We made it to Idaho Falls last night and we’re excited to celebrate Independence Day with family! We started off the weekend with white water rafting down the Hoback on the Snake River. It was beautiful! Ryder and Luke were nervous at first but they ended up loving it. We had some great rapids, found some cliffs to jump, and had a nice picnic. It was so much fun.
We spent the night on their patio watching fireworks light up the sky. It finally feels like summer!
Our Stake President invited us to his home with the missionaries in our area to help with cattle branding. It was our first time being apart of something like that and we all had a great time time! Tenley helped give them vaccines, Kade helped hold them down, and Ryder and Luke tried to ride them! It was a fun adventure and we feel a little more like true Montanas now! And it’s always great to be with the Giles and the missionaries. Such great people!
We were excited to meet friends on the ski hill again. I followed Luke and Otto around all afternoon. They sped down the runs, jumped back onto the lift together, and then did it all again. They had fun finding tree runs and jumps. They probably didn’t even need me following them around all day but it was entertaining for me!
Tenley was with Ava doing the same green runs as us so we saw them several times. But Brad and the two oldest were on the other side of the mountain the whole time. They also had a great time! It was a sunny, warm ski day and we all had a blast!
We took the kids up to the ski hill today and had a blast! Kade spent the day with a friend so we didn’t see him very often but the rest of us stayed together. Tenley, Ryder, and Luke are all so brave! They all did tricks in the terrain park and tried to find every jump on every run we went down. Luke took it all too far, though, when he decided not to get off the lift when he should have. Ryder and I were a few chairs back and we saw him heading back toward us when he should have gotten off! It was scary. The workers stopped the lift, found a ladder, leaned it up against his chair and went up the ladder to take of his skies and help him climb down. It wasn’t fun for me to watch as his mother. But luckily he made it down safely! He told me he was thinking of jumping off in the powder and I’m so glad that he didn’t do that! It was definitely a day filled with adventure.
Kade and Tenley went to a stake Valentine’s dance tonight. They said it was a lot of fun!
We went skiing as a family today and it was the best snow of the year! It’s still not great but it was a significant improvement. We had so much fun. We stayed together the whole time and could keep up with eachother for the most part. More often than not I was the last one to the lift. Luke is a speed demon! Luke also kept requesting to go down the Cumberland trail. He calls it cucumber land lol. He loves it because it goes through the trees and has a lot of jumps. I was impressed with the air everyone got. We stayed until close and were pretty exhausted by the end of the day!
We woke up with the sun this morning, although I don’t think any of us had a good nights sleep. I didn’t pack a pillow and I now realize that a pillow is an essential backpacking item! Luke said he just watched the lightning flash outside the tent all night. Good thing it was just one night! The boys got started fishing right after that got dressed. Unfortunately no one ever caught a fish. They had some bites and they still had fun. The freeze dried meals we packed were pretty delicious! The breakfast egg scramble tasted so good this morning. It was nice to relax in such a beautiful and quiet location. It was heaven.
After lunch we took down camp and started the five mile trek back to the truck. We were all pretty sore! Our legs, feet, hips, and backs were tired! But we hiked out about an hour faster than we had hiked in. All the downhill helped.
It was a good adventure for us all. It’s fun to do hard things together and to help the kids realize what they’re capable of! And it was so nice to be in nature and out of cell service!
A shower and a hot meal at home sure was nice though! And I was so grateful to see my bed and pillow!
Luke planned our day this morning while we ate breakfast on the Lanai. He said we’d go see Waimea Canyon, then go to Poipu Beach, then get shaved ice to eat with the turtles on the beach during the sunset. So that is exactly what we did! And it was a really good day.
It was still cloudy but Waimea Canyon is stunning. It was also 10 degrees colder up there but we did enjoy exploring the canyon. And when we got back we headed straight to Poipu Beach. There was a Hawaiian monk seal laying on the beach and while we were hanging out on the beach we saw another seal make its way to the beach from the water. We also saw several turtles on the beach and whales in the ocean out in the distance.
Kade and Tenley played in the waves and Ryder and Luke played in the sand. Then we had dinner at home, picked up some delicious shaved ice with macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom and headed to see the sunset and all the turtles coming onto the beach. Luke knows how to plan a good day!
