Blue Angels

The weekend before our big move, we went up to Idaho to visit family one more time and see the Blue Angels! There were tons of planes to see both in the air and on the ground.

The roar of the jet engines was extremely impressive! At one point when the Blue Angels were flying they directed our attention to a jet flying in front of us as a jet snuck up behind us. We weren't ready for it, so it gave us a good scare! We didn't put on any sunscreen, so we were both roasted from being in the sun all day. It was totally worth it though!

Spiritual Enlightenment: A Matter of a Few Degrees

Inching Closer

We have now been in California for almost a whole month. It feels so good to be home! As we were driving out, we saw a rainbow somewhere in the middle of Nevada. I felt it was a tender mercy confirming that we were making the right choice in moving.

Since getting back, I haven't taken very many pictures. I've instead been enjoying being with my family again. There's been lots of swimming, great conversations, kisses from Spencer, and fantastic roller coasters.

These two little fish refused to get out of the pool!

Jonathan has been working hard with starting his career. He's been able to talk to a lot of different people and while we were at Six Flags, he got a call from a headhunter about a fantastic job. I feel like he's getting opportunities that may not have come our way if we had stayed in Utah.

Jonathan and I went to Six Flags with Ry and Ty before school started.
It was a great day!

Things are slowly happening, but I'm enjoying this time because we truly don't know where we will end up. I love having the opportunity to spend with the California kids. I still can't believe how much they have grown and changed over the past three and a half years we were in Utah.

Spencer has stolen my heart! Sorry Jonathan!

I'm so glad that we are back to a place that truly feels like home.

Idaho 2017 Day Eight

Our last day started out with packing up all of our things in the cabin while the kids played. During lunchtime the day before, the girls and I finally made our fourth of July wands. Only three days late. That's not too bad. The three big girls needed minimal help while Ruby could careless about making one. Clara was more than happy to make another one for Ruby.

The girls had so much fun playing with them.

Thank you Pinterest for the idea!

The two little ones powered down for a little bit.

After saying our goodbyes at Chris and Annie's house, we made our way east to Wyoming. We wanted to visit where our great-great grandpas were buried in Star Valley.

I love the bright yellow canola fields!

From the car, I saw a tall building with a spire and we drove around to figure out what it was. It ended up being the Star Valley Tabernacle!

Our next stop was the Star Valley Temple. After living in Utah for so long, it was surprising to see such a cute little temple. As I was taking pictures of it, someone from Sacramento stopped by to look at the temple.

The next stop was the Afton Cemetery to see where Anson Vasco Call II is buried along with many of his family members.

Next we went to the Fairview Cemetery to see my great-great-great grandpa Aaron Nebeker and my great-great-great uncle Carl Nebeker.

As we were taking pictures, Jonathan's phone finally succumbed to all the water it went through the day before and died. We did not bury it in the cemetery though. Thankfully all the photos automatically backed up to Google!

We ended up spending a few hours in the area, so we decided to go to the drive-in for dinner.

The Red Barron in Afton is delicious!

On the drive home, we were convinced that the wildlife were out to get us! A hawk barely missed the front of our car and a rather large deer dashed in front of us only a few miles later. For all the driving Jonathan has done over the years, he's never had a deer cross the road in front of him. Thankfully, he was able to react quickly and slow down before anything happened. We were also treated to a lovely thunderstorm in northern Utah.

And that was day eight.

Idaho 2017 Day 7

This day ended up having a harrowing adventure in the afternoon. We started out with trying to go down the river, but there weren't enough rafts for us all to go. We then tried going to the reservoir, but the road was a bit too much for Amy's van.

The views were gorgeous though as we were driving around!

We admitted defeat and went back to the cabin for lunch. After lunch was over, we called the raft place again and we were able to go! Amy and Spencer stayed at the cabin for his afternoon nap.

Ruby ended up falling asleep on our way to the river.

There were a lot of shallow spots at the beginning and so we would hop out and push the rafts (or in my case canoe) along until it got deep enough. With the sun shining, it was hot and it felt really good to be in the freezing water.

Jonathan and I were in the canoe, while everyone else filled up the two rafts.

Not long after we started, there was a moose along the river. It was too far away for us to get a picture of it, but we saw it! Chris, Annie, and Amy had the four little girls in their raft and my parents had all five boys. The boys were way louder than the girls.

The kids had a great time getting wet and trying to paddle along the river.

After awhile, some of the kids switched around. Ty got in the canoe with us and Kyle joined the girl's raft.

I saw some baby fish in the slower parts of the river.

Ty was impressed with how fast the canoe went, but he had to sit still so we wouldn't tip over. He ended up going back into the raft with my parents. Not long after, we saw another moose.

There's a dark blob on the grass and that's the moose.

To speed things up, Jonathan and I towed Chris and the girls for a bit. Then we slowed down to do the same for the boys raft. At that point, the weather turned and we were out of sight from Chris's raft. It started sprinkling and we were still about two miles away from where our cars were. Jonathan and I were doing our best, but we were paddling into the wind and it was now pouring. We were making no progress, so we pulled over to the side of the river. The younger boys were panicking (especially when their flip flops would come off), but we tipped the raft over to protect us from the storm. We hunkered down, but things weren't getting any better. We said a prayer all together and then said silent ones. Things still weren't getting better. Dad asked if we had our phones and if they worked. Jonathan pulled his out and was able to get through to 911. He was able to tell them where we were and that there were many other people stuck along the river. That helped calm everyone down knowing that people knew where we were and that help was on the way.  Garrett was upset at first that the storm didn't go away immediately after we prayed, but not long after the call to 911 the hail turned back into rain and he shouted that our prayers worked! It hailed a few more times, but we were all more optimistic knowing help was coming. We were worried about Chris, Annie, Amy, and their group of kids, but we knew they were capable of taking care of all of them. We were also grateful that Spencer wasn't with us because it would have been so hard on him. Jonathan and Dad stayed out from under the raft and when Jonathan saw a break in the clouds up ahead he had the boys get out and see that the storm was going to be over soon. Then the most exciting part was seeing Chris from Idaho Fish and Game hiking his way towards us. Garrett got so excited that Jonathan had to hold him back from running towards our rescuer! He gave the little boys a blanket to get warm in and his jacket to Tyler. Chris told us that not far down there was a dock with more people with plenty of blankets to warm us up. Jonathan and I took Seth and Garrett in the canoe and sped off to get them warm and my parents had Ryan and Tyler in the raft with them. We made a turn and saw the dock covered with EMTs helping others out of their canoes and giving them blankets. They took the soaked life vests off of the boys and gave Seth a blanket and Garrett a heated one. I didn't notice until we were in the hot tub that his lips were purple. They told us we could go and sit in the ambulance to get heated up. As we got to the ambulance, Chris (my brother) came running towards us and told us Annie had the van just a bit further down. Amy passed us along the way looking determined to get to her boys. We climbed into the van and Annie and I started exchanging stories about what happened. They were worried that something bad happened because of the ambulance. We made it back to the rest of the cars and to the cabin. Almost all of us got into the hot tub to warm back up.

The boys were fantastic. There was a lot "I hate this" and "This is the worst day ever", but they are determined to be eagle scouts so they can be calm and prepared like Grandpa and Uncle Jonathan.

Garrett's heated blanket. He kept saying in the car that is was warming up his neck.

We spent the rest of the evening in our PJs and watching movies.

Charlotte ate a cucumber like corn on the cob. Ruby saw her and came over and announced that she liked pickles hoping to get a bite. I told her it was a cucumber. She said she liked cucumbers. After some persuasion, Charlotte let Ruby have a little bite. Ruby said she liked it. Kids are weird!

And that was a crazy day seven.

Idaho 2017 Day Six

On our first full day at the cabin, Jonathan and I didn't do much. Jonathan took a few naps and I helped finish a puzzle.

Lyla wasn't feeling good and in the afternoon most everyone went out for a hike. Jonathan and I stayed behind along with Amy and Lyla. Jonathan and I were watching Indian Jones and the Last Crusade. Lyla was confused and asked me why I liked watching "dad movies". I ended up playing a few games with her in the middle of the movie because dad movies are boring when you are five.

After everyone was back from the hike, Jonathan and I sat out on the front porch to listen to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. After awhile, Amy needed a hand watching Spencer while she was taking care of Garrett and Charlotte. Amy is Spencer's favorite person of all time because as soon as he realizes she's leaving the room he's in, he screams and cries for her. He'll let other people help him calm down, but it's just not the same. To convince him to spend time with us, I bribed him with fruit snacks. It totally worked.

Once the kids were in bed, we started the puzzle all over again because what else are you going to do when you don't have Wifi?

And that was our lazy day six.

Idaho 2017 Day 5

After the late night watching fireworks, we had a slow start to our day. Since Jonathan was doing a lot better, we headed to the Rose Hill Cemetery in Idaho Falls to visit great-great grandpa and grandma McGavin. This cemetery is massive and so far the best one we've visited. We were lucky to enter the cemetery near their office and someone was there to help us find where to find them. She gave us instructions on where to go along with a map of the entire cemetery with their plots marked. 

After our side adventure, we joined up with the rest of the family and started on our way to Island Park. Our first stop was at the Rexburg Cemetery to see great-great grandpa and grandma McMillan, baby Uncle William Machen, and great-great grandpa and grandma Davis.

William died as a two year old from what was called the summer complaint.
I haven't been able to figure out a possible illness for it yet.

Some of the cutest Davis descendants!

Our next stop was Big Judd's. They serve a massive one pound burger. One of our family members completed the challenge of eating it by themselves when they were in college. (They are now rather embarrassed that they ever did such a thing.) No one did the challenge. Instead we cut up three of the one pound burgers to share.

During this trip, I was so surprised by how quickly Charlotte warmed up to me. In the past, it's taken nearly an entire week for her to be okay with me. She gave me a hug as soon as she saw me this time.

After lunch, we stopped by Mesa Falls and we enjoyed the views. There were large natural pillars next to the water falls and back in the day, my grandpa Machen and his crazy brothers would run and land on them. We were boring and just enjoyed the view.

The rest of the day was filled with relaxing at the cabin. In one of the bedrooms there was a small loft and of course the joke was I get to sleep there. We've used a friend's cabin in Soda Springs many times and I slept in the tiny loft because there aren't enough bedrooms there. Since getting married we haven't all stayed there, but it still joked about that Jonathan and I will sleep up there.

And that was day five.