Back from holiday

Howdy, blogger world.
We just got back this past weekend, from a lovely two-week vacation to visit friends and family in Idaho. Fun times!! Sadly, I didn't take enough pictures. But we all sure had fun. Here are the few pics I got...

All set to go! Natalie wasn't so happy to learn that she had to share that seat with me. Neither was I, by the end of it. ha!

One night we went to see a play of Cinderella, at the Starlight Mountain Theater, up in the mountains behind Boise. Samantha and Ella really seemed to enjoy it, and got their picture taken with the star...

And another pic, with the fairy godmother...

On the way to the play, we drove up this beautiful mountain pass that is usually so gorgeous. Only, it was in full blaze with a forest fire, right off the sides of the road. This was taken out our sunroof, as we drove by, just yard away from our car!

We could literally feel the heat of the fire as we drove by. So crazy and and sad, and somewhat scary!

Luckily, there was quite a crew of fire-fighters standing by to keep the fire from raging out of control...

 But it was bad enough that the road was closed later that night and we had to take the REALLY back roads to get home... covered in dust on a winding road for over an hour. ugh!

Fast-forward a week, and here we are in Blackfoot, with my mom, letting the kids play at Jensen's Grove Lake. It hasn't changed much since I was a kid. And the kids really had a good time.

Here's Nattie, wading out, being so brave. (A little TOO brave, actually, if you ask me! She fell over at a river this week. Thank goodness she had on that life jacket!)

And Spencer, being so very cold. He gets cold fast, and his lips turn blue, just like my brother Lance's used to...

Our last day in Blackfoot, we went to say goodbye to my Grandma Eva and Doug. The kids were THRILLED with the boat parked in their driveway!

 Grandma was a little nervous with all their climbing around...

 Our little poser, asking me to take "just one more" of "just me!"

When we got to the airport to fly home, we checked our bags, and as we got in the security line. Who did we run into? Our friend Catherine and her four kids, on their way back to Beijing!! Small world, eh?! Catherine and I were good friends when we lived in London. Her little girl Madeliene and Samantha are about the same age, and we were both pregnant together. It was so fun to run into her. We helped her get to her flight, which left 1/2 hr before ours.

We stayed on the same plane on the way home, touching down in Denver to pick up more passengers. There was a slight delay, so one of the pilots let the kids come into the cockpit. So cool! They got to sit up front, hold onto the steering column, and push a bunch of buttons.

 I told Brian they got to do that, and he was even more excited than they were!

That's the end of the pictures from our trip. Fun times NOT pictured (because I accidentally misplaced our camera for a week, oops.)...
-- A great family reunion in Post Falls, with all Brian's mom's siblings and kids. We camped on Brian's aunt and uncle's front lawn, and had some fun outings to lakes and parks, etc.
-- Some gorgeous scenic mountain drives on the way back from Post Falls (about 8 hrs). And a not-so-scenic drive there, by way of Salmon (also about 8 hours). Salmon is scenic, but several hours surrounding the Salmon drive lack character, and water, and trees. (Not very photogenic, if you get my drift.)
-- A really fun dinner at Cheesecake Factory, celebrating Brian's weight loss goal. He is looking sooo great, I must say!
-- My parents' remodel on their bedroom, guestroom, and bathrooms. It looks amazing and is so spacious and comfortable! Also, my brother Trent and Melissa just built a new home across from my parents. We got to see it for the first time, and LOVED all the finishing touches. Gorgeous.
-- Some good thrift store shopping trips. When things come on sale at thrift stores, ya know you're REALLY getting a bargain, eh? I walked away with some great summer skirts for $2-3 apiece. Fun! Also scored some great clothes for the kids for this winter. Not bad!
-- A funny story... We bought a little plastic gumball machine for Spencer at Wal-mart, during our family reunion, just as a fun treat for him (mainly because Samantha got to do something fun that he didn't get to do). Well, one night, as I was putting him to bed in our tent, he was clutching his new gumball machine in the sleeping bag beside him, and he asked, "Mom? Are there any owls here?"
(Those of you who don't know about his owl phobia... well, he has one. He has woken multiple times in the night to tell me or Brian he heard a noise and it sounded like 'whooo.')
I reassured him that no, I had not seen any owls around Aunt Lucy's house. We were safe and owls didn't like people, anyway. He weighed my response carefully, then asked, "But do they like gumball machines??"

ha! Oh, how fun it would have been to get wide eyes and look around the tent and tell him, Oh, actually, owls really, really DO like gumball machines! ... but I didn't. ;)

All for now. We're back on the Eastern seaboard, soaking up the last of our summer sunshine and trying to pack in more fun before we head back to school in 10 days.