How Much Can You Pack Into 13 Days?

After reading the title of this post you are probably wondering what I am going to post about and to tell you the truth I am not sure where to start. So here goes...

Since about March of this year I had been planning to travel to Idaho to visit family and then on to Utah for a family reunion in Logan Canyon. This is a reunion that occurs every other year so I knew it was coming and I was just waiting for a date. When the date was finally set I began to plan. I knew Jut would not be coming with me because he would be finishing his final masters project and term papers. He would need the time to himself, free distractions (a.k.a. his wife and kids) so he could finish his projects. So, I put together my travel plans and I figured I would be gone about a week and a half.
Then June arrived and my brother Paul became engaged. He and his beautiful bride chose to marry in the Rexburg, ID temple and set their wedding date and reception for Thursday July 28th, two days before the family reunion. They then set the open house for Aug. 2nd, the following Tuesday in Fruitland, ID. Needless to day this made my "vacation" longer and quite scheduled.
The kids and I set out after church on Sunday July 24th for Fruitland, ID. (I had to teach my YW lesson before I could leave because I had already missed several Sundays in a row.) We arrived about 8 hours later and spent the night at my parents house. The next morning we left Lexie with Grandma and Grandpa in Fruitland and headed to Boise, where we picked up my sister Debbie and her daughter Evelyn before driving onto Blackfoot, ID to stay a few days with my sister Rachel and her family. This added another 5 hours in the car.

I had a great time with my sisters and most of the rest of my family showed up on Wednesday night in preparation for the wedding on Thursday. We had a total of 29 people there on Wednesday night and 28 on Thursday. (This is a picture of my brother Paul on the morning of his wedding and a few of the kids at Rachel's house)






The wedding was wonderful and the beautiful couple was so excited and happy to be eternally tied. They were just adorable! After the wedding we had the family dinner and the reception before sending them off on their honeymoon. (Ava was very upset that she didn't get to catch the brides bouquet, so Bryndy's sister Bethany let her hold it for a picture. )





On Friday I put my kids back in the car and headed down to the reunion in Logan canyon. We had a great time visiting, hiking and eating at the cabin and then a short somewhat cold swimming trip to Bear Lake. After the reunion ended on Sunday morning we drove back to Fruitland.




Once we got back to my parents we spent as much time as possible at the pond, (which I can't believe I didn't even get one picture of). The kids loved it and I really enjoyed finally getting some sun. The open house went smoothly and my kids had a great time "helping" Uncle Paul and Aunt Bryndy open their gifts. We went to see Grandma Wettstein on Thursday. It was so good to see her and I enjoyed just sitting with and holding her hand while she watched the kids play.
On Friday morning we packed up and headed back home. My goal was not to get home until after Jut got home from work. I don't like coming home after a long trip to an empty house and after being gone for so long it was great to pull in the driveway and see my wonderful husband waiting there for us. I am so lucky to have such great kids who are happy to spend so many hours in the car so they can see the family they love. We had a great trip and got to spend time with so many of those we love.

2011 Trip to Alaska

This year from the 2nd to the 11th of July we had the opportunity to go to Cordova, Alaska to visit Grandpa Thane and Colleen. Getting to go is such a blessing and we always have a great time but we all agree that this trip is at the top of the list of "best trips to Cordova". (I must admit that the beautiful weather really helped.)

We started off by helping Grandpa get his boat ready. In the past, just the mention of our family coming to visit caused Grandpa's boat to sink or blow an engine. But this year the boat decided to cooperate. We enjoyed an awesome fourth of July celebration, fished for halibut and salmon, rode the four wheeler, hiked the ski hill and enjoyed the great weather and beautiful scenery.


Working on the boat was a group project. Grandpa had Lex and Nat each paint one of the paddles for the boat. Luckily we didn't need them too many times when we were out on the water. We all had a great time getting to help Grandpa. He does so much for us and we were excited to get to help him for a change.



Cordova has a great Independence day celebration. We started the day off with the annual Cordova Ward breakfast. Then we went down to main street for go cart races, kids games, a US Coast Gard flag ceremony and helicopter fly over, a community salmon and burger barbeque and log cutting. I think there was more after we left but that is all we hung around for. I will say that it was odd to not have a community fireworks display at the end of the day but what is the point of fireworks when it never really gets dark. They save their fireworks for New Years Eve and the Ice Worm Festival. (Yes, I wrote Ice Worm Festival, Google it)


Jut and the kids loved riding the four wheeler so we went out to "the golf course", a spot off the highway with a lot of sand, and had a hotdog and marshmallow roast.


On our fist trip with the kids up the river Jut caught this fish and Lex reeled it in. The other picture is one I just had to take when I looked over the banister saw the two of them. Like father, like son.

Grandpa arranged for us to use a friends kayaks so we could go out on the lake. The kids had a fun time and we got a great picture of Grandpa Thane, look at that smile. :)

This was our second try at taking all the kids fishing. The first one was cut short because we forgot the matches and we had very grouchy kids. But this time we remembered the matches and we had a great time. Jut, Lex and I all caught fish (mine was the largest :)) and poor Grandpa kept catching the bushes. The younger ones played in the sand and the water and warmed themselves by the fire. When all was said and done we had five beautiful salon and four very happy munchkins.


On our last Sunday in Cordova we hiked a little way up the city ski hill. I love it up there because the view is just amazing. Jut and Lex discovered that they could throw rocks and hit a huge mud puddle. The challenge of launching your rock far enough to hit the mud and then the splat of the rock hitting the mud provided about 30 minutes of entertainment and a lot of laughter. Plus we got a great picture of Grandpa and the kids.

Thanks again Grandpa Thane and Grandma Colleen for the amazing trip.