Big Horn Crags - Day 2

Today we got to the trail head and did our big hike. It was a lot of fun. We sang and joked and had a great time together. When we got there it was getting pretty dark so some boy scouts that were leaving in the morning let us camp by them. ~Ani

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Big Horn Crags - Day 1

We split all our food into day rations, individual person rations, or meal rations so it would be easy to handle when we got up there. ~Ani

I had a hard time sleeping in the car because I was nice and let my siblings lay on me. I was so uncomfortable. ~Ani 

Poor Corbin. He kept getting car sick on the way up so we frequently stopped to let him puke. ~Ani

Vet Again

From Bears to Webelos

Nampa 35th Ward High Adventure Raft Trip

BYS and Doughnuts at the Park

This morning I dropped off Ani and her friend and roommate Jennifer Coombs at Boise State University for a 3 day 2 night opportunity... Boise Youth Spectacular. BYS is similar to EFY (Especially for Youth). I wasn't sure if Ani wanted me to walk her to her group but I was too nervous to just drop them off and leave so I traveled far behind and observed the situation and her demeanor. They found their group leaders and Ani and Jen were both smiling and laughing so I assumed all was well and I left.


 It is so hard for me to let my babies grow up. The other 3 kiddos did not want to come but I made them because I didn't want them to sit at home and watch TV. As a thank you we went to Winco to get doughnuts and headed to Ann Morrison park to play. We had a hilariously friendly squirrel try to eat our doughnuts.

Moscow, Idaho

We packed up camp and left Farragut State Park on Saturday morning. We headed back to Coeurd A'lene for brunch at IHOP...Ani's restaurant request. After lots of pancakes, french toast, crepes, and philly cheese steak sandwich (Ani) we drove to Moscow to spend the day in Moscow with the Trustys. Wilson is attending school at the University of Idaho. The kids had a lot of fun playing with Eliza.We made pepper steak, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner. Kamille and Wilson's apartment did not have air conditioning so Corbin, Jared, and I slept out on the deck. The next day we attended Sacrament meeting with Kamille. On the way to church we stopped and took pictures at the Washington Idaho border. For a moment we were in two states at once.

Brennan's Coeur d'Alene Bucket List

Besides going to Silverwood Brennan had only two requests while in Coeur d'Alene. First she wanted to go fishing. After our uneventful excursion to Sandpoint we drove to Round Lake State Park. Although it was sweltering and crazy humid  Jared took Brennan out on the dock on Round Lake. She didn't catch anything but she was all smiles. Brennan loves hunting, fishing, and hiking with her dad.



After fishing we had a conversation about lips while recuperating in the shade. Whose lips look like whose? My lips are the thinnest and Jared's are the most voluptuous and the kids are in between.

Brennan second request was to visit a museum. Farragut State Park has a fascinating history and consequently deserves a museum. During World War II the land that is now Farragut State Park was Farragut Naval Training Station. The kids were given scavenger hunts to help them explore the museum and discover the history of the area. I would totally visit this museum again and not just because it was air conditioned.

Swing Danc'n in Coeur d'Alene

As we were dancing, there were several people that stopped and were smiling and saying how fun it looked. I remember one lady who stopped and was saying, "Look at that. Isn't that beautiful? It looks so fun." ~Ani

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We went to Red Robin for a "Yum" dinner.  After dinner Jared took us to a park in downtown Coeur d'Alene. The kids had fun playing at the playground but the real fun began when we started dancing. There was a country concert going on in the park so we were being serenaded by loud toe-tapping music. Jared has given Ani a few lessons in the past so she was the first to request a dance with her dad. At first the other kids were too embarrassed to dance but when they saw how much fun it was they couldn't resist. I started to miss the good ol' day when Jared and I were dating and we went country dancing regularly. I could remember the smell of his sweat and cologne mixed together. So fun!!

Lake Pend Oreille

Our home away from home (Whitetail Campground) was minutes from Lake Pend Oreille. It wasn't until our last full day of vacation that we headed down to the beach. We started at Beaver Bay day use area and followed the shore line until we found our own little beach. Due to Corbin's open wound on his foot he was not able to swim in the lake but he got as close to the water as possible. Corbin had fun skipping rocks with Jared. Ani, Campbell, and Brennan made a movie about a robbery. Brennan was the sheriff that shot Campbell the robber and she fell into the lake. It was very entertaining. We drove to Beaver Bay but we knew that the trail lead all the way to our campsite so Corbin and I decided to walk back to camp. It was a beautiful walk along the shore of the lake sheltered by lots of foliage. Since we didn't walk there we were not sure which trail led back to camp but when we came to a certain "T" in the trail I had the prompting that we should follow it. We weren't sure where we were headed since we were unfamiliar with the area but it lead straight to the amphitheater next to our campsite. So cool!

Silverwood Theme Park and a Porcupine

We went to Silverwood for our summer trip. It was so much fun. I was the loved the roller coasters. We wasted a lot of time in my opinion on the train ride. We sat there for 20 minutes waiting, then the train ride itself was way to long. We also drove antique cars which was fun but I wish we did more roller coasters. Mom, Brennan, and Campbell did the spinny ride called Round-Up. I would close my eyes on the roller coasters until near the end then I would open them. I would also scream u for the first hill and then my screaming would turn into laughing. ~Ani  

On our way home from Silverwood we saw a porcupine. We pulled over and Dad went and threw a towel on it. I have been waiting to see another porcupine so that we could do this and get some quills. When he got back  he was sad that he didn't hit the porcupine again with the towel to get more quills. When we got back to the campground we took the quills  out of the towel.~Ani