Justin showed us a spot where a huge tractor trailer full of bees got dumped. Justin and his father in law gathered up a bunch of boxes full of them. It was pretty amazing!



Once we got into the park, we stopped at various spots to see the wildlife and views. The boys loved the guide sheet with all sorts of animals they might spot. I always had to laugh when people were pulled over to see the wild deer. Don't we get enough of them here! I was telling people that if deer were the only wild animal we saw in the park during our stay, I would be pretty disappointed! Thankfully, we did see some bison which as pretty cool! Even the little bison are huge!




Jack was excited to get his swim on! He was determined to get in some body of water. After setting up camp, we got him down to Yellowstone Lake and let him enjoy the freezing cold water! He loved it and was trying to encourage the rest of us to join him. Funny kid!



We also made a stop at Old Faithful. Jack had been once before when he was very little. It was fun for Henry and him to see it together...with a ton of other people!



We had such a fun time hanging out with each other and cooking hot dogs. Henry found so many ways to cover himself in dirt! That kid was a mess! Mom, Catherine, and Christian were suppose to drive up late and join us in the tent. The next morning we realized they hadn't shown up and ended up sleeping in the car some where nearby!




(The perfect s'more!)


(side note: this was Laura's first time ever using a pay phone! it was pretty hilarious...at least Justin and I thought so!)


The next day we hit some hot pots and a huge waterfall. Jack had a rough morning and ended up missing some of the sights due to some bad behavior. He learned the hard way (which is the only way Jack seems to learn things these days), and hopefully will learn from this experience. We ended our trip in Yellowstone with some fly fishing. Henry really loved fishing with his cousin Owen and Jack, once again, took the opportunity to get wet! It was a fun experience and a great way to spend some family time.







During the rest of the our time in Idaho, Jack and Henry had a lot of time to play with their cousin Owen and baby Isaac. They swam in the pond, went to the water park and went on the carousel ride. They also got to spend time with Uncle Christian, Aunt Catherine and Grammy while Kris and I took a trip out to California! Grammy took them to their first rodeo! They had a good time and so did we!