idaho

I admit I was hesitant to be away from home so long. Call me a bit of a control freak, but I just like to do things my way. Yes, I have an incredibly patient husband. But, as it turns out, we had a great time during our nearly four week long stay in the great state of Idaho! Chad did his second externship at University of Utah. Since I was released as primary president, I didn't feel the need to stick around Omaha when there was a chance for me and the kiddos to see our family. We even got lucky and saw Chad a couple of times! Here is a photo-with-a-brief-explanation view of the trip.

Pratt had lots of relatives to meet during his first trip to the Gem State. Great Grandpa King had a great time getting to know the little guy.


Aunt Torj was very patient with all of the little people that wanted to explore her stuff. She was also great to take time to make them feel special.

I loved helping my mom cook as a kid, and I was glad my kiddos got to enjoy doing that with Grandma Alice.

What a cool Aunt to hang out in the kiddie pool!

Gardening was not one of my favorite things to do with my mom, but my kids liked it. I think Chad has a lot to do with that.

Taessia did her fair share of babysitting while I was in Preston. There were several mornings that she watched the kiddos so that I could go on a walk with my mom. Thanks Torj!

My parents use this wagon behind their four-wheeler to garden with. It became known as the Grandma Wagon, and was a favorite activity during our stay.

My mom would haul the kiddos all over the neighborhood in the wagon, but my grandpa's old farm was a favorite stop. It is now run by someone else, but they were kind enough to let the kids come see the animals, and even feed a calf a bottle.

One of the highlights of the trip was finally blessing our little guy. We got permission to bless him at my Dad's house one Sunday afternoon. Chad had that weekend off, and both grandpa's and a few other special family members were able to be there. It was a really neat and personal experience.

Aunt Tubbs was so sweet to come to Preston every day she had off from work to spend time with us, and the kiddos loved every second!

Uncle Cubby also came home several times, and did a good job making sure the kids got teased and squished.

This picture will be one to show the kids when they are my age, and I am telling them about their grandpa that served in WWII. I have such a cute little grandpa!

We were lucky enough to have our visit correspond with Melissa and her kids being in town. Aimee had talked for weeks about getting to see her cousins, and had a marvelous time with them. I only wish I had gotten a picture with Ellie in the wagon too.

Did I mention how much these kids love their Aunt Tubbs? It's pretty easy to see why!

Grandpa Williams always worries that we are going to have enough to do at his house. Well, we had a great time, and Grandpa was so cute to watch playing with his mini fan club.

For Family Home Evening in Pocatello we made a trip up to Scout Mountain for a hot dog roast. Aimee and Porter had a great time with their big cousins, and it was so cute to see those big boys be so cute with my little people.

I was pretty glad that Aunt Shauna helped out with tubby time after this night. The kids were filthy, but they sure had a great time!

Grandpa busted out his four wheelers too, and we zipped up and down the streets of the Pocatello metropolis.

Pratt has two little boy cousins that were born a month and 3 months after him. Hopefully someday they will be a little band of buddies when we all hang out at Grandpa Williams house. This one is Carter. They rolled into each other and spit up on each other. It was a pretty good start of making mischief.

This is what Aimee looks forward to all year! Grandpa makes a special effort to take us to the ranch and ride Poco. Every time Aimee gets a little more confident. She did a lot of leading the horses around, although grandpa had to make sure the horses long legs didn't get going faster than Aimee's little legs could go.

Someday I need to arrange all of these grandpa and Aimee photos in sequential order so I can see change from year to year.

Aim has no fear of these huge animals, she just adores them. She is a little cowgirl that only gets to get out a couple of times a year.

Grandpa is getting Pratt ready to go for his first ride next time we get to visit.

Porter is a little scared of riding. When he rode with me or Chad he was done in a matter of minutes. He later went with grandpa and cried when we took him off.

Grandpa took the tree out of his back yard, and he painted the play house. It made for lots of fun hours for Aimee and Porter. These are Uncle Mikey and Aunt Saundra's goggles that they stole for a few of those hours.

Fun grandpa in action.

Aunt Tubbs playing in the sprinklers with the cousins.

The grandma wagon in action.