#thepartyof2013

The first six days...

We landed in Salt Lake mid morning on Sunday the 14th. We enjoyed some lunch and headed straight over to temple square. It was fun being there with my kids. The last time we were there, Kevin was 9 months old. We then met up with (most of) the rest of the gang at the hotel for swimming and dinner. The first thing the next morning we all went to Cherry Hill. It was SO.MUCH.FUN. Until the very last run. The big girls decided to do ones last run on the tube ride. Kevin and Julia decided they wanted to join. We sent Kevin down first because he doesn't like to be connected to anyone and then Julia and I went second so that I could hold on to her. Then my two sisters and sister in law went last connected to each other. All was well until the third turn. I came around the corner to a traffic jam of 3 or 4 tubes and the Kevin in his tube. Julia and I came up with so much force that Julia went up on the wall completely parallel to the wall and we rammed into the back of Kevin flipping his tubes upside down and pinning him underneath me and three other tubes. We were all trying to get to him. Because of the force of the water I could not stand up and Julia was still up against the wall so I couldn't let go, another man tried to grab Kevin and another lady was grabbing for his feet and I kept yelling, "is he out?" When a life guard jumped over the wall and grabbed Kevin out from under all of us. I was awful. When he stood up he wiped the water from his face and cried out, "mom, I held my breath the whole time and had to keep my eyes open cause I was trying to get out." Then he started bawling. They lifeguard let him on my tube, which was against the rules, and by the time we finally got out, my three sisters were already at the bottom and helped Julia out so I could love on my sweet boy, it was awful I tell you. I thought I was drowning my own child. Ugh! Thankfully he is fine and has no lasting trauma. Aside from that, it was a fun filled day. We came to Idaho and fell into our beds. First thing the next morning we headed out to they Grays. The kids swam, played on the swings, and picked goodies out of Grandma's garden while we watched the crop duster.

The next morning I met up with a few of my cousins while Kevin and Julia played in the canal with Dad and Grandma. I met Cody in town and we left for a night get away while grandma n grandpa took the kids for a ride on a pony named Corkie. They also checked on Grandpa's honeybees. The next day we packed up and left camping to Rigby Lake for my niece, Lucy's, birthday. We played in the water non stop and enjoyed a few games with each other. We came home the next afternoon, unpacked and raced off to a family reunion with a ginormous slip n slide. To which we raced home for a good ol bath, and Granny and Pa had a pizza party and root beer floats with the grand kids while the big kids went to dinner together. 

This is what 3/4 of our crew looks like after going 100 miles an hour for 6 days straight. Needless to say, Sunday was a much needed day of rest. We enjoyed it to its fullest, the kids had a nice nap and went to bed at a decent hour to prep ourselves for busy week #2.

Since having arrived in Idaho, we've seen the power of God in our lives many times. We know being here in Idaho at this time is where we are to be. Since having been here, my Grandpa Dye has had three mini strokes. I had the opportunity to go over and mow his lawn on Tuesday mid morning. I don't know how he felt about me mowing his lawn, but I do know it was therapeutic for me, and just what my soul needed. It was nice spending time with my Grandpa in his yard. It was nice to serve him, to be with him, to talk to him, to walk with our fingers clasped as we discussed the particulars of mowing his lawn. So good for my soul,

I am blessed and I know it.