idaho falls weekend.

as i said in my previous post, the girls and i went to idaho falls with my mom on friday evening. the first couple hours the girls were obnoxious! they usually travel well. not this time. and i know flower was trying to keep up with river in the naughty department because she is a good traveler when river isn't there. i was trying to read 'peter and the star catchers' out loud for all of us and river just wasn't having it. if i talked she screamed louder. poop head.

the moon was amazing that night.
(we also saw a huge, full rainbow earlier in the night. pretty cool!)

i really thought they would go to sleep but no such luck. finally, about 2 hours outside of idaho falls, a magnificent lightning storm started. i've never seen anything like it. that caught the girls attention and they just starred. the lightening went on for TWO HOURS. not kidding. it was actually more than that but we arrived at our destination so we went inside. and it wasn't just simply a bolt of lightning here and there. for two hours straight it was constant lightning across the entire skyline in front of us. really cool and really beautiful!
i dropped my mom off at my aunt peggy's at 11:00 pm and then the girls and i went to my cousin kristen's house. we stayed in her basement and it was perfect. i got the long sofa, flower got the small one and river was in the port-a-crib.
saturday::june 26th
my cousin had prior engagements for the morning which worked out perfect because i was wanted some alone time with the girls.
i drove by my grandma's old house. my grandma died in 2001 so that's the last time i went inside. i miss it. incidentally this was my mom's house as well. my grandparents raised 6 kids in this little 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. they didn't have indoor plumbing until my mom was 8 years old. it's such a great house with so many stories. back in the day that trailer to the right wasn't there. it was a huge yard that we all played in. eventually it was too much yard for my grandma to care for so she sold half of the property.

such a cute little house.

then we went for a walk at the waterfalls and temple.
an hour and a half outside in gorgeous weather with these views?
doesn't get better than that!

the girls cracked me up. flower is a poser and loves having her picture taken. i don't ever tell her where to stand or what to do. she runs around looking for the next photo spot. eventually river started copying her and it made my day. normally river doesn't cooperate. not this time!

love this one! she sat herself on that rock and said 'cheese'!

they loved chasing the geese. i had no idea geese hiss. but oh yes they do. it was making river laugh and she'd copy them. and then they honked and scared us all! funny stuff.

river was copying them and trying to walk like them.

finally it was time to go and river found a mud puddle on our way back to the car. she didn't anticipate falling in and she wasn't happy.

i love this little building next to the temple. so square. love the square window things.

they have them on the temple too. i forgot how much i LOVE this temple. it's the temple in which my parents were married so it's the one i grew up seeing in our home. i really think it might be my favorite. love the squares from top to bottom.
we made a stop by kristen's to get more clothes for river and then went to my aunt peggy's to see mom. while there my amazing uncle bob and cousin mike fixed the van. the mirror needed to be replaced and the passenger door needed a screw. they rock.
after that we went to my cousin bobette's for the rest of the day. my cousin cheryl came with her three grandkids, kristen brought her three kids and we sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather. they have the best yard and it was so relaxing.

the girls really liked the swing set.

they had never been on one of these before.

or this. so fun.

my awesome cousin kevin(bobette's husband) and their son brandon.

kevin is one of the most patient men i think i've ever met. other than uncle bob! both are so kind, helpful and loving. the kids loved riding with him while he cleaned up the yard. at one point i think he had 6 kids on their!

sweet kate.

handsome taylor. he had the biggest brown eyes i've ever seen.

flower thought it was so cool that she could drive this thing!

isn't their yard beautiful?!

aw. taylor is just so sweet.

and here's his brother jerom. those dimples go on for miles!

kristen's daughter jenna.

cynthia is jerom and taylor's sister.

these are my cousin ashley's kids...cheryl's grandkids. super cute!

how does river make it seem so effortless?!

after hours of being outside it was time to take the kids home to get bathed. i was taking flower and jenna with me to a play that night. my cousin melvin and his two kids were acting in 'oklahoma'. i was excited. my mom, peggy, cheryl, cousin lynn and his two kids went as well.

melvin is the third from the right and his son robby is the second from the right in the pink shirt.

marcy is in the front middle with the blueish gray dress with the orange sash around the waste.

it was a great play but got a little long. we enjoyed watching them sing and dance though!
river stayed home with kristen and was alseep when i got home. unfortunately she didn't sleep well that night and therefore neither did i.
sunday::june 27th
part of the reason for the trip was because my cousin brandon(bobette's son) just got home from his mission in cananda and was reporting in church. due to lack of sleep the girls and i missed the first two meetings but thankfully their sacrament meeting is last and we got there just in time. he gave a great talk. he also sang a beautiful song with his sister kristen(who i stayed with), his brother jared and mom bobette.
after church everyone went over to bobette's for lunch. more playing and relaxing.

brandon, the return missionary.

ashley...the one with the three darling kids!

jerom, jon and cheryl(ashley's son and parents)

finally around 3 pm we decided we should head home. we went the arco way as usual because i needed a photo. river has never been to idaho falls with us and therefore has never sat in the big green rocking chair at pickle's place.

flower looks so grown up and pretty here!

we love the pickle's place.
we stopped in for ice cream, french fries and fried pickles!
yum-ee!

couple of hours later we made a quick stop at this lovely overlook.

we finally arrived home around 8 pm. the girls did much better on the way home! thank heavens. it was a really great trip and i'm glad i went! but we sure missed kg! i came home to a house that was cleaner then when i left which is always a nice surprise. thanks honey!