Idaho: The Highlights and Lowlights

We got home yesterday from a 2 week (well, technically 17 days) trip to Idaho. We went for my parents family reunion, but planned our trip for longer so we could have plenty of visiting time. It was great and fun and exhausting and it went by way too fast and too slow all at the same time. We have about a million pictures, but I know it's going to take forever to post them, so they will come later (except for this one of my parents with all of the grandkids). :)

The highlights:
- The kids all did FANTASTIC on the drive to Idaho and back...no fighting, no whining...it was awesome. Ellie slept the whole way there, minus her 3 feedings, and slept the whole way back except for one feeding. We only stopped 3 times on the way there and 2 times on the way back. Basically, the drives went much smoother than I had anticipated!
- Seeing all of our (me and Jon's) grandparents, who all happen to live in the Boise area
- Seeing some of our extended family (from both of our families) who also live in the Boise area
- COUSINS GALORE! All 13 of my parents grandkids were together the entire time. It was basically a nonstop 2 week long party. Lots of trampoline jumping, game playing, talking and laughing...and of course the occasional fight.  :)
- Playing at the Rexburg Spray Park
- Swimming at Jensen's Grove
- An (early) anniversary getaway. Jon and I went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then stayed at a fancy hotel while my parents took care of all 3 kids overnight(THANK YOU Mom and Dad!)
- Going to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at The Playmill with my parents and most of my siblings (a huge thank you to Esther and Nathan for babysitting all the kids!)
- Pedicures and haircuts with 2 of my sisters
- My sister's friends invited us all to come ride their miniature train. The track runs in a huge loop around their property. This was definitely one of the kids favorite things.
- Lots of shopping with my sisters.
- Have I mentioned all of the cousins? The kids had such a great time playing together. Emma kept referring to them as her kids or her children. (Do you know where my children are? All of my kids are going to church with me!) It was pretty hilarious.
- Swimming at Rexburg Rapds
- Good food! My amazing mom somehow managed to cook for at least 15 people most nights, and 27 people when we were all together. We also squeezed in meals at restaurants we wanted to try- Mongolian Grill, Texas Roadhouse (twice because it was SOOO good!), and Red Robin, because it's one of our favorites.
- Being with family, visiting, playing games....it was just good to be together again.
- The weather! Warm days, cool breezy nights, awesome rain storms complete with thunder (I'd almost forgotten what that sounded like), lightning, and rainbows. If the weather were like that all year, I'd move to Idaho in a heartbeat.
- Our little mini vacation to Yellowstone. Jon and I took the kids camping in Yellowstone for one night. We saw as many sights as we could squeeze into the 2 days we had, and then drove back to Idaho Falls through Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole. Emma and Matthew LOVED the boiling mud and the geysers in Yellowstone. We loved how beautiful it was through the Tetons. We hope to go back again when we have more time to spend there.

The Lowlights:

- The lack of sleep that is inevitable on vacation
- The stomach bug that was passed between at least 6 people....boy was that nasty! It hit Matthew hard, and he is still trying to get over it.
- All the other sickness (which we can only assume was caused by lots of junk food and lack of sleep).
- The drive...no matter how smoothly the drive goes, it is just a loooong drive.

So, that was our trip in a nutshell....pictures to come soon!