Idaho

We had so much fun visiting Ryan's parents in Idaho.  Rachael is the only granddaughter (the other seven grandkids are all boys) so that makes her the princess, and they certainly treat her like one!

Sunday
Grandma let Rachael play with a couple dolls that she has kept since she was a little girl.  Rachael was quite honored to be old enough to be trusted with them.

Grandma and Grandpa both let Rachael drive the RTV, which she thought was awesome. Turns out she's a speed demon.

Tuesday
One of Rachael's favorite things to do in Idaho is to help Grandpa feed the cows.  There are four this year, and Grandma and I named them Ginger and Cinnamon (the red ones) and Clove and Anise (the black ones).  Tasty!

Grandpa had just gotten a "new to him" jet boat a couple of days before we got there, so Rachael got to help him test drive it.  And yes, once again she is a speed demon.

While we were riding up the river we came across Grandpa's friend DeVerle.  We stopped at his house for a bit because his wife raises miniature horses, and she let Rachael pet the horses, goats and donkey.  It was by far better than any petting zoo we have been to.

We got to pick some raspberries and have them for dessert.  (And breakfast the next day.) YUM!!

Wednesday
Grandpa mentioned something at breakfast about Rachael needing a pair of boots to be a real cowgirl, and she latched onto the idea like it was a life preserver.  So off we went to the ranch store to look for boots, preferably pink ones.  We ended up with some cute pink Fat Baby style boots, and I think they will make great winter boots too.  She decided she needed boot cut jeans, so we got some bootcut Levi's with pink stitching, and we even found a pink foam cowgirl hat at the craft store. 

For this picture, she even got to borrow Grandpa's old spurs from when he was a little boy.

She finally got to ride Cisco, one of three horses that is currently keeping the pasture mowed at Grandpa's house.  (The horses belong to a friend that lives down the river a bit.) She loved it!

On a completely unrelated note, you can see the Tetons from Grandma's kitchen window.

Thursday
The only thing left on Rachael's to do list was a ride in the tractor, so before we left for the airport Grandpa took her for a little ride.  They moved some dirt around and had a great time.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great trip! We can't wait to see you again soon!

Bear Lake

We went to visit our dear friends Louan and Bishop Burke at their cabin in Bear Lake. (Bishop Burke is no longer the bishop of the Richmond Ward, but Rachael has called him Bishop her whole life). It was a beautiful drive through Logan Canyon and fun to see their new place. We spent a total of about 17 hours there (including the time we spent sleeping) and in that time we played with dolls, went on a canoe ride (well, Bishop and Rachael did), did a little shopping, and took 72 pictures.

Most of my pictures were of the seemingly dozens of hummingbirds that frequent Louan's feeder.

Rachael liked Bishop's hat.

On Monday morning we went down to the lake and rented a canoe for Bishop and Rachael.  They played for about an hour and had so much fun.  Rachael jumped off the canoe into the lake a couple of times.  (Bishop has some great pictures).

A great view with three of my favorite people.

And of course, a raspberry shake!

Thanks Louan and Bishop Burke.  We thoroughly enjoyed our quick stopover and we hope we can come back and visit again.

Visit to Nana's

Thursday
We started our trip to Nana's with a 9 hour drive across Wyoming. I haven't done that drive in about seven years and I can't say I missed it. At all. I did get to see some antelope though so it wasn't totally devoid of life.  The kids were pretty good in the car and I had excellent company, so although the scenery is not so great, it was a nice trip.

We stopped for dinner at Arctic Circle in Green River, which had these fun saddle seats.  And I got my fry sauce fix.

Friday
We mostly decompressed from the drive.  Nana let the kids decorate cookies and they had a ball.  I'm still surprised at how many sprinkles you can pack on one cookie.

This summer, Rachael told everyone she knew that she wanted to go to Nana's house and run through the sprinkler. So we set up the sprinkler, even though it wasn't a particularly warm day.  The kids had a great time for five whole minutes before they were done.

Saturday
Mom and I went shopping in Ogden and out to lunch, and Grandpa played with the kids.  I took this picture of them playing Star Wars Monopoly on the computer.

He also took them swimming, where Rachael jumped off the three meter (10 feet!) diving board - three times! I couldn't believe it.  I think that one is a little scary but she decided she wanted to so she marched right up and did it.  Wish I could have seen it.  A big thanks to Grandpa for playing with the kids so mom and I could enjoy some shopping.

Sunday
We went to church with Nana and Grandpa.  Rachael enjoyed their Primary.  I played the organ so Nana could sit with the kids.  That was a bigger offer than I realized... they had a missionary farewell that day so people were seated clear back into the gym.  I don't know if I have ever played in front of that many people before, especially on an organ I've never played on.

After dinner Mom and Dad and Nicholas drove Rachael and I up to Bear Lake so we could spend the night with our friends Burke and Louan.  On the way through Logan Canyon Dad stopped so Rachael could see Ricks Spring, named after her great-great-great-grandfather.

We had a wonderful visit at Nana's and as always it was over too quickly.  Can't wait to go back!

Colorado Reunion

Ryan had a business trip to China for most of July, so Rachael and I took a long trip out West to visit the family. We originally planned to just visit Nana in Utah, but then my sister Lesley and her family went to Colorado for a wedding, and pretty soon it turned into a family reunion in Colorado.

Monday
On the plane.  We flew from Lexington to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Denver.  The flight attendant on the second leg gave her some Delta wings. 

After we met up with the rest of the family, we decided to take the kids to Jump Street, a facility that has inflatables and lots of trampolines.  And an air hockey table!

After Jump Street we had some free time before dinner, so we all went to Barnes and Noble. Everyone had a lot of fun! We got a couple of new books for the rest of our trip.

We went to one of our family's favorite places in Denver - Gunther Toody's.  It's a 50's style diner with good hamburgers.  We took up a lot of the restaurant with our party of 14. While we were there my brother announced to the family that he had proposed to his girlfriend, Koume, and she said yes! They are planning a wedding in a year or two, most likely in Japan.

The five of us.  Kristin, Erin, Julie, Lesley, Kirk.  Julie is the youngest but she likes to be the center of attention.  (Haha!!)

Tuesday
We went to the zoo.  It was pretty hot that day but other than that we had a great time.  I think everyone got to see their favorite animals and we had a nice picnic lunch in the grass. Uncle Chad got slurpee drinks for all the kids so they thought he was awesome.

After the pool we went for a swim at the hotel pool.  It was great to cool off.

Some of the adults went out to dinner, but mom, Lesley, Julie and I decided to stay at the hotel with the kids.  We had a good time visiting and I got this really cute picture of the cousins playing sandwich.

Wednesday
We went to the Children's Museum.  We kind of all ended up doing separate things there but the kids had a really great time. Rachael found a dress up area with tap shoes.  I asked her to take a few tap steps and she said she was too shy.  But I noticed after she got the shoes on she did them anyway... I guess a year of tap lessons sticks with you. 

There were some water activities set up outside the museum, and one of the favorites was a pump that you could hand operate and shoot water clear up in the air. The cousins figured out quickly that Aunt Erin is the one with the arm muscle in our family and she must have pumped that up six times.  (Guess she could skip her gym workout that day!)

After the Museum, Lesley's family had to go to a rehearsal dinner so my dad and I took Rachael and Nicholas over to the hotel pool again.  No pictures because I got in the water with the kids.

Wednesday night we hung out and visited and let the kids play with glow in the dark necklaces.  I'm sure Rachael will take the rest of the summer to get used to going to bed on time.

A big thanks to all my family for coming and and visiting - we had such a great time with everyone!!

4th of July

We went to watch the city fireworks over by the bank again.

Rachael brought Rapunzel.  They both enjoyed the show.

At home I found some fireworks from last year that we had left over so we decided to set those off in the street.

Rachael thought that was even more fun that the city fireworks! Happy 4th!