And here we have Idaho...

Ever since I was a young child my family made the trip out to the Utah/Idaho area to visit family each year. My mom was born in Pocatello, so I have lots of fond memories of visiting Idaho. If it was winter, we often made a trip up to Sun Valley to go skiing. When my mom was young, my grandfather bought some land and built a cabin in Sun Valley. Sun Valley has become more popular in recent years, but I remember mentioning the name as a kid and everyone acting clueless. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore used to have houses there (I'm not sure that they do now), and as children we spotted Arnold Schwarzenegger, Courtney Cox, and Robert Redford on the ski slopes. My mom tells stories of chasing Robert Redford down the ski slopes as a kid, although I think that was actually at the ski resort Targhee. When we'd visit Idaho, we would fly into Salt Lake City and drive two hours to Pocatello, Whenever we'd cross the border my mom would sing the Idaho State song, "And here we have Idaho, winning her way to fame..." I was so excited to be able to take Isaac and Wyatt there and show them a little bit of my childhood. Here are some pictures from our amazing summer vacation.

Wyatt and Kayla Rae

Teething together

Kayla Rae is so cute. She is one of the smiliest babies!

There are five kids in my family and we each had a baby this past year! It was so fun to have them all together!

Oh my cuteness! "Let me get that for you..."

Caroline and Kayla Rae

Eating Pizza our first night at Sun Valley

I absolutely love this photo! It seems so classic to me. My two main men!

Grandma with the babes

I know you shouldn't have favorites, but my nephew Alex stole my heart away when he was only about six months. There is just something so sweet and so special about this kid. 

Eating lunch. If you know my family, and particularly my mother, one thing you know about my family is that food will be done right! Tasty sandwiches, treats-galor, and fresh cut veggies keep everyone smiling.

Maybe I'm mean, but I love when babies cry. I think their cry faces are too cute!

With my boy at Red Fish Lake.

Family photo

Wyatt and Jake

They will not stop...

Jake seems to be bothered that we are still taking pictures...
Wyatt looks drunk off the joy of putting the blind cords in his mouth

Wyatt is amused by the simple things in life.

What is better than your aunt giving you a pedicure? This is my beautiful niece Elizabeth.
I can't believe how grown up she is!

Game night! One my favorite parts about the trip was that after the kids went to sleep, the adults would stay up and play fun board games. Lots of laughter! 

The men went on a bike ride one morning. Isaac decided to do a manly pose. We teased my brother about those biker shorts. I guess they have a padded butt so we will excuse him for the indecent exposure. 

"May the force be with you, young child."

It was a race up the stairs!

Sun Valley Lodge

Few things are scarier than riding a tandem bicycle when you are not the one controlling the handle bars. Do I trust Isaac? You should have asked me before we got on the bike. There was a lot of screaming, wobbling, and laughing. 

Caroline has the most adorable smile. Look at all those teeth!

Girls!

Jake and Wyatt really bonded on this trip.

It was nurse fest at the beach but the babies were happy. Here are all the moms with the babies!

Our first family photo with everyone and their spouses that was not at a wedding

Another family photo at the cabin

My little family

"Women! This one is a cry baby and this other one is trying to snag the piece of grass that I picked!"

Babies!

Wyatt's expression: "Are these girls bi-polar?"

Caroline's answer, "We're women, silly!"

Another family photo

This is my grandfather's old ford galaxy. It was pretty fun to cruise in this antique.

Snuggling!

People often say that Rachel and I look alike so when we saw that this mannequin was wearing a similar outfit to what Rachel was wearing we tried to see if we did look alike.

waiting to take sibling pics

waiting...

Tada! In birth order.

For fun! Brett wasn't excited about this pose but majority rules!

We had to get Baldy (the ski slope) in the background!

Here is a little sneak into our family dynamics. I'm the middle child, could you tell?
I have to get attention somehow, right?

Well, I had so much fun spending time with my family. Sometimes I get so bogged down in the day-to-day that I forget how much I miss my family and how wonderful it is to be with them.  The trip was so much fun and Isaac fell in love with Idaho. We drove the whole 20 hours there and back. Wyatt was a champ and was so content to ride in his car-seat. He slept well and played well. We really have been blessed with such a calm, easy-going baby. And even though you hear about couples that can't travel together without fighting, Isaac and I really enjoy traveling together. We like to find good eats to make the journey more exciting. It is also fun to listen to music and comedy together, something we don't really get to do on a daily basis. This trip was even better because there was so much scenery to enjoy. It is tough driving such a long way but I'm grateful that I have a family that makes it so enjoyable.