My mom was born and raised in a little town outside of Blackfoot, Idaho. When she was a little girl, my grandparents built their own home and as a child I spent every summer there. Usually for months at a time. It would be an understatement to say that I love that place. There are just so many wonderful memories there. Both grandparents have passed away, but my Aunt and Uncle live there now and they do such an amazing job carrying on our summer traditions. It makes me miss them a little less when I get to go there and still feel my grandparents. In the freezer is my Grandma's freezer jam with her handwriting on the top -- we even got to bring some home-- the yard is just as beautiful as my Grandpa kept it and Ellie even got to wear one of my Grandma's old sweaters when she was cold.
This summer my parents, my sister, my sister-in-law and her three kids all met up with us in Groveland, Idaho. My Aunt and Uncle probably spent months making sure everything was perfect for us -- and it was! I don't even think I have pictures of all the fun things we did, but I think we managed to fit an entire summer into one week.
this is my only sister -- I had to add that for Miss Chelsea Pace ;p
Hannah -- who is actually my cousin, and Ellie riding in my parents new convertible
Nate and Ellie learned to drive the Quads
Fishing -- lots and lots of fishing. We even ate our fish for dinner!
Before you go fishing, this is what you eat for breakfast at 6:3o am
While you're fishing, if you're hungry
Boating
Playing at the lake
Swimsuit picture is for Nicole -- I'm telling myself that the camera adds ten pounds, plus the ten pounds I gained eating so much food!
Going to the playground. My mom and my Aunt actually played on this when they were in school and my Grandpa went to Elementary school there too!
Slumber parties -- at my mom and dad's house across the street, luckily. Yes, they own a house across the street. It was my Great Grandma's for a time. My Great Grandma's house before that shared the back pasture with my Grandparent's house and My Aunt Kristine and Uncle Dave lived there before they moved in my Grandparent's house. We used to joke that if you lined everyone up right, you could shoot us all with the same bullet. That's kind of morbid, isn't it?
Matching Hannah Montana t-shirts. We had to go to Wal-mart to find clothes we could destroy while we were "mudding" and these were the cheapest. What is Mudding? Here's a preview of what you look like AFTER mudding.
Swimming -- my Uncle insisted my Aunt order this totally cool kiddie swimming pool. He's always finding cool things for us to play with.
Rock painting -- something we always did with my Grandma.
Train spotting. These pictures made us laugh because my sister's angle makes it look like we were dangerously close to the train. Don't worry, we were appropriately far away!
Hanging out with Uncle Dave. Sadie loooooved my Uncle Dave. She would just sit and sing with him or dance while he singed to her. It was so cute. Dave was also our chef the whole vacation. We're talking BBQ ribs, burger, Cornish game hen etc for dinner and full blown eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast etc. for breakfast every morning. We were totally spoiled -- just like when my Grandma and Grandpa were there. I didn't even have to do most of my laundry. My mom and Kristine would have it switched over or folded before I even remembered it.
Ice cream and fireworks every nightAnd of course Mudding!
Mudding is our new extreme sport where we tied up a sled to the back of a quad and drove around in the flooded pasture. We started off pretty tame since we had the kids and all. . .
But once we got rid of the little ones, it was all out war. The point of mudding is to try and flip the rider off the sled and into the mud.
OK, phew! That's only half of what we did -- tennis at the Matsuura's, Do You Love Your Neighbor, Saboteur, movies, shopping . . . I've got another zillion pictures and so many fun memories, but I'll leave you with one that cracks me up the most.
Thanks for all the fun and making our Idaho trip so magical! It was just as wonderful as when Grandma and Grandpa spent all year preparing for us to come. I love you guys so much and I love all the memories my kids have. They are STILL crying that they wish they were still in Idaho!
12 comments:
Bwahaha! Thanks for the reclarification again. I knew you only had one...she just has 18 nicknames. Love it! :) And I love how talented she is with her fishing and being on the phone at the same time pic. Nice moves!
Nice moves Maddy too on the twiner swimsuit shot. You look WAY better in it them me!!
So I have a serious question. Can someone in your family please adopt me? I know I am 27 and have a husband and 2 children, but we are really...really incredible. We enjoy summer walks on the beach, watching sunsets, and really enjoy magical moments.
Did I sell us okay?
Okay, fine...I made up the summer walks on the beach. That just causes me to burn and get some more skin cancer. I'll stick with my fam. We do throw quite the party.
Omigosh- it all looks like SO MUCH FUN! Who came up with the mudding activity? How cool!
The photo of Sadie and Uncle Dave is absolutely precious. I love photos like that. :)
And the fishing one with your sister (I think it was your sister) on the cell phone cracked me up! That is so something we would do!
What an awesome trip and family. Well worth driving oh 32 plus hours. Mudding looks super fun. We used to do something similar at Ricks but with snow and ice instead of mud. The mess of mud looks all that much funner.
ok--i want to be adopted. i've been adopted once but it didn't take. and i have a husband and 6 kids, 4 dogs and a turtle--but i'd be willing to leave them behind. i'm potty trained and a self-proclaimed loner. i do my own laundry. my suitcase is packed!
I'm with Lisa! I at least want to be adopted in when it is time to go to Idaho to go mudding! Sounds like an absolute BLAST! Love the photos . . . I sense a big scrap fest coming on! ;)
maddy! i am cracking up because are pictures are almost IDENTICAL! maybe picture sharing needs to be done AFTER blogging has occurred! that picture of nate yelling at zach and matt cracked me up for like two hours yesterday. i had so much fun with you and i really really miss you! it was too much fun having my big (and only) sister around. when will we see each other again???
I want an "only" sister. I gots none :(
Mudding is absolutely something that would fit in with my family. Thanks for the idea!
Looks like the trip was lots and lots of fun. And what great memories you have of the place and your grandparents.
holy cow!!! Looks like you guys had WAY TOO much fun! I want to go mudding that looks like a blast! I love getting dirty! We need to find a place to do that here! btw I LOVE the swimsuit pic! You look HOT! and the camera better not add 10 pounds because Im sure if you took 10 pounds off that pic you'd be like 90 pounds! you are so stinkin' skinny! Oh, and I still get you and your sis. mixed up! That first pic I was like, "what did Maddy lighten her hair!" then I realized it was your sis!
HOW SUPER FUN!!! What a great family trip! We used to do something similar to the mud bogging when I lived at home, but no mud just a pasture full of irrigated grass! lol. What a great trip filled with lots and lots of wonderful memories!
Holy cow! Is it possible to have too much fun? If it is, you guys totally did!! I love the mud, and Ellie being pulled? I guess that when you live in Idaho that is how you entertain yourself (jk).
Oh, that makes me so wish we could have gone home to Idaho this summer. That looks like you had such a blast!!!
Oh my gosh! Mudding sounded fun when you described it to me but seeing pictures...I'm so there! Next Rogers family trip to Idaho, I'm so going along in your suitcase. I hope you have a big one!
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