Summer Vacation Part One: Southeastern Idaho

Evelyn and I spent the month of July roaming Idaho and Oregon to visit family.  I think I'll break up the post into parts so that it's not a mile long.

Our trip started the evening of June 29th when Jesse got off work.  We jumped in the car and headed to Pocatello to visit his family.

The Keenans (Jesse's sister Kandace's family) came to visit us our first day in Pocatello.

Grandpas tractor was a little too enticing for this little miss.  Every time she saw it she wanted to sit on it and move the levers.

 A few days later we went to visit the Keenans in Firth . Evie loved their chickens!

On July 3rd we all went to Rigby to see the Webster's (Jesse's sister Heidi's family) for lunch and swimming at Rigby Lake.  We had a great time splashing in the water, playing in the sand and enjoying the sun.

 That night we all went back to Pocatello, slept on Grandpa's lawn and woke up to a pancake breakfast. (When I say "we" I mean Jesse.  Evie and I slept upstairs in a bed)

 

After breakfast we headed to town to watch the 4th of July Parade.

 

 

 The Goodwins (Debbie's sister Rachel's family) came down to watch with us.

 

 Zac, Jenny and their boys came up too!

After lunch Zac made this great slip'n slide in Grandpa's pasture.  It was a hit! Even the adults took it for a spin!

 

  

After all that fun on the slide we cleaned  off with a waterballoon fight.  THe dirtiest of us also had to use the hose and some shampoo. 

We wrapped up the day with the fireworks show in Pocatello.  It was a wonderful way to spend our Independence Day.  Surrounded by family, enjoying each others company and our country's freedom!

On the morning of the 6th Evelyn and I hitched a ride with my brother Brian to Fruitland to spend some time with my family. Jesse and his family headed to the cabin in Driggs to clean and do some landscaping. 

On Saturday they all went to Upper and Lower Mesa Falls.

Jesse stayed until Sunday morning, then headed back here to Montrose so he could work on Monday.

It was great to get to see family that we have missed dearly since we've moved.  We were a little spoiled living in Boise so close to everyone for a year.

Once again....HATS!

 Not quite a hat...but it's on her head, so I'll count it!

 

 

 

 Proof that she comes by it naturally.  Even Jesse can't resist a good looking hat!

Kickin' Off Our Summer Adventures

So I'm a little behind...We went camping in Ouray on Memorial Day weekend.  We had a great time...other than the crazy winds.  Lets just say it was a good thing our tent was staked down or we definitely would have been chasing it across the valley.  The winds whipped our tent all night and cancelled the hot air balloon show in Ridgeway the next morning.  Unfortunately for us that was the major reason we went.  I would have loved to see Evelyn's face when she saw them.

 Making our tin foil dinners...I used stir fry meat and that was a real winner.

 

 

Evelyn's first marshmallow experience.  Lets just say she is a HUGE fan!

 I don't know what kind of bug this was but it was an interesting visitor for sure.

One more of many trips to the Black Canyon.  We went for a 3 mile hike to see some more of God's beautiful handy work.

This guys was hanging out right by the trail.  I can't imagine he blends in to well up there, but we don't mind because Evelyn sure got a kick out of him.  She wanted to touch him and his twin later on during our hike.

The west end of the canyon....just part of our amazing view.

Bag Lady in the Making

Jesse took Evelyn to get the mail the other day and this is what she looked like.  It was almost bed time which explains the pajamas, but there is nothing I can say about the rest.

 

She is one stylin' chick!

Gettin' Dirty

Evelyn has reached the age where she is experiencing new things and finding out what she loves.  One of those things is playing in the dirt. She loves to dig and pour and make a grand mess of herself.

 

 

 

 

Obviously eating it is something else she likes to do.  It's a good thing our yard is mainly dirt! =]

A Visit From Up North

Rachel came to Montrose in May and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it.  We had a great time visiting and trying to keep the kids entertained.  Of course there were lots of projects.  We couldn't just shop and relax when there was so much on my "leave it until my sisters come" list.  Projects aside we had lots of fun!

 

We spent plenty of time in the car going to do fun things.  This is at Baldridge Park.

 

 

 

 We also went on a Falls Hike around Ouray.  This was the first of our three, Cascade Falls.

 This is at Bear Creek Falls right off of the Million Dollar Highway.  It was a little cold and windy, but fun none the less.

 I've blogged about this falls before, but it's really neat how it shoots out from underneath the road.

 We saved the best for last.  This is Box Canyon Falls and was by far the coolest falls we saw that day.  We hiked down into the canyon and then took the stairs to the bottom.  It was really fascinating how the water has worn on the rock walls and smoothed them.  You can kind of see it in these pictures, but need to see it in person to really do it any justice.  We were all equally amazed!

 

 After we hiked down into the canyon we hiked to the top of the falls and found this cool tunnel that goes through the mountain.  It is part of the Ouray Perimeter Trail.  We will have to go back and finish it another day.

 We played with homemade play dough in custom colors, pink and blue.

 And used the table as a jungle gym.

 

 This was one my favorites ...Evelyn climbed on to a chair and got herself stuck.  She yelled "I suck, I suck, I suuuuuck! Mommy help!" until I showed her how to get unstuck (unsuck). By far the best thing she has been saying lately! (Whenever she sees this picture she says it again...gets me laughing everytime)

 

 We had a great visit and can't wait to see all of them again!

Gone Fishin'

Every spring in Montrose the Fish and Game Department holds a free fish day.  Anyone and everyone is invited to come to Chipeta Lake, license or no, and try their luck.  Every child who comes is given a fishing pole to keep along with up to 4 fish.  So on Saturday, May 5th we did just that.  Jesse had to work so Evelyn and I went with our friends, the Jacksons: Jaron, Crystal, and their sons Bo and Jesse.. 

The first and only time I have ever been fishing was in Hell's Canyon at a family reunion.  Although I didn't actually fish.  My uncle told us that anyone who wanted to fish would have to put the worm on the hook themselves...and I'm sure you'll be shocked to know I couldn't do it.  So I didn't catch anything nor did I touch a fishing rod.  I just looked at the worms for a while trying to build up the guts to do it, then went and found something more interesting and less gross to do.  This time Jaron was kind enough to put all of my worms on for me and Evelyn and I had a very productive day.

As you can see she isn't to fond of worms either.  She kept dumping the worms out of the cup and screaming when she looked down.  It was pretty comical. 

We stayed for a little over two hours and between the six of us we caught six fish; five of which we kept.  Most of them were trout and Evelyn and I caught two of them!  And when I say "we" I mean I reeled them in with her on my hip! (Not as easy as it sounds)

On our way home we stopped by the hospital to show off our catch and Jesse played impressed really well.  I was excited until he told me "no, the fish could not wait until he got home to be cleaned".

So lots of first for me today...first time I went fishing, first time I caught a fish, first time I got my hook stuck in the reeds, first time I touched a fish, first time I cleaned a fish...yuck!

I called Jesse once I was ready, to tell me what to do...He assured me that it was easy and needless to say I ended up calling Rachel to talk to Travis (who was unavailable) and Charlotte who I found out has never actually cleaned a fish either...So I did what anyone else would do and turned to the internet.  Where I found many helpful and very detailed videos showing me step by step how to clean a fish. 

So here is my proof! It was a very productive nap time and super easy! And lets just say thank heavens for whoever invented rubber gloves.  Without them these fish would have been fertilizer! 

These little buddies are currently sitting in our freezer waiting for a good recipe...and I can't wait to try them!

(Interesting side note for the Christensens...When Jaron found out that I was from Fruitland, he wondered if I knew Grandpa Higley and of course I do...Grandpa Higley is Jaron's actual Grandpa and the Condies are his counsins...it's a stinking small world and I swear the more people I meet the smaller it gets!)