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| Isaac playing with his new play mat thing! His toes are his favorite toy. And his hands. But this mat is fun too. |
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| On Tuesday 8/8 I packed up the car and left for Montana! I was nervous to do it alone again, but tried not to think about it. I knew Eliza and Kaleb would help me with Isaac and they did. We figured out a system, even though it wasn't the safest. I would feed him and then hand him over for them to burp and play with while I kept driving. I had to do this or we would've never got there! Our first stop was La Quinta in Idaho Falls. After checking in, we walked to Cafe Rio next door and ate dinner. Then the kids raced back to swim in the pool. I had to drag them out at 9:30! It was a long night with Isaac waking everyone up. In the morning Kaleb said, "I don't know how you do it Mom!" They all had a new perspective on my sleep deprivation :-) Luckily they could all take naps on the drive. I was very jealous of them. |
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| Wednesday afternoon we made it home! Kids loved running free all around, jumping the bales, exploring everywhere. |
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| Girls wanted to bring Ringo home :-) He's an old pony of Mom's. |
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| Girls spent hours making big messes in the playroom. But they always (eliza mostly) cleaned up eventually.Melissa even admitted quite matter-of-fact, "I didn't help at all." :-) |
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| Grandma gave horse rides to all the kids. Jane was too scared to get on. It was funny to watch her inner conflict! She got her boots on and was excited, but just couldn't get the nerves to get in the saddle. :-) |
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| I think the first day Kaleb figured out how to drive this around! |
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| Mom got out her pony cart for an elegant carriage ride with her granddaughters :-) |
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| Grandma was so funny with Isaac. She didn't really notice the other kids. It was always, "where's that baby? How's the baby doing? I'll hold the baby." She was always worried about his feet being too cold :-) And it took a while to convince her that it's a boy and not a girl! |
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| One day I wanted to try out Oasis, a nearby water park. It was a cute place. Grandma held Isaac for me so I could follow the kids around. |
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| These 2 didn't really leave this slide! Cute buddies. |
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| Eliza going around the lazy river. She did the slides even by herself when Kaleb stopped. |
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| Rough life at water parks. |
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| Grandma playing in the shade at Lake Elmo. I thought it would be fun for the kids to play there another day, but it was hot and I was hungry. I left to get pizza and Alisha made sure no one drowned :-) |
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| Sunday evening, Josh unlocked the gates and took us on the temple grounds to see all the landscaping work he's done. I loved it! All the flowers and work is incredible! Makes me wonder why I can't keep up with one flower bed. |
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| While Kaleb spent time with Josh, the girls spent time with Grandma. Riding, reading books, doing hair, |
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| The girls with all their babies :-) |
On Tuesday, we packed up and headed south to Alisha's new house! I loved it! So big and bright and clean and fun to help her set up new furniture.
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| Wednesday after getting spoiled with homemade cinnamon rolls and smoothies, we packed up and said goodbye! Girls are so cute. Melissa asked, "Can my Mom babysit your kids today?" She didn't want them to leave! |
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| I was excited to drive through Yellowstone. We saw a few buffalo, moose, and wolf or coyote thing |
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| Lots of cars and tons of pullouts, but I was nervous about making it to Rexburg before dark, so I only stopped once on our way out of the park. It made me want to go back and see it slowly, preferably with Braydan to help me ;-) |
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| It was nice to be home finally on Friday. Braydan was busy with the community swap and we went late Friday night to help him (mostly to see all the donations!) It was overflowing from the gym into a few side rooms! |
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| Kaleb found this coon-skin cap he fell in love with :-) We laughed pretty hard when Braydan told us about all the crazy donations: x-rays, preschool files, 6-pack of beer, underwear, etc. |
