Summertime fun!

We went with my friend Tammy and her family to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a lot of fun, and really pretty. Tammy and Rob's oldest daughter is Rachel's age and they have two younger boys. Our kids get along great and really enjoy being together. We had a picnic (with a visiting racoon trying very hard to get some food!) and then walked up to the bottom of the falls and the kids played in the water. Thank you Tammy for the pictures!
Rachel and Kayla picking flowers
Tammy and Heather - we were inseparable in high school, and it's great to still be friends! Michael is king of the rock!
Rebekah, Josh and Michael built a dam, and Michael decided to lay in the FREEZING cold water. It was icy!

We started our vacation off by going to Idaho Falls. We used to live just a block from the Idaho Falls temple, so we went to see our old house, and walked around the temple grounds. It was beautiful, and HOT! We aren't at all used to 100 degree heat, and it killed us!
We went to visit Rexburg and BYU-Idaho. Everything has really changed in the last 15 years! We spent a couple of hours walking around campus and through the buildings. This is the bowling alley on campus where Paul and I first met.
I am really hoping my kids go to BYU-Idaho. I love that the school is so conservative in a world that is continually becoming more and more liberal. I love that each week there are devotionals, and that there is now a temple right next to campus. I love that classes begin with a prayer, and that there is a strict dress code. I love the atmosphere of the school - it is so different from the experiences Paul had at Portland State and Idaho State, and I hope that my kids will want that same experience. Here is the temple in Rexburg. If you have not seen it, it is one of the largest buildings in town, and you can see it from all around because it is up on a hill. It reminds me of the Nauvoo temple.
We are definately not acclimated to Idaho heat! This is what Rachel and Josh looked like after walking around campus for a couple of hours.

We took a great trip to Utah which included a lot of visiting with family and Lagoon. We asked the kids what they wanted to do during our trip and our answers were swim, go to lagoon, visit cousins, and go to the Peppermint Place store (an outlet store in Alpine for a candy factory). We finished everything on the list, so that was good! We were at Lagoon on a GREAT day, and waited only a minute or two for most rides. It was a lot of fun. We spent a couple of days at Tricia's house and enjoyed being with them. The kids love playing together, and Paul and I had fun playing games with Tricia and Byron. We enjoyed a BBQ with them, and mom and dad and Allyson and her kids came too. Unfortunately, I left my camera packed for most of our trip, so I don't have any pictures - just imagine lots of fun!